Rose Matafeo: ‘Starstruck’ and ‘On and On and On’

Obsessed: The Podcast

The Daily Beast

Tv & Film

4.5 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rose Matafeo was almost finished making the final season of her exceptional rom-com series ‘Starstruck’ when she started to seriously question the show’s essential premise. The experience of going through a breakup while trying to find a satisfying ending for the love story at the center of her show has now inspired her latest stand-up special, ‘On and On and On,’ streaming now on Max. In this episode, Matafeo discusses what it was like to move away from the genre that has defined much of her career into something a bit darker and more nuanced on stage. The 32-year-old New Zealander comedian also reveals the high-concept show she almost made instead of ‘Starstruck,’ whether she can imagine returning to the characters of Jessie and Tom in the future, and why she decided to cut jokes at the expense of Taylor Swift fans from her new hour. Follow Rose Matafeo on Instagram @rosematafeo Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and this week on the show,
0:10.1	we have a comedian who I have enjoyed for so many years now. If you have had the pleasure of
0:15.1	engaging with her work, you are in for a treat. Rose Matafayo is a New Zealander comedian who made what, in my opinion,
0:22.9	is the best TV rom-com ever made, with three perfect seasons of Starstruck, which is available
0:29.6	to stream on Max. That platform is also where you can find her excellent new stand-up special
0:35.3	on and on and on, which, like much of her work, got its
0:39.0	start at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The special is a reckoning of sorts for Rose, who got
0:45.1	pretty disillusioned about love after spending so much time as a fan and then creator of the
0:50.8	rom-com genre. Before we get into the interview, let's listen to a clip from Rose's new special
0:56.1	in which she talks about what it's like to date
0:58.8	and break up in her 30s.
1:02.1	By the same token, your close friends know exactly
1:05.5	how you compromised your personality
1:08.6	in order to be with this particular person. This relationship
1:12.5	has now ended, right? And so the shame with which one must return to those friendships is
1:17.4	fucking humbling, right? The only equivalent I've come up with is that it's as if you
1:22.6	shat yourself at a work Christmas party on a Friday night, yeah, you with me.
1:30.3	It's the feeling of having to come back to work on the Monday, just having to be like,
1:37.3	that was crazy!
1:40.3	Who was she?
1:43.3	No, she seems deeply unwell and deserves our love. Who is she?
1:46.9	No, she seems deeply unwell and deserves our love.
	...

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