28
The writer and star ofBad Sisterswas living a life of perhaps too much leisure.
The year was 1998, and the dream was over for a 28-year-old Sharon Horgan.
Her plan to become an actor hadnt yet come to fruition.
Instead, she was living in London and had been working the same temp job for six years.
Id gone to London to make my fortune, as it were.
I felt like I should have had more to show for my years.
The fact that her younger brother Shane had become an Irish rugby star rubbed salt in the wound.
I was like, What the hell is happening?
It wasnt supposed to be this way!
Horgan says with a laugh.
I may as well have been in the arse end of nowhere.
I had no real quality of life, and it was my own fault.
I didnt put myself out there.
Like many of her projects, Horgan developed, executive produced, wrote, and stars in the series.
After years of watching the clock at work, shes now too busy to twiddle her thumbs.
Take me back to 1998.
Where were you living, and how were you feeling about your life and career?
I was living in Camden in North London, in shared low-level accommodation.
At that point, I wanted to be an actor, but it wasn’t happening.
I was thinking I should get a proper job.
I was in and out of fairly suspect… not suspect, but not the right relationships.
Just a lot of boys who were into not very safe things.
I was just trying to find someone.
What did a typical night out look like for you at 28?
There was quite a big tribe of people living an alternative lifestyle.
It made me want to go back to school whereas there was an awful lot of partying going on.
I’d started writing with Dennis [Kelly, co-creator ofPulling].
There was a famous pub in Camden called The Good Mixer.
Were you a big fan of Britpop at the time?
Yeah, and not just Britpop but PJ Harvey, for example, who is actuallythe music onBad Sisters.
Its been the most surreal joy to suddenly be collaborating with her.
I listened to a lot of The Fall.
It was kind of depressing but very musically involved, and lyrically where my head was at.
So a lot of that, a lot of dub, a lot of stuff that suited my lifestyle.
It seems like you were living a pretty frugal lifestyle.
What did you splurge on?
I dont want to say what I splurged on!
But it wasnt clothes and it wasnt food.
You have such adistinctive stylein all of your shows.
What was your style was like at 28?
I was a hippie, grungy kind of Camden head.
Then I went back to how I was dressing [normally], which was grungy.
A couple months later, the teacher went, You dressed up for the interview, didnt you?
Weve just realized what you [actually] look like and how you presented yourself.
I hope I always had a sense of style.
I think I did, because I really cared about clothes.
But I had no money and I didnt mind if I was covered in holes.
I didnt mind the odd stain.
That was in style at the time!
Yeah, and I didnt have a washing machine.
What were your goals at 28?
What were you envisioning for yourself?
I started being much more practical.
I did a word processing course, I learned how to throw in, I did an editing course.
I started doing creative writing as part of my degree, and I fell in love with writing.
Do you think you would have been prepared to handle this kind of success at 28?
No, I dont think so.
I probably just wanted some attention.
Im from a big family.
I wanted someone to look at me.
It was the right thing to happen to a person like me, I think.
Was there ever a moment you felt like youd made it?
It really, really is.
Im writing a vehicle for myself.
How can it get better than this?
But that was followed by five years of not being able to do that [afterPullingended].
But in this business, youre constantly moving.
It keeps you guessing, and I feel like thats a good thing.
What advice would you give your 28-year-old self?
Id give myself a bit of a talking to, actually.
Call my family more and get back to Ireland more.
I didnt feel like Id achieved anything, so I felt a bit embarrassed to return.
I always felt that I would go back triumphantly, and because I couldnt, I went back less.
What do you think your 28-year-old self would think of you now?
I think shed be pretty impressed, actually.
Is that bad to say?
Its so far from where I was.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
