Ginny & Georgia’s Katie Douglas is grateful for the series’ dedication to inclusivity — but it’s her character Abby’s willingness to explore her sexual identity that has made the actress most proud.
“It’s my favorite thing because there’s so many different types of representation [on our show], and it’s important for me to portray a really authentic experience about growth and coming of age,” Douglas, 26, exclusively tells Us Weekly. “And a really natural part of that is sexuality and gender. I just think it’s important for people to know that despite the opinions of other people, it’s always OK to be you and to love who you love. I’m just very proud that our show does such a good job of just showing so many different types of examples of that.”
While Abby has spent much of her time on the hit Netflix series in an on and off toxic relationship with Press (Damian Romeo), season 3 saw Abby rebuking Press’ behavior and exploring her queer identity after newcomer Tris (Noah Lamanna) steps into the picture. After becoming friends over multiple tutoring sessions, the two share a passionate kiss.
For Douglas, Abby finding Tris was the “only thing that made sense,” especially because of where the character has been romantically.
“Abby’s only ever been used in a way. She was always performative and self-destructive in the way that she was intimate with people,” she explains. “And this is completely different. Triss brings good things out of Abby and makes her realize that she’s smart.”
The pair’s chemistry was fueled by Douglas and Lamanna getting along from the jump, with Douglas telling Us, “They have just a general coolness about them, and an accepting [aura] about them, and they make you feel like a good person. And that is the thing that I really wanted to come across with their story line. Is for once Abby’s being held by somebody.”
Of course, Tris only comes along after Abby shares a spontaneous kiss with frenemy Sam (Romi Shraiter), who throughout the show has also been vying for Press’ affections. It’s an unexplained moment that Douglas hesitates to deconstruct, preferring to leave interpretations of the scene up to the individual viewer.
Chelsea Clark, Katie Douglas Amanda Matlovich/Netflix © 2025
“I love how different people interpret that scene. I think it’s so telling of the viewer themselves,” she said. “But when I saw that script, I got so excited. It’s truly part of why I love [creator and showrunner] Sarah Lambert’s writing so much, because it’s, like, totally out of left field and weird and it changes the progress of Abby’s development in a drastic way.”
For Douglas, something “awakens” in Abby after the kiss with Sam, which “diverts her story line” for the rest of season 3. But how Sam feels about their intimate moment is another thing Douglas would prefer to stay tight-lipped on.
“I don’t wanna speak too much about what I think Romi’s character is, where Romi’s character is coming from, because that is also so nuanced and interesting, and I think it’s up for interpretation,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Something weird happened in my friend’s basement, everyone can relate.’”
Blooming into her sexuality is what Douglas calls the one “good thing” that happens to Abby in the show’s third season — something that helps her “find” and understand herself more thanks to Tris’ gentle guiding hand.
“This person is helping her learn things about herself,” she points out. “I was really excited about that.”
But as fans know, Ginny & Georgia is never all sunshine and roses, and Abby also continues to face multiple inner — and outer — struggles throughout the 10 episodes, from being confronted by her friends about her eating disorder to dealing with her father’s new girlfriend. The fractures in her relationship with BFF Max (Sarah Waisglass) also deepen, and the pair grow even more distant after Abby makes it clear she needs space from Max’s “big feelings.”
Douglas calls the fighting a “heartbreaking one, but “such an important stage in their relationship even though it hurts.” She notes that Abby and Max’s disagreements help highlight the “importance of women supporting other women,” something she believes Ginny & Georgia does a “great job of representing.”
Katie Douglas, Noah Lamanna Netflix
“Sometimes you lose sight of your friends and you forget to check in with your friends, and you especially forget to check in with the friends whose backs are already broken from doing all of the supporting,” Douglas poignantly explains, adding that she’s “excited” and “hopeful” about a reconciliation between them. “That really important learning opportunity when you look at your girlfriends in the eye and you just say, like, ‘Oh my God, I forgot to lift you up. I’m so sorry.’”
For now, Douglas thinks the pair are in a place where they’re “just not seeing each other.”
“Max lost Abby’s trust when she abandoned her [in season 2], and now Abby is not being the bigger person and she’s letting her microaggressions come out because they haven’t solved whatever tension was ever there,” she explains. She promises, however, that it’s not about Max and Abby “hating” each other — just figuring out a way to solve an “underlying issue.”
But does Abby owe Max an apology in season 4 for icing her out? “I always think it’s important to apologize, it’s a sign of growth when you can acknowledge where you went wrong,” Douglas says. “Just for the sake of it not happening again, of course Max deserves an apology.” She pauses before adding: “I think Abby does too, to be honest with you.”
While an Abby and Max reconciliation seems imminent, Abby will have other things on her plate when Ginny & Georgia returns for season 4. Her binge eating and bulimia, in particular, will likely be readdressed after getting swept under the rug, a story Douglas personally hopes continues to unfold.
“That is a topic where it’s really important for me to try to portray an authentic experience, especially because my character doesn’t necessarily know the type of violence she’s inflicted on her own body,” she explains. “She doesn’t understand how much of a problem that actually is, and only in season 3 do we see her even saying it out loud to anybody else.”
Although the issue gets “pushed to the side,” Abby “still has so much work to do” in Douglas’ eyes.
“Abby is such a complicated character. She has like other problems that are bringing themself to the foreground, and it’s so easy for her other problems to get buried,” she tells Us. “And because she’s so avoidant, that’s exactly what happens. They build up and they get buried.”
Whatever comes next, Douglas is rooting for Abby, tenfold: “I want the best for her, and I want to see her be able to not only relate to someone over [her problems], but have somebody see her in a way that makes it meaningful and real and pressing. I wanna see her get help.”
Ginny & Georgia is now streaming on Netflix.
