Video: Zosia Mamet on ‘Girls’ and Dating Horrors

Image by Getty Images

By Margaret Eby May 17, 2012

Zosia Mamet recently stopped by Conan to answer the question that fans of her HBO show “Girls” have been asking since the series debuted: Is dating in your 20s really as bad as the show makes it look?

“It’s a little worse,” Mamet replied. “It’s pretty f**king bad.” On Girls, Mamet plays Shoshanna, the fresh-faced, overeager “Sex and the City”-obsessed Jewish cousin of the effortlessly cool Jessa. Shoshanna’s most recent romantic excursions have gone incredibly badly, as with her last crush, Matt, a friend from summer camp who refuses to take her virginity. This week, the extent of her love life was watching helplessly as Jessa used Shoshanna’s apartment as a place for a torrid fling with her ex. But despite all that, Zosia thinks the actual dating scene is even worse.

“Ninety percent of the time when I go on dates I’m thinking ‘I could be reading my book instead,’” she told Conan on May 10. It seems that the young acting life doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for striking up connections, and Mamet’s real life encounters sound like something Lena Dunham scripted.

“It’s quite bleak,” Mamet sighed. “I had a guy once told me that my ambition was going to break his heart.” Mamet also overheard a guy advising his friend to dump a girl for asking his friend to call her back in a couple minutes. “If those are the standards, then I’m probably going to have cats.” The good news? Zosia Mamet is single, fellas!

LANGUAGE NOTE: Mamet uses an expletive a couple of times, but it’s bleeped out in this clip.

Watch ‘Girls’ Actress Zosia Mamet Describe Her Dating Woes:

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO