{"id":29269,"date":"2026-08-06T02:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29269"},"modified":"2026-08-06T02:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:18:23","slug":"sterling-point-cast-and-creator-on-making-season-1-of-ya-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29269","title":{"rendered":"Sterling Point Cast and Creator on Making Season 1 of YA Series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<strong>[This story contains some spoilers for Prime Video\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/sterling-point\/\" id=\"auto-tag_sterling-point_1\" data-tag=\"sterling-point\">Sterling Point<\/a><\/em>.]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tTelevision\u2019s experiencing a bit of a coming-of-age renaissance. It\u2019s far from the first time, and it certainly won\u2019t be the last, but between adaptions of beloved romance novels and teenaged prequels, it\u2019s a good time for YA on TV screens. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs the quantity of shows increase, the pressure for higher quality only grows. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/megan-park\/\" id=\"auto-tag_megan-park_1\" data-tag=\"megan-park\">Megan Park<\/a>, the writer-director behind Sundance hit <em>My Old Ass<\/em> and a former coming-of-age series actress, has found a way to bring needed realism into the space with her new Prime Video series <em>Sterling Point<\/em>, whose full season debuted Wednesday. \u201cI wanted to make a YA show that felt as authentic as possible,\u201d Park tells <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> on a recent Zoom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe 40-year-old creator and executive producer got her start in the industry at 15. A few years later, she landed a leading role in ABC Family\u2019s hit teen drama <em>The Secret Life of the American Teenager<\/em>. With firsthand knowledge of coming-of-age shows, Park set out to make her first TV series something she wanted to see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<em>Sterling Point<\/em> centers around New York City teen Annie (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/ella-rubin\/\" id=\"auto-tag_ella-rubin_1\" data-tag=\"ella-rubin\">Ella Rubin<\/a>), who along with her twin brother, played by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/keen-ruffalo\/\" id=\"auto-tag_keen-ruffalo_1\" data-tag=\"keen-ruffalo\">Keen Ruffalo<\/a>, inherit their grandfather\u2019s island in Canada. Once in Canada, Annie meets Ramona, played by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/amelie-hoeferle\/\" id=\"auto-tag_amelie-hoeferle_1\" data-tag=\"amelie-hoeferle\">Am\u00e9lie Hoeferle<\/a>, in her grandfather\u2019s house. Annie tells her brother after the pair meet that \u201csomeone that looks like mom\u201d is saying the house belonged to her grandfather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tLuckyChap, which produces the series, sought out a partner for Park as she\u2019s a first-time showrunnner. They approached genre giants Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. \u201cIt\u2019s very rare that Josh and I just get an email and click it open and start reading whatever\u2019s in the email. But we both did that,\u201d says Savage. The pair sat across from one another and read the script, noting how smart and funny it was. Naturally, they were 100 percent in, as they put it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tPark told Schwartz and Savage that she wanted to evoke similar feelings to some of the shows they\u2019ve brought to life, like <em>The O.C<\/em>. and <em>Gossip Girl<\/em>. \u201c[Shows] where the kids were treated like adults,\u201d Schwartz says. It\u2019s a concept he and Savage have always believed in when making television.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:1047px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((589\/1047)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Sterling-Point-Embed-4-2026.jpg?w=1047\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"589\" width=\"1047\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/jay-duplass\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jay-duplass_1\" data-tag=\"jay-duplass\">Jay Duplass<\/a> and Ella Rubin in \u2018Sterling Point.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy of Prime<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cWhen you\u2019re a teenager and you\u2019re coming of age, everything feels so life and death and dramatic and emotional. You\u2019re figuring yourself out in a way that really happens at that moment in your life,\u201d Schwartz continues. \u201cIt\u2019s a rich source of drama, and Megan just mined it beautifully and with a really original, unique voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tPark\u2019s writing helped ground the show, but it goes far beyond that. \u201cWhat blew me away about Megan is how much trust she put in us with her characters. I think that\u2019s hard to find,\u201d says Ruffalo. The 25-year-old notes that once Park got an idea how her cast perceived their characters, she\u2019d let the young actors run with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cMegan allowed us to improvise a lot,\u201d Rubin says. \u201cEven if the scene [deals with] something that\u2019s dramatic or slightly outlandish in certain ways, [improvising] allowed us to be messy within that moment and find the truth within it, linguistically and physically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tRubin, Ruffalo, Hoeferle