[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for English Teacher Season 1, Episode 8, “Birthday.”]
FX‘s English Teacher has been a comedic gem this fall, and although the final bell has rung on Season 1, star Stephanie Koenig has high hopes for the return of Gwen Sanders and the rest of her high school colleagues in the Austin, Texas-set series.
Gwen had quite the finale episode moment. A breakup with her boyfriend led to a hilariously unhinged musical performance at a bar where she and coworkers were hosting a surprise birthday party for her best friend Evan (Brian Jordan Alvarez). TV Insider caught up with the star to discuss Gwen’s moment in the spotlight, including whether or not her tune was improvised.
Plus, she’s digging into thoughts and feelings about the potential romance between Gwen and the school coach with a heart of gold, Markie (Sean Patton), whose crush was further defined and revealed to Evan in Episode 8’s final moments. See what Koenig had to share about the possibility of their onscreen future, hopes for a potential second season, and more, below.
Steve Swisher/FX
Gwen has an incredible musical moment in the finale. What has it been like seeing fan reactions to the moment?
Stephanie Koenig: My grand singing moment! I was excited for this episode the whole time. Like, God, I was so excited for the fans of Gwen to see how much of a freak she is. And she’s really funny in Episode 8. I think it’s just nice that they’re all out, it seems like there’s a second wave of people who are watching. I’m noticing a lot more people coming up to me. I went to this pumpkin patch the other day and I ran into this girl who was selling me tickets, and she was like, “Oh my god, [it’s] Gwen.” And I was like, “Yes!” She said, “Me and my girlfriend love Gwen so much.” And that’s music to my ears. It’s exciting.
Was the song scripted or did you get to improvise?
I think it was all improvised. [The script] just said, “Gwen Sings something.” I think they had put a couple of lines in there like “This is my body, it’s so sexual.” Something like that. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but some funny line that they had put in there. But Brian [Jordan Alvarez] was really adamant about letting me do some weird stuff up there. And so I think we did eight takes, and it was so fun because it wasn’t like I was doing it in an empty room. [There was] all of those background artists who were cheering me on in their leather daddy outfits. It was spectacular.
Steve Swisher/FX
Where do you think Gwen is emotionally by the end of the season? She begins the episode at a low point but seemingly rebounds by the end.
I feel like it’s funny because there have been some “Gwencore” videos that have made me see Gwen a little bit more from an outsider’s perspective. I think with her, she’s always going to find the best in whatever situation she’s in. She’s genuinely thinking she made a great decision and is happy that she’s no longer fighting with [her boyfriend] Nick (played by Koenig’s real-life husband Chris Riggi) and is like, “Oh my god, it was me. I was judging him too harshly. What was I thinking? Of course, he’s going to build this pool. What a cool thing for him to do.”
The death trap of a pool being a comedic bit throughout the season was great.
I couldn’t believe that they literally dug out somebody’s backyard in Atlanta and put the cement down. They put water in an actual pool that was not a pool, it was just a hole in the ground. I was shocked by the fact that they were able to destroy this person’s backyard with the nastiest, murky water, and it wasn’t leaking, it was holding. I was amazed. And the design was [great with] how disgusting it looks. That’s accurately what it would look like if one man was building it by hand.
Does the Gwen-Markie romance stand a chance? Was the hint of romance always the plan or did it evolve as filming unfolded?
I think when we shot the pilot with Sean [Patton], it was so evident that he was giving even more to Markie than what we expected. There was a big heart to him, and despite all these somewhat ignorant things that he’ll say, you do just want to hug him and know that he means well. And so I think that came out of the pilot and us just talking in the writer’s room [about] how heartwarming Sean is [as Markie]. So yeah, it just came up organically that he would have a crush on Gwen. And I know a lot of people have been saying that they’re rooting for them, which makes me really excited to see what we can do in Season 2 if that happens. It would be really fun to tease that out.
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How do you think Gwen would react to learning about Markie’s feelings?
I think she wouldn’t believe it. She’d be like, “No, that’s fake. There’s no way…” I love that there is something in Episode 2 [hinting at it], and I guess because Sean knew there was going to be a crush, he was playing into it during those powderpuff scenes. He was looking at [Gwen] more endearingly than I expected.
If the show were to return for Season 2, what would you like to see next?
I mean, there’s so much to mine for 10 more seasons. There’s so much that happens and it keeps evolving what’s going on with schools and the ever-changing rule book with the kids and what their new thing is. I don’t want to spoil any ideas that I have before pitching them in the writer’s room, but there’s so much. The show hits a lot of hot-button topics, and I think those are important to what the show is able to say, and it’s nice to be able to make that funny. But I think we’ll get to explore more from all of the characters.
FX’s English Teacher, Streaming Now, Hulu
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