‘Bottoms’ director Emma Seligman dishes on horny movies & the most desperate thing she’s done for a crush
Bottoms, a queer comedy that’s got everyone buzzing.The story of two “ugly, untalented” gay friends Josie and PJ (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott)—who start a fight club as part of a wrong-headed scheme to get close to their cheerleader crushes—comes from the mind of rising queer filmmaker Emma Seligman, collaborating once again with her Shiva Baby star and co-writer Sennott.For Seligman, Bottoms is the answer to the question, “Why can’t the gays have raunchy sex comedies, too?,” immediately staking its claim among teen classics of yore like Heathers and Mean Girls that played by their own rules.So, what makes Seligman tick?
What makes her laugh? What movies warped her young mind and inspired her to come up with so brazenly absurd and unabashedly queer as Bottoms?We decided to find out by having her by as the latest guest in our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It.
In our chat, she touches on the formative horror flick that changed her life, dreams up the next great buddy movie for her stars, and reveals the embarrassing thing she once did to get closer to a crush (which is, frankly, Bottoms behavior.)Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, games, etc…—that you consider a big part of your own coming-out journey, or that has helped shape your understanding of queerness?
Why does it stand out to you? I think Jennifer’s Body had quite an effect on me when it came out. I think because, one, I was such a movie buff as a kid, and that movie is so well written and so well directed and has such a style to it.