and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/jacob-whiteduck-lavoie\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jacob-whiteduck-lavoie_1\" data-tag=\"jacob-whiteduck-lavoie\">Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie<\/a> lead the young cast alongside Bo Bragason, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Nikko Angelo Hinayo and Mabel Strachan. Jay Duplass, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/jeffrey-dean-morgan\/\" id=\"auto-tag_jeffrey-dean-morgan_1\" data-tag=\"jeffrey-dean-morgan\">Jeffrey Dean Morgan<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/missi-pyle\/\" id=\"auto-tag_missi-pyle_1\" data-tag=\"missi-pyle\">Missi Pyle<\/a> and Elle-M\u00e1ij\u00e1 Tailfeathers reoccur on the series in parental roles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201c[Megan] just has this very calming and young soul that she just makes you feel like her best friend from the get-go,\u201d Whiteduck-Lavoie says. \u201cIt definitely took a big pressure off my shoulders on our first weeks of shooting because it just didn\u2019t feel like a set where it was a super strict set, or I had to play by the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tWhile <em>Sterling Point<\/em> tackles the typical coming-of-age staples like love triangles and romance, that wasn\u2019t the only story Park was trying to tell\u00a0\u2014 nor was it the most important, in her eyes. \u201cWe kept saying the true love story was this sisterhood,\u201d the creator says.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((2000\/3000)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Sterling_Point_S1_UT_250904_LANSAB_00381RC1_3000-1.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Hoeferle and Rubin in \u2019Sterling Point.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Sabrina Lantos\/Prime Video<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe show works, in part, due to the richness of the complicated new bond between Rubin\u2019s Annie and Hoeferle\u2019s Ramona. \u201cWe did chemistry reads, and it was just so instantaneous with them,\u201d Park says of the actresses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tPark says Rubin and Hoeferle really did become like sisters, and the team started adding in little details of their friendship into the characters. When Park noticed that the pair were always braiding each other\u2019s hair, the writers added in scenes of Annie and Ramona doing the same. \u201cThe day we met, I had a feeling it was going to be the two of us. Ella would say the same,\u201d Hoeferle says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tRubin does, in fact, say the same: \u201cIt was a really intuitive natural process, honestly. Am\u00e9lie is a really incredible. I don\u2019t think I have a more specific word.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cShe is a dream of a scene partner,\u201d Hoeferle adds. \u201cThat\u2019s my sister.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe adults are certainly an important part of the narrative, which is nothing new in the YA space. Schwartz and Savage themselves are known to work plenty of that into their series, including <em>Gossip Girl<\/em>, <em>The O.C.<\/em> and <em>Nancy Drew<\/em>. And this parental cast all seemingly had a clear motive for joining the series. \u201cWe\u2019re all here for Megan,\u201d Pyle and Morgan say simultaneously.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((2000\/3000)*100%);\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2289053116.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Missi Pyle, Bo Bragason, Mabel Strachan, Nikko Angelo Hinayo, Ella Rubin, Amelie Hoeferle, Keen Ruffalo, Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, Daniel Quinn-Toye and Jay Duplass attended the NYC premiere for Prime Video\u2019s \u2018Sterling Point\u2019 on Monday. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Jason Mendez\/Getty Images for Prime Video<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cJay [Duplass] and I were talking earlier about how she\u2019s able to not only write for us old people, but how she has managed to capture these 17- and 20-year-old kids. The emotion and the dialogue that she\u2019s able to write and come up with is so spot on,\u201d Morgan says. \u201cShe has become the voice of this kind of younger generation. I don\u2019t understand how she has done it, but she has fucking done it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAdds Duplass, \u201cShe\u2019s telling a story that\u2019s endemic to a real place, and she runs deep at that place. She knows these kids, she knows the world, she knows everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAs much as Park wanted the show to be real, she also knew that it needed to have all the \u201cjuicy qualities\u201d that YA shows are known for. She took the characters seriously, but she also knows that sometimes melodrama, as Schwartz pointed out, comes with being a teenager. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cI find a lot of times people feel like YA shows either have to be really dark and edgy or really light and fluffy, and I think that they can be a combination,\u201d says Park. \u201cThey can just be authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[This story contains some spoilers for Prime Video\u2019s Sterling Point.] Television\u2019s experiencing a bit of a coming-of-age renaissance. It\u2019s far from the first time, and it certainly won\u2019t be the last, but between adaptions of beloved romance novels and teenaged prequels, it\u2019s a good time for YA on TV screens. As the quantity of shows&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d_Sterling-Point_web4.webp?w=1440&h=810&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}