“Your neuroses are like diamonds,” is the first line in Zosia Mamet’s debut article in Glamour for her monthly column, “My Zo Called Life.”

Zosia is baring her emotions, and more aptly, her neuroses. The 25-year-old actress admits that her “sensitive disposition” and “rapid imagination” are to blame for creating stories in her head that her boyfriend would see through her craziness and leave her.

Zosia, who is dating fellow actor Evan Jonigkeit, thought that a month long break between the two (for her to film in California) would be the end of them. To the contrary, through simple communication, Zosia learned her 30-year-old boyfriend loves her no matter how “fucking weird” she really is. Can’t be weirder than Shoshanna!

Check out the article here for some wise words from Zosia on how to rearrange your perception on all your “crazy shit.” It’s all a gift, if you use it right.

(Photo by Getty)

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No matter how different Zosia tells InStyle her own look is from her beloved Girls character Shoshanna, it’s hard to picture Zosia as anything other than Shosh–if only because she does “Shosh” so well. Everybody’s favorite “Girl” Zosia Mamet (in strict competition with my love, Jessa) graces the January cover of InStyle and talks fashion, her boyfriend, and the stark differences between her and Juicy-velour-wearing character, Shoshanna.

They’re completely, entirely, inexhaustibly DIFFERENT, the 25-year-old says:

“Shoshanna’s style is, I think, the exact opposite of mine. We are intrinsically opposite human beings. Her’s is very specific. There’s a lot of pink. I think she likes something tailored. I don’t think Shoshanna would ever wear a shift dress. I think she would refer to it as a “sack” probably; whereas my favorite dress is a dress that my boyfriend calls the “sack dress,” that I would live in if I could. I don’t know where she gets her hairstyles from, but they come from somewhere. It’s like an amalgamation of every fashion mag ever, and probably some from Japan.”

But don’t worry, she still loves Shosh:

“Something I love about Shoshanna is how unabashed she is. She puts her foot in her mouth all the time, but she doesn’t apologize for it. She’s very worried about what other people think, but she still really does her own thing.”

Heart you forever, Shosh!

(Photo by Shutterstock)

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Their Kickstarter campaign for a music video may have epically failed, but The Cabin Sisters won’t be deterred. Girls’ Zosia Mamet and her banjo-wielding sister Clara are headed to Brooklyn this weekend for a Saturday night show at The Grand Victory—and tickets will only cost you $10 this time, not $5,000.

Here’s a clip of the Sisters Mamet doing their laid-back folksy thing at Bowery Electric. Would you see them in concert?

Previous: Win A Date With Girls Star Zosia Mamet
David Mamet Wanted Daughter Zosia to Skip College and Become an Actress
Zosia Mamet Reports That Even Off-Screen, Dating in Your 20s Sucks
Network Jews: Shoshanna, The Scene-Stealing Afterthought on HBO’s Girls

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Zosia Mamet’s indie sibling band Kickstarter campaign may have fizzled, raising only 2,783 of its $32,000 goal, but hope isn’t completely lost for Girls fans. Just look at Tina Wargo, the Girls enthusiast who tweeted at Lena Dunham asking her to write out “All adventurous women do,” a quote from Season 1 of the HBO series, for a tattoo Wargo wanted to get.

And OMFG, Dunham totally did it. Excuse me while I start a Kickstarter for Zosia Mamet’s new line of temporary banjo tattoos.

Previously: Someone Got a Tattoo of Shoshanna’s ‘Girls’ Emoticon Sentence
Lena Dunham Wins Purim

The post ‘Girls’ Fan Getting a Tattoo in Lena Dunham’s Handwriting appeared first on Jewcy.

Move over, Zach Braff—there’s a new star turning to Kickstarter for crowd-sourced funding. Zosia Mamet, of Shoshanna fame, and her sister Clara have an indie folk band (because of course) called The Cabin Sisters, and they need a little help getting their first music video made. Like, your help:

This music video for Bleak Love is our chance to realize through the visual artistry of some very talented people the universal feeling of un-requited love. Visually the video will bounce from opulence to sparseness, French Baroque to a simple, timeless and heartbroken. We are hoping to capture something everyone has felt at some point in their lives.

Sadly, the sisters Mamet haven’t been too successful in their quirky, banjo-laden venture (“Perhaps because it includes a ‘body percussionist,'” BetaBeat offered). No word on whether dad David, who once encouraged 25-year-old Zosia to skip college and pursue acting instead—”Thank God one of my children is finally listening to me,” he apparently told her—is one of the project’s 23 backers (the sisters have raised $1,170 so far).

