‘The Bold Type’ Star Meghann Fahy On Sutton’s Tough Decision In Tuesday’s Episode

Actress tells TheWrap that she and her character are “polar opposites” and explains the one thing the Freeform series gets wrong about New York

The Bold Type
Freeform

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 5 of “The Bold Type,” “Stride of Pride”

In Tuesday night’s episode of “The Bold Type,” Sutton finds out that Dillon, the guy she’s sleeping with, isn’t the charming bachelor he seems to be — he’s married.

It’s a pretty shocking revelation that Sutton must endure in public — mid-“Mamma Mia” karaoke performance, no less. But Sutton isn’t satisfied with deleting Dillon’s number and trying to forget the whole ordeal. She’s determined to make things right with Dillon’s wife, and confesses what happened.

I think too often women become essentially allies for the men that they cheat with,” actress Meghann Fahy, who plays Sutton, told TheWrap on Tuesday. “In Sutton’s specific instance, she didn’t know he was married, and I think that there is an impulse sometimes to just say, ‘Well, I’m not going to say anything, I’m just never going to talk to him again and that will be the end of it.’ But I think woman to woman, there is a sense of sort of responsibility to just say, ‘Hey, I messed up and I didn’t know, and I want you to know that this happened.’ And then that woman can make her own decision.”

It turns out to be in Sutton’s favor to come clean — Dillon’s wife appreciates her honesty, and Sutton seems to realize that she still has feelings for Richard (Sam Page), the older, Scarlet board member who served as her love interest in Season 1.

I would love for her journey to lead her to a place where she realizes  that she can and does deserve to have both [love and career],” Fahy said. “I think all women — and men — deserve to have both.” While that’s often easier said than done, Fahy said she’s happy to know that other women are connecting and relating to Sutton. 

My roommate, during the first season, was in a similar predicament, and she thought that the way they told the story between Richard and Sutton was pretty spot on,” she said. “So I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really cool to know that people are connecting to that.’” 

Check out the rest of our conversation with Fahy below.

TheWrap: Your character is put in such an awkward position in this week’s episode. How would you have handled that situation?

Meghann Fahy: You know, I have never been in that situation, thankfully, so based on my experience of it through Sutton, I do think that is how I would have handled it, because I think too often women become essentially allies for the men that they cheat with. Like, in Sutton’s specific instance, she didn’t know he was married, and I think that there is an impulse sometimes to just say, “Well I’m not going to say anything, I’m just never going to talk to him again and that will be the end of it.” But I think woman to woman, there is a sense of sort of responsibility to just say, ‘”Hey, I messed up and I didn’t know and I want you to know that this happened,” and then that woman can make her own decision. Every relationship is different, you’re never in anyone else’s bedroom, you don’t know the ins and outs, but I think yes, I would have done the same thing that Sutton did in that specific situation.

The show is good at keeping its main characters in check, like in this week’s episode when Jane and Kat hash it out about diversity and privilege. 

Yeah, I think that’s a hard conversation to have, in general, but especially between friends, and I think, you know, these women are flawed, and they want to learn, and I think watching them learn is part of what’s so exciting about the show. 

I’m still waiting for that $600 charge Sutton put on her Scarlet credit card to come back to bite her. Does it?

I will say that Sutton does have to take responsibility for her actions. So we will see that play out.

How similar are you to Sutton in real life?

There is a ton of myself that I bring to her, and I think we all three do that, which is part of what makes the characters feel so authentic, but beyond that, I mean Sutton has this amazing passion for fashion and and eye for it, and can go into a vintage store and make a killer outfit out of $12. I do not have that, at all. Fashion is so hard for me, it always has been something that I have struggled with… On that front, we are like actually polar opposites. And that’s kind of fun to play somebody who knows what they’re doing because I don’t, and I still don’t. I’ve learned a lot through playing her. But it’s funny that that — fashion I would say is one of my biggest things that I struggle with. So to play somebody so comfortable in that environment has been amazing.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from working on the show about fashion?

I’d say the biggest thing that I learned is it’s not — it sounds so cliche — but I think people really respond to someone’s level of comfort more than anything. Like, more than you respond to the actual clothes, they respond to, like, the way that you feel while you’re wearing them. … Confident and comfortable, people will respond to that. So I think one thing that I’ve sort of taken away, is like, yeah it’s fun to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone and all those things, but at the end of the day, you’re the person walking around wearing the clothes, so if you feel great in it, then it’s the right choice.

Going back to before Season 1, tell me about your audition and how you bonded with your co-stars Katie Stevens and Aisha Dee. It seems like you are good friends in real life, too.

We are really close, which has been such a lovely part of this experience, and we’ll remain friends I think, you know, long after the show is off the air, whenever that may be. I auditioned, I put myself on tape in New York, and then they wanted to test me, so I went out to L.A. and I had a chemistry read with Aisha and Sam Page. Katie was not there that weekend, I think she was at a wedding somewhere, she had already been cast, so the first time that the three of us met was actually in New York. Katie’s boyfriend was playing a show, he’s in a band, was in a band at the time, and he was playing in New York and she invited us, so the three of us went and spent the night together, and it was truly an immediate connection. I mean we, that night, felt like we had been friends for years. And I think that really shows on screen.

Sutton chooses her career over her relationship with Richard, and then seems to regret it a little bit. Then there’s the gut-punching scene after they break up where she sees him with someone else. Can we expect more to their story? What makes this situation so relatable?

You know, it’s really sad, I think, to see Sutton have to give up something that’s so good and so right with Richard because it’s so hard to find people you connect with that way, but I do support the decision that she made initially to kind of focus on herself and herself first. I think ideally I would love for her journey to lead her to a place where she realizes  that she can and does deserve to have both. I think all women — and men — deserve to have both. And I think it’s really common in these sort of scenarios where you do have to sacrifice either love or your career, and that’s a really unfortunate circumstance. I do think it’s relatable, I mean my roommate, during the first season, was in a similar predicament, and she thought that the way they told the story between Richard and Sutton was pretty spot on, so I thought, wow that’s really cool to know that people are connecting to that.

I feel like whenever a show is set in New York, the city becomes an undeniable part of the story. As a New Yorker, how well does “The Bold Type” represent the city?

I mean, yes I think the show actually does a really good job of that. We shoot in Montreal, which is amazing, it’s a beautiful, beautiful place, and there’s a lot of character and architecture there that I think serves the show really well. We shot the pilot in Toronto and there’s this sort of famous subway scene where we’re, you know, screaming and holding hands in our fancy dresses. And I, like, as a New Yorker, was personally like… it looks nothing like the New York subway and everyone’s going to know it! And like no one else cared, I will say that’s the only thing that the show doesn’t, can’t pull off, because the New York subway is so iconic and so specific, and sooo difficult to re-create. But beyond that, I think in terms of like the restaurants, and the apartments and those kinds of things — I mean, the apartments are a little bit embellished, I think. They’re a little bit nicer than they probably really would be if they were living in New York on these budgets. But, you know, it is a TV show, so it’s a little bit of escapism and wish fulfillment, which is nice too. So I think the show does a really nice job of balancing that.

“The Bold Type” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Freeform.

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