Anna Cathcart (right) and Anthony Keyvan in a scene from “XO, Kitty” season two. Image: Courtesy of Netflix
Getting in touch with their characters on a deeper level is what Anna Cathcart and Anthony Keyvan consider to be their proudest moments in “XO, Kitty” — a spin-off of the “To All the Boys” film franchise — which kicked off the year with the premiere of its second season.
The teen series tells the story of Katherine “Kitty” Song Covey (Cathcart) who navigates the complexities of being a Korean-American bisexual teenager in KISS, a Seoul-based elite high school that was attended by her late mother. She is the youngest of three sisters consisting of Margot and “To All the Boys’” central character Lara Jean Covey.
One of her closest friends is Q Shabazian (Keyvan), a half-Filipino and half-Iranian openly gay student in the elite school. Despite coming to terms with his own identity, he doesn’t hesitate to lend a listening ear and a comforting presence to Kitty, especially when she needs it.
For Cathcart and Keyvan, bringing season two to life was a cathartic experience. They didn’t have to deal with the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic — as season one was filmed in 2022. This allowed the cast to delve deeper into their characters’ backstories and the “newness” of their respective fates.
“A lot of us had never really done this before,” Keyvan told INQUIRER.net during a roundtable interview. “In season two, we came into our own. We started playing a little bit more. We understood our characters more. I hope people can see the growth not only from us as people but also us as characters.”
Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey in a scene from “XO, Kitty” season 2. Image: Courtesy of Netflix
It’s been more than a year since the premiere of the series. But Cathcart finds herself still amazed that she was given to explore more of Kitty’s character. “It’s been almost eight years since I did the first ‘To All the Boys’ movie, and started with the character and this universe. It’s very, very crazy,” she said of how it grew since then.
“I feel very honored to get the chance to step into a lead character, step into Kitty’s life where she becomes a teenager, and figure out love, life, and loss. It’s very, very surreal,” she continued.
Anna and Anthony’s proudest moments
The biggest similarities between Kitty and Q’s characters are their mixed heritage (Kitty and being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Exploring one’s identity is nothing new, but having the chance to show more of their characters’ backgrounds to explain why they turned out a certain way is Cathcart and Keyvan consider their characters’ backgrounds as their proudest moments in the show.
“I’m really proud that she embraces her bisexuality in such an amazing way,” Cathcart said. “She was really [naturally] overwhelmed by it in season one. And now in season two, we see her step into that part of herself and embrace it with love,” she said.
In the “XO, Kitty” season one, Kitty realizes she is bisexual after developing a crush on Yuri (the fake girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend Dae).
“She embraces it with open arms. I [also] think the way that treats love is such a beautiful thing,” Cathcart continued. “She [also] gets to be really vulnerable. We’re used to seeing her sure of herself and though we get to see that quite a bit this season, we get to see her follow a tender part of her heart.”
For his part, Keyvan is happy that his character was able to discover more of his Filipino identity in the show’s latest edition. “I’m really grateful that I got the opportunity to bring more representation this season,” he said, touching how his character speaks to him being half-Filipino and half-Iranian as well.
“I would love to be able to touch on that more if we get a third season and see his background, the people in his family, and the people who made him who he is,” he explained. “[It goes more] than rather just saying, ‘Oh, I’m Filipino. We got to really see him be Filipino a little bit this season.”