Sex and dating for the sandwich generation – Sharon Horgan on her latest comedy Youth"It's really weird watching yourself age on screen because that's not fun," Horgan reveals.18 hrs agoCulture

Casual sex. Relationships. Parenting. Sharon Horgan has already seen us through several life stages via hit comedy dramas such as Pulling, Catastrophe and Motherland.

Now, with her latest show Youth, Horgan puts the spotlight on 50-something women, imbued with her trademark tightly balanced mix of hilarity and pathos.

The HBO Max series sees Horgan’s character, Alex, gamely attempting to juggle a stressful publishing career while looking after a teenage son and elderly parents. She’s part of the so-called sandwich generation, those in midlife who have to juggle caring responsibilities for old and young while often working, too.

And that’s not all – Alex is also back in the dating game following a divorce.

“We’ve all got kids who are kind of adults now and parents who are getting older and ailing in some cases. There is a chunk of my life in there, an… autobiographical element for sure. But the good thing about writing autofiction is that no one really knows which bits are real and which bits aren’t, I guess, except the people [in it]!”

The hit writer, producer and actress mulled over the idea for Youth before going on to make Apple TV’s Bad Sisters, coming back to it after the dark comedy ended.

The 56-year-old says she was keen to “write about this particular time in a woman’s life… through the lens of a mother of a son”.

Horgan wanted the story to be “post-divorce and “menopause adjacent”.

“And I wanted it to be a comedy, you know? Because there’s a lot that’s very funny about our bodies failing!”

But it’s not just her comedy chops that have gained her a loyal following – a big factor in Horgan’s success over the last 20 years or so is the authenticity she brings to her work.

“I spent a lot of time trying to make it as real and as accurate as possible and trying to put in my faults as a parent and mistakes as a woman, my own sort of anxieties and insecurities,” she says.

“I try to put all that in there… and hope that’s a universal feeling because it’s really madly important to me that women, especially, watch it and see themselves reflected back.”

She says that Youth “felt like the next stage on” from her popular sitcom Catastrophe.

The series, which first aired in 2015 on Channel 4, followed the lives of 40-somethings Sharon and Rob (played by Horgan and Rob Delaney), a couple who got together suddenly after their brief transatlantic fling resulted in pregnancy.

“This [show] feels part of the same trajectory, almost, which was fun and really helpful when it came to trying to figure out what the tone was, although I hope it’s kind of doing its own thing,” Hogan explains.

There are new issues to concern ourselves with in mid-life and, as you’d expect, Horgan doesn’t shy away from embarrassing situations or mildly unhealthy preoccupations.

Her protagonist – who is 50 – has a slight obsession with sagging skin, which will no doubt strike a chord with many.

“It’s really weird watching yourself age on screen because that’s not fun,” she reveals.

Horgan says she wanted to offer “an honest depiction of someone having a complicated relationship with ageing”. She adds that she herself has now formed “a better relationship” with getting older.

“I think it’s OK to age any way you want to age. And we’re insecure about it for a reason. And that’s because it’s shoved down our necks that we need to look a certain way, especially within the entertainment industry and in magazines. And women who age really well are celebrated just for that. And that is annoying.”

When it comes to sex, she says “you just have different insecurities” when you’re a bit older.

“You think about angles, you think about the shapes you make and how to be sexy as an older woman. And, you, know, lighting comes into it! But I also have friends who are incredibly free with their bodies and feel like this is a whole new era and they’re embracing it.

“I know that I will get there,” she continues. “But I wanted to show a middle-aged woman having a complicated relationship with her body but still putting herself out there because… she wants to find someone to grow old with.”

Sherwood star Sharlene Whyte, who plays Horgan’s boss and best friend Sam, says we need to see older women’s stories on screen.

“We should see more of it – women who are later on in age, who have been privileged to get here later on, who are still killing it and are still beautiful and sexy and funny,” she says.

“But I think women in their 50s are more visible (now)… and there’s more (acting) work for women in later life.”

Despite the two lead characters being 50-something women, Whyte describes Youth as “an inter-generational watch”.

That’s probably due to a prominent Gen Z storyline involving Alex’s son, Ruari, played by 19-year-old Aran Murphy (Cillian Murphy’s son. And yes, as you might expect, he’s very good).

Ruari has a difficult relationship with his feckless father – Alex’s ex-husband (Owen McDonnell) – and in one poignant scene, describes how confusing it is to find your way as a young man in today’s world.

“Having good people around you is so important, and it’s not always easy to have that,” Murphy muses.

“So, for someone like Ruari, when you don’t have the foundation of friends and stuff, you look to the (wrong) kinds of people… and oftentimes, you’ll be left out on your ass with the wrong answers.”

What does he hope young people who might catch the show will take away from it?

“You don’t have to have it all in place at 18, everyone is still kind of just pretending they know what they’re doing.”

I suggest that we don’t always know what we’re doing in later life either.

He laughs. “Exactly. Everyone’s still figuring it out.”

Youth will debut on 21 September in the UK & Ireland on HBO Max.