As a writer and observer of human nature, I am deeply moved by Jodie Foster’s journey into Judaism, her newfound family, and her creative endeavors. Her story resonates with me on multiple levels, as I too have experienced the challenges and rewards that come from embracing a new faith and culture.
Six years ago, Erin Foster found herself on a date with someone new and was introducing him to her mother for the first time at a restaurant. He brought an impressive bouquet of sunflowers so large that it required its own seat. “The flowers were so tall, and they kept toppling over,” Foster explains. “Sitting there, I thought, If someone cares this much, then that feels like a vulnerability.” At 36 years old, she had dated enough insensitive individuals, including some celebrities, to recognize that she was the one being too guarded in this situation. But as she rode home, she couldn’t help but think, “There’s no hope for me, I’m a person with faulty relationship programming, and I’m clearly ruining something.” When Foster shared this anecdote with her writers’ room, the men didn’t understand it, but the women immediately related. “That made me feel like it was a story worth telling,” she says.
The sixth episode of the show introduces a scene featuring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody in leading roles. In this series, Bell portrays Joanne, a disillusioned, agnostic podcast host who struggles to comprehend what a healthy relationship should be. After a string of disappointing dates on Raya, she finds herself attracted to Noah, a kind-hearted and well-balanced rabbi played by Brody. However, their relationship takes a turn when Noah tries too hard to please her parents, causing Joanne to remark, “I can’t believe I let him come near me with those overly-large flower-holding hands.” She then confides in her younger sister Morgan (Justine Lupe from Succession) about past boyfriends who gave her a sense of unease or discomfort. They proceed to reminisce about these experiences.
42-year-old Foster, in her West Hollywood apartment’s kitchen, is busy preparing chicken-lettuce cups. Her long blonde hair is held back with a claw clip, and she puts on pink onion goggles momentarily. Her husband, 40-year-old record label owner and talent manager Simon Tikhman, arrives home, kisses Foster and their baby girl Noa before joining the conversation. “I don’t recall the sunflowers being that large,” he muses, “But I do remember driving back home, thinking, ‘It’s not about the flowers.’
In part, “Nobody Wants This” serves as a heartfelt tribute to Tikhman, yet it’s also a significant milestone for Erin Foster. Despite her Hollywood pedigree (her father is Grammy-winning producer and composer David Foster), she hasn’t quite found her footing. She initially ventured into acting, following in the footsteps of her elder sister, Sara. Then, in 2020, they launched the clothing line Favorite Daughter and, in 2021, a podcast named “The World’s First Podcast” where they openly discuss various topics, including postpartum sex, cancel culture, Love Island, Foster’s past relationship with Chad Michael Murray, their complex feelings towards former stepmoms. However, “Nobody Wants This“, with its nostalgic cast and biting tone, is poised to become a weekly binge for 30-somethings who are familiar with “Call Her Daddy“. In the series, Erin questions Noah’s good-guy persona, while Noah frets about his congregation and mother (played by Tovah Feldshuh) judging him for dating a non-Jewish woman, or a shiksa. Meanwhile, supporting characters played by Lupe and Veep‘s Timothy Simons, portraying Noah’s boisterous older brother, Sasha, form an unexpected bond and delight in the couple’s misadventures.
In 2018, my chance encounter with Tikhman at the gym unfolded into a beautiful yet intricate love story. We’d share secret kisses in the parking lot, then feign ignorance to keep our blossoming romance under wraps from the gym trainers. The day after the sunflower incident, I found myself anxious, fearing that our relationship had hit a rough patch. Simon, ever the charmer, reassured me with a heartfelt remark: “Don’t let your parents’ opinions matter because I want to marry you.” At that moment, I was utterly smitten with him.
Foster finds it surprising that Tikhman seems ordinary, which used to make him feel like Tikhman was calling him ‘ordinary’ or ‘basic’, a notion he found slightly insulting. The character Brody, who is inspired by Tikhman, mentioned that even before the script was complete, Foster had expressed concerns about not finding Noah’s backstory yet, saying, “We’re having some difficulty — not exactly trouble, but we haven’t really discovered Noah’s baggage yet.” Tikhman isn’t a rabbi, but he is Jewish. His parents moved from the former Soviet Union to San Francisco in 1979, and he holds them in high esteem. To this day, it hurts him to remember an incident from seventh grade when he told his mother to be quiet – an event he shares at Foster’s prompting, leaving her still puzzled by it. “I can hardly believe the things I’ve said to my parents,” she says.
