There’s More Mary Beth Barone Where That Came From

All month long, Bustle’s annual The Entertainers Issue is celebrating the performers and creators who lit up our screens and beyond in 2026.

Mary Beth Barone is plotting her own disappearance. “I think we’re going to hit a saturation point soon, but my plan is to do a couple more things and then go away for a bit. Set a couple more things in motion, and then be like, ‘OK, you guys enjoy the holidays, I’ll see you next year,’” she says, before adding in her signature deadpan: “It’s pretty much exactly like Zendaya.”

Despite her jokey plans for self-exile, the world actually can’t get enough of Barone. After years of grinding in comedy clubs and co-hosting the pop-culture podcast Ride with her bestie and creative partner, Benito Skinner, the 35-year-old has fully made the leap from IYKYK favorite to mainstream breakout.

Her streak kicked off last year with her turn as Grace in Overcompensating, the Prime Video series created by Skinner. (It’s a role she had to audition for four times — “even though the part was written for me.”) Then in January, Barone lit up our feeds as the official red carpet correspondent for the 2026 Golden Globes, earning widespread praise from viewers and even seasoned red-carpet veterans like Keltie Knight. At a time when the public has strong opinions about comedy creators taking over traditional entertainment-journalism spaces, Barone managed to come out on top.

“When the internet responds positively to something, it actually is extremely scary to experience because you’re just like, ‘Oh God, when are they going to turn on me?’” she says. “So when it was so overwhelmingly positive, I mean, I couldn’t sleep. It was so much positivity, and it was amazing to feel that. And then as it fades, you have to look inward and be like, ‘Is this a good place to be getting validation from?’”

Thankfully, she’s got plenty more sources to choose from. Barone hit a major milestone in July with the release of her first hour-long comedy special, Galaxy Brain, on Netflix. She’s been filming her feature-film screenwriting debut, Still We Met, opposite Joe Alwyn. And she just landed her own Hulu and A24 series, Hard Feelings, which she created and will star in as a dating consultant teaching straight men to be more emotionally intelligent (while — like any good rom-com — struggling in her own love life). Barone has recruited Skinner for a supporting role in the show, but don’t worry: She’ll still be making him audition for her show at least five times. “I think it’s only fair.”

On what to expect from Hard Feelings:

I really wanted to capture this current moment in dating culture and come at it with a solution-based approach instead of just everything’s really bad right now. People will not be surprised that the show came from my brain. I think there’s a lot of room for hard comedy that also has really tender moments, too. And the team at Hulu, when we pitched to them, I could just feel it in the room that they were going to be our perfect partners. We have a lot more work to do before it becomes a real TV show on the air, but I am really confident in the idea because I think it’s really funny and sweet.

On the impetus to write her own show:

It was definitely when my dad died. I’m at my parents’ house, I’m not by myself, I had my whole family around me and lots of friends, but I was just like, “I have this thing that I want to say, and so I’m going to say it right now and then we’ll see if it’s anything real.” So I wrote the pilot. It felt good to put it into the work. And whether or not that’s healthy is for my therapist to say — it’s not for me or for Bustle.

On her friendship with Benito Skinner:

You can find your best friend at any age. It’s really beautiful. What’s cool about meeting someone in your mid-20s is you know a little bit more about who you are at that point. They are truly accepting you, not like, “Oh, this is a legacy friendship.” I have a lot of my best friends still from high school, and I value those friendships so, so much. But to meet someone also in your 20s who really understands you and supports you — we really see each other in a very deep way.

On Overcompensating Season 2:

I love it so much. I am so proud of Season 2. I think it’s going to really surprise people. Benny is a genius. I was lucky enough to be in the writers room again this season, and I’ve seen some little bits, and I think it’s going to be actually even better than Season 1.

On the long path to success:

My career has not had a lot of whimsy. It hasn’t been like, “This person saw me at a show and scouted me for this crazy big break opportunity!” It’s really been slowly building the foundation and building the audience. It has felt like a culmination of all the hard work me and Benny really have been doing for the last few years. It didn’t feel like it happened randomly — it feels like it’s happening because of how much time and energy we put into it. And I love what I do so much that it’s nice when you feel like it’s not just me who wants it — people want it for me as well.

On making Galaxy Brain:

No matter where it was going to live, I would’ve felt the pressure to make it a quality piece of art because that’s just the pressure that I put on myself. Even with [my debut special] Thought Provoking, which I put out on YouTube, I always wanted it to feel elevated. I wanted it to look really good. I wanted to wear something amazing. I have really high standards for myself. Because if you want to just churn stuff out — I know that works for some people, but if I ever got to that point, I think I would have to take a step back and interrogate why I still want to do it. That’s just not who I am.

On her approach to hosting red carpets:

My goal was to really just make everyone feel comfortable. I have an improv background, and I host a podcast where having a conversation is the job. Then you’re at all these parties, you’re at events, you’re meeting people, you have to carry a conversation. I have always felt like I was skilled at matching people’s energy, but I’ve never experienced it on a boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, 50 different people in front of you [scale]. I felt happy that I was like, “Oh, I feel like I could do this, I have the skill set to do this.” Now having said that, if I do it again and bomb, I’m blaming Bustle.

On when she knew she was funny:

There’s a video of me climbing up a jungle gym in my family home when I’m maybe 8 months old. My brothers are watching, my dad’s filming, and my mom’s behind the camera, too. I get to the top of the ladder, and I fell backwards. You can see my legs up, and I hit every step with my butt, with my diaper on. I fell on my head, essentially. Then, when I stood up, everyone was laughing really hard, and instead of crying, I just was smiling. I think it was probably that moment that really did it. But I always knew I wanted to perform. I think I have an essay I wrote when I was maybe in fourth grade about wanting to be an actress, which I’ll post at some point. I love going through the archives.

On her advice to aspiring podcasters:

Do not do it. Enjoy what’s out there. We have so much. We’re swimming in an ocean of podcasts. I think the feeling that you should start a podcast is better than any feeling you could get having a podcast. It’s not “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” — I don’t really subscribe to that, but it’s something like that. I’m sure you’re all so funny. Keep being funny, and keep those group chats alive.