God Friended Me: Violett Beane On God, Religion and New York [Exclusive]

One of the most anticipated shows on CBS this fall will be the upcoming God Friended Me.

The television show circles around an atheist, who suddenly friended by God on Facebook. Thanks to God, he is led to adventures on helping out others with their troubles as he and friends seek out to find the real identity of God.

God Friended Me is created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (Gotham, Hawaii Five-0). The show revolves around religious topics, humanity and the Internet.

It stars Brandon Michael Hall (The Mayor), Violett Beane (The Flash), Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi, Homeland), and Joe Morton (Terminator 2, Eureka).

LRM Online had an exclusive phone interview last month with actress Violett Beane on her role, religion, and acting in New York.

God Friended Me will make its premiere on CBS on Sunday, September 30.

Read our exclusive interview transcript below.

LRM: Tell me on why you were attracted to a project like God Friended Me.

Violett Beane: To me it’s like a, it’s a very lighthearted uplifting show. I think[the world] that we’re in right now that we need something like this. When I read it during pilot season last year, I just really wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to kind of lift everyone’s spirit.

LRM: Tell us more about your character. When I first initially watched the pilot, it almost seems like it was like a one shot character. It’s not like that at all. Can you talk more about that?

Violett Beane: Yeah, absolutely. Just briefly, the premise is about an atheist to get friended by someone calling himself as God on Facebook. He denied the request for a bunch of times. He eventually decided, “What the heck? I’ll try it.” He accepted it. He immediately gets a request for my character.

I play Cara Bloom. She’s an online journalist, who is struggling with finding her mom. Her mom left when she was a little girl. She’s basically spent her whole life trying to find her to figure out why she left. Miles, actually in the pilot, helped her find her [mom] again. You would think that,as a friend suggestion–she would just be gone after she found her mom. There’s something about miles and something about the God account that she really, really interested in. She looks around and teamed up with the guys figure out who’s behind the account.

LRM: For your character, is it going to be more like a journalist or are you going to be like a romantic interest to Miles?

Violett Beane: I would say it might be a little bit of both. Each of the three of Miles, Rakesh and Cara, all bring something different to the team and that’s why it works. Cara definitely has a journalistic mind. She’s the one who won’t let the God account go. She thinks there’s something deeper. There’s a reason why they have to figure it out. With Rakesh, he’s the hacker so he’s able to get all the technical stuff down. Miles is really just a good guy. He’s out there just wanting to help people and make a change in the world.

LRM: It seems like all the characters that compliment with each other. That sounds terrific.

Violett Beane: Yeah. It’s really cool and fun to work with the guys. They’re great on set. It’s been really fun so far.

LRM: Since this is sort of like a religious background type of a TV show, do they provide a religious background for your character?

Violett Beane: Cara is Jewish. Each of the characters actually are from sort of a different background. Cara, her background is Jewish, but she doesn’t necessarily practice it. She does believe that there is a higher something in the world. There’s a connection between everyone. She doesn’t think it’s as cut and dry as Miles says.

LRM: What can you tease us of what some of the challenges that your character will be facing this season?

Violett Beane: In the pilot, you see Cara looking for her mom and that she finds her. What she’s going to realize is that it’s not an easy to connect with someone that you haven’t really known for 15 years. She’s going to be kind of struggling with that relationship seeing how they can move [beyond] their past. Also like you kind of hinted at, there is a little bit of something between Cara and Miles. That’s going to kind of develop. You’re going to see where that might go and what might happen.

LRM: Are you personally a religious person yourself? Do you believe in God?

Violett Beane: I was raised Quaker which a lot of people just think of the oatmeal. [Laughs] It’s a really interesting form of religion where you could kind of believe in any deity, but you come together in this community of people. You’re able to sort of speak freely about how you feel about the world. I’ve always really resonated with that and appreciated that. My mom took me to that as a kid. Lately, especially with the show, it makes me think about it a lot more. I personally don’t believe that there is a deity, as a higher being that either created or as far as watching over us. I do believe that there’s a connection between all of us. I think that that kind of is my God. There’s a reason why people come into your life and things happen at certain moments. I think that our connection with each other is my form of religion.

LRM: Oh, that’s interesting. When you landed into a project like this–does that actually make you even think even more as you progress through the storyline?

Violett Beane: Yeah, absolutely.

I mean the show, while it has God in the title–we come from different backgrounds. The show is more about the connectivity between people. It’s more about on how we can be there for each other and make a change in this world. We work towards peace and community.There definitely is some faith related things. It does make you think more about it on a daily. I think it is important. Being aware of the world and constantly questioning is great.

LRM: For the cast, you mentioned before you loved working with them, but what makes this cast so special in your opinion? What about working in New York for this project?

Violett Beane: It’s great. All the cast are fabulous down to like all of our guests stars to other players. Everyone has been fabulous. I think there’s something kind of special about New York. I filmed in Vancouver, Atlanta and LA–all of those places have been great. It’s been really fun shooting on location in New York because New York is so unpredictable and it’s so diverse. The people that you see in the stories that you’re able to tell on the show really, really makes sense here. It’s fun. It’s always an adventure walking on to the set and wondering who you’re going to see.

LRM: The funny thing about this show is that God has a social media account, but are you a social media person yourself?

Violett Beane: I am on social media. I have a decent following from the past shows that I’ve worked on. My main thing is just be myself. I don’t put too much pressure on it if I haven’t posted in a week. I just try to be myself and be real. I think it’s a great way for us to connect with each other. I think that’s what it was originally intended for.

LRM: Excellent. I do want to talk about that you have a strong fan base from a show called The Flash–since you’re going to be full time on God Friended Me–is it over for you at The Flash.

Violett Beane: One of the great things about it is that even if your character dies–you’re character doesn’t really dies. [Laughs] They’re always time traveling. They’re always bringing people back. I’ve always had an amazing time over on the set. I would love to go back. I don’t think it’s over for Jesse. She’s protecting an entire earth in her spare time. So I definitely think people will see her again.

LRM: Excellent. Hey, I appreciate this conversation. I’m very, very much. I really enjoy all your work that you actually do. Thank you.

Violett Beane: Thank you so much, Gig. I appreciate it.

Source: LRM Online

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