I think the problem here is that people are thinking too small. Sure, for $25 you can download their first album (after all, Shosh would never pirate music) and $100 will get you a signed photo of the sisters, but for only $5,000 you can be Zosia’s date (fine, guest) at a Cinema Society film screening and premiere party: “It is a very classy event that will give you the opportunity to know a little bit about Zosia.” Sure, we don’t know what movie it is and she might totally hate you, but it would be so worth it.

So, have you donated yet? Because Lena totally did.

Zosia is making a very un-Shosh like music video (with a little help from her friends) #cabinsisters kickstarter.com/projects/51216…

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) May 29, 2013

Previously: Zosia Mamet Curses, Loves Pirates, and Is Definitely Not A ‘Shoshanna’
Zosia Mamet Reports That Even Off-Screen, Dating in Your 20s Sucks
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Shoshanna?

(Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

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Inside, he ordered a papaya salad, and when asked by a waitress if he’d like an alcoholic beverage, declined. He drinks, but not during the day—he has to set some limits for himself, he explained.

Unlike his character, Karpovsky doesn’t waste time. Over the past year he’s filmed six feature films, in between shooting the hit HBO show, Girls. Two of the films he wrote, directed, and starred in were released in March—the first, Rubberneck, chronicles the life of socially awkward scientist who becomes fanatically obsessed with a coworker after a random weekend tryst, while the second, Red Flag, is more of a caricature of the real Karpovsky, following a self-involved filmmaker on a journey to promote his independent film.

I read in an article that you like to go back to your parents’ house in Newton, MA every now and then for a good cry and to write. True?

Used to. I’m very happy now. But I used to cry a lot in my parents place, it’s true.

Is it true your mother doesn’t speak English? 

She speaks a few words, but she doesn’t speak well. I end up speaking to her more in Russian than in English, but my Russian isn’t very good. It’s probably first or second-grade level Russian, so we can’t communicate very well, which is unfortunate because she’s a sweet lady. Otherwise we’re very close.

Did you go to Hebrew School?

I went for a year or two when I was really young, I think first grade. I love how people always just assume I’m Jewish, they don’t even ask anymore. Especially on the show it’s clearly stated that I’m Greek. People are like ‘So when did you go to Hebrew school?’ I’m like ‘Yeah I am Jewish, and I did go to Hebrew school for about a year or two.’

Has Judaism or religion affected your attitude towards your life and art at all?
 
I act in a lot of my own movies and generally I play a character who is neurotic, guilt-ridden, and full of anxiety. You can definitely make an argument that those are characteristics woven into our understanding of American Judaism, but that’s probably the extent of it. Otherwise I don’t feel like Judaism has defined the way that I view myself or carry myself.

What’s your favorite part about playing Ray on Girls and what is the part you dislike about it the most?

That’s an interesting question. There are a lot of things I like about playing Ray. I like the fact that he and I have some characteristics in common and I’m really glad that I’m not like him in real life. I take certain aspects of myself and amplify them to communicate the dramatic effect. I don’t feel like I’m inventing a lot, I feel like I’m just sort of exaggerating things that are already in place, to some extent. And that’s fun for me to do. I think he’s sort of cynical and judgmental and angry and all of the things that drive those characteristics are things that I relate to a lot. Being able to play around in those waters with other great actors is fulfilling to me.

What’s it like working with Lena Dunham?

It’s great. She knows exactly what she wants and she knows how to communicate it to the other actors and crew members in a way that’s efficient, coherent, and engaging. Also she does it in a way that leaves a little bit of room for us to kind of play around with our roles. The writing is so good that I don’t feel that drawn to improv too much on set, but there’s a bit of room, and that keeps me invested and interactive with the creative process.

Even just as a person she’s so effervescent, accessible, friendly, smart, and present. More recently in addition to all of her success she’s very helpful and has remained very down to earth. I love working with her for all of those reasons, and I have tremendous pride for Girls, I really love working on it. I have so much faith in the show and she’s the leader. 

You directed and wrote Red Flag and Rubberneck. Did you find it difficult to direct yourself?

I don’t think it’s that hard for me to direct myself. When somebody directs me I feel like my main responsibility is to understand what he or she wants to convey in the most comprehensive way possible. It’s important to understand the exact motivations and objectives in play and how the scene relates to the big picture of the whole movie. If I’m present in that comprehensive sense then I will do the best job I can do, I can’t do better.

But when directing myself I’m trying to do all of that in addition to making sure everyone else is acting in my movie, correctly. Specifically my main responsibility when I’m acting and directing is making sure everyone is in the right tone. With comedy especially, things change, and people can improv a lot and go a little hammy. So the main difference is that you have more responsibility.

