Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for the finale of English Teacher.

Since its premiere on FX earlier this fall, Brian Jordan Alvarez’s English Teacher has taken social media by storm. The comedy-drama series follows the titular educator, Evan Marquez (Alvarez), as he navigates both the professional and the personal and how they often intersect at his job at a high school in Austin, Texas. Throughout the school year, Evan also forges stronger relationships with his co-workers, including his best friend and fellow teacher Gwen Sanders (Stephanie Koenig), athletic director Markie Hillridge (Sean Patton), principal Grant Moretti (Enrico Colantoni), and counselor Rick Santana (Carmen Christopher) — but he also has to juggle his crush on a handsome new hire Harry (Langston Kerman) and his on-again, off-again relationship with former teacher Malcolm (Jordan Firstman).

Collider had the opportunity to sit down with Koenig shortly before the airing of the finale, “Birthday.” Over the course of the interview below, the actress and writer reveals how she first came to be involved with the show, how this project lent new dimension to her longtime creative partnership with Alvarez, and what it was like to have her real-life husband, actor Chris Riggi, cast as Gwen’s boyfriend Nick. She also explains the secret to giving a good reaction face, offers her thoughts on Markie’s unrequited crush on Gwen, teases her potential ideas for Season 2, and more.

COLLIDER: How early were you on board for this show?

STEPHANIE KOENIG: Oh my gosh, so early, because Brian is one of my best friends. I remember him having a Zoom meeting with Paul Simms. At that point, Brian was like, “I don’t want to do TV development anymore.” It’s hard. But both he and I have been trying to get a show through this process, and it takes three years, four years sometimes, to get the season. I remember him having a new wave of excitement about the show he was going to create for Paul and that it actually was going to be guided in the right way, and they really trusted him.

I remember him sending me the pilot, and I’m like, “Well, duh, this is incredible.” I love that it’s in a high school. Just a really smart idea. The way he wrote the students, everything just popped off the page immediately, so I had assumed it was going to go somewhere, but you never know. You’re like, “This is so good. Why didn’t this get made?” Each step, you’re like, “Are we moving forward?” It takes forever. It was such an honor for Brian to push for me to be in the mini room and want my take and my comedy in there. That felt really special. I had never been in a [writers’] room before, and it felt easy, or like something I had done before, because everybody was so kind. It wasn’t like, “You’re a newbie, screw your idea.” It was just a fun experience with all the writers.

Stephanie Koenig and Brian Jordan Alvarez Are Just as Close Off-Camera, Too

Hearing you talk about being somewhat new to the process of being in a writers’ room leads me to something I did want to ask you about, which is your longtime creative partnership with Brian. The two of you are very good friends, but was there anything about working specifically on this show together that gave new dimension to that partnership?

KOENIG: That’s a great question. We had gone all the way to developing and working with execs together. He was a showrunner, which was both a huge difference — we’ve never done anything like that — and very familiar. I was almost like a proud mom watching him do it so well. I always wanted to be like, “That’s my boy!” There are people, too, who would be like, “Oh, it’s too much to be an actor and then a director and also a showrunner,” and I knew that he could handle it.

The element that surprised me was how much I wanted to make sure he was getting everything he needed, and I just cared so much. I was acting but also caring if he was getting each shot and caring if he was going to make his day. I’ve never been so invested in a director making their day and not going into overtime, all that stuff that came up, and he did brilliantly. I obviously didn’t have to worry about him, but it was an added thing to be acting and worried about the shot list. It was an extra layer of anxiety that was not needed on my part.

From the standpoint of getting to deliver the script, it also seems like there’s room for all of you to have fun and play around and riff. How was it to get those opportunities to play off of each other in that more improvisational way?

KOENIG: I’m used to cutting loose with Brian and improvising on set with Brian, so it was actually more interesting watching other people adopt Brian’s way. Obviously, Sean [Patton] took to it like a duck to water. He’s like, “Oh, you want me to say a couple of extra lines? Okay, one second,” and will just go on and on and on and have a million different metaphors with jokes and riddles.

