YEM attends the Everything Sucks NYC premiere

Get ready to travel back to the 90s! Premiering February 16th on Netflix is Everything Sucks. The show revolves around a group of high schoolers who live in the town of Boring, Oregon (and yes, that’s a real place!) The show follows Luke who joins the school’s A/V club with his friends, and together they try to navigate their way through freshman year.

Young Entertainment Magazine met up with the show’s cast at the Everything Sucks NYC red carpet premiere. They spoke to YEM about their characters, the magic of the 90s, and what makes the show so relatable.

YoungEntertainmentMag: What is the show “Everything Sucks” about?
Peyton Kennedy plays the leading lady, Kate: The show is set in 1996 in Boring, Oregon, which is a real place.
Abi Brittle plays Leslie: It’s apparent that the show takes place in the 90s. It follows this group of amazing high schoolers from the A/V club and the drama club.

YEM: Tell us about your character.
Peyton: Kate is very shy, introverted girl. But she grows a lot and it was really fun to play a character like that.
Sydney Sweeny plays mean girl Emaline: Emaline is in the drama club and they think that they’re cool, but really, they’re not cool. They’re the bottom of the totem pole right along with A/V club. Emaline is very out-going—she’s always searching for attention and she will do anything to get it. She doesn’t really know who she is so she feels like she has to be something for somebody else to get their attention for them to love her and to find herself.
Abi: My character is Leslie. She is very outgoing and colorful. She has a scrunchie in every episode and
she really brings out the fun side of the 90s.
Quinn Liebling plays Luke’s right hand man, Tyler: My character is named Tyler. He’s a kid that’s very goofy and is a pop culture junkie. He’s friends with Luke and McQuade as they enter high school, you get to see how the relationship progresses between the three boys. My character has dyslexia and ADD, so he’s not the best at school. So the audience gets to see how he handles school in his own way.

(L-R: Rio Mangini, Elijah Stevenson, Payton Kennedy, Sydney Sweeney, Quinn Liebling, and Jahr Winston)

YEM: Quinn, Do you feel responsibility to play a character with dyslexia and ADD on a Netflix show.
Quinn: Yeah, I feel like there isn’t a lot of that that’s seen on shows nowadays. I think people think that
it’s something that you can easily overcome. I think for Tyler, in the future his story gets told, and I hope that it will be told even more.

(L-R: Nicole McCullough, Abi Brittle, and Quinn Liebling)
YEM: Were you familiar with the 90s before being cast in the show?
Peyton: 90s movies for sure, because I’ve always been a really big movie buff. So I’ve seen a lot of 90s
movies. But I didn’t know too much else about the 90s until I got cast on the show.
Abi: I wasn’t that familiar with the 90s. I know it’s kind of weird because it’s the decade closest to the
one we’re living in now. But I think this was an awesome opportunity for me to listen and to understand
more about the 90s and for others to do the same when they watch it.
Nicole McCullough plays Jessica: I know the fashion and I knew “Bye, Bye, Bye” by NSYNC!

(Sydney Sweeney)
YEM: What do you think makes the 90s such a great genre for story telling?
Sydney: I think it’s such nostalgia. The music and the fashion—the whole backdrop of the 90s itself is so much fun to dive into. And being able to have all the relationships and the issues that they’re going
through that are so prevalent for today, it makes it so relateable.

Click below for YEM’s Snapchat coverage from the red carpet NYC premiere, featuring more of the show’s cast!

Q: What trend from the 90s would you like to make a come back.
Sydney: “One thing I would love to come back is the huge hair. I love the hair. I want my character’s hair!”
Quinn: “Zubaz, the pants that are all tiger striped. They should make a comeback. That’s a big thing that I would love.”
Abi: “Scrunchies! Scrunchies are the most comfortable, most stylish thing ever. You can wear them in your hair or on your wrist or anywhere.”
Nicole: “One 90s trend I want to come back is the hair. I’m trying to do that now, and bring back a little volume, but I would love for the hair to come back even more.”
Peyton: “My character really loves Tori Amos and I got really into her music while I was filming.”
Claudine plays Luke’s mom, Cherry: “The slap bracelets. Those are cool!”
Patch plays Ken, the principal and Kate’s dad: “I would love for the fashion to come back and I think it is coming back. Which is great for me! Most of my clothes are from the 90s because that’s the last time my mom brought me clothes.”
Jahi Winston plays the main character, Luke: “Overalls are my favorite things from the 90s. And they’re already back!”