New Doc 'Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sarah' Explores the Dark Side of Fandom

EDGE: It must have been very strange to be pulled back into relationships that had faded away or run their course, and now, to untangle all this, you're speaking with people from the past, as well as with various fans. What was that like?

Tegan Quin: There was a spectrum of emotions and feelings going into this, talking to all the different victims. I feel so bad for everyone. And that's complicated, because in some cases, they've gone online looking for my personal information, looking for my phone number and my email. It's a complicated thing to say, "I'm so sorry that happened to you," but also, like, why do we go on message boards and look for celebrities' personal information? People were trading in stolen songs and doctored photos and personal information.

EDGE: If you were to have one of those conversations face to face with fake Tegan, what would you want to say to them?

Tegan Quin: Well, I think Erin and I spoke to that person multiple times, thinking they weren't Fake Tegan – so, we were catfished again. As to your question, I think I said it, because when I was speaking with this person, I was like, "I'm doing this because I want the truth to come out. I want the victims to know that they aren't stupid for falling for this. I want people to have compassion for artists, but also for the victims." And I was like, "Ultimately, I want Fake Teagan to have an opportunity to say how they feel. I have compassion for them, too. I have a feeling they were probably very young, and likely going through their own thing."

I said all these things to this person. [As to whether they really are Fake Tegan], I could be wrong. There's a margin of error there. But I think, in a weird way, I have closure.

EDGE: That's such a remarkable level of compassion.

Tegan Quin: I don't know whether I'm gonna go crazy down the road and finally get angry. It's taken a lot for me even to admit that it was complicated to talk to some of these victims, especially the ones that were involved in the incest fan pages and those kinds of things. I mean, those are parts of the fandom that I've always been disgusted by. But it's hard, because I've met some of the people who used to write the fan fiction, and they're really nice.

The fact that the Tegan and Sarah fan base is so passionate and so supportive of each other, and of us, is amazing – but there's a dark side to that. Many of [the fans] were great, but there were also a lot of people who were saying awful, cruel, untrue things about us, and our team, and my girlfriend, and my mom, and tearing us to shreds. And then talking about gross things and sexualizing us in a way that felt really fucked up. Like, the world is fucked up enough. We were dealing with a very male-dominated, hetero industry, dealing with reviews and articles that were misogynist and sexist and homophobic, and then our fans were doing it to us online. It was – it made me angry. Yeah, I have a lot of compassion for everyone, even those people, but all of these things add up to why I'm like, "Don't try to be famous."

I think we have a perfect career now: Just fly under the radar, no paparazzi, no stalkers.

"Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara" premieres on Hulu on Oct. 18.