Tommy Dewey says technology has changed romance — and not always for the better.
“I think you can sustain a relationship at a certain volume, so to speak, for a long time just by texting,” the costar of Hulu’s romantic comedy “Casual” told reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour in Pasadena.
“You can be like, ‘Hey, love to see you soon,’ for like two years,” Dewey, formerly of “The Mindy Project” and CW’s “The Mountain,” added. “And it’s still quasi-romantic. Whereas prior to texting, you had to pick up the phone and have a real human conversation, which is gonna go one way or the other much quicker. So you can kind of keep someone parked at 6 ad infinitum.”
A pause, then Dewey asked the crowd in the ballroom: “Anyone excited to date me?”
Michaela Watkins, who stars in “Casual” as struggling divorcee Valerie, agreed that technology has made relationships “cold, chilly and disaffected.”
“This show is very relevant … in that way,” the 45 year-old former “SNL” star added. “Anybody who’s gone to CES in Vegas this week, it’s very chilly and technical and cold,” adding that the characters in “Casual” are “trying to understand what intimacy is.”
Nyasha Hatendi, who plays Leon on the show, chimed in to agree.
This brought an objection from 23-year-old Tara Lynne Barr, who plays Watkins’ daughter Laura on the show. “Can I just defend my generation here?” she said, to laughter from the crowd. With texting and social media, “it’s cool to be deliberate when you connect with another person.”
“Casual” will be headed into its third season in May on Hulu.