“When I first read the script, she was far more passive,” says Ware, who stars as the lead character, Rebecca Webb, in Netflix’s new sci-fi thriller series “The One.” The show made its debut last week and is currently one of the platform’s top series in the U.S. and U.K.
“She goes to really extreme measures to prove that she was right,” says Ware from her home in Los Angeles. “What I found interesting as the story progressed was to see where there are cracks in her armor. And ironically the product she’s touting — true love — ends up being her weakness.” The central question of the show is rooted in the company’s revolutionary service: if you could take a test to discover your genetically optimized romantic match, your true soulmate, would you take it? Ware admits she didn’t ruminate too much on that thought experiment, which plays out in two parallel storylines within the show, while filming.
The show wrapped filming two weeks before widespread pandemic shutdowns last spring. Ware was initially worried that viewers might think the show seems out of touch with the current moment — but in fact, it resonates even more than when they were filming.