One of the incredible characteristics of Lena, although I’ve already mentioned 46, the 47th one would be that she’s really good at being an actor and director. She’s totally engaged in the scene and simultaneously able to improvise and be loose while taking notes on everything else that’s going on around her technically and performance wise. She’s completely engaged in a scene and then as soon as it cuts she immediately delivers very concise and relative notes to the actors and members of the crew. That takes a real multitasking mind that I don’t have. I have to watch playback and talk to people. That’s why we are able to shoot a Girls season very quickly. We just started shooting last week.

In Red Flag there’s a line that says, “I’m ready to die which means I’m ready to live.” Does that quote resonate with you at all?

That quote definitely resonates with me but I don’t feel I’ve overcome anything necessarily, it’s still an expression that I’m negotiating with. A lot of Red Flag is autobiographical and a caricature of who I really am. I definitely think about death a lot and I feel like one of the ways I can try to ease the anxiety is by making fun of myself.

So when the character says, ‘I’m ready to die, I’m ready to live,’ he’s having all of these issues and problems in life and he has this epiphany moment where he thinks they’re all rooted in his fear of death. Once he realized that he thinks it will trigger a catharsis and a lot of his problems will go away. He’s basically accepting the fact that he’s got a death anxiety and it reverberates to all of these other issues.
 
What are the common threads in your film choices?

I think I’m interested in stories that are character driven rather than plot driven. I’m interested in characters that are highly flawed, and protagonists that aren’t necessarily likeable, also that are insecure and neurotic. I play exaggerated versions of myself, and I feel to an extent these characters are a reflection of who I used to be. I mean you need to have a little bit of confidence to make these movies.

Of course you do. It’s a love hate relationship in a way. But as you grow older it turns more into love, or so they say…

Or so they say! Lets hope they’re right.

How did you get into acting?

When I was in graduate school at Oxford I did a lot of student theater. Most of it was sketch comedy and stand up theater. That was the first time I ever really acted in anything, and I was 21. I did a little bit of acting after I dropped out of grad school and moved to New York, but really bullshit theater, off, off, Broadway experimental stuff.

I never grew up wanting to be an actor. I wanted to be a scientist; my dad’s a scientist. I started undergrad and wanted to be a psychologist or study neuroscience and I did that for a bit. Then I got interested in doing student plays, and moved to New York City and got into theater more, and tried to write plays which didn’t work out so well. I got a job editing infomercials and corporate videos, that’s what my first movie, The Hole Story is about. I edited videos for five years and that was sort of my film school because I got to learn how to tell a story. I acted in my first movie in New York, and because of that this director named Andrew Bajulski asked me to act in his movie and he’s got a lot of indie credibility. People see his movies, not so much mine. Then I ended up getting a few smaller roles and that opened doors. So I acted in five or 10 movies before I met Lena.

You’re playing Marty Green in the new Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis. How was it working with the Coen Brothers?

I shot it last year and I can’t wait to see it. Adam Driver [Karpovsky’s Girls costar] is in it too and he saw it and said it was good, so that was nice to hear because I trust his opinion. It was fun working with them and was nice to be asked.

Are you interested in doing high budget films or would it ruin your ‘indie street cred’? 

I don’t know how much indie cred I have, but I’d love to, sure. I want to try doing different things. There’s of course the terror of compromising your creative integrity but there are many people I know that have gone on to do medium, high budget, and even studio films while still preserving their own sensibility and aesthetic. It is possible, and if I think there’s a 50/50 chance of pulling it off, I would definitely do that.

It’s been said that you’re somewhat of a commitment-phobe with apartments and relationships. What are you so scared of?

There’s a fear that it may be difficult to get out of the relationship. I’ve definitely been in relationships for way too long because I didn’t want to hurt the other person, and there’s the fear of dependence. I also sometimes feel like I’d really disappoint the person or hurt them. There’s the potential of regret that you would make a mistake. I’ve definitely experienced that before as well, but I’m getting better at it. And when I say I’m a commitment-phobe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but whatever is there I’m getting better at. After we meet I’m looking at an apartment on the corner, which involves a 12-month lease, baby steps to independence!

Have you tried yoga or meditation to deal with anxiety or depression?

I meditate pretty much everyday and if I didn’t do it, things would be a lot worse. I’d be running around like a chicken without his head cut off, frazzled, anxious, and disoriented. So yeah I do it for 20 minutes everyday after breakfast and it’s a good thing for me.

Tell me five living Jews you’d like to have at your dinner table?

Woody Allen, Bob Dylan, Philip Roth, Jonathan Ames, and David Remnick. I’m assuming David is Jewish but I’m not sure.

What are some of your next projects?

Well we just released Red Flag and Rubberneck last month and Girls is just beginning filming Season 3, so that will take five or six months. I’m also writing one comedy, one drama, and playing with a TV idea. So, I hope one of them solidifies and we can go into production soon after we wrap Season 3 of Girls. In September, October I hope one of my projects gains traction.

