Created by Stephanie Danler, author of the internationally best-selling novel of the same name, the six-episode half-hour Starz series Sweetbitter tells the story of Tess (Ella Purnell), a 22-year-old who arrives in New York City ready to pursue a new life in a new location, and all that has to offer. When she’s hired to train at one of the best restaurants in the city, she quickly learns what it will take to prove herself in the chaotic, adrenaline-fueled world behind the scenes of the food and wine business. The series also stars Tom Sturridge, Caitlin FitzGerald, Paul Sparks, Evan Jonigkeit, Eden Epstein, Jasmine Mathews and Daniyar.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, British actress Ella Purnell talked about her disastrous audition for Sweetbitter, why she wanted to play Tess, how she relates to her character, the appeal of Simone (Caitlin FitzGerald) and Jake (Tom Sturridge), the fun dynamic between Tess and Sasha (Daniyar), and what she’d still like to see happen with her character, in possible future episodes.

Collider: This TV series is very addictive! I did not plan on watching all six episodes in one sitting, and I just couldn’t stop!

ELLA PURNELL: Oh, my god, that’s the best news I’ve had in days! I can’t bring myself to watch it yet. I’ve got the disc of it, sitting on my table, but I’m too freaked out. I’m going to have to take the plunge. I’m so glad you liked it!

How did you come to Sweetbitter? What was your audition process like?

PURNELL: It was definitely a relatively short one. It happened really fast. I was super overwhelmed. I was really surprised I actually got the job because I did not do a good audition. I really messed up. I just had two auditions and a screen test, and then, a week later, I was in New York.

It seems that, if you’re going to play a character like this, messing up in an audition is the perfect thing to do.

PURNELL: You know what? You are not the first person who’s said that. I walked into the room and there were like 60 scary producers and I broke the door, by accident. I remember somebody at the back was like, “Ha, classic Tess!,” and I was like, “Oh, god!” But, it was good. It all worked out, in the end, and it left me with a story to tell.

What was it about this story and character that most interested you in doing this and made you want to play her?

PURNELL: It’s a beautifully written book. I love to read, so that was an added bonus. I got some amazing source material out of it. Also, you read a lot of scripts and this was the first one that I read where this 22-year-old girl was a woman, who is completely unapologetic for having no idea where she is going or what she wants or who she is. She’s proudly like, “I’m not perfect and I’m figuring it out.” With a lot of female roles, the character is too perfect or pretty or together or, on the flip side, is ridiculously bad-ass. I loved that this was a really real, natural, grounded script, and I wanted to do it.

When we meet her, we don’t know much about Tess or her history, at all. We learn a little bit, by the end of the season, but she’s a bit of blank slate when we meet her. When you read this, what were the things about her that you immediately wanted to know?

PURNELL: What’s lovely about it is that there is so much mystery that surrounds her. Who is this girl? What is she doing? Where did she come from? What’s really cool about it is that the show doesn’t try to patronize the audience. It’s not saying that she had a really tough time, and mommy and daddy weren’t around. She doesn’t look at her past to blame her problems, and I don’t know if she had any particular problems. She’s just floated through her life and nothing has ever really happened to her. She’s never really felt anything, or had a passion for anything, or found her thing. And then, suddenly, for the first time, she’s thrown into this world and she’s so in over her head. I think she really wants to prove to herself that she can do this and that she’s not going to end up like all the other people that she grew up with, who never leave that town. I think she’s hugely ambitious. I’m not sure if that comes from having a difficult past, or maybe just not having any notable past, at all.

She seemingly has no family support, she doesn’t know anything about service in a restaurant, and she doesn’t know anything about wine, so what do you think it is that makes her even walk into this restaurant for a job?

PURNELL: I honestly think she came to New York and just went on Craigslist and found a bunch of restaurants that she could go to. I don’t think there was anything about that restaurant, until she walks in those doors and realizes that it’s the nicest place she has ever walked into. It’s a beautiful, incredible restaurant, and Tess is actually a bit of a perfectionist. She comes to realize that she’s an overachiever. She’s like, “If I’m going to be at any restaurant, it’s gotta be this one.” She says to Howard, “I don’t know if it’s the chairs or the flowers. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something so calming about it.”

Call it fate, or whatever you want, but there’s something about that place that makes her go, “I want this one. This is the one I want.” But even then, I don’t think she realizes, when it’s happening, that this is what makes her who she is, until that last episode when she goes, “Fuck, I really want this!” You don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone. She’s completely not qualified. She does not deserve that job. Maybe it’s partly how she looks, maybe it’s partly something to do with Howard, or maybe she’s just got some serious balls and Howard wants to see what she does with them.

Tess is a little bit of a mess. She drinks a lot, she does a fair bit of drugs, and she’s having sex with a co-worker that she barely knows while pining for another one. Do you see her as someone who’s a bit lost, or do you think she’s just experimenting and trying everything possible since it’s all in front of her now?

PURNELL: I honestly believe, at least for this first season, she is very grounded in herself. She hasn’t lost anything. She still has that sense of responsibility to be sensible and stay a good path. She hasn’t done anything too awful yet. She’s having a bit of fun, she’s young, and she’s experimenting. I’d be really interested, if this goes again, to see what happens. In the book, she completely unravels and becomes a hot mess. I don’t think that she’s there yet. Right now, her focus is that she needs to secure a place at the restaurant. She wants her stripes, and she wants them now. I think she’s still got ahold of her dignity. I’d be really interested to see where it goes because, obviously, she likes the idea of not being in control. She likes her feeling of complete lack of structure, and I think she could very easily be unwound.