But it was the most fun to see Rico [Colantoni]. It blew his mind, the amount that we were starting to add to it or play within it. Every episode, he would get more and more, “Hold on, hold on. I want to add something.” It was just fun to see him. He doesn’t need to do it. He’s a genius. He makes the lines feel like improv. It’s astonishing. We’re always filming Rico, and it’s like an audience of people because it’s all of the teachers in a conference room, and then it’s Rico, so we all get to sit and watch him perform. You kind of get lost in it, and you’re like, “Oh, shoot, I have a line. I have to cue him.” I’m always shocked at how good he is at acting, and I want more scenes with him. I’m gonna pitch that majorly for Season 2. We need to get Gwen and Moretti in some sort of either tiff or some journey together because he’s my buddy. We are best friends on set. Everybody is, but I really like him.

Did You Know Stephanie Koenig’s Husband Plays Gwen’s Boyfriend in ‘English Teacher’?
Image via FX

I have to know whose idea it was to have your husband play Gwen’s boyfriend in the show, because I don’t think that’s something that many people might know.

KOENIG: It happened so organically. We were honestly making jokes about — this is a big reveal — but Joe Jonas being my boyfriend. Then, when it came to actually casting the part, I think it was Chris’s agent who was like, “I’m going to submit you for this,” and Chris was like, “No, no, no, no, no. Oh my god, no. Oh god, no.” And I was like, “No, we don’t need to…” And they were like, “Wait, why you? You might as well audition.” Because who the heck is going to play my boyfriend better than my husband? So then we put him on tape, and then I flew to Atlanta to start the shooting, and Brian was like, “So we’re casting Chris.” I was like, “Are you actually? That’s so crazy.” He was like, “His was the funniest audition,” especially because I’m picking up on little things that he’s doing and improvising with him off camera.

Chris was really excited, and it’s fun having him on set. He’s my biggest supporter. We were doing that pool scene — it’s in “Powderpuff.” We’re in the kitchen, and we first figured out that he’s building the pool. He was watching the monitor before he came in, and I felt like I could do no wrong because I knew that my husband was probably giggling and laughing at me in another room before he entered for his part. I like having him on set. It was a dream come true.

I was looking at social media, because the reactions have been picking up every week, and one thing I’ve seen a lot of people point out is Gwen’s faces. What’s the secret to giving good reactions?

KOENIG: Unfortunately, that’s not something I’m trying to do. They gave me raw footage of my wedding vows, and I was mortified because it was like I was doing some lounge singer act during my vows. It was so embarrassing. All the pictures that were taken were these weird facial expressions. I’ve always been an expressive person. My sister says we have really expressive faces, and that’s why we have a lot more wrinkles, but you can’t tell with this Zoom. But I embrace it. I embrace the weird parts of Gwen.

Related Is ‘English Teacher’ Setting Up This Surprising Romance? These two just need to get together already!

Image via FX

There are some opportunities for you to sing in the show. Was that just something that naturally developed during the writing?

KOENIG: I think it’s because we were thinking, “Wait, what would Gwen be doing at a gay bar?” It’s also a bit based on, “What would Stephanie be doing at a gay bar?” She would most likely be loving every second of it, talking to every single person, and wanting to sing and wanting to dance. That’s probably where I feel the most safe and comfortable is at a gay bar. So, we just ran with it. Also, I think Brian wants me to sing all the time, so he’s just trying to push it because I used to do musical theater and have since dropped that dream. So, it’s still living through doing karaoke at a gay bar. I really hope people love what she’s doing up there because it makes me laugh for sure. The part where she’s like, “I’ll still sing for my gays,” is ridiculous. And Malcolm cutting her off, and “stop with the misogyny,” was one of my favorite scenes to shoot.

Story about that! It was so much fun performing karaoke with a whole slew of people watching and people who are background in their amazing leather daddy outfits. There were so many gay men, a couple of gay women, and gay non-binary people. It was just very full of love for everyone. So, they’re supporting me, and I’m singing, and we go to lunch and there’s a huge space for all of us to eat in these tents. I think I was leaving set, they were eating dinner, and I’d wrapped my stuff. I went in to say to everybody, “You guys are incredible, and I love filming with you,” because we got to hang out the whole time. It was a room of 150 people singing, “Keep the hag,” which is what they say in the show. So they all started yelling, “Keep the hag, keep the hag,” at dinner. It was a very fun send-off with everybody for the last episode. People were yelling, “Keep the hag,” and I could not have been happier.

