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Sam Jay on Working With Jonah Hill & Changing Perspectives Through Comedy

Sam Jay on Working With Jonah Hill & Changing Perspectives Through Comedy
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Sam Jay on Working With Jonah Hill & Changing Perspectives Through Comedy

The You People star opened up to Sonia Baghdady of Advocate Now about the filming process, standup comedy, and more.

As a former Saturday Night Live writer, Sam Jay has long been a voice in comedy. But recently, she took the big screen with her first major movie role in hit comedy You People.


You People follows the story of Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Amira (Lauren London), a young interracial couple who "reckon with modern love" as they navigate their relationship with each other, as well as with their families.

Jay plays Ezra's friend, Mo, who provides comedic relief in an already hilarious story. Jay says she was drawn to the script because of its humor, and because of how much she related to her character.

Sam Jay | Advocate Now

"Some of this stuff is really close to things I've actually said and done or things I've actually thought," she tells Sonia Baghdady of Advocate Now. "And the characters just felt like me already in a lot of ways. And so I was like, I think I could do this. This doesn't seem like a super stretch from who I already am. So, it just spoke to me."

The film tackles societal expectations and generational differences, forcing its characters to have difficult but necessary conversations. While Jay aimed to be funny first and foremost, she says she also hoped that those messages would shine through.

"It's important to see anything on screen that is actually happening in our actual real lives and in the real world," Jay explains. "And the more we do so, representations of what people's real lives look like and how different we're all living, then the more we'll see that we're the same."

Jay thinks You People will be able to spark conversation among its audience members, and hopefully, it will change their perspectives.

She says: "What's dope about comedy or art on any level is like, once you kind of see it or hear it, you can't unsee or unhear. Even if you want to have this strong hold on your ideas or opinions, there's a little part of you that can't deny that you now know something different."

For more interviews like these, watch Advocate Now on The Advocate Channel.

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Ryan Adamczeski

Digital Director

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.