‘The Bold Type’ Cast And EPs Praise The Show’s Female Friendships

Freeform’s “The Bold Type” follows three friends working at a Cosmopolitan-esque magazine who aren’t just good at their jobs. They’re good at being supportive friends. For co-creator and executive producer Sarah Watson, it is important that the Freeform dramedy portrays women who lean on each other rather that tear each other down.

“I joke that I call it ‘friendship porn’ because these are the friendships of your fantasies that you wish you had,” Watson told International Business Times at ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, last month.

“The Bold Type,” which premieres Tuesday, focuses on three girls who are starting their careers at Scarlet, a popular women’s magazine. (The show is executive produced by former Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles and co-created by Hearst Head of Entertainment Division and Brand Strategy Holly Whidden.) Jane (Katie Stevens), Kat (Aisha Dee) and Sutton (Meghann Fahy) are relying on each other to get through their first professional obstacles.

READ: Meet The “Bold Type” Characters

“You will see them go through challenges together, but it was really important for me that at the root of this, they are good friends and they do support each other because that’s something else I don’t feel like we see on TV a lot,” Watson explained. “We see these frenemies. We see a lot of backstabbing, especially in the workplace where people are competitive; you see a lot of competition. So yes, they fight and they go through tiffs, but ultimately, they always have each other’s backs.”

For the cast, those friendships are part of the reason they wanted to join “The Bold Type.” Stevens told IBT that it was important to her to be part of a show that was sending a good message to women.

“I mean it’s important for certain people in this world right now to see strong women and to know that we will fight back and we are just as strong as men. But I think more important is what we show to young women who might feel a little lost in these times,” the “Faking It” alum emphasized. “Just to show them that you are not weak because of your mistakes. You draw strength from making mistakes and to empower one another, I think that’s really important for females not to tear one another down and to lift one another up. So I think that’s something that our show portrays in a really beautiful light.”

Dee agreed with her co-star, but she also noted that these characters are flawed. They make mistakes, and “The Bold Type” is not trying to tell women how to live their lives. “[What] I love about the show too is that it’s not a Sunday school special,” the 23-year-old explained. “As much as we’re all feminists here and we all believe in empowerment and equality and all of that jazz… we’re here to have a good time, and that’s what life is about. We all want to be treated fairly, but we also want to have a good time doing it.”

READ: “Pretty Little Liars” EP Wants A Revival

The women certainly seem to be having a good time on and off camera. Watson and Whidden explained that the trio took a weekend trip to New York on their own to bond, and the offscreen friendship was immediate. Watson said that allows them to give the actresses a little more freedom with the scripts.

“I came out of ‘Parenthood,’ where we were a little fast and loose with the dialogue on set,” the co-creator explained. “So I encouraged them to do the same because they just have such a natural energy with each other. I think some of the most magical moments are when they’re just kind of riffing with each other.”

It isn’t just the dialogue that’s less restricted. The show itself is a bit more risqué than the average Freeform show. “The Bold Type” draws inspiration from Cosmo, so a boardroom table full of vibrators or a writer trying out a yoni egg are just par for the course. The Disney-owned network, which is targeting females ages 14 to 34, didn’t have an issue with that.

“We got the opposite of pushback,” Watson revealed. “We got told push the envelope; go there, we want to go there. What I love about it though is we are risqué, but it feels like in a very grounded way. All the sex is not salacious for salaciousness sake. It’s salacious for empowerment’s sake because women in the twenties are having sex. So we’re showing them in all aspects of their lives, but yeah, definitely we were told push the envelope, go for it.”

See just how far they’re able to push that envelope when “The Bold Type” premieres with two back-to-back episodes Tuesday, July 11, at 9 p.m. EDT on Freeform.