Before joining "UnREAL," Natasha Wilson loved watching reality dating shows so much that her friends even thought about signing her up for one.
"My girlfriends were like, 'We're going to nominate you! You're a perfect candidate. You'll meet these amazing men. You get to live in this huge mansion. It's like being on vacation,'" Wilson told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview.
Instead, she auditioned for the role of Maya, one of the women competing to win the heart of the dashing Englishman, Adam (Freddie Stroma), on the fictional reality series, "Everlasting." The Lifetime series was inspired by creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro's time as a producer on ABC's "The Bachelor."
"The idea was so original that it was difficult to wrap my head around," Wilson said about reading the script. As a fan of reality dating shows, she was disappointed by the level of scripting and manipulation that goes into their production.
"I love watching these dating competition shows and thought, 'What could not be real about it?' I actually bought the idea, so that fascinated me. It was more of an education."
Her character Maya didn't react much at all when she exited a room half-dressed leaving behind Adam's childhood friend Roger (Tom Brittney) who took advantage of her less-than-sober state in the third episode. The traumatic event will influence Maya's actions later on this season.
"It still lives in her and that event does color some of her decisions and choices," Wilson said. "It does have an effect on who she is, what she becomes, how she faces the situation and the choices that she makes as it evolves."
Less upsetting for Maya and her fellow contestants was learning how to ballroom dance, a skill that was easier for the actress to learn on the fly thank to her background in dance and theater. The occasional toe mashing only added to the reality of the scene.
"It's fun because in real life, not everyone knows how to do that. So you'll have the better dancers and then others stepping on people's toes. It's actually more honest to all of a sudden having to start ballroom dancing," Wilson said.
What really tripped up the actors was figuring out which cameramen were for "UnREAL" and which were for the fictional "Everlasting."
"There were so many people at all times and trying to coordinate and keep track of everything was difficult because we also had a fake crew and a real crew," Wilson explained. "So for the first three episodes we didn't know which ones were real cameras and which ones weren't."
"UnREAL" will continue to throw curveballs for all its characters until Adam chooses the one for an "epic wedding" in the season finale.
"The show takes so many twists, don't have your heart set on any of the decisions yet," Wilson said. "Honestly, watch every episode and by the end, it's a total 180."
"UnREAL" airs on Mondays at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.
