Gemma Chan Defends Her “Five Star Weekend” Character’s Affair Storyline: ‘I Wanted to Humanize Her’ (Exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Five Star Weekend, now streaming on Peacock.

NEED TO KNOW

• Gemma Chan plays Hollis’ mysterious new friend Gigi in The Five Star Weekend

• Chan tells PEOPLE how she approached playing the complicated character, breaks down her intense scenes with Jennifer Garner and shares why she has “hope” for Gigi and Hollis in the future

• The Five Star Weekend is now streaming on Peacock

Gemma Chan didn’t want to play a villain in The Five Star Weekend.

In the Peacock adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand‘s novel, Chan stars as Gigi, the mysterious new friend of protagonist Hollis (Jennifer Garner), who has transformed from fan to friend status after opening herself up to Hollis following the tragic death of her husband, Matthew (Josh Hamilton).

Gigi’s arrival at Hollis’ Nantucket beach house is a surprise for the three other friends Hollis invited for a picturesque weekend getaway — her childhood best friend Tatum (Chloë Sevigny), her college partner in crime Dru-Ann (Regina Hall), and her mom friend Brooke (D’Arcy Carden). Things only get messier when Brooke accidentally discovers Gigi’s secret: She had an affair with Matthew before he died.

“I think she’s a flawed human being, like we all are. She’s made mistakes, and there are consequences, but her heart is in the right place,” Chan, 43, tells PEOPLE of her character. “I think she is [redeemable].”

Over the course of the weekend, Gigi’s secret makes itself known to Tatum and Dru-Ann, too, thanks to Brooke, and they confront her before deciding to tell Hollis the truth.

“I know that for Bekah Brunstetter, our amazing showrunner, and Elin Hilderbrand, the author of the book, I’ve spoken to both of them about the fact that they really wanted Gigi to not be kind of villainized or two-dimensional,” Chan says. “They wanted to humanize her.”

“I also think Gigi’s lonely. She’s been craving these connections, and she really cares about these women. So that part of it is all genuine. She’s not faking any of that,” Chan adds.

After numerous attempts to tell Hollis the truth, Gigi fled the house, intending to leave Nantucket, at the behest of Tatum, Dru-Ann and Brooke, but a storm got in the way of her exit, and she ended up having a heart-to-heart with Hollis in the end.

Filming that emotional scene with Garner, 54, was “very intense,” Chan says. “I couldn’t have asked for a better scene partner.”

“We had to give each other a hug at the end of the day and just be like, ‘I’m so sorry we had to do such intense scenes.’ And she’s like, ‘I’m sorry I had to be so mean,'” Chan recalls. “The whole season had been building up to that moment as well. Our characters went there. They’ve really gone through it.”

Chan doesn’t see this as the end for Gigi and Hollis. “I think there’s hope there. I feel that there is potential for further resolution,” she says.

Leaving the door slightly “ajar,” as Chan calls it, was intentional.

“I wanted to make sure that by the end of this series, we feel like Hollis has experienced some growth and it’s not just sunny and rosy. There’s a little bit of forgiveness, but it’s crunchy and it’s not perfect,” showrunner Bekah Brunstetter tells PEOPLE.

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Brunstetter says her goal was to challenge viewers to “have empathy for this woman who has an affair with a married man,” as she says, “To me, it’s a more interesting story than if she were just nefarious. I think it’s more interesting and kind of agonizing to try and understand why she did what she did.”

“We tried to find the truth and the humanity in every moment of this absurd situation,” Brunstetter continues. “You have to opt into the premise, but that’s why I approached the whole series with just the tiniest bit of whimsy, for lack of a better word, just because the situation is a little absurd. But if you look at life, crazy s— like that happens all the time. We do crazy things. We get ourselves in insane social situations all the time. So, to me, in a weird way it’s very grounded.”

The Five Star Weekend is now streaming on Peacock.

Read the original article on People