‘Youth’ Creator Sharon Horgan Breaks Down HBO Comedy’s Mother-Son Relationship (Exclusive)

Sharon Horgan is back with another brilliant series as the writer, creator, and star takes on a new phase of life in HBO‘s refreshing comedy Youth. Warning: Spoilers for the Youth series premiere ahead!

For those who may need a refresher, Horgan is behind favorite shows like Bad Sisters and Catastrophe, among others, the latter of which took broad influence from experiences in her own life, and with Youth she’s getting back to that. “I kind of felt like it was time to start writing autofiction again, because that’s my background,” Horgan shares with TV Insider. “The first show I ever made, Pulling, was about my early thirties. It was about having very little and wanting more, but not having the sort of tools to do that.”

“Catastrophe was the same,” Horgan continues, adding, “it was about being married with young kids and just the slog of that, and trying to maintain a relationship while your kids are ruining your life.”

Ultimately, Horgan reveals, “This just felt like there was a long enough gap after Catastrophe to see someone kind of similar entering their fifties, but as a single person. Having to start over is terrifying, and it’s extra terrifying when your body isn’t cooperating with you.”

Colin Hutton / HBO

Viewers get a taste of this as they’re introduced to book agent Alex, who is gearing up to send her only son Ruari (Aran Murphy) off to university as she enters the empty-nester phase of life as a single woman. While Alex juggles her hectic job, which includes guiding literary endeavours by the likes of Damian Lewis and steering a legacy author’s racier draft, she also works to understand Ruari, who is withholding about the struggles he faces.

Part of that struggle is especially when he unceremoniously returns home from university with a dream to become a comedian with little to no explanation for his actions. “I could see that sort of odd couple pairing of a mother and son living under the same roof and being so different, but having really similarly difficult situations,” Horgan says of the inspiration behind Youth‘s story. “Life is about to make a big turn for both of them, and how do they communicate through that?”

As Horgan puts it, Alex is “sad” that Ruari is moving forward, initially, but looking forward to expanding her dating horizons. “I just thought it was very ripe for fun,” Horgan admits, adding, “I like making people laugh, but I like really making them feel things as well.”

And the Alex and Ruari relationship will certainly make viewers feel as the season unfolds, as Horgan says, “You’ve spent all these years working around your children, and plans don’t exist. Then finally you get to a place where you think this is going to be about me, and then immediately you’re just slapped in the face by the loss of them and that fear of how fast time goes by.”

When it came to working with her onscreen son, Murphy, Horgan says, “Working with Aran just made it so painfully easy because the reason why she doesn’t know a lot about what’s going on in [Ruari’s] life is he doesn’t talk to her. It’s like trying to get blood from a stone, and when he does eventually open up it’s painful,” Horgan teases.

“He was glorious because he was so good at being that kid that you just felt like you’re there feeling all those feelings,” Horgan commends Murphy. “The joy and the sadness.”

Will Alex be able to turn things around with her son and also find the romance she’s seeking? There’s certainly enough candidates with Patrick (Rupert Friend), Michael (Tim McInnerny), and perhaps even seeming work nemesis Malcolm (Douglas Hodge)? Stay tuned to see where Alex’s path leads, and let us know what you think of Youth‘s start in the comments section below.

Youth, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO and HBO Max