Friday, March 29, 2024

Gail Bean Hopes ‘Unexpected’ Makes ‘Teen Girls Think’

Gail+Bean+UNEXPECTED
Gail Bean, “Unexpected”

*The delightful new indie drama “Unexpected” parallels the different options of a 30-year pregnant White woman with a 17-year-old Black girl. The film hit theaters on Friday (July 24), and stars Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”), and newcomer Gail Bean, who the Hollywood Reporter named a breakout star.

Bean plays a pregnant teen (Jasmine) who forms a unique bond with her pregnant high school teacher (Mrs. Abbott), played by Smulders. We recently chatted with Gail about her character and the message she hopes teenagers gain from this film.

Jasmine is so brave and wise for her age, and there were moments where we wondered if this was a front to mask the pain from her childhood experience.

Gail: I think the experiences we go through in life mold who we are as a person. But it wasn’t a masking mechanism, it was more so, that’s what life taught her to be. Sometimes you can go through an experience and it can make you crawl into yourself, and sometimes you can go through something and it can make you expand. Everything she went through made Jasmine expand.

Mrs. Abbott refers to Jasmine as her “friend.” Does Jasmine consider her a friend, or more as a mentor/mother figure?

Gail: It takes a lot for Jasmine to call someone a friend. So I think after she went through the situation with the school, and coming to her own as to what Mrs. Abbott really was to her, then towards the end, that’s when she realizes ‘This person is a friend.’

One scene that resonated with us is when you told Mrs. Abbot that you refuse to raise two babies, the one growing inside of you and your baby daddy. Many young woman don’t make that realization until it’s too late. When you read the script, what impact, if any, did that scene have on you? 

Gail: I was that girl whose been with immature guys where I stick it out because “Oh, he’s so cute, he’s so cool. I love him!’ Like, noo! It’s bigger than that. We have to think, ‘Can I take this guy into my future with me?’ Especially if you have a child that you’re going to share. When women lay down with a guy, we need to think, and guys do too, ‘Is this someone I would want to have a future with? Is this someone I would want to be connected with?’ Especially in high school, I was thinking ‘He’s cute, he plays football, I cheer. We’re great together!’ But it wasn’t that. And when girls look at this film they’re gonna say ‘Aw man, that’s me.’ So I think this film will help a lot of teens think like, ‘You know what, she’s right.’ Because a lot of stuff that’s on TV and in film influence our actions.

I read the following motivational question in an article recently, so I want to pose it to you. Have you ever had a conversation with an insightful stranger, or a some shockingly perceptive self-talk that changed the course of your life?

Gail: My mother is a Christian. I’m Christian and my religion means a lot to me, so I feel like a majority of the conversations that I’ve with my mother about faith, about God, about my destiny and blessings put me in the mindset that I have, as far as ‘It’ll be okay, everything happens for a reason.’ 

I feed the homeless on skid row and I meet so many people out there and they tell their stories and it makes me feel so grateful for what I have and it makes me want to give and give endlessly. I don’t want to give to you and expect something back from you because, from what my mother says, I need to get all my blessings from God. She told me one time, ‘Don’t ask anybody for gas money because you’ll block your blessings.’ So I don’t ask people for gas money but I use that as a life mantra. If you do something for someone don’t expect something back because God got you.

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