Geena Meszaros Thinks The Body’s Lisbeth Is Asexual
The actor breaks down that finale twist and the “power struggle” she wants to see in Season 2.
Lisbeth Anderson may have done a ton of sketchy stuff in The Body, but don’t call her a villain. At least, actor Geena Meszaros doesn’t see her as the antagonist of Netflix’s devilish psychodrama. “She genuinely just wants to be part of the dance team and things keep getting thrown at her. She’s just trying to protect herself,” Meszaros tells Elite Daily. “She’s really a survivalist at the end of the day.”
The actor is aware she’s giving her character more grace than audiences might. In The Body’s first season, Lisbeth manipulates her entire community into believing her comatose classmate Grace is actually a divine being, in order to hide her involvement in nearly killing her. “I tried to make her more of an opportunist than a manipulator,” Meszaros says.
She's in a very anti-religion moment.
She adds that Lisbeth’s upbringing in a cult-ish serpentine sect has positioned her to use religion as a weapon. “She was deeply religious, but then that was fully stripped away from her. So she's in a very anti-religion moment,” Meszaros says. “She's like, ‘Oh, nobody's looking out for me except for me.’ And that's the core of all the choices that she makes.”
Namely, Lisbeth fosters an obsessive drive to excel on her school’s dance team, blackmailing its captain Anya into a precarious friendship with her. “After losing her stable religious background, Lisbeth is craving community. Anya is at the center of that — the saint of the dance team,” Meszaros says. “But I do think their friendship becomes genuine, even if it didn’t start that way.”
Lisbeth’s devotion to Anya becomes so pronounced that Anya’s mom even wonders if Lisbeth may be gay. Meszaros has her own read on her character’s sexuality, though. “I was thinking she’s asexual throughout filming,” the actor says. She calls out Lisbeth’s empty hookup with Anya’s friend Tyler as the moment that most broke her heart. “That scene is so sad to me,” Meszaros says. “I have hope for her that she’s going to maybe explore a little bit. I’m not really sure where she sits on the spectrum, so I am curious to hear other people’s opinions on that.”
There are other elements to Lisbeth that Meszaros is curious about, and she’s hoping Netflix will renew The Body for a second season to explore the character more. “I want to know, when the dance team no longer fills this void in her, what is she going to be hungry for in Season 2?” Meszaros says. “I feel like she's not ready to find God yet. I think she's got to go a little bit crazy. I'm kind of excited to see just how bad that girl can get, honestly.”
In Season 1’s finale, Lisbeth convinces the dance team that she has her own divine power that resurrected Grace from death. At the same time, Grace awakens from her coma and proclaims she is God. Meszaros says she’s interested in going head-to-head with Sofia Wylie’s character if Season 2 happens. “There’s definitely going to be a power struggle there,” the actor says. “I know my girl Lisbeth is going to use every advantage she can.”
For Meszaros, Lisbeth’s power-grab ending highlights what she loves the most about the complex character. “What’s so special about her is she never accepts being the victim,” Meszaros says. “She is always going to turn the tables, and she’s so good at it.”
