From “Weapons” to “Resident Evil” to “Whalefall,” Austin Abrams is having an amazing few years in the movies. He’s been so much fun on film, in fact, that it’s easy to forget he was once best known for his TV characters.
A lot of TV viewers first became familiar with Abrams from his recurring role in “Euphoria” where he played Ethan, one of the few well-adjusted characters in the entire series. Others know him from Seasons 5 and 6 of “The Walking Dead,” where he played Carl Grimes’ ill-fated frenemy Ron Anderson. For those who like shows with more wholesome vibes, a standout TV show with Abrams is the 2020 Netflix series “Dash & Lily,” which is based on the book “Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares” by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
“Dash & Lily” is a romantic comedy series where Abrams plays the titular Dash, a guy who hates Christmas and has no idea he’s about to go on a whole holiday journey of emotional transformation. The show features a lot of yearning and plenty of cute moments, all with the cozy backdrop of New York City in the winter. The show didn’t get a second season, but it didn’t need to; that Season 1 finale feels plenty conclusive on its own.
The different tone of Dash & Lily was jarring for Austin Abrams
“I had to remind myself this isn’t ‘Euphoria,'” Austin Abrams recalled to Business Insider. “I had to understand the tone of what we were making and try to do that as best as possible.” But although “Dash & Lily” is far more family-friendly than “Euphoria,” Dash is arguably less wholesome. After all, what sort of grouch hates the holiday season?
Abrams told Business Insider that Dash’s dislike of the holiday season has sympathetic origins: “I enjoy being with family, which I think is a big reason why [Dash] hates the holidays so much — because he doesn’t really have that,” Abrams said. Abrams added that part of the character’s appeal for him is that his grouchiness is more of a veneer than he initially lets on. “In the book he’s described as a ‘scowl in a sweater,'” he said.
All eight episodes of “Dash & Lily” are available to stream on Netflix, and they’re certainly worth the watch. As Abrams told TVLine back when it first came out, the show’s choice to film on location in New York helped give the series an extra authentic, familiar feel. “That turned out to be one of the show’s biggest strengths, which we had no idea was going to happen,” Abrams said. “But I am happy that it does supply people with that nostalgic feeling.”