Jackie Tohn discusses her role in The Floaters, why she connected with Nomi, and how filming at a real summer camp brought back a flood of nostalgic memories.

During the interview, Tohn reflects on her own Jewish camp experience and shares a funny story about trying to visit her childhood camp during the shoot. Tohn talks about the quick bond formed with her co-stars, the unique energy of indie filmmaking, and how the cast felt like a family. She explains what draws her to certain roles, emphasizing the importance of character growth and authenticity. Addressing criticism of Nobody Wants This, she defends the show’s portrayal of conflict as character-driven, not culturally stereotypical. Tohn also speaks candidly about her dual passions for acting and music, rejecting the idea that she ever had to choose between them — and expressing her continued drive to create, perform, and do it all.

Recently kicked out of her band and desperate for direction, Nomi (Jackie Tohn) reluctantly takes a job at Camp Daveed, the Jewish summer camp she once attended—now run by her childhood best friend, Mara (Sarah Podemski). With the camp in disarray (including a catastrophic plumbing failure), Mara assigns Nomi to supervise a group of misfit teens known as the floaters, who don’t quite fit in with the camp’s traditions or cliques.

Rachel Israel directed The Floaters from a script by Brent Hoff and Andra Gordon & Amelia Brain, and a story by Hoff, Becky Korman, Lily Korman, and Shai Korman. The film stars Jackie Tohn, Sarah Podemski, Aya Cash, Judah Lewis, Nina Bloomgarden, Jake Ryan, Ben Krieger, Max Samuels, Jim Kaplan, Jacob Moskovitz, Thani Brant, Jillian Jordyn, Bekah Zornosa, Jill Kargman, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Dan Ahdoot, with Seth Green and Jonathan Silverman and Steve Guttenberg.

The Floaters was shot at Camp Tel Yehudah in Barryville, New York, a real-life camp founded in 1948 and run by Young Judaea, the oldest Zionist youth movement in North America.

The film recently held its world premiere in June at the 2025 Bentonville Film Festival. Next up is the closing night screening of the 2025 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

It’s so nice to meet you today. How are you doing?
Jackie Tohn: Good. Hi, Solzy! I like the name Solzy a lot. It speaks to my guts.

It’s based on my last name. I acquired it as a nickname when I was in BBYO in high school.
Jackie Tohn: I was in BBYO, too.

I feel that films like The Floaters are especially important right now as they provide a source of Jewish joy at a time when antisemitism has been the worst I’ve ever seen it.
Jackie Tohn: Surely the worst in our lifetimes, yeah.

What was it about the script that drew you to the character?
Jackie Tohn: Well, G-d, so many things. You’ve touched on a few of them already, Solzy.

I loved the movie. I love the script, I relate to Nomi so much. She’s this sort of outsider a little bit, because that’s who she is, and a little bit by choice. I think she pushes the envelope and, there’s a piece of her that’s like, I want to be anti-establishment. But that obviously drew me a lot to it. That’s how I’ve sort of been my whole life.

And as I get a little older, I wouldn’t say I get more toward the middle at all, but I’ve calmed down a little. Nomi’s definitely Jackie in her 20s, where it’s like, No, I’m making the point no matter what. It’s like, okay, we hear you, but maybe relax.

I went to Jewish summer camp, and I related so much to the movie. I think speaking to that, if you went to any camp or not, in the way that Meatballs or Wet Hot American Summer—these summer camp movies are so fun, and they’re fun for everyone and relatable for everyone.

But what spoke to me was so many pieces of this movie were my actual lived experience.

I got to go back to camp, and shoot this movie for two months in October, so it was incredible.

I missed out on that whole sleepaway camp, unless you count the two-week stint of CLTC during BBYO.
Jackie Tohn: Yeah, I’ll count it. I’ll count it. I’ll enter it into evidence.

Did working on the film bring back any nostalgic memories of attending camp?
Jackie Tohn: So many. First of all, the camp we shot at, which was Camp Tel Yehudah in upstate New York, was a 10 or 15 minute drive. The main local town in upstate New York, by all these camps, is Port Jervis, and it’s a tiny town, but it’s the big town when you’re at camp. If you need to go into town to get something, you go to Port Jervis.

That’s the town we used to go to when I went to Camp Lakonda as a kid. We would go to the same—so I drove by my camp.