Erin Foster, the middle child born from David Foster’s second marriage to Rebecca Dyer (now married to Katharine McPhee who is younger by a year and seven months), grew up in Malibu and Calabasas. When asked about her childhood, she describes it as chaotic but exciting: “To me, normal was exotic.” During a secretive relationship with Tikhman, when he mentioned that his wife needed to be Jewish for their union, Erin expressed openness towards conversion: “If you want me, great! It’d be interesting to be part of something new.
In simpler terms, Tikhman is one of the founders of Core Entertainment, a talent management firm that works with artists like Nickelback and rising country stars such as Bailey Zimmerman and Nate Smith. When he encountered Foster, he recalled, “I was at a stage in my life where I was purely enjoying myself.” At this point, Foster paused from chopping carrots. “That’s carefree vibe,” she commented. “Off the record,” Tikhman said, holding Noa. “On the record,” she retorted immediately.
The main difference between them seems to be in deciding which aspects of their lives to share publicly. Tikhman points out that privacy is deeply valued in their culture, while Foster feels that openness fosters connection. For instance, Foster once revealed his mother’s health condition as if it were classified information. On the other hand, Foster finds herself drawn to transparency and openly discusses everything. This clash of perspectives was intriguing to Foster, who had been struggling for nearly a decade to launch a television series. As a result, she began brainstorming ideas for a show based on their unique relationship.
She just neglected to tell him about it.
A few days prior, Foster was sitting at her kitchen table feeding Noa and brainstorming another pitch via Zoom when I arrived. She abruptly interrupted the call saying, “I have something that outranks everyone here.” Changing her attire, she donned a yellow pin-striped shirt from her fashion line and a baseball hat emblazoned with FAKE RELATIONSHIP from 831 Stories – a female-led business where Foster sisters have invested in, as part of their “unintended empire.
We’re heading to Great White, a trendy café with locations across the city. Foster and Tikhman are living in West Hollywood until they finish renovating their Hancock Park home, but the apartment has sentimental value because it’s where Noa was born. As we leave, she nods to the living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. “I tried to give birth right over there in a tub, and it just didn’t happen,” she says.
Prior to embarking on TV writing, Foster initially found success as an actress with minor roles in television series from the early 2000s. She describes this phase as the “easiest choice,” expressing that she doesn’t harbor feelings of pride about it. Notably, she played a significant character arc as a tormentor to Marissa Cooper on The O.C.. and was involved in the accident that led to the character’s demise. When asked if her connection to The O.C. influenced her decision to cast Brody, she jokes, “I hope he never finds out!” Upon recalling her, Brody exclaims, “Oh my God, the legendary car crash!” He recalls, and he seems to have mistakenly thought she was her sister when he first read the script. After reading the script, he quickly agreed to join the cast, expressing enthusiasm for the chance to play a lovable goof or dork, as it had been a while since he had the opportunity to portray a romantic lead.
Around 2012, Foster found inspiration to write from her role as a columnist for HelloGiggles, a women’s site founded by her friend Sophia Rivka Rossi. She recalls thinking, “Wow, I have a set of skills,” and felt motivated to make the most of it. Her manager, Oly Obst, who is also an executive producer for Nobody Wants This, taught her how to write a script. She then joined the writing room for Ryan Murphy’s sitcom, The New Normal, which was short-lived in 2012. Her closest shot at having a show produced was in 2018 with a pilot titled Daddy Issues, starring herself and Don Johnson as her father, who starts dating her best friend. However, the show wasn’t picked up, causing Foster to question her abilities as a writer. “I wondered, Am I even a writer?” she says. “Is my writing only about people in my life as they truly are?” Despite not airing, the project did secure Foster and Sara a development deal with 20th Television.
