The Cast of Not Suitable For Work Thinks Many Young Adults Share the Same Fear

One of the most interesting things about Not Suitable for Work is that none of its characters are really afraid of hard work. They're ambitious. They take risks. They throw themselves into careers, relationships, and dreams with varying degrees of success.

What they're actually afraid of is something much harder to admit.

They're afraid they've built their lives around the wrong things.

That idea came up repeatedly while speaking with the cast.

For Kel, that fear sits at the center of his entire journey. When asked whether the character is driven more by passion or by the fear of living the wrong life, Nicholas Duvernay shared his opinion.

"I think it's the fear of living the wrong life," he said. "For so long he's done what's expected of him or what his parents want or what's more socially acceptable at the time."

Nicholas pointed to something many young adults quietly wrestle with.

"There's nothing worse than getting so deep into something and then you realize maybe this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing."

That same anxiety exists in different forms throughout the series.

For Abby, it's the uncertainty of entering a creative industry and wondering whether she truly belongs there. Avantika Vandanapu described how much of success in New York can feel like "faking it till you make it."

"We all struggle with impostor syndrome. We all struggle with being like, do I really belong in this room? Am I qualified enough?" she said.

AJ faces a different version of the same problem. She arrives in New York with a clear plan for how her life should unfold. The problem is that life rarely respects plans.

Ella Hunt explained that AJ comes to New York with "a certain set of expectations and goals," but those goals "don't leave all that much room for friendship or surprises or mess."

Even Josh's struggle feels connected to this larger theme. According to Jack Martin, Josh knows exactly how people see him, but still doesn't know who he is outside those assumptions.

"I think he is actually very aware of it," Jack said. "I think he thinks the awareness alone absolves him."

Taken together, these characters aren't simply chasing success. They're trying to answer a much more difficult question: What does a life that genuinely belongs to you actually look like?

That's what makes Not Suitable for Work resonate. Beneath the jobs and relationships is a story about people trying to avoid waking up one day and realizing they've spent years becoming someone they never meant to be.

Watch the full Not Suitable For Work cast interviews.

Photos courtesy of Disney+ PH.