Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Only Children’s Danny Wascou

Writers can spend their entire lives waiting for others to say “yes” to their stories, but Danny Wascou (MTV’s The Challenge) decided to be his own “yes”, bringing to life the must-see web series, Only Children. The character-driven dramedy follows four unique and diverse individuals—Ray (Wayne Wilcox), Daysha (Keylor Leigh), Molly (Ji Bak), and Mo (Tim Wardell)—all only children in their thirties who are more than friends—they’re a makeshift family. Together, they’ll navigate through the struggles of love, sex, identity, and grief.

PC: Can you tell us about Only Children and what inspired the series?
Danny: I would love to! As a writer, I spend so much time working on something that amounts to a file that lives on my computer. I really wanted to bring something to life. Oftentimes, writers are waiting for someone else to say, “yes,” to their work. I decided to be my own “yes”. I’m an only child and I see all these shows that I love—family dramas, This Is Us, The Americans, things like that—but I haven’t had that only child type of experience on TV, so I wanted to bring that to life.

PC: You’re the writer and director for this project, which you’ve previously done with a short. What adjustments did you have to go from that medium to a web series?
Danny: Oh geez. With a web series, I have to look at this as a long-form project. I had to track how we could go from one episode to the next, keeping people’s interest with each episode, and wanting to drive that forward through the whole series. It was quite an undertaking. We originally set out to just shoot a few of these, but as we were going, it turned into, “Let’s do it all!”

PC: What was the creative process like bringing this series to life?
Danny: Only Children originally started as just a pilot. As an aspiring TV drama writer, I’m often writing pilots. A lot of it was about deconstructing it to fix for a web series and then reconstructing it. There was a lot structure going on with my source material, which was my pilot. It was great to take it a part and put it all together again to make sure each character had their own life, goals, and motivation. It’s really been a blast.


PC: How similar are the character’s experiences with your own? Is there one that you connect more with?
Danny: That’s such a good question. I always tell people that I’m sort of a little bit of each one. I looked at the stereotypical “only children” qualities that people always think about: shy, self-centered, independent. There is some truth to that, so I had each character represent those qualities and it built from there. I might be a little Daysha to be quite honest. I hope my love life isn’t like Ray’s, but it can occasionally turn into that. Sometimes, I can be shy like Mo and a never-ending people pleaser like Molly. I really identify with all of them.


PC: How early on did you realize you wanted this to live as a web series? What freedom does this medium give you?
Danny: That’s a great question! I started writing this about two years ago. After I wrote the pilot, I got in touch with one of the actors, Wayne Wilcox (who plays Ray), and we were chatting about what this was and what it could be. Could it live as a web series? When I figured out that it could and would, the creative freedom was almost endless. I don’t have someone giving me notes on this. I’m not beholden to a network. I can do what I want to do. I don’t have to adhere to ad lengths or commercial breaks. A web series allows creative vision. It allows for creative form. It gives voice to people who are underrepresented on TV and that’s really important. I think people are really looking for that and I’m really happy to be a part of it.

PC: You’ve co-executively produced MTV’s The Challenge. Did you take any learnings from that experience to Only Children?
Danny: That’s a great question, too! I’ve been working on The Challenge for what seems like my entire life now—I love it. I’m the head of the story department on The Challenge. We really have to look critically at an episode and figure out what makes it work and what we can put in it, which often means we have to take a step back from it. I think I’ve been able to, or at least I hope I’ve been able to, apply that to my own writing and work. I think I’m able to look at it critically and see what’s working, what’s not, what I am in love with but just doesn’t work. It’s about taking that third person perspective to your own work, which I feel is important for any creative person to do.

PC: How challenging was it to have dual roles on the project? What was the biggest lesson you learned?
Danny: As far as directing, I feel like my style is influenced by the fact that I am a writer. In casting and in talking with the actors, I really wanted to make sure that they understood the writing and the characters. It kind of went hand and hand. The biggest struggle with this project is that with this medium, things can go slowly, and you just want to get to that end product. You just want people to see it so badly, but, you have to have patience and not rush the product to market before it’s ready. I think we’ve done a good job pacing ourselves and making sure that this is ready.

PC: There are two more episodes coming out. What can we expect for the remainder of the season?
Danny: I’m so excited for the next episode! It’ll focus on Molly and her backstory. As we’ve gone from episode to episode, we’ve pinpointed one of the only children. Molly’s episode might be one of my favorites. The last episode of the season, we really take a deep dive into how these characters got to know each other and how they became a family. What we’ve seen is that when they were younger, they weren’t necessarily friends. They didn’t get along. In the last episode, we see the trigger point which pulled them together. Hopefully, that’ll launch us into season two if enough people watch and we have a demand for it. I hope we’ll be able to do more.

PC: Have there been early conversations about a season two? Is there a storyline you have yet to explore that you want to?
Danny: Yes! Next season, I really see us doing more with the teenage characters. I think what makes this project so special is that I have these only children who are adults, but I also have their teenage versions. I’d love to do episodes that focus on both; I think that would be worth exploring. I may have already started doing some outlining…[laughs] I’m really excited for where this could go. We just need eyeballs on it. We need people to watch it. It’s already gotten such a great response.

PC: For you as a director, what is it like working with two actors who share the same character.
Danny: Hmm…that’s a great question. The teenage actors really wanted to see and observe their older counterparts, but I wasn’t as into that because I wanted to make sure they understood the characters the same way and did not necessarily mimic that actor’s choices. I wanted to make sure they understood the emotional truth of the character—I think that’s what’s made this successful. The only thing that we did physically was we curled one of the actor’s hair to have it match with the older actor. I think for the actors it was a little weirder than it was for me to be on set with another actor playing the same role—I always think that’s so funny. I got a kick out of it, though.


PC: For readers who may not be familiar with the series, what do you hope audiences take away?
Danny: I hope that if people are only children, or even if they’re not, that they can see something about themselves in this. A lot of what people try to do in their lives, no matter what their family situation is, is to create a support system with their friends. These people become your family. I think everyone has that and they go through that and I think the characters in Only Children will remind them of their friends, their family, and I hope they join our family.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Danny: Oh, lord! I work in reality TV so I watch a lot of reality TV. Let’s go with Survivor.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Danny: The first movie that popped in my head was Serial Mom.

PC: Favorite book?
Danny: This may be a little cliché but The Catcher in the Rye. It was so influential in my life.


PC: Favorite play or musical?
Danny: That’s really tough. I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of independent plays. One of our actors, Adrian Elizando, just did a one-man show called Baby Boy. Also, last night, another actor, Alex Wyse, who plays Cooper made his Broadway appearance in Waitress. He joined that cast and I really hope I can make it out to see it.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Danny: I listen to everything, but my best friend was shocked to see Nicki Minaj pop up in my playlist.

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Danny: Halt and Catch Fire

PC: Hidden talent?
Danny: I’m pretty good at tennis. I’m part of a tennis league.

Make sure to follow Danny on Twitter and Instagram, and stream Only Children today.