Kimmy Shields on ‘Insatiable’ and Her Love of Dark Comedy [Exclusive Interview]

The Netflix original series that’s already gotten a lot of attention premiered today.

Insatiable centers on Bob (Dallas Roberts), a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach who takes on Patty (Debbie Ryan), a vengeful, bullied teenager as his client. But Bob has no idea what he’s about to unleash upon the world.

Kimmy Shields plays the role of Nonnie, Patty’s best friend, who will drop anything to help her friend when she asks.

I recently spoke with Shields about her role on Insatiable, her love for dark comedy, and how she got her start in acting.

Shields comes from a family who loves the theater, so it’s something she’s known since childhood. “My parents actually met doing community theater in college and just sort of fell in love,” Shields began.

“We grew up tagging along to rehearsals and shows and cast parties. That was just such a normal thing for us, so by the time I was six years old and my brother was nine years old we both did our first play.”

That love of theater stuck with Shields. “I went to college for musical theater. My last semester, my manager swooped in and found me in a showcase on campus, and then just circumstantially flipped from pursuing stage to then the commercial and television side of things. That’s pretty much it. It’s just been this great, fantastic, upward momentum since then.”

For Shields, acting is about more than entertaining people.

“I want to be so good at my job that all that’s left to discuss is the content at hand, that I can get out of the way and just let people grasp the bigger themes being presented in the work that I do,” she said, adding that she wanted people to be able to “start those conversations and have dialogues about things that maybe they were scared to broach in the first place.”

Shields was excited to be a part of Insatiable because it was so unique and because it opens up a chance for those conversations.

“It was certainly something I had never seen before. It just sounded so delicious to me, because I’ve always been a fan of dark comedy and value it very highly, so that was definitely something to kind of wet my whistle in a new way,” she said.

“It’s such a strange thing to say, but I feel like comedy and cancer are almost the same thing, because it doesn’t choose people specifically,” she explained. “Everything should be available to make fun of because nothing in life should be taken so seriously that you can never make a joke out of it.”

“I love that our show has decided to take that and just run with it, and do an entire season of this really great almost campy show. I love that it’s in the vein of like a Heathers or almost like Scream Queens or something,” Shields continued.

“It’s certainly not to be taken literally, and I hope people understand that once they start watching the show. It’s just such a fresh, new way of handling these things that we’re triggered by or anxious about or scared of. It’s taking it and just saying, ‘You know what? You can take the power back if you make a joke about it,’ because then you get to really have that on your side.”

Shields loves her character, Nonnie Thompson, who she said she would “love to be friends with if she existed in real life.”

“She basically has been in love Patty they were three years old,” Shields continued. “She just hasn’t really vocalized it yet, but she’s always kind of known she’s felt these feelings because she’s sort of insatiable for identity, both [in] her sexual identity because she’s grappling with these feelings with Patty, but she’s never really had a boyfriend, but she’s also never really had a girlfriend.”

“You see her go through both of those sides, where she kind of dates a boy and then she kind of dates a girl, but sort of abandons them both once Patty beckons because her tragic flaw is that she’s too loyal to Patty. So she sacrifices potentially healthy relationships with other people in order to keep Patty placated and happy.”

“She can really make herself a doormat for Patty in that respect, but she is smart and she’s very dry sometimes. She’s got really cool style.”

Shields noted that her first television role was as a transgender man on ABC’s Chasing Life, where she had the chance to work with trans actors and learn more about the LGBTQ community. So one of the things she loves about playing the role of Nonnie is that she gets to “stand as an ally for that community and an advocate.”

“I love that the possibility is there for someone who is of the community, or even questioning whether or not they should be in that community, that hopefully they can watch our show and see this character who is new to it and really spending the season working her way through it, asking questions, being curious, and getting nervous, too. Just feeling a whole lot of feelings about it.”

Shields also gushed about what an amazing experience she had working on the series.

“I think the casting department for this show had really great integrity about staying true to pursuing diverse casting because when I tested it was between me and three other girls. None of us looked alike. So that was really cool that it was boiled down to pure skill and just chemistry with the other castmates,” she said.

“I was so nurtured and looked after by Lauren Gussis and Andy Fleming and the entire crew through this whole process was just — I feel absolutely spoiled. They have set the bar so high. I cannot wait to be disappointed on my next gig.”

“I’m just blown away by that,” Shields continued. “The amount of respect and love and care for one another that was exhibited by these people. Maybe that’s just pure southern hospitality because we were in Georgia and hired so many locals, but it was truly a remarkable experience.”

“I tell you, it has been a truly divine year. Just a complete miracle wrapped up in a bow in the shape of a television show called Insatiable.”

—

You can catch Kimmy Shields as Nonnie on Insatiable, which is currently streaming on Netflix.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!