'TV Glow' recreated Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine TV obsessions

LOS ANGELES, May 2 (UPI) -- Actors Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine said their new movie, I Saw the TV Glow, in theaters Friday, reminded them of shows that made them feel less alone.

The actors play fans of a fictional '90s show, The Pink Opaque, who believe a real-life conspiracy exists behind the show.

"I think that media -- TV and film -- helps us find ourselves," Smith, 28, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "It helps to have reference or a character we can identify with -- a character who represents the person we want to become."

The Pink Opaque tells the tale of two teenage girls with supernatural powers who battle evil forces every week. Maddy (Lundy-Paine), introduces the show to Owen (Smith) in 1996.

Maddy is older than Owen and already discovering her own sexuality. For Maddy, the magic in The Pink Opaque represents same-sex love, which her own family does not accept.

Lundy-Paine, 29, said Maddie recognized a similar buried feeling in Owen. Maddy also thought sharing The Pink Opaque with Owen would give her a confidante.

"I have to help him so that he can understand me," Lundy-Paine said of Maddy. "I have to teach him to understand me."

Smith said obsessing about movies and TV shows can become unhealthy, adding that he hopes finding representation can lead fans to further explore real-life developments.

"I think there's a balance of finding yourself, finding your representation in media and then getting to know yourself as a person outside of that," Smith said.

Lundy-Paine, who goes by they/them pronouns, said the characters they related to ranged from Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein to the friendship between SpongeBob Squarepants and Patrick Star.

"I saw myself as the frazzled, mad scientist type," Lundy-Paine said. "[SpongeBob and Patrick] are best friends, and being best friends has always been a core component of my life. [I] love my best friends."

When they first meet, Owen's parents don't let him stay up until The Pink Opaque airs. So Maddy sneaks VHS tapes of the show to Owen.

Maddy's belief that Owen will get a lot out of The Pink Opaque proves correct. The Pink Opaque character Isabel (Helena Howard) awakens something further in Owen, which Smith did not wish to spoil for audiences.

"He's afraid of what identifying with this character means," Smith said. "So, he tries to run away from it, even though he finds himself drawn to it time and time again."

Both Lundy-Paine and Smith have appeared on TV shows, though none that generated the level of obsession as The Pink Opaque. Lundy-Paine played the sister of an autistic teenager who herself explores relationships with other girls on the Netflix show Atypical.

"I always forget to think of the stuff I've been in as real because I was in it," Lundy-Paine said. "So it feels more like a camping trip that you're looking back on VHS footage of."

Smith played a young rapper in the Netflix drama, The Get Down, and a modern-day high schooler in Max's Generation. Smith said fans of both still approach him on the street.

"All those shows have a really strong cult following," Smith said. "I don't know if it's a dark obsession like Owen and Maddie have."