Somehow 2023 is reaching an end.
I can’t explain it. It feels as though I’ve lived 3 separate lifetimes in this one year while simultaneously feeling as though I blinked, and it became December over-night.
I had a different topic planned for the newsletter this week but decided to save it for next month instead. In its place, I thought it was my time to do a very basic, very silly little Q&A. Sort of like an interview, but the interviewer is my Instagram followers. Yes, I decided to take it to my INSTAGRAM. If you do not follow my INSTAGRAM, that is your loss. You had your chance!
Q: FILMS/TV SHOWS that have inspired you the most from a writing perspective? --- a few people asked similar questions to this.
A:
I have mentioned before that Young Adult, the film written by Diablo Cody, is the film that made me fall in love with writing. I don’t even know why. I bring it up more often than literally anybody else ever has.
I’ve always been a creator at heart, though. Ever since First Grade I remember writing stories and scripts. I wrote plays and made my friends and family act them out… embarrassing, I know! At that time, everything I consumed had influenced me in some way. I was way too young to be watching Scream, which made some of my scripts… concerning.
However, there was a Before and After Young Adult for me. That film also made me appreciate the art of acting. Charlize Theron gives one of the best performances of the 21st Century and I mean that so seriously. To this day, I believe that is the property that has influenced my writing style the most. While discussing Diablo Cody’s work, I might as well bring up Jennifer’s Body. I have a great love for horror, but particularly horror that has a comedic aspect to it. Bodies Bodies Bodies is an example of a film I wish I had written.
Big Little Lies season 1, which was written for the screen by David E. Kelly, is a more recent example, that truly made me a different person. I May Destroy You, written and directed by Michaela Coel, is the best written piece of media I’ve ever consumed. That above all else has made me approach writing entirely differently, however I feel as though comparing my pen to Michaela Coel’s is near offensive, because she’s 100% operating on another level. I love writing stories about women, and I feel as though Sex and the City directly influenced my vision a bit.
I should add some books here as well. Big Little Lies in book form. Liane Moriarty has certainly impacted how I approach character work in fiction. In a similar field, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Emma by Jane Austen. Ever since I’ve been writing my newsletter, I do find memoirs have shaped my pen as well. My Body by Emily Ratajkowski changed me as a person entirely, and changed how I perceive essay collections, or just any non-fiction work. Gabrielle Union’s We’re Going to Need More Wine has stuck with me. I recently read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion; I don’t believe I would be writing without her blueprint.
Sorry. That was an essay in itself, wasn’t it? I lost half of my reader retention rate within my first answer. My bad.
Q: Is Jess short for Jessica? Jessie? Jessus?
A:
Jess is not short for anything as it was not given to me by my parents. I just made it up one day. I am trans!
Q: Favorite The Bear character?
A:
Syd, largely because I find Ayo Edebiri to be very lovely.
Q: Your top 3 releases of 2023 so far? --- another FAQ
A:
This general topic was going to be the issue I was going to put out this week. You know, my Best Of: 2023. It has been pushed to next month, but I will give you my current top 3’s with very little elaboration or context.
Films: Barbie, Past Lives, Killers of the Flower Moon
TV: The Bear, Succession, Everything Now, One Piece
Music: Guts, BB/ANG3L, The Age of Pleasure. (Shoutout to both Taylor’s Versions released this year. I don’t tend to count those for my Year End Lists outside of the Vault Tracks, because these albums were so personal to me growing up.)
Q: Most anticipated films for 2024?
A:
As established, I’m a bit of a Diablo Cody head. Lisa Frankenstein is naturally up there for me.
If you’re an attentive reader, you may remember that I wrote about Cuckoo being my most anticipated film of 2023 as a feature on Kass's newsletter, which allegedly is coming out, for real this time, in 2024. I will certainly be seated. I love Hunter Schafer.
I have no idea when Y2K or On Swift Horses are set for release, but those are just two of my most anticipated films for the general future.
Q: How do you get over tough times?
A:
I don’t, I just write about them.
Q: Favorite underrated actresses?
A:
“Underrated” is a bit of an interesting term. I love a lot of newcomers/young actresses in their early to mid 20s. They can be considered underrated if you compare them to a Meryl-type. I find it more interesting to discuss the more established stars, who’ve been in the industry for quite some time, who’ve broken out and are still working, so that’s who I’m going to consider for this question.
I don’t think many people appreciate Evan Rachel Wood in the same way I do. I think what Evan Rachel Wood does in every role she’s given is quite magical. Thirteen, Kajillionaire, Westworld, just voice acting in Frozen II. I didn’t even like Across the Universe or Weird, but the way she managed to make both standout roles of her career regardless. I didn’t enjoy Into the Forest whatsoever, but I find her performance so captivating. Going toe to toe with Kate Winslet in Mildred Pierce. I am in awe of her prowess.
I don’t love calling anybody “underrated” or “overrated” though, it feels like a hard metric to judge especially in a stan culture. It feels very backhanded, which I don’t mean to imply at all. Instead of considering this as me calling her underrated, just take this as me saying I think I appreciate her in a different and unique way. I praise her any chance I get, as I’m sure you know.
