Glamour: The trailer got a huge amount of attention online, both in a positive and negative way. How do you feel now that the show itself is about to come out?
Mikayla Matthews: We [the cast] have mixed emotions. Some days weâre like, Guys, this is amazing! And then the next day we’re like, Oh my gosh, people are going to have to watch this. I canât step outside, I canât go to the grocery store. Iâm going to have to hide in my house. Thereâs definitely a lot of backlash from the community. I feel like itâs human nature to be judgmental, and so thereâs definitely just judgy humans out there, maybe projecting a little bit of their own insecurities on us as well.
Demi Engemann: Weâre confident. We have to remember that we were excited to do this and that we at some point were super proud of ourselves. We canât let the outside opinions and noise get to us. We just need to remain excited and hopeful for the future.
Mayci Neeley: I donât think I was expecting as negative reaction from our LDS community. It was a little shocking. I understand when I watch it back and think from an LDS perspective. It shows people talking about swinging, talking about drinking, and thatâs not traditional in our church, so I understand that. But I do think it was surprising, all the negativity and people being like, âYouâre not Mormon. You donât represent us.â Iâm like, well, weâre not trying to represent us. Weâre not trying to be a mouthpiece to the church. Weâre all on our different journeys within the church.
One of the reasons why #MomTok took off was because people are clearly interested in the lives of Mormon women. What are some misconceptions youâre hoping to dispel with the show about Mormonism and/or MomTok?
Engemann: Well, MomTok, that weâre all swingers.
Neeley: I think the misconception, at least with religion, is that weâre not polygamists, we are normal. Sometimes with the Mormon culture, people think weâre kind of weird, if Iâm being honest.
Jessi Ngatikaura: There are so many misconceptions about the Mormon religion. Iâve heard people ask, âYou guys are allowed to have social media?â So just clearing up those narratives is going to be interesting.
One thing that stood out for me from watching the show was how everyone pretty much individually said that they found MomTok very empowering. Iâm curious, what was it about it that you found so empowering?
Taylor Frankie Paul: Obviously [with] all my past, they took me in and were my friends and supported me. So I feel like that in itself is empowerment.
Jen Affleck: In some way weâre all an outcast within our friends or family. Weâre a part of the church, butâ¦weâre definitely not by the book and weâre not cookie-cutter. So I think thatâs why as a group we relate so much because we are different and weâre all on different journeys.
