Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Crew Girl’ begins with Teagan Tao’s life falling apart after her father is arrested for fraud, putting her bright future in competitive rowing in jeopardy. She is forced to leave behind her life in California and move all the way to Eagle’s Cove, Massachusetts. A flicker of hope appears with the promising rowing program at her new school, Easton Prep, but disappointment sets in when she discovers there is no girls’ team. However, she gets the chance to continue her rowing journey when she is made the coxswain of the boys’ team. Developed by Vivian Lin and Morwyn Brebner, the show follows Teagan’s turbulent entrance into an already chaotic boys’ rowing team with complicated dynamics. The coming-of-age sports drama series presents a realistic insight into the world of competitive rowing, mixed with the complexities of teenage emotions. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Premise of Crew Girl Developed from an Interesting Pitch
‘Crew Girl,’ along with its protagonist, Teagan Tao, is a fictional story that came into being following a pitch from the Netflix team. Jeff Norton, who has worked with the streaming service on hit shows like ‘Geek Girl‘ and ‘Finding Her Edge,’ was approached to develop a teen drama with the backdrop of rowing. He was also given a brief premise of putting a single girl with a team of eight boys. This led Norton to develop a document outlining the show’s potential plotline. Instead of developing the show himself, he offered Vivian Lin to work on it. Lin had previously worked on a minor plotline regarding the murder of a rower on a detective show. It familiarised her with the nuances of the rowing world while also delving into the characters’ personal lives.
Having worked on that plotline, Lin felt there was so much more that could be explored in the context of the sport. One of her co-writers on the show, who has a family background in rowing, shared her feelings. So, when Norton approached her about creating a show around the sport, she immediately accepted the offer. Before she and her writing team got to work, Norton directed them to treat his document as a magazine article about the subject, like something they would read in The New Yorker. The idea was to use it as the springboard to create their own world, from the characters to their sports, personal challenges, and what they want to achieve.
Even as Lin began working on the story, she knew she wanted the protagonist to be Asian American, though she remained open to all possibilities during casting. The main focus was to find an actor who could balance Teagan’s feminine softness with her tough exterior and the strength she’d need to be a rower and the leader of a boat with eight boys. When Miku Martineau auditioned for Teagan, Lin saw her as exactly the person she had pictured for the role: a teenager ready to face whatever life brings her way. Martineau was the first actor to be cast, and the rest of the team was built around her. The actress was attracted to the show for its teen soap drama elements, balanced with strong athletic elements.
The Actors Trained Heavily to Portray the Rowing Authentically
Having been raised in an athletic family, Miku Martineau was ready to take on the physical challenges of rowing while also being interested in delving into the complicated dynamics within the team’s boys. In preparation for the rowing scenes, she and the rest of the cast members went through an intense boot camp in Victoria, British Columbia, where they learned the basics of rowing. The idea was not only to prepare them for the physically demanding scenes but also to build the chemistry that would eventually inform their performances in the show. In keeping with the plot, the boys were allowed to train together for a bit while Martineau trained solo. After a while, she was added to the team, resembling Teagan’s entry into an already established boys’ team.
To bring more authenticity to the rowing scenes, the show’s creators spoke with rowing experts, including a silver-medal-winning Olympic rower. This allowed them to gain insights into rowers’ minds, which in turn informed the character development of Teagan and her team. Meanwhile, the actors were trained by an Olympic coach. Additionally, much of the filming took place at the same location where the Canadian rowing team trains. Being in their vicinity helped the actors and the crew to get a better sense of the sport and get into the skin of the characters as sportspeople. Apart from the rowing scenes, it was equally important to hit the emotional factor with the characters.
In a lot of terms, rowing serves as the metaphor for the journey that Teagan has to take. Each boy on the boat represents a different hurdle in her personal journey that she needs to understand and overcome to get ahead in life. As she forms friendships with each of them, she learns important lessons that advance her character. Martineau related Teagan’s journey to the universal experience of growing up and learning to balance life’s hard things. The show’s creators showcased this change in her journey by transitioning her from the breezy, palm fronds vibe of LA to the stringent, alienating atmosphere of Eagle’s Cove. She feels like a fish out of water, which the audience can connect with and sympathize with, making her feel like a real person despite being fictional.
Read More: Crew Girl Season 2 Cast and Plot Theories
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