Are both Violet and Harley in some state of denial at the start of the show — believing they can hang onto each other even though the world is dragging them in very different directions?
LEENAH ROBINSON: I feel like their friendship at the beginning is still very childlike — they’re depending on each other like children. And they’re met with these circumstances where they can’t rely on each other . . . It’s your early adulthood, you know? Things are dramatic. They’re messy. In the moment, when you’re living these things, it’s like, “Oh my gosh, the world is ending!” But once you get through it, it’s like, “We can still be best friends, but we don’t have to fully depend on each other.”
VICTORIA GWENDOLINE: I think the show does a really good job of showing what it’s like to transition from a lifelong childhood friendship into adulthood — and how different seasons in your life can really impact your friendships. If you make it through all of those seasons together, you know you’ll be friends forever.
Was it an interesting experience being in a “period piece” that takes place in the ’90s, so close to your own era?
VICTORIA: I was born in 2000, two years after the show is set. So, it wasn’t too far, but it was far enough that it was like, “This is different.” The biggest thing was, in high school shows today, it’s all about cellphones and social media. Social media is completely out of the picture in this show, and that changes everything . . .
LEENAH: Our age was shown a couple times with technology. Payphones? Pagers? But we were the last generation that grew up without as much technology — we still had the flip phones . . . We kind of get it. We’re knocking on the door.
VICTORIA: I had a flip phone at one point. I was in Grade 6. I did the whole “texting with pressing the numbers.” But to be honest, I had to ask them what a “pager” was . . .
LEENAH: I still don’t know what it is. What is a pager?
Your showrunner, Amber-Sekowan Daniels, has said that Don’t Even is the rare series that portrays Indigenous women as “funny, weird and distinct.” Was that part of the appeal for you?
LEENAH: I think the story is so important because, even though it’s two Indigenous girls, there is so much that everybody can relate to. Everybody’s gone through those embarrassing high school moments. Everyone has made those decisions that they probably shouldn’t have made. But I think it’s even better that it’s Indigenous people — because we didn’t have Indigenous actors to look up to, and now it’s kind of cool to be on the screen.
Do you feel we’ve entered a new era of Indigenous storytelling on TV?
LEENAH: I think we’re exiting out of the “drama and the trauma” phase. With Reservation Dogs, and hopefully this show, and Acting Good — all of these different Indigenous comedies — it’s so good for us and it’s so good for future actors. Because I like to think that we’re pretty funny!
VICTORIA: There are a lot of heavy things that Indigenous people need to push through, but it’s nice to see a show where we get to show the fun and the humour, and the light and the joy.
Don’t Even airs Wednesday, September 18 on Crave1
MEMORABLE ROLES:
Leenah Robinson (left) is, no doubt, best known for the hit Yellowstone prequel 1923 — where she played Baapuxti, a young girl enduring the horrors of a government boarding school for Native Americans. She also recently appeared in CBC’s sweeping historical miniseries Bones of Crows. Meanwhile, her co-star Victoria Gwendoline (right) is a musician and actress you’ve seen opposite Kristin Kreuk on the final season of hit CBC legal drama Burden of Truth, in addition to guesting on CTV sitcom Acting Good.
CURRENT GIG:
Robinson and Gwendoline co-lead this offbeat comedy that takes us back to Winnipeg circa 1998, where two best pals graduate from high school and must navigate the tricky path to adulthood together — even as life pulls them apart. All six episodes are now streaming on Crave, and this week the show also begins airing on the Crave cable channel.