The Grammy-winning, Emmy–nominated, and Tony-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles plays Dawn Solano in the Meredith Scardino-created show Girls5eva. Dawn’s journey this season echoes the celebrated artist’s own experiences in the music industry, with the Emmy-nominated song “Medium Time” stemming from Bareilles’ struggle with fame.
The quick-paced musical comedy about a girl band trying to restart their pop careers twenty years later is executive produced by Tina Fey and co-stars Busy Phillips, Paula Pell, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, moving to Netflix for its third season after being canceled by Peacock in 2022.
The most recent season mirrors the behind-the-scenes drama of switching streamers as the girl group hits the road, hoping to make it big as they promote their new album, ‘Returnity.’ As filming took place, the “Waitress: The Musical” star was flooded with memories of her journey as a solo artist, recalling the drive and stability she needed to find along the way.
“We actually did a lot of talking about being on the road and the crazy things that happen,” shares Bareilles. “I relate to this theme a lot in my own personal journey when our ambition becomes this insatiable need. There is beauty in learning gratitude and also contentment. To practice being okay with ‘This is enough.'”
A fourth season of Girls5eva has yet to be announced. Still, the laugh-out-loud comedy is as funny, smart, and poignant as ever. It takes aim at senators policing women’s health, the toxic messaging in pop songs, and chasing fame at all costs. Of course, there’s a joke about the show switching streamers. Bareille’s, who also co-created “Little Voice” on Apple TV+, credits the writers’ room with keeping the show fresh and up-to-date.
“Our writers are insanely smart, and they’re so current,” explains Bareilles. “There’s lots of times we get the scripts and I have to look things up, like I’m not cool enough for this.”
Bareilles spoke to Awards Focus about relating to Dawn’s journey on a personal level, how her co-stars reacted to her Emmy-nominated song and what success means to her after so many years in the spotlight.
Awards Focus: The girls are on tour promoting their album this season. While prepping and playing these scenes, did you have flashbacks to being on tour as a solo artist?
Sara Bareilles: Yes, from the sort of dingy green rooms to all of the things you do to just make it work on the road. All of those creature comforts that you discover for yourself on the road. I was flooded with memories like, “Oh yeah, I used to have to find a place to change my clothes.”
We didn’t have a hotel room; we were in a van and trailer. I think the girls in the show are maybe living a little higher life than I was living back when I was first getting started. I did have a lot of flashbacks, and I never did it as a girl group; I wasn’t in an official band; I had a band, and we definitely operated very similarly to this, but it was also a lot of fun.
AF: I love Dawn’s journey this season and the theme of having integrity as an artist in your songwriting and performance. I’m curious what it was like for you to play that and how you relate to that on a personal level. How do you walk the line of standing up for your beliefs while also trying to break in?
Bareilles: I think that every artist has to answer that for themselves, and I love seeing her struggle with that because it’s very real. I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine, a songwriter, who started getting into all these songwriting camps where you’re just trying to turn out a song that you hope gets placed with a big artist. They need to write songs, and maybe they love the song, or maybe they don’t, but they’re just trying to get songs made and produced. He told me, “Well, sometimes you have to make an end table so you can go make a sculpture,” and I got that. I really got that.
So, I love seeing Dawn struggle with that, and I also love the part of her through this season that actually comes to a sense of peace around her own nostalgia and that it’s okay to love something that’s flawed. Not everything we do is going to age well, but it’s not worth throwing out the joy. Maybe some of the bad habits we might want to leave beside the road, but let’s take our joy with us.
AF: Let’s talk about the Emmy-nominated song ‘Medium Time’ and how it was created. I love the scene where the four of you are singing it at the piano. I’d also love to hear what the initial reactions to the song were from your co-stars Busy Phillips, Paula Pell, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
Bareilles: We’re a group of criers, so usually it’s a lot of tears. There’s a lot of hearts and crying emojis. This song came out very instinctually for me, and I wanted to give them a more heartfelt song.
In fact, I was thinking about one time on set when we were just practicing our harmonies for one of the scenes, and we just love singing together so much; it’s such a joy. I thought it’d be really nice to do something soulful, that we get to just sit and sing, and we’re not really doing anything but that. That was kind of the hope for what I was aiming at.
I relate to this theme a lot in my own personal journey when sometimes our ambition becomes this insatiable need, like a hungry bird’s mouth that can never get enough, and there is beauty in learning gratitude and also contentment. To practice being okay with ‘This is enough.’
There is no audience, but this is still enough at this moment, and I love seeing the girls tease that out in each other because they are really ambitious. I like seeing that in their characters, but I also think it’s really important to remember to stop and take stock of what you do have.
AF: The show moved to Netflix this season and was filmed differently. It was more like a movie shoot, a very quick crunch of six weeks, and for the first time ever, you had the same director, Kimmy Gatewood, all season. Were the scenes shot sequentially, and how did that challenge you as a performer?
Bareilles: I’m still so new to acting that I found that the block shooting was very difficult, just in terms of staying oriented as to what came before and where you were going. These episodes are really ambitious anyway, and a lot is happening, and it’s so zany that sometimes it’s easy to sort of lose the thread. Thankfully, there are other people really watching that for you and helping you find your way, but that was one place where, as an actor, I was like, “Oh, I have a lot to learn with that.”
And then there were parts of it that came so much easier, and I think some of that came from the familiarity of the crew and the cast. We’re just so easy with each other now, like sisters, and that is great for the characters, too, as their bond grows over time.
AF: What has the feedback been like from your perspective? Has it changed after the most recent season?
Bareilles: You know what is happening to me? I am getting stopped on the street, not for anything but “Girls5eva,” which is amazing to me. I live in New York City, so a lot of times, it has generally been regarding “Waitress,” which I love, but there has been a marked change in why people are stopping me to tell me that they like my work it’s because of “Girls5eva” and that is a really amazing feeling. I’m getting stopped in Times Square next to a theater because they’re like, “Oh, my God!”
AF: A lot of this season deals with fame and what it means to be successful, and I am curious about your take on that.
Bareilles: Success to me means, Do you get to love what you make? I don’t think it necessarily correlates with even having your art be the thing that sustains your lifestyle. Loving what you make and getting to do the making is part of being successful. There’s so much as an artist that is just out of your control, and you can spend a lot of time beating yourself up on how you didn’t manipulate this or that or hire the right person or the manager or whatever it is.
There’s a little bit of alchemy, a little bit of magic, of course. You hope that it’s about talent, but often, it’s not about talent. So I think that if we can reframe success as making what you love and then making it again and again and again—that’s it. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow. We don’t know how long we have here, so love what you do.