While writing their 2019 memoir High schoolCanadian musicians Tegan and Sara Quin joked that their coming-of-age story – which chronicles the twin sisters’ lives as queer teenagers in 1990s Calgary – would make a great TV show.
Shortly after the publication of the New York Times bestseller, this joke turned into a serious conversation, and the Quin sisters focused on developing a fictional television series of the same name.
High school premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It will be available to Canadian audiences on October 28 on Prime Video Canada.
“We were able to translate an important universal story that is also very specific about twins and becoming artists, homosexuality, identity and friendship, and we are really proud of that,” Sara Quin told CBC News before the premiere of the show.
“If you love the 1990s, you’ll love the TV series,” she said.
“People love the 90s,” added her sister Tegan.
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Been playing music together since they were 15
As pop-rockers Tegan and Sara, the duo have won multiple Junos, been nominated for a Grammy, and been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. But the Quins have been playing music together since they were 15, when Calgary was an early hotbed of underground indie rock artists.
The show, which was filmed at their Calgary high school, shows the fictional Quin sisters experimenting with music, keeping their homosexuality a secret from each other, going to raves and fist fights in their childhood home.
Much of that friction is on display in the six-episode series, with real-life sisters Railey and Seazynn Gilliland playing 15-year-old versions of Tegan and Sara, respectively.
WATCH | The trailer for High schoola television adaptation of the 2019 memoir:
Whereas Sara is initially determined to go her own way – caught in a secret relationship with her best friend, Phoebe – Tegan feels rejected and excluded by her sister.
“We always say to people… Imagine hanging out with your brother all the time and working with him,” Tegan Quin said.
“There’s a natural struggle and there’s a natural desire to try to be your own person when you’re constantly huddled together.”
Clea Duvall, best known for starring in the queer cult classic comedy But I’m a cheerleader and for directing the Netflix comedy The happiest Seasonwas an easy choice to direct and co-write the story with screenwriter Laura Kittrell.
“It was the first time in our adult lives that we really gave up our story or our voice to someone who wasn’t us, and I think that speaks to the trust and intimacy that we have. with [Duvall] that we could do that,” Sara Quin said.
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The show’s soundtrack is a tribute to the indie rock and grunge boom of the 90s, featuring songs from The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and Slowdive. There’s a nod to Calgary band Red Autumn Fall, a Quins favorite during their teenage years.
As queer artists were increasingly visible in the 90s – Michael Stipe of REM was an inspiration for the way he dressed and presented himself – Sara Quin said she saw a lot of homophobia, “a lot of things that scared me”.
“I started to feel, like, kind of an internalized pride, like, ‘Oh my god, well, I want to kiss girls or I want to dress differently than people think I should dress. .’ So it was really complicated,” she said.
“I think the show and our story really captures how polarizing that feeling was for queer teens in the 1990s.”
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