{"id":1361,"date":"2026-05-10T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/05\/10\/charly-clive-breakout-star-of-hbos-rooster-is-just-getting-started\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:00:00","slug":"charly-clive-breakout-star-of-hbos-rooster-is-just-getting-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/05\/10\/charly-clive-breakout-star-of-hbos-rooster-is-just-getting-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Charly Clive, Breakout Star of HBO\u2019s \u2018Rooster,\u2019 Is Just Getting Started"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\t \t \t\t<\/svg>\t\tLogo text<\/span> \t<\/a> <\/p>\n

\tCharly Clive<\/a> isn\u2019t quite saying goodbye to those London comedy gigs just yet.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere\u2019s no world in which Rooster<\/a><\/em>, even though it\u2019s like the biggest job I\u2019ve had, guarantees anything for me,\u201d the 33-year-old muses to The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. \u201cBut there is absolute stability in some grotty basement or attic above a pub and 40 people on a Wednesday night coming to have a laugh. Comedy is always going to be a sticking point,\u201d she adds, \u201cbecause everything else is so by chance.\u201d <\/p>\n

\tWe\u2019re catching up over smoothies in Clive\u2019s native London, where she\u2019s lived since 2016, after around five years spent at the whim of New York City\u2019s vibrant comedy scene. It might surprise some audiences to know the magnificently charming Clive \u2014\u00a0currently starring as Katie Russo, daughter of Steve Carell<\/a>\u2018s Greg, whose yo-yo relationship with her (kind of) husband Phil Dunster<\/a> provides the HBO<\/a> series with some irresistible chemistry \u2014\u00a0is a Brit. \t<\/p>\n

\tWell, half a Brit. That impeccable U.S. accent is partly owing to her Mexican-American mother, a fact she believes has aided her seamless transition into an endearing East Coast college professor. It\u2019s also been helped by a childhood spent worshipping American comedians \u2014 \u201cSteve Martin is my North Star, but my compass is Steve Carell,\u201d she\u2019d later tell me \u2014\u00a0and fooling the conductors at her local Oxfordshire train station. \u201cWhen I was a teenager, I would put on an American accent constantly to get out of buying a train ticket,\u201d says Clive. She effortlessly slides into a twang not unlike Russo\u2019s: \u201c\u2018I\u2019m so sorry. Oh my god, I literally don\u2019t know how to do that!’\u201d That knack for accents has come in very handy for lots of schemes, she adds. \t<\/p>\n

\tThe schemes that have brought her to the front and center of HBO are teeming with vim and variation. Toward the end of her stint in New York (she\u2019d moved to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and, thanks to that U.S. passport, was able to stay in the city), Clive fell unwell. She was diagnosed with a benign tumor on her pituitary gland and had to move back to England. \u201cI was like, \u2018Well, that\u2019s it for me,’\u201d she says. \u201c\u2018I guess I\u2019m just a girl that got sick, and that\u2019s sort of the most defining thing about me now.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhen her best friend, Ellen Robertson \u2014\u00a0who you might recognize from recent Netflix hit Vladimir <\/em>\u2014\u00a0suggested she make a comedy show out of her diagnosis, off they went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a routine called Britney<\/em> in tow, named after Clive\u2019s tumor, which in turn was named after pop icon Britney Spears. \u201cMy career started from there, and so did hers,\u201d Clive says. They\u2019d gig at comedy clubs around London and still do so once or twice a week if they\u2019re both in the city.<\/p>\n

