Tegan and Sara have always paved their own lane, so why would a TV show about their lives be any different?
In Freevee's High School, premiering Oct. 14, the indie pop twins' 2019 memoir of the same name comes to life. Centered around their Canadian upbringing, the series stars newcomers Railey Gilliland and Seazynn Gilliland as Tegan and Sara Quin, respectively, as they carve out their own niches in school.
For the sisters, who are both openly queer, it provided an opportunity to tell their specific story—one that they had never quite seen before.
"I think we all collectively shared a desire to make something that did feel different than other shows," Sara exclusively told E! News. "I'm not trying to shade any queer content. I think it all belongs where it belongs and it's wonderful for all those shows to exist, but especially with [co-creator] Clea [DuVall], one of the things we have very much in common is that there was this duality of being in the closet and really gay all the time when we were teenagers."
High School revels in the messiness of adolescence, showing the incredible highs and the crushing lows of understanding your sexuality—especially in the '90s.
"I think being able to show both of those sides is really important," Sara continued. "I was very aware of how anti-gay the world felt when I was a teenager, but I didn't see myself as gay. I just saw myself as wanting to sleep with all the girls. I didn't really identify yet as this thing."
Clea—who has appeared on Veep and The Handmaid's Tale, and co-wrote 2020's Happiest Season—said Tegan and Sara's book was "the first time I felt like I experienced something that mirrored my experience as a teenager."
"That's why I wanted to make this show in the first place," Clea said. "It was so powerful."
The nostalgia also allowed for an examination of how far things have come.
"It seems like everybody is queer now," Clea joked, "which is amazing that it is such a conversation and there's so much language surrounding it and kids are comfortable discussing it, but it was just not like that for a long time."
High School, of course, also charts the path of Tegan and Sara's early musical careers. But with how much things in the industry have changed since they started, do they think they'd be able to hack it as newbies in the world of TikTok and streaming?
"No," Tegan said, prompting Sara to chime in, "I think we would have. You don't think so?"
Tegan reasoned, "I think we were so passionate about music and we were so passionate about performing that we probably would have engaged with the platform."
See that passion start to spark on High School, now streaming on Freevee.