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Sharon Horgan's 'Youth' Premieres on HBO Max
Confirmed
In Short: Sharon Horgan's new HBO Max series 'Youth' premiered this week, starring Horgan as Alex, a 50-year-old divorcee grappling with the complexities of middle age.
Horgan, known for her honest and authentic storytelling, brings her signature wit and charm to the role of Alex, a literary agent who is also an empty-nester and caregiver to her aging parents and troubled son.
Horgan's portrayal of Alex is both tender and sardonic, reflecting the character's struggles and frustrations with the pace of life.
The series, which premiered with the first two episodes on September 20, delves into the challenges of middle age, including the pressure to find love and the difficulty of balancing personal and professional life.
Horgan emphasized the importance of casting in her show, ensuring that each actor brought the right blend of comedic and dramatic talent to their roles.
The show's ensemble cast includes Aran Murphy as Alex's son Ruari, among others, with Horgan noting the importance of chemistry between actors.
Horgan's work on 'Youth' is a continuation of her ongoing project to tell authentic stories about modern women, blending humor with real insight.
Despite her age, Horgan remains radiant and charismatic, though some critics noted that her beauty might make it harder for viewers to relate to her character.
Horgan's previous works, such as 'Pulling' and 'Catastrophe,' have set a high bar for her storytelling, and 'Youth' aims to continue that legacy.
Horgan's latest project is a reflection of her own experiences and concerns as she approaches her 50s, providing a candid look at the challenges of middle age.
What this adds
The series is available to watch now on HBO Max.
Critics have noted that while Horgan's beauty adds to her charm, it may make it harder for some viewers to relate to her character.
Horgan's casting choices have been praised for the strong chemistry between actors, enhancing the show's comedic and dramatic elements.
Background
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult.
What's confirmed
- Written by and starring the British Horgan, this is an HBO series that feels like a continuation of Horgan’s ongoing 30-year project to tell honest, authentic-feeling stories of modern women navigating life’s various personal and professional relationships.
- A decade later Horgan was exploring a couple starting a family a little later in life with Prime Video’s Catastrophe.
- In this show, Horgan plays a woman on the cusp of being an emptynester.
- By turns tender and sardonic, Youth has all the rapier wit that’s become writer and actress Sharon Horgan ’s signature over the years.
- Premiering on HBO Max this week, the show stars Horgan as Alex, a 50-year-old divorcee seeking love and adventure while having to take care of her ageing parents and a troubled son.
- Horgan says she’s proud to put a middle-aged woman in a “kind of love story” like this one.
- I haven’t done anything like Youth before.” Youth is an ensemble comedy drama with Alex the first among equals, and Horgan gave careful attention to its casting, which she says has always been a huge part of her work as a showrunner: “Whenever I have a specific idea in my head, it doesn’t mean that this is a person we are going to offer a role to.
- While working on casting for Youth, I was searching for someone who was not only perfect for the tone of the show, which is one thing, but also comedically and dramatically brilliant.
- “Or maybe they’ll say it’s just like my other sitcoms?” Youth is available to watch now on HBO Max.
- Horgan’s playing Alex, a fairly successful – as far as I can tell – literary agent, though notably she used to own a bookstore that went under and now works for someone else, so we can add that to the growing pile of grievances she’s grappling with now that she’s 50.
- Sharon Horgan’s Youth juggles laugh-out-loud comedy with real insight, and in just two episodes lays out a compelling framework for a dramedy about aging.
What's still developing
- HBO is wasting little time in introducing audiences to its latest comedy, releasing the first two episodes of Youth on September 20.
- Where Episode 1 established Alex’s (Sharon Horgan) increasingly complicated relationship with middle age, Episode 2 begins to show just how difficult it is for her to make time for herself when everyone around her seems to need something from her.
- Horgan and Whyte are entertaining together, particularly as the boundaries between their professional relationship and personal friendship become increasingly blurred.
- The writing and acting are excellent here, with Horgan capturing the devastation and irritation of someone hearing what they feared rather than what was actually said.
- Two episodes are enough to prove that Youth has many charming qualities, but what is strikingly apparent is how well cast the series is, with Horgan having chemistry with every scene partner she has.
- At first blush, the premise of Youth seemed a bit far-fetched to me.
- But as Episodes 1 and 2 of the new HBO series make clear, her problem isn’t being unattractive – it’s being pulled in a thousand directions at once by the responsibilities that stack up as a consequence of aging.
- The comedy of Youth lives in the friction generated from Alex’s efforts to rush aspects of life that are supposed to happen organically.
- In her excellent new drama Youth, which she created, wrote and executive produced, she stars as chaotic 50-something literary agent Alex, sandwiched between a troubled teenage son and ageing parents, unlucky in love and negotiating a challenging career.
- Writing, producing and starring in shows is a formula Horgan has honed over years, not least in the inimitable Pulling and Catastrophe – but watching her blaze through Youth ’s every scene, I couldn’t help but wish she’d handed the role to someone less, er, stunning.
- In fact, in a recent interview, she laid out her worries about her daughters being exposed to today’s super-thin celebrities – what’s more, she seems totally aware of the problem at hand: “I didn’t have any decent products until I hit 50,” Horgan explained.
- Because she’s played by Horgan, she is distractingly gorgeous rather than, say, relatably frazzled, or just normal.
Sources
- Always Be Watchinglink
- AnOther Magazinelink
- Comicbookclublivelink
- Independentlink
- Nexus Point Newslink
- Ready Steady Cutlink
- Television Academylink
- The Hollywood Reporterlink
- The i Paperlink
- Timelink
- Varietylink
- www.irishpost.comlink
- Tvguidelink
- Tvinsiderlink
- Justjaredlink
- BBClink
- MOVIE PLUM ENTERTAINMENT™ — video link