Humans are smug creatures aren’t we? By the time we’re 21 we think we have the world—and ourselves—all figured out. We’ve gotten through high school, puberty is done and dusted and the workforce is ours, baby.
Well, spoiler alert: you never stop growing, learning, and in the words of Kylie Jenner “realising stuff”. This is evident in Avocado Toast, a comedy series that’s free to stream now on PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION.
Avocado Toast was created by (and stars) Canadian actors and writers, Heidi Lynch and Perrie Voss. The series follows Molly (Lynch), who falls in love with another woman – and subsequently comes out – for the first time in her early 30s. As she’s having realisations about her sexuality, Molly also learns that her parents have been in an open marriage for years.
At the same time, Molly’s best friend Elle, played by Perrie, learns that her mum is having an affair with a man young enough to be her brother. Her little brother, at that.
Inspired by the likes of Fleabag, I May Destroy You, Girls and Feel Good, this semi-autobiographical series is one to add to your millennial TV comfort show rotation.
We caught up with the clever co-creators to learn more about the process of creating and starring in your own TV show, the importance of LGBTQIA+ representation on screen, as well as why we should normalise the “second adolescence”.
PEDESTRIAN.TV: Hi, Perrie and Heidi! Where did the idea for Avocado Toast come from?
Perrie: We wanted to look at what happens when life-changing experiences that typically occur during adolescence (like coming out and dealing with a parental divorce) happen in your early 30s instead. Our experiences were that it creates a second adolescence in many ways; angst, confusion, and big, sometimes absurd, feelings. We wanted to explore our real-life stories but give a universal aspect as well, so we created fictional characters from that viewpoint.
Many sitcoms surround people in their 30s but why did you want to explore the sex lives of boomers as well?
Heidi: I think Perrie and I both like bringing somewhat opposing groups together. When we made the show, the article saying that millennials would be fine in the cost-of-living crisis if we just stopped buying $12 avocado toast was going around. Hence the title.
We wanted to explore the painfully awkward and hilarious convos that happen when baby boomers and millennials are forced to talk about sex. Whether that’s when coming out as bisexual and having to say ‘sex’ at your parents’ faces because it’s in the word, or boomer parents finding new love (and sometimes lust) and suddenly having to be confronted with the fact that they’re sexual people. We wanted to humanise the generations through comedy.
In another interview you say “We haven’t found a bisexual story that we were able to wholly relate to.” Why do you think the media lacks bisexual representation at the moment?
Heidi: I think bisexual people get lumped in with the gender of whoever their primary partner is at that time. I have a lot of friends who were in a relationship with a woman or women for years, then when they’re with a man feel left out of the LGBTQ+ community.
I am straight-presenting but married to a woman, so people either assume I’m straight or gay. My wonderful lesbian friends do it all the time right in front of me “Oh she’s straight now” when talking about people.
It’s not intentionally harmful but humans like clear boxes that make sense, and in that, bisexual, queer and fluid people often get erased. I will say the book All Fours by Miranda July is a must. Also, in Perrie’s new show, Stories From My Gay Grandparents, they reference a bisexual historical changemaker and say “Can’t forget the B in LGBTQ+” and it made my heart sing.
What was it like exploring the taboo of an older woman dating a (much) younger man when we see that trope gender-flipped all the time?
Perrie: Heidi and I both know so many vital and vibrant women over 60 who could just as easily date younger men if they wanted to. But, yes, we typically only see older men dating younger women. It’s such an eye-roll cliché both in fiction and in life.
We wanted to show a version of a woman in her late 50s/early 60s who was taking hold of her wants and needs. Women over 50 are so often sidelined to ‘elderly’ or ‘grandmother’ type roles but we both feel very strongly that that narrative can and should change.
There’s an expectation for women especially to “have their lives together” by the time they’re 30. What made you want to explore how it looks when things haven’t exactly gone to plan?
Perrie: I think people mature and come into their own at many different stages of life. 30 is a wildly young age to have made some big life decisions, and I’ve also experienced the most growth and personal development and self-understanding in my 30s, including understanding my sexuality and meeting my life partner.
I think it’s deeply important to learn and grow for your whole life. Get it together at 70. Or don’t. But the glory is in the journey and the freedom of figuring stuff out as you go.
Do you have any advice for people who realise they’re queer slightly later in life?
Perrie: Hilariously, I came out after we shot Avocado Toast season one, and I was co-editing the show in post-production and suddenly discovered that Molly’s storyline gave me a lot of hope. Even though I helped write it, I was looking at it with a new scope and it helped me.
Heidi and I both realised we were queer later in life. When I realised I was gay, I was 35 and it was like a light went on inside me and suddenly everything was full colour.
I would say that you’re not alone. I felt very alone because it was the pandemic and [I was] locked in my house, but what was emphasised at that time is that we need more representation of queer people in media.
There’s no right time to come out and just because you’ve dated one gender your whole life doesn’t make you any less gay.
Who do you recommend to watch Avocado Toast?
Everyone. Now. Do it. You won’t regret it.
But seriously, Perrie and I love creating LGBTQ+ inclusive stories that everyone can enjoy, and will see themselves in. We’re just normalising the normal of that in our work.
Stream season one of Avocado Toast for free on PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION via 9Now.
