At this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, two rising stars sat down with AMFM Magazine’s Paul Salfen to talk about the most fun, most surprising, and most unexpectedly deep project of their careers. SWITCH — the completed eight-episode independent series created by showrunners Isabelle Platt and WGA Award-winner Sofya Levitsky-Weitz — flips the classic “boy meets girl” rom-com on its head. Maxine has never been in a relationship. Lena has never been with a woman. When Maxine asks Lena to be her girlfriend, Lena says yes… with one condition: she doesn’t see herself having sex with only one person for the rest of her life. So the couple makes a pact to find a man for a threesome. What follows is a wildly funny, deeply relatable journey through gray zones, miscommunications, unexpected connections, and the messy work of figuring out what you actually want — together. In this candid conversation, Pauline Chalamet (Lena) and Coral Peña (Maxine) open up about the micro-budget magic that made the shoot feel like summer camp, the “Hail Mary” leaps that got them here, and why SWITCH might just surprise audiences in all the best ways.
Pauline Chalamet as Lena Pauline Chalamet has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young talents. Fresh off season three of Mindy Kaling’s hit HBO series The Sex Lives of College Girls, she’s set to appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Her feature debut came in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island opposite Pete Davidson, and she’s also produced and starred in the dark comedy What Doesn’t Float. Fluent in English and French, she splits her time between Paris, New York, and Los Angeles.
In the interview, Chalamet and Peña radiated the same infectious energy that clearly defined their time on set. “This was like summer camp,” one of them laughed, describing the indie production’s scrappy, all-hands-on-deck spirit. Locations were lent by friends, they even shot in Sofya’s mom’s office, and the small crew created an atmosphere where everyone felt invested. “You feel energized,” they said, even on six-day weeks with long days. “Whereas on bigger projects… you spend so much time waiting.” On SWITCH, there was no waiting — just forward momentum and genuine connection. “By the end I genuinely got to know everyone on the crew.”
Coral Peña as Maxine Coral Peña brings Maxine to life with the same grounded warmth and sharp instincts audiences have loved in her starring role as Aleida Rosales on Apple TV+’s For All Mankind (since 2019), her recent turn in HBO’s Task, and Hulu’s Swiped alongside Lily James. A Tisch School of the Arts graduate with training at Stella Adler and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she made her feature debut in Steven Spielberg’s The Post and recently earned strong reviews as Ophelia opposite Patrick Ball in a modern Hamlet.
The two actresses had not shown the finished series to friends or family yet. Everything was riding on the Tribeca premiere. “Sunday will be really, really fun,” they said, noting the added electricity of screening alongside other projects. “You’re getting a whole audience that wouldn’t necessarily be the audience for your show… and that’s always really awesome.”
Paul Salfen, whose show often explores “Hail Mary moments,” asked the pair what that looked like in their own lives. Peña answered without hesitation: deciding to become an actor at all. “I don’t come from artists at all. I grew up with very little money and, like, interaction with this world… I’m happy I made the leap.”
Pauline Chalamet shared a more painful but ultimately galvanizing story from 2018, a play audition that came down to her and one other actress. The director made them audition in front of each other, round after round. She was fully off-book and ready; her competitor was still fumbling with the script. She didn’t get the part. “It was like a moment of rock bottom, but from there I was invigorated… I was so upset because I care so much because this is what I want to be doing.” That sting became fuel.
When Salfen asked what they tell themselves right before stepping into something big and uncertain, the answer was pure SWITCH philosophy: stay open. “It’s not perfect, it’s not shiny. But that’s the thrill… Be excited by all the things you didn’t expect. I think that’s the only way forward with something like this.”
That spirit of openness is exactly what the series explores. The stars hope audiences walk away thinking about the gray zones in relationships, the constant evolution of desire, and the importance of communication. “What you want one day can be not what you want the next day… Allow yourself to be surprised by yourself. You’re always changing and things are always evolving. Don’t box yourself in.”
The showrunners, Isabelle Platt (Love is Gay) and Sofya Levitsky-Weitz (The Bear, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox) embodied that same fearless, collaborative energy. “They had something they wanted to make, and they didn’t take no for an answer, and they made it,” one actress said. “Being a part of that journey is what every actor dreams of.”
Executive produced by Jean Liu alongside producers Benedetta Comito and Coco Glickman, SWITCH also stars Adam Shaukat, Benjamin Holtz, and Nikki Snipper, with episode direction from Platt & Levitsky-Weitz, Liu, and Jaki Bradley. It’s the kind of project that proves you don’t need a huge budget to make something that feels alive, funny, sexy, and honest.
As the conversation wrapped, Salfen wished them well at the festival. They laughed that they’re “in and out really fast” – the classic busy-artist dilemma. But being that busy is its own kind of victory. And for audiences lucky enough to catch SWITCH at Tribeca (or whenever it finds its larger audience), the real win is getting to experience something made with this much heart, humor, and zero pretense.
Check it out. You might just recognize yourself in the beautiful, complicated, surprising mess of it all.
