'Love's' Paul Rust knows why the other table is always better at L.A. restaurants

‘Love’s’ Paul Rust knows why the other table is always better at L.A. restaurants

Emmy Contenders Chat | Paul Rust: Being seated in a restaurant

By Glenn Whipp

May 20, 2016 10 AM PT

Paul Rust, the star and co-creator of the Netflix relationship comedy “Love,” describes the series’ core romantic question as not necessarily “will they or won’t they,” but “should they or shouldn’t they?”

The idea, Rust says, was to leave viewers questioning the wisdom of Gus (Rust) and Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) getting back together in the finale of the show’s first season. Will they last? Should they last?

“In life sometimes when you watch a couple, there are so many red flags going up, people going, ‘Don’t do this. This is a bad choice,’” Rust says, adding that the couple can’t see it because it’s fun to be obsessed sometimes. Such is love.

VIDEO: Exclusive interviews with TV stars from your favorite shows

In a video interview at The Times, Rust talked about incorporating some of his own dating experiences on the show, particularly in the “bad date” episode he wrote with “Love” co-creator Judd Apatow. Before starting, the two sat down together and came up with a list of every terrible thing that could go wrong over a restaurant dinner, leading Rust to remember an overprotective evening sitting at a drafty table.

“Certainly on a date, I’ve been over-focused on, ‘Is this person comfortable or not?’” Rust says, “and then deciding for them that they are not comfortable and I will help them, which is death for a first date.”

And moving tables, Rust notes, doesn’t always solve the problem. Maybe it is the problem.

Says Rust: “I’m sure that it’s a universal experience but I wonder if it gets exacerbated more in Los Angeles where people are constantly looking over at the other people, going, ‘Why don’t I have that? I want that. Their table looks warmer.’”

You can watch the full interview here, where Rust talks about writing with Pee-wee Herman, covering Paul McCartney and the idea of letting an amateur give you a tattoo.