Are you friends with everyone on the show?

Yeah we’re friends but we don’t hang out that much. We see plenty of each other. I think Lena’s done a great job of creating a really friendly and easygoing vibe on set. There’s no pressure, everyone seems to genuinely get along and are supportive of each other. Lena has gone out of her way to create a safe place for us and we can be ourselves and are encouraged to take risks. I think that reverberates with how you interact with the other actors. Because of the way Lena holds her set and because of how much admiration I have for their acting skills, it’s very easy to get along with them.

Do you have hope for Shoshanna and Ray’s relationship?

I have hope, but I think they are both going to have to do a lot of work to nurture a sustaining relationship that has any hope of longevity. They need to both do some soul searching and walk the earth in their own ways.

(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

The post Spotlight on Alex Karpovsky: Actor, Writer, Director, and Producer appeared first on Jewcy.

And you thought you were the biggest Girls fan you know. The Girls HBO Instagram account posted a picture of a super fan who “made her #GIRLS love permanent on the back of her leg.”

The reference, based on the Season 2 series premiere when Ray doesn’t understand Shoshanna’s string of text message emoticons, inspired these parody text message screen shots before convincing someone on Team Shosh to get inked, permanently. The tat got a variety of responses from Instagram users, from “omg emoticon love!” to the more expected “even I don’t love emoji’s THAT much.”

Whoever wrote “obsessed! Too bad it was so poorly done.” is such a Marnie.

What do you think of the tattoo?

Previously: Network Jews: Shoshanna, The Scene-Stealing Afterthought on HBO’s ‘Girls’
Would You Buy Lena Dunham’s New ‘Girls’-Inspired Nail Polish?
You Can Buy a Ring With Lena Dunham’s Face on it on Etsy

The post Someone Got a Tattoo of Shoshanna’s ‘Girls’ Emoticon Sentence appeared first on Jewcy.

Lena Dunham, Purim enthusiast. The Golden Globe-winning writer/director/nice Jewish girl will headline The Jewish Museum’s Purim ball on Wednesday, February 27, where she will deliver the evening’s Purim spiel.

According to the Museum, “Ms. Dunham will bring her brilliant sense of humor to the annual telling of the Purim story, which she will interpret in her own unique style for the evening’s 850 guests from the worlds of art, fashion, entertainment and philanthropy.”

We’ll be there, of course, chronicling the whole thing spiel by spiel. Dibs on dressing up as Shoshanna.

(Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for SXSW)

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Whether you’re spending Valentine’s Day watching movies on the couch with your girlfriends or on a romantic date with your significant other, we’ve got you covered with some of Jewcy’s best love stories. As Sir Marvin Gaye says, “As long as you’re groovin’, there’s always a chance, somebody watching, might wanna make romance!”

When hundreds of drunk young Jews are piled into a loud, sweaty club for a ‘Jewish singles’ event, it’s natural to expect sparks, butterflies, and a little bit of mishegas. But if you’re looking for your beshert, the shlep to the party might not be worth your time—you’ll have a fun night out with your friends, but you probably won’t meet your future husband.

Jewish law student falls for blonde Southern belle, finds out he’s the first Jew she’s ever met.

This one makes us feel a little uncomfortable, but we have to admit the sentiment is cute: They met on JDate, and he proposed with this elaborate song-and-dance video.

Now that marriage proposals are going viral, the bar is being set higher and higher for nice Jewish guys popping the question on camera. This groom-to-be went with the Bruno Mars approach for his choreographed proposal video.

Who doesn’t love Shosh? I mean really, she’s the epitome of neurotic, funny Jewish girl stuck in the days of Juicy sweat-suits. In real life, actress Zosia Mamet would rather be home reading a book, and we’d definitely rather be watching her on Girls than on a lame Valentine’s Day date tonight.

Craigslist can be creepy, but we’ve all prowled the site looking for an apartment or a job. There was no lasting love connections made at the infamous Craigslist Shabbat shindig, but it sounds like it was a fun night at least. There’s always JDate…

Happy Valentines Day from all of us at Jewcy!

(image via Shutterstock)

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Has it all been a lie? BuzzFeed reports that Lena Dunham, who’s registered to vote in Brooklyn—and who made that weirdly sexual pro-Obama voting video—didn’t actually vote.

Even more galling, however, is Dunham’s admission that the first character she’d kill off on Girls would be our girl Shoshanna. That definitely wasn’t the answer we expected when we asked ‘How do you solve a problem like Shoshanna?‘ during Season 1.

Previously: Lena Dunham Wants Your First Time Voting to Be Special
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Shoshanna?

The post Lena Dunham Didn’t Vote, Wants to Kill Off Shoshanna on ‘Girls’ appeared first on Jewcy.