MTV’s favorite teen comedy, Awkward, returns tonight for its fourth season and things are going to get crazy. In anticipation of the new season, OHSOGRAY caught up with the show’s charming star, Greer Grammer, who plays Lissa. Greer previewed what fans can expect this season and talked about how her own life does (and does not) mirror the show.
As the series has progressed, Lissa’s role on the show has expanded. What can we expect for her this season?
You can expect a lot from Lissa, actually. Lissa has much more of a storyline this season. You get to meet her family, kind of. We briefly saw Lissa’s mom, I think in the first season, but we never actually met her or Lissa’s dad. So you get to see a lot more of her family dynamic. You get to see her and Sadie’s relationship more – not that we’ve ever not seen their relationship – it kind of dives deeper into it. They have problems. Chris and Mike, the showrunners, kind of brought it back to second season how – they didn’t fight a lot – but how her and Sadie’s relationship got repaired but were [still] fighting. That gets included more this season, which is really nice.
What else can you tell us about Lissa’s family?
Lissa’s mom the typical PV mom; she has country club things. But you get to see the Millers, that’s their last name (Lissa finally got a last name!), adopt a son from Africa. When we first see Lissa, she’s in Africa and she comes back and says, “Meet my baby brother.” You’ll get to see Lissa compete for her mom’s attention with the new brother. It’s funny.
You mentioned the new showrunners, Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler, how has that transition been this season?
It went really well. It was really important to them to get to know us all before we got to work, so we all had dinners beforehand. They were very open with emailing us. They wanted to feel like a part of the family and really did a good job at doing that. They were so excited to be a part of the show and they showed that every day. They were fans of the show beforehand, so they were so happy to be able to write for these characters and to take it over. It just kind of gave this new sense of energy to the show, which was awesome.
How is it for everyone in the senior year of school? What kinds of emotions will that bring up?
It brings up a lot of emotions, actually. People don’t know what they’re going to do or where they’re going to go. Tamara and Jenna have always planned on going to college together, so you get to see if that’s something that is going to happen or if they’re going to split up. College is kind of scary because everyone kind of leaves. We’ve had this group of kids and now none of them know what’s going to happen in the future or if they’re even going to get in to college.
With teen shows, you always have this awkward moment of leaving high school and how to make that transition to college. There’ve been very few shows that have actually successfully shown college. Do you think that they are going to want to go in this direction or have their even been those discussions yet?
No, there really haven’t been…we’ve kind of tried to talk about it…but not really. We do know that season four is not ending with graduation – it’s ending with spring break. So that kind of made us all very happy, because we were all kind of scared it was going to end with graduation and none of us knew what was going to happen. I have no idea what the plan is for after high school; that’s always the problem with having high school shows.
Although, your sister’s show Greek was one of the best shows for college portrayal…
Yes! That is true! I just recently started rewatching Greek because it’s on Netflix. I loved that show. Now that I’m in college, it just strikes so much more with me because everything is so true.
I saw on your Twitter that your friend was lavaliered and I had instant Greek flashback.
I know, I know! It was so exciting. My boyfriend graduated last year and we’d only been dating for like five months. So, we had this awkward …clearly I really wanted to be pinned or lavaliered, and it’s not happening. So I’m still depressed about it. [Laughs] But all my friends are, and it’s super exciting. I love it. But, yeah, I thought the same thing…Casey and Evan! [Laughs]
For the premiere, are you going to get together with your friends to watch?
Probably – as long as everyone doesn’t have class. It’s so funny, last year I had class late on Tuesdays, so when the show was airing, I could never actually watch it. Even last semester when the second half of season three was airing … I remember the finale, I was studying for finals. So, I think so. I usually always like to watch the premiere. I don’t live in my sorority house anymore, but I live in a house really nearby with ten of my best friends, so I’ll make them all watch it.
The show has won Teen Choice and People’s Choice Awards, what do you think it is about the show that resonates for young people?
Besides the fact the fact that it’s hilarious and the writing is great, I think it’s just realistic. Clearly, there are parts that are campy and are over the top as far as actual high school goes. I think everyone can relate to the different characters. Everyone has liked the popular boy, but known that they would never reach that or get him. And if you did, it could’ve been something similar to, “I really like you, but nobody can know.” I think I even had that in high school, as I’m sure did thousands of girls. The characters are really relatable. You have the mean girl. You have the cheerleader. You have the class president and the perfect boy. I just think it’s a relatable show.
You have the unique experience of actually reliving high school in some way, but if you could go back and redo high school, would you want to?
Yeah, actually. If I’d been asked that question two years ago, I probably would have been like, “No. I hated high school.” Maybe this is just me being nostalgic since I’m graduating college this year and feel old like crazy, but I think there is something magical about high school because you don’t have to worry about bills or anything else the world makes you pay attention to. You worry about your homework and then worry about the boy. You have your first kiss. Everything is sort of magical and new and you’re not jaded by the world yet.
Since you are graduating soon, do you have any plans for summer? Are you going to take any big trips to celebrate?
We’re on hiatus right now, and I think we go back to work in May. I think we finish in July, so I’m working til July. Then I think after that, yeah, I kinda want…I’m looking into things to do. There’s a part of me that wants to go to Disneyworld – cause I’m a child. [Laughs] But, I also don’t think I’d want to go during the summer because Florida seems humid and hot and crazy. I don’t know – maybe like a trip to Hawaii or even to Napa – that’d be nice.
Well, I think you’ve earned it by now.
Yeah, I’m just sort of thinking and I’m trying to save up. It’s be really nice to plan a vacation and get away because I honestly haven’t had one for a really long time.
Catch the Awkward Season 4 premiere on Tuesday, April 15th at 10pm on MTV.