Anyone who tuned in for last season’s Superstore might have assumed there was a brewing romance between two of the lead characters — America Ferrera’s Amy and Ben Feldman’s Jonah — but soon learned there was a catch. Amy is not only a long-tenured Cloud 9 employee, but also a mother who has a husband at home. While Jonah simply arrived at the store after flunking out of business school and wandering aimlessly, Amy has been living the Cloud 9 experience for all of her adult life.
Despite the fact that Amy seems to be unavailable, Ferrera told Entertainment Weekly there may — or may not — be more in store for the pair. Their relationship, while still somewhat abrasive, has evolved into a meaningful friendship. Ferrera says producers are still deciding how the Amy and Jonah dynamic will play out, but admits there are the expected romantic overtures.
“From the very beginning, Justin [Spitzer, Superstore producer] and I always talked about this relationship and where we were going with it, and it truly, truly has always been — and still is! — a will-they-won’t-they, because we don’t know. Honestly, we don’t know. We’re exploring what’s fun about their dynamic, even when it’s not romantic.”
But the relationship between Amy and Jonah is not the only character dynamic Ferrera enjoys on the show. Telling EW that she loved the break room negotiation during the premiere episode, the actor revealed that Amy and Dina — played by Lauren Ash — have some of the best moments on Superstore . In that particular scene, Dina sat on the side of a corporate representative while Amy and Jonah, dressed in just-purchased Cloud 9 business wear, made the case for the protesting workers outside. Dina’s line that Amy’s pink dress was the “terrorist” in the room was an ad-lib on Ash’s part.
“I love anything where Amy and Dina are going at it. It’s just a fun dynamic for our characters to play because they’re so different from each other and neither one of them are really breakable.”
Ferrera said group scenes, like the protest outside the store, are fun for the actors because the cast members really like each other. It’s an assessment shared by Feldman, who, in an interview with Splitsider , compared the sense of community felt by the actors to that experienced by Superstore ‘s characters.
“[T]here’s a sense of community that everybody very much craves on the show. Also, in real life, this cast gets along more than any other cast I’ve ever seen before. We just became instantly family from the pilot on, so there’s truly parallels between what’s keeping us on the show together and what makes the show successful, and what’s keeping these characters together.”
Feldman also revealed that the set of Superstore is largely modeled after Walmart, which makes it somewhat surreal to visit a big box store in real life. Feldman said the Superstore set is startlingly realistic, with its almost endless number of different departments and shelves full of stock. The cast members are surrounded by product during long filming days, but they can’t do any on-site shopping before going home.
“[W]e’ve been told if we walk out of there with anything we’re fired and never working for NBCU again. They made that very clear to us.”
Superstore airs Thursdays on NBC.
[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]
