Girls5eva is poised to be the ultimate throwback pop series, but what real-world '90s girl group does the cast want to join?
Well, it's kind of a no-brainer—much like signing onto the Peacock show itself.
Co-stars Sara Bareilles and Renée Elise Goldsberry virtually sat down with E! News to spill all the details on Girls5eva. "Oh my gosh, it was a complete pinch me moment," Bareilles recalls of hearing that Tina Fey and Meredith Scardino wanted her to join the cast. "As someone who came up in the music industry, girl groups were a really big part of who I looked up to...so to get a chance in my 40s to put on a choker necklace and a head scarf and live my best girl dream fantasies, it's just been so much fun."
Co-star Goldsberry jokes, "I spent a couple decades trying to get signed by a girl group." Both Bareilles and Goldsberry went on to have critically-acclaimed careers on Broadway. "I was just super happy to be spending with that girl right there and be singing very funny, great songs," Goldsberry gushes.
Busy Philipps and Paula Pell round out the Girls5eva cast. The highly-anticipated series focuses on the foursome '90s girl group that reunites when their one-hit-wonder is brought back into the spotlight after being sampled by a rapper. Girls5eva was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which both Goldsberry and Bareilles believed added to the on-set magic.
Bareilles details the "immediate camaraderie" felt between the cast and crew after working during "an extraordinarily traumatic time."
"Just even getting in a car in the morning to go to work felt like fun to some extent," Bareilles jokes. The "scrappiness" of filming during an epidemic encouraged further creativity that enhanced the series' "elasticity of storytelling" with time jumps and flashbacks.
From Hamilton to Waitress, Goldsberry and Bareilles are no strangers to telling stories through song. Yet Girls5eva brought its own entirely new experience for both stars. Goldsberry especially related to her character Wickie. Well, at least parts of her. "[It] was such a jumpstart for me even in my personal life," Goldsberry reflects. "I understood the core of who she was which was desperately wanting to make something of the talent she feels God gave her." The self-absorbed and obnoxious parts are obviously not relatable to lovable Goldsberry!
Bareilles adds that the producers "really stacked the decks" with naturally-talented musicians. Even Philipps and Pell were musical! "Everybody sang their butts off," Bareilles smiles.
Goldsberry praises Bareilles' songwriting skills for the "huge hit song that kind of ends [the] series," calling working with Bareilles "a dream." The cast even collaborated on improvising melodies and lyrics. "The beauty of it is that the love you would feel no matter what came out of your mouth was so encouraging," Goldsberry explains. "It just made you feel that you could boldly do it every time you were called upon to kind of improvise '90s songs. I mean, who gets to do that at work?!"
So which iconic real-life '90s girl group would Goldsberry and Bareilles join if they could go back in time?
"Just to sing with Destiny's Child one time...if they would let me tag along and just sing or be next to them for one minute," Bareilles jokes.
"I typically say TLC because they were such an amazing group but I can't not say Destiny's Child because then they would be my friends!" Goldsberry agrees.
Check out the sweet interview clips above and watch the Girls5eva premiere on Thursday, May 6 on Peacock.
(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)