'You're the Worst' Star Aya Cash on Finding Validation Through Instagram

Specs Age 34 Claim to fame Stars on FXX's You're the Worst (Wednesdays, 10 p.m.); appears in the new Netflix anthology series Easy (premieres Sept. 22) Base New York Twitter @maybeAyaCash Adweek: What's the first information you consume when you wake up in the morning? Aya Cash: I would like to say that I make a cup of coffee and I read and meditate, but I absolutely pick my phone right up to check my email, and often when the show is airing, I check my social media as well. Do you not use social media when the show is on hiatus? Yeah, I try not to. I take [social media apps] off my phone on the regular, and I never have alerts turned on, which is very helpful in keeping me less engaged. But unfortunately when the show is airing, I tend to be on it way too much. I try to set boundaries. I don't think social media is innately evil; I just think the way I use it is. So how do you use it? You know, the constantly checking … I've even joked about it in posts where I'm like, "Please validate me right now because I'm feeling shitty, but here's a picture of me looking like I've never looked in my life!" Sometimes you get on and feel bad about yourself because everybody's life looks better than yours and then you look at your [social media] and realize your own life looks better than yours and you think, "What am I contributing to?!" You often Instagram your reading list, which is pretty cool. Well, my mom's a writer and I'm also an only child, so I grew up reading a lot. Once on Twitter I asked people to recommend some books for me, and I ended up reading six or seven of the recommendations and liking them all. There's actually another actress—I won't name her name—who actively pursued a friendship with me based on my reading list [laughs]. What's on your list right now? Well, I'm working, so I'm having a hard time reading a lot, but I just read Shrill by Lindy West, which I really loved. I, of course, knew who Lindy West was through Jezebel, and then I heard excerpts from the book on This American Life and 2 Dope Queens, so I was like, "I have to get this." Do you watch any TV shows? I watch way too many TV shows. I love Mr. Robot and Stranger Things. I was never a big Bachelor or Bachelorette fan, but what I am into is Bachelor in Paradise. It's some of the most brilliant producing I've ever seen. It's like a 1970s sitcom without any of the people in it knowing that they're on a sitcom. What podcasts do you listen to? I love Reply All. If you're going to start listening to it, there's an episode called Zardulu that was my gateway drug. I listen to 2 Dope Queens, This American Life, Invisibilia, Radiolab, and Death, Sex & Money … I really like podcasts! I saw that the cast of You're the Worst has been recapping the show for EW.com. What's that like? Well, EW asked us to do recaps, and we were all, like, "Sure," and, of course, none of us has any time, so the recaps are sort of rambling, little behind-the-scenes pieces. But it's fun! I'm not a writer—I grew up thinking I'd be a writer, but I wasn't good enough—so it's fun for me when I get asked to write because it makes me feel like I still have potential. [Laughs] I'm a great 15-year-old writer is what I'm saying. This story first appeared in the September 19, 2016 issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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'You're the Worst' Star Aya Cash on Finding Validation Through Instagram

And her new gig as a TV recapper

Emma Bazilian

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