The subject of her famous father looms over our lunch. Growing up, Foster says, her dad was around a lot but in the studio much of the time. He discouraged her from pursuing music after three months of piano lessons. “I was doing it to have a connection to him,” she says. “And when he said, ‘You don’t have it, and it’s okay,’ it kind of set me free.” His job was obviously not without perks. Foster remembers being so excited when he worked on a few songs with Madonna shortly after she appeared at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards wearing the famous blue satin Gucci shirt with a black bra. Foster begged her mother to buy her a similar blue shirt so she could go to her father’s place after school to meet the Queen of Pop. “In my seventh-grade brain, she was going to think I had good style and want to be friends,” she says. “Safe to say the shirt was not a hit. I don’t think she noticed it or cared.”
Previously, Foster was more guarded about her family ties. However, she now acknowledges a benefit, stating, “It’s quite convenient to feel at ease in such circles.” She adds, “Perhaps it could be intriguing for someone to engage in a meeting with the daughter of so-and-so. And encountering someone influential in the entertainment world can be daunting. But, having been exposed to such environments from an early age – I may have unjustifiably overestimated my own capabilities.
She remembers bombing an early pitch for a script called How to Raise a Boyfriend, which was based on a book but also on her failure to turn guys with “goatees and roommates” into stable life partners. When asked in the meeting how it would end, she said she wasn’t sure, which was true in both an existential and literal sense. The feedback was terse: “You should know what you’re pitching.” She also worked on a script called Lezzie, which secured her representation with CAA, about “a girl who becomes a lesbian and thinks it’s really cool, and it becomes really performative for her,” says Foster, who dated celebrity DJ and Lindsay Lohan ex Samantha Ronson in 2011. “Which is not something I thought I was doing at the time.”
After that emerged “Barely Famous”, a VH1 reality show parody that ran from 2015 to 2016. This was the Foster sisters’ answer to constant demands for an authentic reality show, aiming to bridge the gap with a cluster of related programming such as “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”. (The Fosters’ father was previously married to both Linda Thompson, mother of Brandon and Brody Jenner, and Yolanda Hadid, mother of Gigi and Bella, who also starred on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”.) In this series, they portrayed themselves as superficial socialites craving significance. They secured appearances from friends like Courteney Cox and Chris Martin, and the show gained traction in its biting second season. In one episode, Erin contemplates being pregnant by either Zach Braff or the valet who parked their car. “Having Zach Braff’s baby is plan A,” Sara tells the cameras. “Having the valet’s baby is like going to Planned Parenthood.
Foster queries, “Were you watching it for the first time today as preparation?” I affirm that I did. Laughing, she responds, “Apparently, no one was actually watching it,” she says. “We’d get the ratings, and our show was listed among a hundred others, including late-night cartoons, at the very bottom.” She idly moves a taro chip through some guacamole. “Some believed it was real, which was heartbreaking for us,” she adds.
The show “Barely Famous” was short-lived, but it sparked a flourishing professional partnership between Foster and her sister. They communicate frequently, briefly worked together at Bumble, and have invested in numerous start-ups. Notably, Sara holds the role of executive producer for all of Erin’s projects on 20th Television. Interestingly, it was Sara who approached “Modern Family” co-creator Steven Levitan at the exclusive San Vicente Bungalows several years ago, persuading him to join as an executive producer for “Nobody Wants This“. As she puts it, “I stalked” him. Her words were, “Let’s find someone who can give us a better chance of getting bought.
The siblings didn’t always have a strong bond, a topic they occasionally discuss on their podcast. While Erin developed a connection with their younger sibling Jordan, she felt jealous towards Sara. “Sara’s life just seemed so extraordinarily fortunate,” Erin admits. “It was as if every opportunity was handed to her, and then one would be shut in my face.” Sara was intelligent, popular, and successful in acting; she starred in the 2004 cult favorite D.E.B.S. and joined the cast of the 2008 revival of 90210 during its second season. Sara contends over the phone, “I believe Erin exaggerates the situation. I didn’t have an older sister to guide me through our family’s complexities. It took a lot of therapy for me to grasp her narrative and for her to understand mine.