Brief, maybe funny, maybe not story. It was October, and I was like, I’m gonna go to Lakonda and see if they’ll let me in to go look around. They didn’t. I mean, the camp was closed, so completely understandably. They were like, Ma’am…

I drove through the gate, and there were people on the grounds, and they were like, Hey. They didn’t kick me out, but I think it was very clear I wasn’t supposed to be there, so I left.

Did you have time beforehand to build up chemistry with other cast members?
Jackie Tohn: We didn’t have time beforehand, but it’s so funny on movies. You just become a family. We’re all in the same space.

Doing this, and with an indie, it’s very run-and-gun. You gotta make your days. It’s not some big blockbuster movie where, if you need to go two weeks over, you can. The budget’s there. It really becomes a very family-feeling experience very quickly.

Sarah Podemski, who plays Mara—we play best friends in the movie and we were just super quick friends. Aya Cash came in to play the rabbi—I’ve known her forever. Seth Green, who I’ve known for at least 15 years, been a close friend of mine, came into play. I didn’t know a bunch of the people beforehand.

The younger friends—actors who came and played the floaters—are so funny. They’re so brilliant. Each of them is so unique. Speaking of letting your freak flag fly. These kids are—they’re just rad.

Everyone in the movie was really cool and great to get to know pretty immediately. There were no dicks around. Everyone was cool.

What do you typically look for in a character when you’re reading a script?
Jackie Tohn: I think a unique perspective. Are they saying something? Definitely an arc. Are they starting somewhere and then ending somewhere else?

Because I think that was important to me on Nobody Wants This—to make sure that if I’m playing this very strong-willed character who maybe comes off a little bit harsh at first—why is she like that, and where is she going?

I think with Nomi, she’s very eye on the prize, very uni-focused. I’m gonna be a rock star, my dreams are gonna come true. When it all comes crashing down and she’s at rock bottom, her best friend comes and swoops in to help her in a way that she doesn’t want, and gets out of it something that she never saw coming, which is community and value in helping other people, as opposed to just focusing on herself.

Since you brought up Nobody Wants This, how did you respond to some of the criticism about the Jewish women in the show being portrayed stereotypically?
Jackie Tohn: I don’t know. I have such a sort of—I don’t know if it’s a smug answer, but it doesn’t really bother—those people are entitled to their opinion. I happen not to agree with it, but I think it’s a television show, and there needs to be conflict. And for there to be conflict, there has to be a character who doesn’t agree with what’s happening, and that happened to be my character.

I don’t think that that has to do with her being Jewish, that has to do with her being a sister-in-law who doesn’t like this new girl, and my best friend is his ex-girlfriend of 6 years.

So for me, the people that made that about her being Jewish—it bummed me out a little bit, but, go for it. I love the show. I think the staggering, resoundingness of Nobody Wants This maybe conflicts with that opinion a little bit, so, yeah, great.

When you’re working on a series, how do you decide on which projects to tackle during the hiatus?
Jackie Tohn: I love that question, because it sort of suggests that I’m so coveted, that my desk is covered in scripts, and I get to pick and choose. Which I love, and I’ll get there.

But I think it’s passion. There are things that come into my inbox. The projects that I’m choosing are just things that I love and things that I want to be part of.

Having done this career for 35 years, it’s really nice to be in a place where a little bit I’m choosing more. You can’t say yes to everything, but my go-to for my entire career was just, like, someone said, show up, and I said, where? Let’s go. Throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks, so now I’m being certainly slightly more discerning.

Which came first—the interest in acting or the interest in music?
Jackie Tohn: Aha! This is an interesting question. I’ve actually never been asked that.

What’s coming to my brain is that it had to be exactly simultaneous, like lightning in a bottle, because I’ve just always been very much the person you see before you.

So, I always wanted to do it all. It was really confusing when I was coming up, because I would meet managers, and they’re like, Well, are you an actor who sings, or a singer who acts? I’m like, What does that mean?

I want to be Bette Midler, I want to be Joan Rivers, I want to be Sarah Silverman, I want to be—these are the careers that I want to follow.

Not that this is the question you asked, but this idea that you had to choose one, and I’ve always been—I mean, certainly right now, I’m a lot more interested in doing TV stuff, hosting, being an actor, and all of that, but keeping music in the things I’m doing. When I host the Oscars, for example, there’ll be musical numbers.

It’s been a pleasure getting to chat this morning. Thank you so much.
Jackie Tohn: Alright, Solzy. We’ll talk to you later.

The Floaters held its world premiere during the 2025 Bentonville Film Festival in the Narrative Competition. Upcoming screenings include the 2025 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

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