Kat, Such Brave Girls is back, what can we expect in the new series?
We're back and we're so much worse. I've really enjoyed torturing all the characters again this year. Smaller brains and bigger egos. I've tried to push them to their limits and really try to test the audience with how much sympathy they have for our gang. I'm pretty sure every single character has a full breakdown this year. I really put the actors through their paces (none of us are speaking anymore).
Tell us about Josie's relationship with Seb
Seb represents Josie's inability to confront anything and go after what she wants. She needs him or she has to look internally at why she's so miserable. Seb is an ever-loving labrador - loyal but simply will not stop humping her leg.
Is Josie's relationship with sister Billie similar to your relationship with Lizzie?
Definitely in terms of the fact that our relationship is based on feeding each other's delusion as much as possible, but I actually think series one did bring us closer than ever in reality. Lizzie is a lot more clued in about the world than I am; she'll be the first to tell you I'm f*cking lost. Lizzie can do anything she puts her mind to whereas my mind stops me doing anything. She actually left set to run a marathon in France and flew back the same night and started filming a few hours later. She can literally do anything.
What's it like acting with and writing for your sister?
I love her so unrelentingly much. She's my hero. I think she's the funniest person in the room and is genuinely a magician with her lines. She's made her character, a lot like Loo who plays our mum, have so much vulnerability and depth that might not be immediate on the page which makes her so captivating to watch.
When we first started working together I think we struggled with power dynamics as suddenly I was an exec and on set all the time, and acting is a horrible vulnerable experience and fundamentally very embarrassing, but now that we’ve got past that and we’re into season 2 I genuinely don’t think I could get through a scene without her. I am always trying to catch her eye to make sure she’s laughing. We’re each other’s biggest fan and fiercely protective - which is such a blessing when you have as many intimacy scenes as we do. It’s just nice to have someone on set brave enough to say you look f*cking weird, nobody human kisses like that. That’s sisterly love for you.
What's the reaction to the first series been like for you?
I am very scared to check social media and look at reviews. My mental health is too precarious for that. My sister is the opposite and I think has a Google alert on the show. We have a group chat with Goz our producer and Simon our director where we share any nice texts we get.
I love how different people's opinions are about which character to feel sorry for, and how they feel about each character. Some people say "that poor mum" or "poor Josie" or "those poor men". I set out to make a world where nobody is right and I want the audiences to decide how they feel, so that's the best feeling. Some people think Paul Bazely who play's Deb's boyfriend is really creepy but me and Lizzie always saw him as a wholesome man we'd quite like to be our dad, so that one was confusing.
What has been nice with some of the praise is that I do think it's found its audience in terms of people that actually get the show and understand what we're all about. It's given me the confidence to try and be even braver with my storytelling this year and push more boundaries. I do find it quite funny though when people think they're being nice and end up totally spinning me out - I got recognised last year and this girl came up to me and said "I love your show but my friends couldn't get through it!" Umm....thank you?
What was going through your mind when the show won the BAFTA for scripted comedy?
If you watch the video it looks like I left my body because I genuinely did. Nobody is home. It was completely bizarre. I wish I hadn't dissociated really or I would remember more. I think people say they spend their life fantasising about winning, but winning was never even allowed as an outcome in my fantasy so we were in uncharted waters.
The main thing running through my mind was I remember walking down the stairs from our seats and being like, you've got ten fcking seconds to think of something really good to say on stage or you've fcked it, and then I got to the stage and drew an absolute blank.
I do remember feeling quite satisfied for Lizzie cos she'd just gone up and fangirled Ant and Dec for ages, and obviously they didn't have a clue who she was, so I thought it was cool that she then got to go up and win something in front of them.
I remember the car home dropped me in the wrong place so I had to walk through Brixton at 3am carrying this gold BAFTA, which I decided if provoked I could have done some real damage with.
And how did you feel when you won the emerging talent BAFTA?
That one was absolutely surreal but I mainly was just worried about my tits falling out of my jumpsuit. I've never worn anything like that in my life and it was a trust exercise with body tape.
Lizzie shouted up to me from the tables and that was the best bit. I got to dedicate my speech to my best friend who passed away a couple of years ago now during the edit of season one. I had a rough time doing press last year because I was so full of grief. Winning gave me an opportunity to say her name on stage which she would have bloody loved.
We went for a drink in the pub next door with our exec with this BAFTA on the table between our pints; it must have been a strange image. Lizzie’s boyfriend picked us up and dropped me home and I remember just lying in bed staring at this big gold face looking back at me.
What advice would you give to any aspiring writers?
Just keep writing and write about the things you notice are bothering you, the things you argue about with other people. Never be afraid to cut stuff; no work is ever wasted if you sit back after a day working on a script and end up deleting the whole thing. You can't please everybody. Read every single script you can get your hands on. Find your trusted gang whom you trust with your whole life; cling to them bloody tight and never let go.
Finally, how would you best describe Such Brave Girls to anyone who watching the show for the first time?
It's an angry sitcom about three women trying their absolute best to bend the very warped world we live in to their advantage. It's about the narcissism we cling to in the face of unrelenting stress, the shared delusion of hope and the politics of sex and money and power. But it's also a light hearted sitcom that really needs you to laugh please or I will be so upset.