After growing up on Arrested Development and Search Party, Alia Shawkat reaffirmed her indie bellwether status with this year’s Atropia and her off-Broadway debut in You Got Older at the Cherry Lane Theatre. She’ll next be seen onscreen alongside Kristen Stewart in The Wrong Girls.
What would you wear to meet your greatest enemy?
A mask of their face. Then eventually I’d take it off and explain how I got the mask made and see if they wanted to keep it.
Who do you call the most?
My mom. To be fair she calls me, but I usually always answer.
What’s your biggest vice? Your greatest virtue?
I like smoking. It’s the worst habit that might kill me one day, and I like to think I’ve quit. But I miss it and still want to be a rebellious teenager I guess. And I’m a gracious laugher. I support a story or group effort to get a good laugh going.
What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. She’s my favorite writer. Reading this helped me just be engaged with something outside myself and allowed me to get better at reading. I learned to read. A book.
What keeps you up at night?
Too many things. Tomorrow, today, yesterday. My hair tickling my face. But then I pass out and if I’m lucky I dream about none of those things.
What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?
More clowns. People being innocent and less cynical. Good comedies in general. People taking themselves less seriously. And way less award shows. I think we’ve done it and it’s reached its end. I wish actors stopped thinking they’re more than jesters who tell a good story. We’re supposed to mock the king and queens, not become them.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Spring. Change. Some hope that peace is coming. But mainly traveling and seeing my kid learn new stuff and seeing his dance moves evolve.
What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?
What am I doing? What time is it? Should I go home? This sucks. Actually why not? This is fucking brilliant. Should I go home? What am I doing?
Where do you feel most at home?
In a van. Driving in nature somewhere, far but no particular destination. Looking for a campsite before the sun sets. Pretending for a minute there’s nowhere else I need to be.
What is your biggest vice? Your greatest virtue?
I like smoking. It’s the worst habit that might kill me one day and I like to think I’ve quit. But I miss it and still want to be a rebellious teenager I guess. It’s gross. I’m a gracious laugher. I support a story or group effort to get a good laugh going. I don’t fake laugh but I’ll encourage.
What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?
Herding sheep. Painting paintings. Singing jazz. Helping displaced families. Cooking in a small coffee shop in the smallest town in all the world on a mountain top telling people I used to act.
What’s been the hardest part of your career so far?
Caring too much. Feeling the losses of not getting a job I want or not being seen the way I think I should. Having to convince people that I’m worth money. Giving a shit and then not caring enough to actually give a shit.
What grounds you, and what invigorates you?
Camping is really when I feel my best. Painting is also great. Being alone all day then seeing good friends and having great food and drink and my kid sleeping soundly nearby. Being lost is invigorating. Just enough to know you have to go a different way.
To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.
in your life?
