The only thing predictable about life, is the unpredictability of it all. More often than not, everything all at once seems to be coming at us. Living feels like a game of dodge ball, ducking and catching experiences as they come. The good and the bad. The beautiful and the ugly. Contradictions are all around us, pulsating with purpose, creating full circles with us at the center.  What more is there for us to do, than embrace the love, embrace the death, and realize that there wouldn't be one without the other? 

Gus Birney, NYC born and raised actress, believes that life’s contradictions may not be as opposing as we’d like to think. Birney speaks to me over Zoom from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and immediately I’m struck with a certain depth and understanding that radiates even through the screen. After we start talking, I realize that Birney doesn’t shy away from moments of uncertainty and paradox. Starring in Netflix’s recent Something Very Bad is Going to Happen as the absolutely crazy yet somehow endearing Portia, (sister to Adam DiMarco’s Nicky Cunningham), the role of Portia itself is a contradiction to Birney as a person. With the actress describing herself as shy, and the character being one of the most extroverted, over-the-top personas on television today, it is a representation in itself of the dualities present within us all.  “I'm a shyer person and I'm less outgoing. I think when I read [Portia’s character] I was like, this is the dream part for me because I get to be kind of the exact opposite of my sensibility.” 

Growing up in a family of performers, Birney's interest in stepping into different personalities started in sixth grade. Her drama teacher cast her as the lead role of Hero in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and she hasn’t looked back ever since. “It was the first time I had been noticed for something.” Birney says with just a touch of nostalgia, “The [teachers] that believe in you can spark something, and you never forget them”. Since then, Gus has explored roles that both mirror, and contrast her natural, more introverted personality. Roles such as the assertive but kind-hearted Mel Whitney in Netflix’s Black Rabbit, (starring opposite Jason Bateman and Jude Law), the more socially conforming Jane Humphrey in Apple TV+’s Dickinson (starring opposite Hailee Steinfeld), or Gaynor Phelps, the cynical teenage daughter of Courtney Cox on STARZ’s Shining Vale. She has also returned to the stage, and is currently performing in the Off-Broadway show at the Public Theater, Seagull: True Story. When asked if she’s seen any good Broadway shows lately, Birney laughs and admits that due to her busy schedule, she’s “had no time to see things”. It seems that all of the work, all of the packed scheduling, has led to one of the most disturbing performances currently on screen; Portia Cunningham. 

Birney's newest project and character not only reveals contradictions, but also parallels. Parallels of light and dark, love and death. On the surface, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is a tale of an over-imposing, wealthy family taking control of the favorite son’s wedding. Underneath it all however, are the tensions between a mother and her children, the pressures of finding or choosing your soul mate, and the fine line between perception and reality. Murkiness is at its core, disarming viewers with each camera angle. When the series reveals something romantic and light, it immediately cuts to something rotten. Something lingering with decay and tainted with dread. Portia is the embodiment of these contradictions, with her high, childlike voice and fluffy pink dresses all screaming innocence, but with something more sinister revealing itself through her piercing, wide-eyed gaze. “The thing about Portia that was scary, was her unpredictability and her ability to flip on a dime. Where [she] was like being really kind and really sweet, and then being like, 'No, I'm not your ally, I'm not your friend, you can't trust me.'”  Birney says, “And I think that, to me, that's the scariest thing about her. Not knowing the response you're going to get.”

Soon the beautiful, the ugly, and the unpredictable seem to melt together into an unrecognizable ball of emotional apprehension. The series really forces a person to wonder if the juxtapositions of life are less separate from each other than usually assumed. It could be asked, is a funeral really that different from a wedding? Birney contemplates, “I think love and death are similar things, because they're such strong emotions. As human beings, I think those are the two strongest things you can feel; loving someone so much and losing someone”. After all, feeling all the feels, experiencing love, experiencing death, is what makes us real; is what makes our lives feel tangible. Nothing is black and white, instead shades of everything in-between. 

When Birney is not contemplating life, love, and death, she centers herself with yoga every morning, and appreciates all the amazing cuisine that NYC has to offer. Her ideal day in Manhattan would include getting a bagel from Barney Greengrass on the Upper West Side, taking a stroll through Central Park, and then maybe seeing a show later on. A peaceful contrast to the characters she often dives into. “I think what's awesome is I got to play these really over-the-top people, which has been so fun.” Gus muses at the end of our interview, “But I also feel like I'm interested in doing something that's a little more grounded, a little more stripped down…whatever that means”. Whatever that means, it undoubtedly will be another contrast for us contemplate. 

Photographed by Andrew Lipovsky

Styled by Hattie Doolittle

Producer: Carol Lee

HMU: Patrice Clonts