She’s clearly very drawn to this group of people that she’s working with, especially when it comes to Simone (Caitlin FitzGerald) and Jake (Tom Sturridge). She seems almost torn between the two of them. What do you think it is that draws her to them, even though people seem to keep warning her against it?

PURNELL: You know what? It might be a little bit because people keep warning her. You want what you can’t have. She has never ever, ever met anybody like these people, in her life. She’s spent her life trying to please people and make people’s lives easy, in a certain sense, and suddenly, for the first time, she’s met a man who really just doesn’t give a shit. He doesn’t even want to be nice. He doesn’t want to be friendly. He’s so unapproachable that it becomes incredibly attractive. There’s the mystery that surrounds him, and the weird connection between Simone and Jake that she doesn’t understand. That’s what lures her in. Simone is everything that Tess has ever wanted and will ever want to be. She’s beautiful, she’s authoritative, she’s smart, she’s confident and she’s the most self-assured person, and Tess really wants that. Tess meets Simone and goes, “That’s what I want. That’s who I want to be.” Simone carries so much weight and so much grace, at the same time. It’s really quite an art, just being Simone. There’s the poetry, the art, the books, the wine, and the knowledge. It’s really quite admirable. I like to think that it’s mind and body. Simone really stimulates Tess, intellectually, and inspires her, whereas with Jake, it’s a very passionate, physical thing. He’s quite rough and rugged, with sharp edges, and Simone is very round and smooth. They complete each other. She doesn’t know what they want from her or why does she think about them. all the time. She just can’t figure it out. She can’t put her finger on it. And the more people tell her to back off, the more she just wants to understand it.

It seems very easy to relate to a character like this, who isn’t really sure what she wants or what she’s doing, especially at that age. Do you feel like you’re any more secure, in your own life, as an actress, than Tess is?

PURNELL: Yes and no. I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m 21 and I’ve had my fair share of early 20s existential crises. I have one, literally, every week. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t. Twenty is a hard time. It doesn’t matter what profession you’re in or how much experience you have, you’re always going to be haunted by this feeling of failing. It’s terrifying. Everyone’s thinking, what am I gonna do? Where am I gonna end up? Am I ever going to meet the right guy? Am I ever gonna find the right house? Am I ever gonna find the right job? There’s a lot of pressure to achieve full happiness and full health, and you constantly feel like time is getting on. The world is changing, and you have to keep up with the way the world is changing, as well as your own expectations that you set for yourself, or that your family might set you. You’ve gone from being at school at 18 and having to ask to use the restroom, to being out in the world and having to pay taxes, and you’re like, “I have no idea what’s going on!” I think everybody can relate to that.

One of my favorite relationships on this show is between Tess and Sasha (Daniyar).

PURNELL: I’m so glad you said that because I love Daniyar and I love that relationship.

There’s just something so beautiful, sweet and fun about it. What do you enjoy about getting to explore that dynamic?

PURNELL: Sasha is a beautifully written, very interesting, incredible character. Also, in real life, Daniyar is one of the most beautiful, kind, lovely, funny people I’ve ever met, in my life. We became best friends on the first day, so all the love you see on screen is 100% real love. It’s a beautiful thing. I think that he is actually the first person in the show, in Episode 1, that shows her any bit of kindness., and just that simple act is a band-aid and it’s kind. I think she feels and senses a pain and an exclusion and a loneliness in Sasha, which comes from being an immigrant, being foreign, and being gay.

He’s the only of so many things, in that environment, but he’s also funny, cutting and mean, and she loves that. He’s sassy as hell, and he has a lot of the confidence that she wants. He’s mean, but she can handle it. And she just intrigues him. When she walks in and sees that he’s crying, Tess is really, really empathic and has a bit of a protective side. She wants to find out who he is, why he’s crying and why he’s in pain, and how she can help him. That’s why they bond. I like the whole relationship that Ari, Heather, and Sasha have, too. They’re family. That’s what happens when you work together, for such long hours and in such stressful conditions. They really do become each other’s family.

These six episodes seem like they make up the pilot for the show because they feel very much like an introduction to this world. If this series goes forward and you get to do more episodes, what are you most looking forward to getting to explore with this world and character?

PURNELL: So many things. I actually can’t allow myself to think about Season 2. I’m too excited, and then I’ll get really disappointed if nothing happens. I feel very fortunate for what we’ve got. I’m so invested in all of these characters and all of these people. I want to know what happens to Sasha. I want to know what happens to everyone, from Ari to Howard to Becky. I’m so invested with these characters, as well as personally with Tess. I want to see how far we can pull this elastic until it breaks. I want to see what happens with Jake. Do they get together? Do they not? I have just as many questions as you. I have no idea what’s gonna happen. There are just so many things. It’s a never-ending story. Will she make it? Does she like it? Who does she want to be? Will Simone and her reach a happy place? I just don’t know.

Sweetbitter airs on Sunday nights on Starz.