I wanted to ask you about the storyline where Markie develops a crush on Gwen, and how that developed over the season. Is the door closed on that now that Gwen and Nick are back together, or is there still potential for that to continue if there’s a second season?

KOENIG: We’ll have to play and mine that out and see if that’s a story that people are excited to see, or if we are excited to see, in Season 2, because I don’t know. It’s definitely open-ended. It wouldn’t make sense for Markie to just drop it, but you never know. That just came from out of loving Sean and seeing how much heart there is to Sean and wanting to see more levels of him. It does come out of nowhere, so Gwen is like, “Huh?” She’s got too much stuff going on that she’s not noticing. But there’s so much fun with characters to spread it out over seasons. Who knows if they’ll be romantic interests in Season 2? Do you want that, or do you want something else? I’m curious.

Markie’s definitely shown growth and improvement over the season, but I think everybody has. So, at some point, potentially, if the timing is right, I could see something between them.

KOENIG: It’s the Jim and Pam of English Teacher.

Stephanie Koenig Reflects on ‘English Teacher’s Feel-Good Energy
Image via FX

There’s always sincerity at the heart of this show, as hysterically funny as it is. That last scene in Gwen’s backyard puts them all in a place together that I don’t think would have been possible at the beginning of the season. You have to have that arc of the journey of getting them all to that place where they’re just eating burgers, drunk, and just hanging out. What do you feel the biggest evolution has been for Gwen, in terms of how her dynamic with her coworkers has changed by that point?

KOENIG: It does feel like she’s getting closer and trusts Markie more, especially in Episode 7. They have a big, very intimate scene that I don’t think they’ve ever had before. With Markie helping her with the cheating in Episode 6, there’s definitely growth just in their friendship — I don’t know if Gwen’s growing as a person; I hope she never does — and her trust in Markie not just being kind of wacky. The way that Evan actually establishes such trust in Markie, despite all of them fighting… he’s a good friend. He’ll do anything for his friends, and it’s fun to see him do that with more people than just Markie.

I think Rick and Gwen have a place to grow that’s really funny, too. My favorite line is me calling Rick out on the chicken being raw, and he’s like, “That’s how it should be cooked, hun.” And I’m like, “Okay, hun.” There was something where we kept laughing and being like, “Okay, hun.” I have a lot of ideas for Rick and Gwen for Season 2, and I don’t want to spoil it, but I think they should be buddies.

That’s totally fair.

KOENIG: I’ll save it for the room!

To your point, though, she’s very like, “Okay, sweetie,” with him, but not in a condescending way. She’s just kind of accepting of who he is, and we even see that in the conference episode with Evan, too. He’s very protective of Rick when there are people who are making fun of him.

KOENIG: That’s the story of coworkers. “These coworkers are weird, but they’re my friends.” [Laughs] I love that Rick got a chance to really shine in that convention. In Episode 7, we get to really feel for him and see why we love him around. He can be an oddball and wacky, and maybe like, “Are you friends with him?” But you get to see his special dance in that episode.

I don’t know how many of these people outside of Gwen would have shown up to the bar in the finale, but by the time you get to that last episode, they’re all there to support Evan because they care about him.

KOENIG: All of them coming together for the love of Evan is really sweet. As much as Evan’s running around, and he’s getting himself into messes and stuff, there’s so much love for him. It makes you really appreciate him as a character that all the characters will show up for him. I love that. Thank you for pointing that out.

It’s also a testament to what you all have created with this show, too. It’s hysterical, but it feels really special.

KOENIG: I think what Brian does really well, and you see it especially with “Powderpuff,” there’s a lot of coming together. You always feel good at the end of an episode — not every episode, but there’s always a warmth that makes you leave happy after having seen the show because you’ve been laughing the whole time. It’s gone through a little bit of drama, but it always makes you feel warm.

English Teacher is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

English Teacher is a comedy series that follows Evan Marquez, a gay high school English teacher in Austin, Texas. The series focuses on Evan and his colleagues as they navigate the challenges of modern education, dealing with both students and parents in an ever-changing social landscape.Release Date September 2, 2024 Cast Brian Jordan Alvarez , Savanna Gann , Sarah Kopkin , Ben Bondurant , Treylan Newton , Matthew Smitley , Mason Douglas , Ralphael Lester Main Genre Comedy Seasons 1

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