Freedom Fighters
For all the intentional homogeneity churned out by Hollywood, some of the best works of art happen when creators are free to challenge the norm.
Carnival Row, Cara Delevingne In her new fantasy series for Amazon Prime, Delevingne plays a refugee fairy fighting for freedom and fair immigration policies. Carnival Row takes place in a 19th-century world of magical realism where fantastical creatures have been displaced by human sprawl. The role is perfect for the model-actress—and not just because she looks flawless with a pixie cut. In a lot of ways, Delevingne has proven to be magic in her ability to defy expectations and refuse categorization. She may not be the first model to act or sing or write or…whatever else she’s going to do, but somehow she makes doing it all seem coolly inevitable.
Nanette, Hannah Gadsby After freeing herself from the constraints and expectations of what a stand-up comedian does, Gadsby somehow made a comedy special into something cathartic, angry and nearly religious. It had jokes, but it turns out that a stand-up set doesn’t have to be funny to be required viewing. Her new special will come out in 2020.
Better Things, Pamela Adlon Nearly a decade ago, Adlon’s one-time mentor, Louis C.K., got a lot of attention for creating and controlling every aspect of Louie, which kicked off a mini-trend of male comedians making semi-autobiographical sitcoms without much studio interference (Maron, Crashing). Although Adlon has gotten a little less attention (isn’t that always the way?), in 2016 she created (and has since been the driving force behind) Better Things, a low-key semiautobiographical funny/sad sitcom about single parenting and, you know, life. The new season of Better Things will start in 2020.
Serena Williams When you are arguably the best tennis player in the world (and it’s a pretty easy argument to make convincingly), you earn the right to do what you want. Yet Williams still has to put up with unequal treatment. Thankfully, that hasn’t stopped Williams from being Williams. Peep the slick catsuit she wore at the 2018 French Open—or the black tutu she wore later at the US Open, possibly as a mild rebuke to Bernard Giudicelli (the stuffy French Tennis Federation president), who didn’t care for the catsuit. “One must respect the game and the place,” he said. What about respecting the G.O.A.T.?
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Fleabag went from being a one-woman play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to a global television sensation, and it’s all thanks to the mind of one thoroughly fascinating human: Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The British playwright and actress has talked about how the show’s titular character—in all her spiralling, grieving, questioning, confusing glory—came from the very depths of her soul, resulting in the sort of brutally honest work of art that women (and men) have found themselves sobbing over.