A significant portion of Foster’s young adult life mirrored her character in the series, “Barely Famous,” as she dated numerous individuals she referred to as ‘less than ideal,’ while Sara was in a relationship with former tennis player Tommy Haas and co-parenting their two children. Then came Erin and Simon. “Life became more peaceful, and I felt truly content,” Foster says. However, she recognized that contentment wasn’t particularly amusing or creatively stimulating. It was the Fosters’ manager, Obst, who encouraged her to pitch a series based on her conversion, originally titled “Shiksa.” Upon starting work on it just before the pandemic, she finally shared the news with Tikhman: “He asked, ‘Hold on, are you writing a show making fun of my family?’
At first, Foster wrote “Nobody Wants This ” intending to act in it herself. However, Netflix preferred Bell. “Kristen said, ‘I don’t want to take a role away from you,’ and I replied, ‘Firstly, Netflix isn’t actually offering me the role, and secondly, I’m trying to get pregnant,'” Foster explained. She believed Bell would perform well in the role. “To be honest, I really didn’t want Joanne to be portrayed as a messy woman who meets you with mascara running down her face. Kristen isn’t someone who is edgy. She has a natural warmth about her,” Foster added.
In the series, Noah’s parents express disapproval when their rabbi son starts dating Joanne. However, it’s important to note that they were never openly hostile, but rather showed skepticism, especially after she attended a Rosh Hashanah service with them and later confessed that she wasn’t particularly affected by the experience. In fact, she found herself wanting to check her phone around the two-hour mark, which she didn’t mention, but she admits, “I knew right away I had made a mistake.” Upon returning home, they engaged in an argument.
According to Tikhman, he admits he could have managed the situation better and states, “Being with someone who requires honesty can sometimes be a bit tedious.” Prior to their New Year’s Eve 2019 wedding, they attended eight weeks of Choosing Judaism classes together. Foster swiftly adopted the faith, particularly Tikhman’s Reform denomination. She appreciated being encouraged to question and doubt, enjoyed the rabbi emphasizing that their car conversations were crucial for conversion, and was drawn to the idea that converts are closest to God. With a hint of smugness, she looks at Tikhman and says, “It felt like they valued my spirit instead of trying to suppress it, which made me feel accepted in a unique way.
As a cinephile, my passion for films was what convinced Tikhman that the project named “Shiksa” held a sincere and respectful intent. “Her voice is so genuine,” he expresses, “I can tell when she speaks, it would be unfair to discourage her. Yet, I also know Erin understands where the boundary lies.” It’s comforting that the characters in this film don’t mirror my own family. Although Tikhman claims there’s no one funnier than Simons, he assures me his brother shares “literally zero” similarities with his on-screen counterpart. “I deliberately crafted distinct characters,” says Foster, “to avoid any potential marital disputes.
In preparation for filming, the pair participated with the crew for a staging of Alex Edelman’s one-man comedy titled “Just for Us.” This production delves into Edelman’s experiences infiltrating a white supremacist group based in Queens. Edelman’s exploration of Jewish identity and victimhood mirrors the later stages of Foster’s conversion, when her rabbi inquired, “Are you ready to be hated?” To which she responded, “Hated? It’s 2019. People don’t hate Jewish people.” Foster adorns a Star of David necklace and one that spells NOA in Hebrew. She admits that she hasn’t directly encountered antisemitism but acknowledges that the premiere of “Nobody Wants This” occurs at a sensitive time, just weeks before the first anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel and amid urgent pleas for a truce in Gaza. “This show is not intended to offer any kind of commentary on current events,” she explains. “I genuinely hope people don’t expect it. I wasn’t raised Jewish, nor did I grow up in Israel, so I believe it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to attempt to narrate that story.
If Netflix approves a second series, Foster intends to delve deeper into the conversion journey, a storyline not often portrayed so prominently since Charlotte married Harry in the last season of Sex and the City. “I’m accustomed to writing about all the troubles in my life,” Foster notes. “My manager often says that when things are going well, it can feel like you’re being constantly hit with your own aspirations.
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2024-09-24 15:55