Netflix series walks the walk, talks the talk
Girlboss has some serious swagger while keeping it real
NEW YORK — Britt Robertson has a great strut, and it’s on full display in Girlboss.
“Oh, thanks!” Robertson said. “I worked really hard on that strut.”
So I had to ask Sophia Amoruso, who wrote the autobiographical book Girlboss on which the show is based: Did you ever actually have a strut like that?
“My hips are a little bigger,” Amoruso said. “I might have been taking up more space.”
Robertson added, “One of the biggest compliments Sophia has given me is, ‘You can shake your hips!’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’”
“She (Robertson), is in great shape,” Amoruso said.
Girlboss, which debuted April 21, on Netflix, tells the true story of an initially lost young woman who began selling vintage clothes online and, by the age of 28, had built a fashion empire.
“The character of Sophia is sort of a loose retelling of things that have happened in (the real), Sophia’s life,” Robertson said. “So naturally there are things that I hadn’t necessarily experienced for myself.
“Such as, I got really good at singing in a silly way. And also taking ownership of my life and being like, ‘F--- everybody.’ It was a very liberating role in that way.”
Robertson, of course, is an acclaimed 27-year-old actress known for her roles in movies such as Tomorrowland and The Longest Ride, and TV shows such as Under the Dome and Life Unexpected. Amoruso is one of the executive producers on Girlboss, as is Kay Cannon (also listed as creator and showrunner), and Charlize Theron.
“The book was given to me and from the image of Sophia on the cover and the bright pink cover page, something just really spoke to me about it,” Theron recalled. “I built a whole career on flawed and f---edup characters, so I have a love affair with that stuff and this felt so incredibly layered.
“Netflix is very supportive of (allowing female characters to be played in an authentic way). We never had a moment that we were told to change the language, or don’t let her sit with her legs open. Just let her be real.
“And we have an actress like Britt, I mean, it’s like, we have a gold mine on our hands.”
Robertson’s Sophia character hardly is in an envious position when we first meet her. She’s a cocky 20-something who can’t hold a job and is convinced that the world just doesn’t get her.
There’s a great scene where Robertson’s Sophia meets her dad Jay, played by Dean Norris, for dinner in a restaurant. Now, as far as TV dads go, Jay seems like a reasonably decent one. He’s genuinely concerned about his wayward daughter. But she’s pretty hard on him.
He asks, “Sophia, you’re smart, pretty ... what’s the problem?”
“I guess I’m just pissed off,” she replies. “About what?” he asks. “I DON’T KNOW YET,” she screams.
Robertson admitted she loves that scene.
“It sticks out in my mind even now,” she said. “Because I think it really symbolizes what this journey is, and what this first season is really all about.”
The first hint of a new path for Robertson’s Sophia character comes when she finds a certain piece of clothing in a second-hand store that she knows is seriously undervalued. Cue the strut, even if she doesn’t know what she’s strutting about yet.
Not everyone can strut like Britt Robertson. On multiple levels, Girlboss shakes it up.