\tThen came what Clive thought <\/em>was to be her big break: Pure<\/em>, a 2019 Channel 4 series in which she starred as 24-year-old OCD sufferer Marnie, who is plagued by some pretty disturbing, intrusive sexual thoughts. The role came after a long period of consecutive rejections. \u201cMy feedback was always like, \u2018We\u2019ve got five other people that look like you,’\u201d Clive recalls. \u201cI get it, I\u2019ve got brown hair, but I also felt like I can do some cool stuff, actually, if someone would give me a chance. But I don\u2019t feel like in those five-minute [or] half an hour meetings, anyone really gives you \u2014 particularly as a woman \u2014 a chance to be funny.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\tWhile nanny-ing at the time for a family in Brooklyn, she was championed by a casting director she\u2019d love THR <\/em>to shout-out, Jane Ripley, and landed the lead part. But even with the witty, bold analysis of mental health and sexuality that Clive expertly executed in Pure<\/em> \u2014\u00a0and another flawless accent, this time Scottish \u2014\u00a0it wasn\u2019t picked up for a second season. \u201cIt was Channel 4 being complete cowards,\u201d she says, reflecting on that call six years ago. \u201cI think the reason was something quite bullshitty, like, \u2018There\u2019s just not really the space for it. We can\u2019t deliver drama or comedy,\u2019 and \u2018Women\u2019s mental health feels a bit difficult right now\u2019 or something. It was something really, really crappy.\u201d People still reach out to Clive to tell her how much the show helped them through their own OCD battles.<\/p>\n

\tFor the actress-writer-comedienne, it was a bit of a shock to the system. \u201cI think people warn you a lot that you\u2019re going to hear \u2018No,\u2019 but they don\u2019t warn you that you\u2019re going to hear \u2018No\u2019 after something that breakout of a role,\u201d she says about Pure<\/em>. \u201cI do think it\u2019s ultimately been a really good thing for me, because I\u2019ve built a life that doesn\u2019t rely on my acting career. And thank god, because it\u2019d be a really weird life if I was just acting. These jobs come so few and far between. But after the second year of not really getting any work after Pure<\/em>, people started asking me if I was still an actor. And I said, \u2018No, I\u2019m a writer.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Rooster <\/em>process started in October 2024. Clive was asked to submit a tape. \u201cIt was called Untitled Steve Carell <\/em>project,\u201d she remembers. \u201cAnd then I read it was [created by] Bill Lawrence<\/a> and Matt Tarses<\/a> and I was like, \u2018Fuck! I wish I didn\u2019t know!\u2019 Because you couldn\u2019t plan a better list of people to work with. I\u2019m a comedy person, so I was raised by these men, basically.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>

\t \t\t\t\t\tSteve Carell, Charly Clive in \u2018Rooster.\u2019<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKatrina Marcinowski\/HBO<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tUp until this point, Clive had made peace with frequenting London\u2019s comedy clubs and grotty basements. She dug deep and reminded herself of her comedy heroes. \u201cListen, it took a while for Steve Martin. It took a while for Steve Carell. If it takes a while for the Steves,\u201d she tells THR<\/em>, \u201cmaybe it takes a while for the Charlys. That\u2019s okay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIt wasn\u2019t long after that first tape that she was doing a chemistry read with one of those Steves. \u201cHe, funnily enough, reminds me a little bit of my dad, which does help,\u201d she says. \u201cHe was so calm, kind and quieter than I thought he would be. He asked me a few questions, really engaged with me as a person before we started. He\u2019s such an easy, generous laugher. And when you make Steve Carell laugh, it\u2019s just an extraordinary high that I will chase for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tShe didn\u2019t confess her adoration for him until far later in the Rooster <\/em>timeline, when they were on set together. But it was at a Vampire Weekend concert, at Brixton\u2019s O2 Academy at the end of 2024, when Clive found out she\u2019d landed the role. \u201cI ran in, sort of like an emperor in ancient Rome, my friends looked at me worried, and I was, like, \u2018Thumbs up, baby!’\u201d Clive remembers. \u201cWe all went fucking nuts and I got absolutely, joyfully hammered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tLawrence had been warning Clive that she was a slightly hard sell. \u201cBecause nobody knows who I am, it felt like a risk, maybe, considering how stacked the cast is.\u201d But he kept telling her: \u201c\u2018We\u2019re gonna do it. We\u2019re gonna get you across the board.’\u201d Everyone, including Carell, was in her corner. Even though the caliber of people auditioning was really high, Clive adds. Does she know who else read for Katie? \u201cNo, I never want to, because I know it would be women I\u2019m obsessed with,\u201d she says. \u201cMy Katie\u2019s different to anyone else\u2019s, and I\u2019m glad that I got to do it, but there\u2019s a parallel universe where somebody else is doing it, and it\u2019s still my favorite show.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\tThe campus-set comedy follows Carell, an author whose famous character-led Rooster <\/em>books have made him a popular figure at the fictional Ludlow College. He takes on a small faculty role to keep an eye on Katie, whose tumultuous personal life is unfortunately pretty wrapped up in her professional one. Also boasting Danielle Deadwyler, Lauren Tsai, Annie Mumolo, Rory Sovel, Alan Ruck, Connie Britton, and John C. McGinley, the show\u2019s already been renewed for a season two after having become the network\u2019s most-watched comedy premiere in over 10 years.<\/p>\n

