Sofia Black-D’Elia Worried About Turning 30. That Was Until She Met Her Drunk single female Samantha Fink character. “It was like, ‘Well, I’m not this bad! ‘” She laughs, alluding to the onslaught of worthy choices Samantha makes throughout the show. The Freeform comedy about a 28-year-old woman who confronts alcohol abuse and finds her way home sober is a refreshing depiction of addiction, grief, and complicated family relationships. But perhaps what the show does best is bring a more honest lightness to the serious subject. It wasn’t just dark times, after all. There are fun moments in the recovery process.
Despite the positive response to the show’s first two episodes, Black-D’Elia still felt pressured to star in such a heavily themed comedy. “You can tell by my babbling that I still freak out about it,” she said. To be fair, the actress is still quite new to the world of comedy. While proof of her ability to bring a sense of humor is on display in the Fox series The Mickeymost of her work consists of bad girl types in dramas like Skin and Night ofSo naturally, she was a little nervous. “I think it’s been a really good line for me,” she says of making such a dark comedy as Drunk single female. “Especially the first seasons of a comedy, you are looking for [your footing] regardless of theme or tone. … From the second I read the pilot, I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be difficult.’
Surrounded by a group of talented women both behind and in front of the camera, Black-D’Elia took up the challenge. The fact that creator Simone Finch showed a different side of alcoholism and becoming sober (an aspect based on her own personal experiences) really delighted the actress. “I think it’s the most — I hate the word — way of handling documents that are easy to understand like this,” she says of Finch’s approach. Then there’s executive producer Leslye Headland (of Netflix Russian dolls) and Jenny Konner (HBO’s Girls), who helped create a safe space for Black-D’Elia to truly explore and find Sam through week-and-a-half week-long rehearsals (rare with half-hour comedies) and priceless improv sessions with different actors.
“I tend to be drawn to characters where I can easily picture their inner lives and justify their behavior fairly easily,” Black-D’Elia told us about Sam’s mining of the mind. “She just means to me. I know girls who like her. I grew up with girls like her, and especially her relationship with [her mother] feels very familiar to me. My mother and I are much more settled, but in the improvisation of those relationships, I tend to find [Sam] than. … I think the way she deals with someone new like Olivia, who she really wants to impress, says a lot about her, and how she deals with someone like Felicia, who witnessed it. she is the worst and she can ignore that vigilance and be the ugliest version of herself, has also told me a lot about her. I really enjoy improvising with my co-stars and figuring out those relationships. Relationships really define who I am. ”
Although Black-D’Elia has friends and family sober or in AA, she has been careful not to rely on anyone else’s recovery journey in her process. “I think the second you try to make something popular, it’s completely disconnected from reality. So the more I focus on Simone’s particular journey, the better it is – at least in my opinion – for Sam. ”
In addition to the actress’s dynamic acting, there is much to note about her on-screen style in the series. Black-D’Elia delighted when we asked about her character’s sometimes problematic wardrobe choices, namely a large cobalt blue coat that appeared in episode one. Working with costume designer Cailey Breneman was an “incredibly fun” process for the actress. The two talked at length about Sam’s looks and what factors might inform what she wears. “When we first met Sam, it seemed to us that she spent most of her hard-earned money on alcohol,” she told us. “And so we want the things she wears to feel like she bought them at Zara like seven years ago.” Think distressed knit sweaters, printed jackets, and lots of plaid. To achieve Sam’s slightly dated look, Breneman retreated from consignment stores like Buffalo Exchange, Poshmark, and TheRealReal.
While Sam’s style is very different from Black-D’Elia’s, there is one outfit that really suits the actress. She imagines that there will be a view from Sam’s younger years that she sees when she moves home with her mother. “There is something I wear in [episode three], it was a short-sleeve t-shirt and a miniskirt, a bit lacking in outfit and moccasins,” she said. “I feel exactly like this Rebecca girl I went to the same Hebrew school as. She was – I don’t know – 10 years old when I went to the Hebrew school, so it was a woman in her late 30s wearing a 10-year-old Hebrew school uniform. ”
Unlike Sam, Black-D’Elia found that entering her thirties had a positive effect on her personal style. She admits to spending most of her 20s enduring the pressures of being a 21st century actress Candlestick look and dress alike, often trying to imitate others. But for the first time, she feels comfortable in her uniform and is actually wearing things she likes. “My husband described my style as a 1950s guy on the street on paper,” she says. “I love vintage Americana from the 50s and 60s. I love to save, especially when I’m in the Midwest or traveling by road. Much of my wardrobe is neutral and classic because I’m not flashy.” Glancing down at the orange Parks Project jacket she was wearing, she laughed at her ironic statement earlier but swore that the hoodie was the brightest of all the pieces she owned. possess.
Black-D’Elia wouldn’t describe anything or anywhere as her comfort zone, but it’s clear we’re seeing a more confident version of the actress both on screen and off. in 2022. While the second part gives SDF is still being aired, Black-D’Elia’s goal is to keep learning and keep doing comedies with really funny women. “It was like a real gift, so I really don’t know why I would want to go back to playing dead loves,” she said.
Watch brand new episodes of Drunk single female Thursday at 10:30 pm / 9:30 pm (CST) on Freeform.
Photographer: Abbey Drucker
Designer: Thomas Carter Phillips
Hair designer: David von Cannon
Create artist: Yumi Mori
