Sharon Horgan Says ‘Being in Love’ Changed How She Wrote Her Onscreen Romance in “Youth” (Exclusive)
Sharon Horgan Says ‘Being in Love’ Changed How She Wrote Her Onscreen Romance in “Youth” (Exclusive)
Julia MooreSun, October 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Sharon Horgan attends the Albie Awards on Oct. 9, 2026; Sharon Horgan as Alex and Rupert Friend as Patrick in ‘Youth’Credit: Ian West/PA Images via Getty; Apple TV+“I’m so glad I’m writing about this now rather than with bitterness in my heart,” Sharon Horgan, who is in a new relationship, tells PEOPLE of crafting her latest show -
Sharon Horgan explores aging and finding love again later in life in her new HBO comedy, Youth
The idea for the series came to her years ago, but she’s glad that she ended up writing it when she did, with a new romantic relationship in her life, because “I was able to write about love in a more interesting way,” she tells PEOPLE
New episodes of Youth air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max
Youth was living inside Sharon Horgan’s brain for a few years before it truly came to fruition, and she’s glad about the unexpected delay.
The Irish writer and actress tells PEOPLE that the initial idea for the new HBO comedy — in which she plays 50-something divorceé Alex and navigates a new chapter of her own life while her son Ruari (Aran Murphy) starts college — came to her after Catastrophe ended in 2019.
“I was trying to figure out what my next move would be,” she says. “I was 50 and thinking what’s next, post-divorce, feeling like I might never get out there again. I’m trying to think of a polite way to say it, but I was worried that that was it — I was going to be alone.”
Bad Sisters interrupted that chain of thought — she created and starred in the two-season Apple TV comedy alongside Eve Hewson, Anne-Marie Duff, Sarah Greene and Eva Birthistle — but it turns out that was really for the best. “After Bad Sisters ended, I went back. I found the document in my laptop. I was like, ‘Oh, I think I have a better perspective on this now,’ because I was writing it from a different place. I wasn’t alone any longer, so I was able to write about love in a more interesting way, I think.”
Sharon Horgan as Alex and Rupert Friend as Patrick in ‘Youth’Credit: Apple TV+
Horgan confirmed in a 2025 interview that she’s dating a man nine years her junior whom she also cast in Bad Sisters, though she didn’t name him.
Approaching the story — namely, Alex’s desire to find love again and her bumpy ride with Patrick (Rupert Friend) — was a “completely” different beast now that Horgan had a romantic relationship of her own again. “I felt much more ready to write it, really,” she says.
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“The relationship with Patrick is a moving thing. It’s like a living, breathing thing. It’s like love in general: you’re so happy and then you’re devastated. And so I was able to apply my own relationship to the bits where you’re really feeling her love and watching two people fall for each other.”
“We’ve all been in relationships that have gone wrong. But there’s something about writing about it from a perspective of being in love, I suppose, that allows you to not be so bitter about it,” Horgan continues. “It’s still tragic, but there’s a sense of — there’s an understanding in there. Not everything works out, not everything goes your way. And I’m so glad I’m writing about this now rather than with bitterness in my heart.”
Fiona Shaw, Sarah Greene, Sharon Horgan, Barry Ward, Thaddea Graham and Jenelle Riley attend a ‘Bad Sisters’ panel at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation on May 3, 2025Credit: Araya Doheny/Getty
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Casting Friend, 45, in the role was nothing short of a home run in Horgan’s eyes. “We were just beyond lucky to get him,” she says. “All I wanted for Patrick was someone who was completely three-dimensional, someone who, you just, he’s infectious to be around, someone who, as soon as you meet him ... he sweeps you up in his charm.”
“I’ve always been a fan of Rupert, for years. He always had the ability to devastate me with his performances. Watching him in Homeland — watching him be in love in Homeland —was the thing that stuck with me. I was like, ‘That is powerful.’ ”
New episodes of Youth air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
