There’s a good chance you’re familiar with Aya Cash courtesy of her work on the hit TV series You’re the Worst and The Boys, but initially her focus was on theater. Cash’s pivot to the screen proved to be a journey filled with experiences that illuminated how she’d find the most joy in her work and also what she’d strive for as a leader on set to best support others. With her new movie We Broke Up in theaters now and set to hit VOD on April 23rd, Cash took the time to join us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to look back on the steps she took that paved the way to her many recent accomplishments.

Cash opted to plant the first seeds of her career in New York City with hopes of building a name for herself in the theater scene there. When financial concerns crept in, that’s when Cash had to seriously consider the fact that she’d be more likely to make a living doing film and television. Here’s how Cash explained the situation:

“It was kind of a balance. It was like, ‘How do you get enough film and TV to pay your bills and still do theater?’ And initially, I’d say even the first 10 years of my career, I didn’t get a lot of joy out of acting on camera. It wasn’t really until You’re the Worst that I learned to enjoy acting on camera. It was the opportunity to play a character like that and to have it written on you and taken to those places. And the way we were allowed to shoot sometimes where we would do very long takes. That gave me the same feeling that I would get on stage, and I had never had that before because on film and TV, acting is so truncated. You don’t get the chance to get going and I didn’t think it was possible.”

youre-the-worst-aya-cash
Image via FX

In addition to finding that kind of joy and fulfillment in her on-camera work, Cash also deeply values how she can contribute to the working environment on set. Here’s what she said when asked which television guest appearance taught her the most about being the lead of her own series:

“I won’t say any of the bad things because people could have a bad day; it doesn’t mean they’re bad people or that it was even personal or anything like that. But, honestly, I learn more from the bad moments than the good simply because you go, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that.’ Or, ‘I don’t want to treat people that way. I don’t want a set that I am on and semi-responsible for as someone high on the call sheet,’ which is a bullshit hierarchy anyway. But, if you want to put it that way, if there’s some sense of responsibility about leading a cast or a crew with the showrunner and stuff, I would say it helped me be welcoming to every single person who came on our set.”

Ultimately, Cash got the chance to bring those leadership qualities to the set of We Broke Up, a unique romantic comedy featuring Cash opposite William Jackson Harper as Lori and Doug. They’ve been together for 10 years, but wind up breaking up right before heading off to Lori’s little sister’s wedding when Doug’s surprise proposal doesn’t go to plan. In an effort to make sure Lori’s sister can still have the wedding of her dreams, they opt to keep their break-up a secret.

RELATED: Aya Cash and William Jackson Harper Star in First Trailer for Rom-Com ‘We Broke Up’

Aya Cash and William Jackson Harper in We Broke Up
Image via Vertical Entertainment

Turns out, We Broke Up actually marks Cash’s very first offer, and even though it’s something that’s first being released now, it’s a project she remained committed to ever since being offered the role of Lori six, seven years ago. Here’s how Cash broke down the timeline:

“We Broke Up was my first offer ever. It was six or seven years ago. So that’s the journey of an indie film, is I was offered this around Season 2 I think of You’re the Worst. I sat down with [director] Jeff [Rosenberg], we had a meeting, we went to coffee, he seemed lovely, I was so excited to get an offer for a movie to play the lead. Normally I was auditioning for these. And of course I say yes, and then it didn’t come together until six years later and they were like, ‘Would you still do it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, of course!’ When I make a commitment, I try - I’ve had to pull out of things, but I try to only say yes to things that I wanna do and it was so lovely to come back around and be able to do this with him.”

If you’re looking for more from Cash, be sure to check out her episode of Collider Ladies Night at the top of this article! She also looked back on working on The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio, explained why she had to step away from the fan conversation as The Boys Season 2 episodes rolled out and teased her upcoming Fox show, This Country. You can hear about all of that in the video and if you’re eager for even more, you can catch our uncut interview in podcast form below:

Aya Cash:

  • 00:30 - Cash runs through some of her earliest inspirations including Star Trek: The Next Generation and that time she fell during a school play.
  • 02:35 - Why her audition for the play The Pain and the Itch was an especially fond audition memory; losing a dream job during the audition process fairly recently.
  • 05:38 - Why her focus shifted from theater to film and television; why she didn’t get a lot of joy from acting on camera until You’re the Worst.
  • 06:52 - Cash revisits working on The Newsroom; the nerves that come with doing a project that challenges you to be “word perfect.”
  • 08:32 - Lessons learned while making guest appearances that came in handy when headlining her own series.
  • 11:10 - Cash looks back on working on The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio; the “craziest” story she heard from that set.
  • 14:33 - What happened when You’re the Worst took off? Was the show’s success a true game changer for Cash?
  • 16:39 - We Broke Up was actually Cash’s very first offer; that happened six years ago and Cash remained committed to the film.
  • 18:14 - Cash discusses her journey scoring the role of Stormfront in The Boys; why she had to step away from the fan conversation as Season 2 episodes were released.
  • 23:19 - The benefit of making We Broke Up with filmmakers with theater backgrounds.
  • 24:41 - Was making We Broke Up like making a movie at summer camp?
  • 25:33 - Who would Cash pick to join her team for Paul Bunyan Day?
  • 26:40 - Cash highlights the “secret sauce” of This Country.
  • 28:25 - Random questions begin! Find out what hobbies Cash tried while in lockdown, if she’s got plans to get another tattoo and her biggest fear overcome.

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