\tWhen asked what Rooster <\/em>is about, Clive says she thinks it\u2019s a lesson that the college experience never really ends. \u201cYou\u2019re always trying to prove yourself to somebody, and it turns out the person you need to prove yourself to \u2014\u00a0and the person that loves you most \u2014\u00a0is yourself. From a personal point of view, I think the father-daughter relationship, that being the beating heart, really resonates with me. I\u2019m close with my father, Steve is really close with his daughter, Annie, who\u2019s heavenly \u2014 a huge compliment that I get to be compared to her. I think we see some really amazing stories of father and daughter against the odds, battling great demons, or going through huge loss,\u201d she says, citing The Last of Us <\/em>as an example of all of those extremities. \u201cI don\u2019t really think we see two people having a laugh and being like, \u2018That\u2019s who you are.\u2019 It\u2019s nice to see a show where a daughter is realizing that her dad is a person and not just the guy responsible for her well-being.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\tThat chemistry with Carell was pretty immediate. Clive takes various moments over the course of our interview to gush over the comedy legend, evidently still in awe of his talent, generosity, and humility. She is still in disbelief that she was sharing scenes with him on the Warner Bros. lot, and that he was nervous on their first day: \u201cWe\u2019re both a bit shy, I think, or more introverted than maybe people would expect comedy people to be.\u201d That first month of shooting was admittedly an emotional experience for her \u2014\u00a0Clive was going up against a little bit of the age-old imposter syndrome \u2014\u00a0and one particular scene left her feeling frustrated.<\/p>\n

\tCarell noticed. He quietly told her: \u201c\u2018I know you already know this, but just so you know, this is your show. It\u2019s my show. It\u2019s Phil\u2019s show. It\u2019s everybody\u2019s, but it\u2019s your show too. And if there\u2019s anything you ever want to try and you want me to sort of get on board with it, if you need to run lines a bit more, if you want to meet up before and talk through the scene\u2026’\u201d Clive remembers. \u201cHe was like, \u2018The best thing we can do here is have as much fun as possible, because that\u2019s what\u2019s got to translate in the show. Everyone wants to do a great job, but just remember that this is your show.\u2019 And I was like, wiping away the tears, like, \u2018Thank you.’\u201d The interaction provided Clive with a critical confidence boost.<\/p>\n

\tAnd then, of course, there\u2019s her scenes with fellow countryman Phil Dunster, alum of Lawrence\u2019s Ted Lasso<\/em>. Early on, we find out his character Archie, a Russian history professor at the liberal arts school, has left Katie for Tsai\u2019s graduate student Sunny, who has also wound up pregnant with his child. But Archie and Katie, still very much in love, are sleeping together again. The season finale, airing Sunday, will give audiences some much-needed closure on the love triangle. \t<\/p>\n

