Revenge is Personal: Fivel Stewart Talks in Exclusive Interview About Friendship and Revenge In Apple TV+'s New Series 'ROAR'
It is shown in movies, television shows, books time and time again a hero seeking revenge on the person who has wronged them. They become icenced with a specific kind of wrath and set out to accomplish their revenge. Furthermore, when it comes to a traditionally female character taking revenge, she disguises herself as a man to prove that she can do anything the men can do. Such a plotline is explored in the new anthology series ROAR. Yet, in the promise the show continues to fulfill, the episode The Girl Who Loved Horses, takes this revenge trope and turns it immediately on its head.
In an exclusive interview with the lead of this episode, Fivel Stewart, she brilliantly condenced the episode into a brilliant phrase: "Not everyone's revenge looks the same." Rather than painting with a sweeping, over-generalizing brush, ROAR continues to get specific in ways which, rather than alienating their audience, inspire them to think. Stewart even shared that, to herself,
"Instead of getting just so angry, and so mad, and trying to prove my point, and if you hurt me then I hurt you– I think just stepping back, and just realizing that, like, life happens, and overtime, it will be okay. And I think that's the greatest lesson in The Girl Who Loved Horses."
Subverting one time tested trope is simply not enough for this excellent show (can you tell I'm obsessed yet?). In The Girl Who Loved Horses, Jane, the character played by Stewart, is constantly accompanied by a friend named Millie who, while she may be a stalwart companion to Jane, is not met with a reciporical feeling. Millie's persistence in the show brings to the forefront the importance of differences in friendships and simultaneously negates the notion that you need to be emotionless and alone to be successful.
"The show really opens up the fact that you need friends, and differences are awesome. I think that's why Jane and Millie don't get along, and Jane kind of like sees their differences immediately, and she's like, 'Oop! Not for me!' But I think throughout the episode...Jane realizes, she's just the better balance. Not even better, she just balances Jane out. I think even like with you or me and our friends– I think when we immediately see someone or go to have friendship with someone, immediately, inevitably, we are going to judge what they like, who they are, what they're into, and I think that's Jane's fault; but throughout the episode you're like, 'Oh, differences do attract.' And you need difference in your life."
This powerful dissection of revenge and friendship can be see on Apple TV+ on April 15th.
