Zosia Mamet is part of the new breed of Hollywood actors; she is quirky, unscripted, and her honesty adds to her influence. The journalism class of NYT edu at the New York Times building, of which I am a part, had Zosia as a celebrity guest on Sunday, November 22. She was the center of a press style interview where any student could ask her any question. As the Wikipedia page for Zosia states, she is an American actress and musician who has appeared in several movies and tv shows such as Madmen, Parenthood and is currently playing Shoshanna on the HBO original series Girls. Also, Zosia writes a column called “My Zo­-Called Life” for Glamour every other month. Throughout the interview, Zosia was extremely kind and funny and appeared to be an outspoken individual. She had a way about her that was so calm, cool and collected, which was especially refreshing. She answered questions candidly and really opened up to everyone. Her style, including the outfit she wore to the interview, was so chic and unique, and I absolutely loved it. Snakeskin booties paired with a big fur vest, Zosia really shared with us a slice of her everyday, unique style. Now, I present to you, an inside look at Zosia Mamet.
In May, Zosia moved from her residence in Brooklyn to her current home in Manhattan. The big city can be overwhelming, but Zosia seems to have it all under control. She and her best friend and frequently go to a yoga studio in the Flatiron district, brings her dog to the 72nd street dog park on the Upper West Side, and makes a trip down to Soho to her favorite restaurant. She considers herself a dog mom as well as a homebody, and usually it is just her, her boyfriend, and her dog hanging out in their apartment. In these ways, she considers herself completely unlike her character Shoshanna on Girls. Zosia stated that “we [Shoshanna and herself] would not be friends in the real world,” and therefore playing this character who is so foreign to her real self has been “interesting and fun,” but difficult.
An actress so influential and naturally talented must have gotten her inspiration from somewhere… and in Zosia’s case, her dream to become an actress came to her at a young age. Growing up, Zosia was not allowed to watch TV, so instead her family watched old, British TV, filled with old, British humor. Because of this, Zosia expresses, huge influences in her life were people like Audrey Hepburn. Zosia affirmed that she was a “strange” kid who liked being alone, only wanted to ride horses, and put on plays. Throughout her childhood, she wanted to fit in and be liked (which she declares she was not) but never wanted to stray from herself. Also, Zosia grew up on movie sets watching her parents work. She describes how from the start, she just wanted to be part of it. She would sit in the big cast chairs and dream about how much she “wanted to be a part of the whole ecosystem of filmmaking.” Zosia did not attend college, she just began auditioning and went from there. She never attended any acting schools, and in fact, when asked how she makes her emotions come to life, she replied, “magic.” She became an actress “to play pretend,” pretending to be things that you are not, which brought Zosia to the hilarious conclusion that “if actors weren’t actors, they would be in an insane asylum.”
Throughout her career, so many people told Zosia to turn around. But she didn’t. In this way, similar to her character Shoshanna, she had an iron­ will and kept pushing on no matter how much rejection was thrown at her. Whether she is performing in a play, a movie, or in the future, doing another cable show (which she expressed her love for), she says that at the end of the day, “you feel like you left it all on the ice.” Zosia seems to have a passionate dedication to her career, and will continue to work it, as it is a “magical bubble experience”.