\tThankfully, Clive could really let loose around Dunster. The Brits were bouncing off one another the whole shoot, tapping into what she described as a \u201cbantery, brother-sister chemistry.\u201d So much so that Clive worried Lawrence and Tarses were not \u201cgonna find what they needed to\u201d between them. (Spoiler: They found it in abundance.) \u201cI\u2019m so glad, because Phil has become a really good friend, and we live really near each other in London, and we\u2019re already planning that we want to try and be neighbors for season two [when the cast are back in L.A.]. And I don\u2019t drive, and he does. I need a ride to work!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>

\t \t\t\t\t\tCharly Clive, Phil Dunster in \u2018Rooster.\u2019<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKatrina Marcinowski\/HBO<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tOn the status of their relationship, THR <\/em>ponders how much Archie gets away with when it comes to Katie because he\u2019s so handsome. Should she not just leave him in the dust? \u201cHe\u2019s gorgeous,\u201d Clive agrees, \u201cand because he\u2019s English in America, and that accent \u2014\u00a0let me tell you\u2014\u00a0it goes a long-ass way. Particularly in men because of Hugh Grant. He started it, he ruined it,\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think you must make a bunch of really clever decisions to find the person that you\u2019re supposed to be with,\u201d she adds about Katie and Archie. \u201cI think falling in love is deeply problematic. We should absolutely outlaw that phrase. But Katie fell<\/em> in love with Archie. And so she\u2019s recovering from a fall. You are going to backslide sometimes. And I think that my hope is that in season two, we get to see what that recovery looks a bit more like.\u201d She hopes to develop Sunny and Katie\u2019s relationship further, too, \u2014\u00a0\u201cI would love there to be a caretaking or some sort of support [there]. Selfishly, because I love Lauren and I\u2019d love to hang out with her more.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cShe has always seen herself as a girl next door, plain Jane, desperate to get out of her mother\u2019s shadow,\u201d continues Clive about Katie Russo. \u201cAnd this man shining a light on her is huge. And we\u2019re not taught as women, particularly, to prioritize the women in your life enough. If she\u2019d gone and found a great group of girlfriends, they would have had sex a couple times, and then she would have been like, \u2018That was fun, but he sucks.\u2019 She wouldn\u2019t have married him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd so it was with great relief that Clive learned Rooster <\/em>is returning for a second season. She also has plans for total world domination alongside her bestie of 20 years, Robertson (the pair have just signed with WME), and will next be seen opposite Taron Egerton in Jonathan Schey\u2019s Everybody Wants to Fuck Me<\/em>, but was still swiftly humbled when she received the news. \u201cOn the Thursday, we got the news about the second season and I was like, \u2018Here we go, baby, business class flights to Hollywood!\u2019 And then on the Friday,\u201d she adds, \u201cI performed comedy to nine<\/em> people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019ll never stop,\u201d she says. She and Robertson are due back at the Fringe this August, and Clive hopes to wrangle her Rooster <\/em>season two schedule around it. The specifics of Lawrence and Tarses\u2019s next Rooster <\/em>script remain unknown, but one thing\u2019s for sure: Charly Clive \u2014\u00a0whether she knows it or not \u2014\u00a0has finally emerged a fully-fledged star.<\/p>\n

\tRooster is available to stream on HBO Max.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Logo text Charly Clive isn\u2019t quite saying goodbye to those London comedy gigs just yet. \u201cThere\u2019s no world in which Rooster, even though it\u2019s like the biggest job I\u2019ve had, guarantees anything for me,\u201d the 33-year-old muses to The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cBut there is absolute stability in some grotty basement or attic above a pub and 40 people on a Wednesday night coming to have a laugh. Comedy is always going to be a sticking point,\u201d she adds, \u201cbecause everything else is so by chance.\u201d We\u2019re catching up over smoothies in Clive\u2019s native London, where she\u2019s lived since 2016, after around five years spent at the whim of New York […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[868,869,87,2,116,870,871,872,873,85,335,195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bill-lawrence","category-charly-clive","category-hbo","category-hollywood","category-international","category-matt-tarses","category-phil-dunster","category-rooster","category-steve-carell","category-tv","category-tv-features","category-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}