'Obliterated' Star Shelley Hennig on THAT First Episode Scene & Nervously Awaiting Her Family's Reaction

Shelley Hennig couldn’t be more excited for fans to see her in Netflix’s Obliterated but, when it comes to people in her life watching it, she’s feeling “vulnerable.” Hennig, known for roles in Days of our Lives, Teen Wolf and the hilarious The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, which starred Kristen Bell, chatted exclusively with SheKnows as her eight-part series debuted on the streaming platform.

“I’m feeling so excited,” Hennig says about the action comedy show conceived in the weird and wonderful minds of Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald, the creators of Cobra Kai. “The show is truly so good and it’s so funny. I just can’t wait for everyone to be able to watch it.”

More from SheKnows

• All the Kids' Shows & Movies Coming to Netflix in December

Hennig plays Ava Winters, a CIA agent spearheading an elite group formed from various branches of the US armed forces to stop a terrorist network from blowing up Las Vegas. The group thinks they deactivated the bomb and go out on the town to celebrate. Hennig’s character, the serious, no-nonsense member of the crew, gets swept up in the action too.

“I get obliterated, they all do,” Hennig describes. “And then I get a call from my boss and he says it was a fake nuke the real one is still out there. We’re all on something different and three sheets to the wind and we have to go save Las Vegas.”

The show, which also stars Nick Zano, C. Thomas Howell, Paola Lázaro and Eugene Kim, is action packed, fast-paced and has many humorous moments. As Hennig describes, “It’s Top Gun meets The Hangover meets the show 24.” It’s also unflinchingly explicit. Hennig’s character has a hot and heavy sex scene with Zano in the very first episode.

“I texted my family the timestamp of when to fast forward,” Hennig says during our interview. “I’ve just been so nervous. I’m not a prudish per person. I think anyone who follows me on Instagram understands that.” Hennig is, of course, referring to her often hilarious and provactive social media activity. “My parents are not on Instagram but they’re on Netflix. So I am feeling very vulnerable. But they’ve all been warned.”

Filming the fast-paced scene took 10 hours, Hennig says, but the environment created on set through the presence of an intimacy coordinator, her close relationship with Zano, and the support of Hurwitz, Schlossberg and Heald made the long and intense shoot possible.

“I’m personally very comfortable with nudity,” Hennig says, “It was safe space and and you couldn’t hold back.” It also helped that Hennig was in character as one of the show’s most fearless and daring team members. Winters is a quick-thinking, level-headed operative who we meet in the midst of her deeply suppressed grief over the death of her fiancé. Hennig relates to her deeply.

“I can be a very focused person. I take my job really seriously and I put a lot of care into it. I have also used it, in the past, as an escape and Ava does that. She is heartbroken, she lost her fiancé and she’s throwing herself into her work to not have to feel that pain. And I’ve I’ve personally been there before.”

This is what drew Hennig in but she was also excited by the chance to do something she’s never done before. “I like to be challenged. I like to do something I haven’t done before,” Hennig says. “The responsibility that Ava Winters had, and the responsibility that I would have if I booked it, I was ready for it and really excited by it. I had never done an action comedy, I’d done action and comedies but I’ve never done the mix. So that was a new genre for me and I love to genre hop.”

The release of Hennig’s new show conveniently coincides with the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike and it’s clear that Hennig is excited to be back to talking about her projects and looking forward to the future — and is hopeful about an Obliterated season two.

“I’m open. Let’s see what comes through. I’m pumped. I’m glad we sorted it out. I love to entertain so hopefully I get to be able to do that.”

Before you go, click here to see all the nostalgic hits getting movie and TV reboots.

Best of SheKnows

• Amanda Seyfried’s Red Carpet Evolution From Teen Star To Established Actress

• All the Celebrity Couples Who Broke Up This Year

• Our Favorite Photos of Dazzling Couple JFK Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Sign up for SheKnows' Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.