Brittany Murphy is another actress who I feel as though was never truly appreciated or honored in her time, largely thanks to the press just being very hateful and misogynistic back in the era in which she was at her peak. I watched a really great video essay that discussed her overlooked legacy, which I have linked above.
Nicole Beharie has started to get some well-deserved acclaim now from the general public. The way she took the sloppy Morning Show script and delivered an Emmy worthy performance just shows her star power is not to be messed with. The detail of her blacklisting post-Sleepy Hollow (video linked above) is actually so upsetting, calling her “underrated” seems… to be underselling the actual context. She gave one of the best performances of the 2020s decade in Miss Juneteenth, if you let me tell it. She will continue to shine no matter what, though. A real star.
I think Regina Hall deserves a Big Little Lies-esque series. Let’s get her an EGOT.
It feels weird to say “underrated” considering she’s such an established icon of television, film, and stage, but Anika Noni Rose not getting that Emmy nomination for Maid upset me greatly. She should have long had EGOT allegations if you let me tell it!
Q: Favorite album growing up?
A:
The earliest album I remember owning was Sparks Fly by Miranda Cosgrove, I’m going to be so serious about that. It was serious to 10-year-old not j*ss.
Fearless by Taylor Swift holds a lot of nostalgia for me as well, as does Speak Now. When I got a bit older, 1989 came into my life and it made me really appreciate the art of music in a whole new light. When I finally got into Beyoncé’s full discography, all of her albums became instant favorites for me, and still are, of course. Avril Lavigne : Under the Skin, The Best Damn Thing, Goodbye Lullaby. They all got me in different ways in my early to mid-teen years especially. I can’t just pick one. Different eras had different impacts on me.
Q: Favorite piece of writing you’ve ever done?
A:
I hope I haven’t written it yet!
From this newsletter so far, I’m very proud of the more personal issues I’ve done. I always love when people either reply or DM me about how they can either relate to my writing or just were impacted by something I said in any sort of capacity. Last New Year’s I posted my Last Three Years issue, and I feel as though that changed how I navigate this newsletter.
From anything I’ve ever written, though, the feeling I get when I finish anything long-form hits so differently. Every time I finish a draft, I can’t believe I legitimately wrote a full coherent story. When I write something that ends up being hundreds of pages, and I didn’t stop mid-way through writing. Any time I do that, I feel as though I should never give up on myself. There’s a different sense of pride in that process.
Q: What made you so passionate about writing?
A:
I hope it shows that I’m passionate! I don’t think I have a way to articulate what got me to where I am today with writing. I find words to be so powerful. You can create worlds just by typing into a doc page. There are no limitations to what you can do through words. I feel as though I connected with that from a young age, and as I grew up, I realized the power of reflection. Writing can be healing as well as creating.
Q: What makes a GREAT film?
A:
Film is too vast for universal traits to dictate what makes the medium as a whole great. I’d say if there had to be one trait that makes or breaks art, though, it’d be purpose. Every great film was made for a particular reason, and successfully followed through on its purpose. I believe that much to be true.
Q: How does it feel to be a Rachel Zegler defender?
A:
I feel as though we are currently in the Rachel Zegler renaissance. I know that doesn’t make sense considering her career has just started, but if you have been tapped in… you know how cruel people have been to her over the past two years for largely misguided reasons. I’ve never once switched up on her. Since very early on, I’ve been saying one day you will all look back on your actions and realize how horrible you were being. I think we’ve reached the era of reflection way sooner than us defenders had thought we would. You can’t keep a talented girl down for long, what can I say.
I’m endlessly proud of everything she’s accomplished and will continue to accomplish going forward. One of the most brilliant talents in the industry right now, no doubt in my mind.
Q: Favorite (and least favorite) Glee character?
A:
Favorite, Quinn Fabray. Least Favorite, Puck.
Q: Biggest achievement of the year?
A:
N/A.
Q: Word that defined 2023 for you?
A:
Tired.
Q: Top books, shows?
A:
I sort of touched on this earlier, however being strictly about what my FAVORITES are, with no consideration on what has inspired my writing, and with no elaboration whatsoever…
BOOKS: My Body by Emily Ratajkowski, Know My Name by Chanel Miller, Emma by Jane Austen, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Seven Days in June by Tia Williams.
SHOWS: Big Little Lies, I May Destroy You, High Fidelity, Sex and the City, This Is Us, Gossip Girl, Yellowjackets.
Q: What inspires you to get up and write?
A:
You know, this is a good question, because I don’t currently profit from any of my work. I mentioned earlier what stemmed my passion for writing, and how powerful I think words can be. I have a strong supportive environment of writers in my circles, I see what amazing things they can do, and they believe in what I can do as well.
Q: Do you do anything other than write? Is it what you do/want to do full-time?
A:
As I just mentioned, I do NOT currently get paid to write. I’ve been exploring my options, maybe 2024 will be my time to stand on business, but nothing currently. I work part-time doing stock at a department store, and I am going back to college for English in the Spring Semester. Writing is what I want to do, definitely. In any capacity.
Thank you for all of your support this year. 2024, incoming! :)
Would love to read your stories some day!!