Levy does sing on the show, though. All the characters do. At the risk of spoiler-ing, I can confirm that you will hear Lorelai Gilmore sing tunes by both the Rolling Stones and Miley Cyrus within the first four episodes of this show. Levy spent the summer going to voice lessons to prepare for the role and says she’s often surprised to find herself in the center of giant dance numbers—choreographed to non-annoying perfection by La La Land’s Mandy Moore.
“If the show gets picked up for a second season I have all sorts of plans,” she says, excitedly, before giving specifics. “Tap dancing classes.”
I feel I can say confidently that we would all very much like to see Skylar Astin, Lauren Graham, and the rest of this cast tap dancing. But there may never be jazz hands or 5-6-7-8s on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The musical numbers take place inside Zoey’s head, and the rest of the show is naturalistic. We meet awkward tech workers, lonely baristas, and families who are in mourning. Zoey’s big tech world is glossy, sure, but its inhabitants are isolated.
Jane Levy in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.
Sergei Bachlakov/NBCIt’s not clear if Zoey’s ability to hear people’s thoughts is an Edward Cullen-style superpower or an imaginary escape—some type of coping mechanism. It’s moving and a little eerie but surprisingly relatable, right down to the emotional Whitney Houston covers. There’s even a fairly nuanced plot about how misogyny can infiltrate the workplace, even when your boss is a woman. For Levy, who has been outspoken about her feminism and support for women’s health groups (like Planned Parenthood), this topic is, unfortunately, familiar.
“I definitely have been treated in ways that I don’t think that men in my position would be treated,” she says. “I have been paid considerably less than my male co-stars, even on a movie in which I was supposed to be the lead. I actually ended up dropping out of it because I found out my co-star, who was male, was being paid more than five times as much as me and they would not negotiate a higher rate for me.”
She adds, “Some of my greatest confidantes in my life have been women.” (She’s close friends with Good Girls star Mae Whitman and comedian Jenny Slate, for example.) With this, I’m reminded of something Levy recently posted to her Instagram: a clip from the movie Dolores Claiborne, in which Judy Parfitt tells Kathy Bates, “Sometimes you have to be a high riding bitch to survive.” I ask Levy about it, and she laughs.
“I love women and I hope for a society and greater world to be more equal between the genders,” she says. “I’m all for equality, baby.”
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist premieres Tuesday, January 7, at 10 P.M. ET on NBC.
Jenny Singer is a staff writer for Glamour. Follow her on Twitter @JeanValjenny.
