Dying for sex, inspired by a true story: “What Molly lived was very strong”

A strange and poignant drama carried by Michelle Williams arrives today on Disney Plus. The creators tell us how the real life of Molly Kochann who died of cancer in 2019, inspired the series.

We know it especially for having created New girlthe cult series of Zooey Deschanel. Elizabeth Meriwether change register and abandon the solar Jessica Day To tell a tragedy, that of Molly Kochansuffering from terminal cancer, at the end of the 2010s. With her best friend Nikkishe documented her sexual awakening, born from this lightning diagnosis, over a shock podcast. Like the heroine embodied by Michelle Williams in the series of Disney Plus,, Molly Kochan had put an end to her marriage after 15 years of union to fully live his sexuality. She died in 2019, at the age of 45. Elizabeth Meriwether And Kim Rosenstock decided to tell his story in Dying for sex. They tell us everything about this series like no other.

First: Basically, Dying for sex is a true story …
Elizabeth Meriwether : Yes. We spent 5 years working on this adaptation of the podcast of Nikki Boyer. In the end, it especially tells a story of friendship, that of Molly And Nikki. That Molly lived was really very strong and we needed to tell it. This is the kind of story that is rarely told on television, very honest, very intense. It talks about femininity, sex, directly.

Is it a series on sex or death?
Kim Rosenstock : It’s really both. It’s a love story, it’s a drama, it’s a comedy … I hope it speaks sincere about life! When I listened to the podcast, I was stuck. I had never heard someone talk about his death bed before. It is really an act of ultimate bravery. The real Molly Explained a real intimacy in this podcast, and for me who never wants to talk about death, I found it strong. It questioned things for me and I hope it will also be the case for the public. Afterwards, the series also talks about sex. She dies and saw her sexual awakening at the same time. It is a really unexpected, original story, but we wanted to stay there faithful and fully assume these two aspects.

How did you find the balance between comedy and tragedy?
Elizabeth Meriwether : It is a very tragic and very funny story at the same time. From the start, we did not want to put a label on this series saying: it is a comedy or it is a tragedy … We wanted to do something very human where laughter can be hidden in a very sad scene. Sometimes the two are intertwined, it is simply human nature. In the darkest moments, there are moments of absurdity that can take you by surprise.

The subject is so painful, that it would be unbearable to look at if we told this story in a too direct way?
Elizabeth Meriwether : Yes, exactly. I myself, when I discovered this podcast, I wondered if I was really going to listen to the last moments of a dying woman. I have a child, a life, maybe I have other more joyful things to do. But when you start to immerse yourself in this story, you discover something really deep, almost fundamental, universal. Things that make you think actually.

The friendship between Molly and Nikki also plays a crucial role in lightening the mood of the series …
Kim Rosenstock : It was already in the podcast. We heard at the time how real Molly And Nikki were close, how they were constantly laughing. We wanted to create our own characters for the series, but inspired very directly from the real dynamic of Molly And Nikkiwhich sweated on this podcast. Afterwards, we know little about Nikkibecause it was she who asked the questions …. so we had to dig this character for our series, make a woman in his own right, to also paint the life of caregivers, those who accompany the sick on a daily basis.

How did you think the writing of the last episode, that of Molly’s death?
Elizabeth Meriwether : To be honest, we have rejected the writing of this last episode for a very long time. I was very afraid to write it. It’s like killing the main character, even if we know from the start that it will happen … It’s hard to face for us and we had to find a way for Molly And Nikki to face death too. We were far enough in the truth of the moment. I am very proud of this sequence where the nurse comes to explain to Molly The different stages that will bring him to death. I am happy to be able to share such important and unknown things with the public. It must open discussions, allow people to think of death by taking control, if you want. How do you want to bring our life into death? It will all happen to us and know how, and with whom, we want to pass our last moments, it’s important. You have to kiss this. I myself think of death, my own death, every day!

We must also talk about the performance of Michelle Williams, impressive in this last episode …
Elizabeth Meriwether : It is true that it is amazing. She has bluffed us all. Because this role is a bit of the Olympic test of the acting profession! You have to be damn solid. Think that she spends the whole last episode to play in bed, lying down! She gets up once for a hallucinated dance sequence. But if not, it is bedridden all the time and it still delivers crazy things, with such complexity. The series could not have existed without simply it.

You immediately saw the connection with the death of Jen Lindley, his character who disappears in similar circumstances at the end of Dawson ?
Elizabeth Meriwether : No, not even (laughs)! It’s completely true, but honestly, I didn’t think about it at all. I didn’t remember Jen started like that. It was after that I saw the episode and I cried like a madeleine! It’s completely crazy!

Dying for sexin 8 episodes, to see on Disney Plus From April 4, 2025.