Was it difficult to handle the drug addiction metaphor that Willow is going through in your first script, Smashed?

It was, it definitely was. The idea for me in terms of the addiction storyline - at least what I was keeping in my mind - was that Willow had been bound for a couple of years now, by one person in particular who was saying to her "You have to be careful, you have to be respectful, you have to limit yourself," and this person was suddenly and dramatically no longer there for her.

Willow was set free to do what she wanted, and in my head I was thinking, "What would that experience be like?" Suddenly [there's] this thing that you've wanted to do all along; you've been very good about not doing it, and suddenly that restriction isn't there. You can go and do whatever you want.

I was trying to give her the vibe of a kid in a candy store, and I think that was where I was approaching Willow's mindset when we started that. I think a lot of us had that same approach to it.