Ady Bryant’s Hulu series “Shrill” wants to change TV as we know it

Saturday Night Live star Aidy Bryant tells us how exactly her new Hulu series “Shrill” will change the narrative for fat people on television. Based on Lindy West’s memoir, “Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman,” the sitcom follows the story of Annie Easton — “a fat young woman who wants to change her life — but not her body,” according to Hulu.

“Lindy had so perfectly verbalized stuff I had been thinking my entire life but never said out loud,” the 32-year-old comedian told People in a recent interview. Bryant says the book inspired her and made her realize that she didn’t have to force her way “into a system that wasn’t built for me.” This led to her self-discovery and how she has learned to like herself despite not fitting into conventional norms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ONRwXazd8

Bryant is credited for co-creating, producing and starring in the series. It is co-produced by legendary producer Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) and multi-hyphenate, Elizabeth Banks.

The SNL regular recalls growing up to seeing fat characters on television as “the punchline.” “Even if it wasn’t necessarily about their weight, it was about the way they lived their life or who they were is a joke.” And quite frankly, Bryant is fed up. Her involvement in the project meant being able to steer it in a progressive direction.

She revealed that including true to life sex in the show’s pilot episode was a way to treat the lack of dignified representation of “a fat person’s romantic life” on screen. Bryan explained that sexuality is a major aspect of someone’s “ relationship to their body and their identity.”

Laura Ebeling
Laura Ebeling
Laura is a reporter and a gossip columnist for Best in Australia. She focuses on celebrities, science and social affairs in Australia and worldwide.
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