The Comment Section with Drew Afualo
DIFFERENT ENERGY Ft. Sabrina Brier | Episode 155
Wed, 05 Feb 2025
Our New York Residency begins with the hilarious Sabrina Brier on the show this week!! And to the Acotar and Vampire Diaries girls out there, this episode is FOR YOU. After discovering their deep mutual love of fairy books, Drew and Sabrina talk about why Goodreads is actually a snark page, college improv, why Shakespeare is hard, Quaker camp, writing fanfiction by hand, Sabrina’s star turn on Abbott Elementary, and so much more. Listen to Sabrina’s new audiobook, That Friend, out now everywhere! Sabrina IG: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinabrier/?hl=en Sabrina Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrina.cinoman.brier?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the highlights of Sabrina's experiences in college improv?
I was just so afraid of being made fun of until finally... You being Troy Bolton? Like, no, literally, I was... I was Troy Bolton. He's like, oh, I want to sing with her so bad, but what if my teammates find out? I was like, what if Coach finds out? You know, like, I'm supposed to be a ball.
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show starring me, your fave. Everybody knows me. Who cares about me? On to the guests. Today, we have the iconic, the hilarious, the unbelievably talented Sabrina Breyer. I'm so pumped to be here. I'm so happy to have you, girl.
I'm so excited. I'm like, I'm jittery. We really were. We were.
And we made it happen.
And we absolutely made it happen. I was actually, I'm going to be honest, I didn't fully understand just because of not absorbing information properly that we were going to be in person today. And when I saw, like, not that I wasn't already so mad at myself for missing Caleb's birthday, but when I saw a picture of you there, I was like, I was going to do something bad to myself. What?
I said I was going to harm myself.
I was going to harm. I was going to harm. I was going to age. Yeah.
That is. Yeah. Because you are living in New York.
No, literally. And I'm not. No. And you made it. And I, I literally like I texted. I did because I was just like, I'm in it right now with work. And I, you know, when your body is like your mind is like, and I'm there in your heart. It's like, and I'm there in your body. It was like, I'm going to kill you. Yeah. And that's where I was at. And also it's like Caleb's party started at 10 o'clock.
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Chapter 2: Why is Goodreads considered a snark page?
So I have my, including today, which is a really special moment for me because I'm a huge fan of Drew's and I was really excited about this. Things like this, you know, talking about my little audiobook vibes. We love books. Tell us about it. It comes out, well, tomorrow, but that will not be tomorrow when you guys see this. So ignore that. It's probably out now. Go check it out.
But basically I have what's called, you know, an audio original full cast audio book where I wrote the thing and there's a lot of people performing in it. And it's kind of like a TV show in your ears. I love that. You're going through each episode and you're really getting all aspects of a story except the visuals. Yeah. And and it's out tomorrow and and tomorrow it's no longer mine.
It's the world. It belongs to the world. It belongs to the world. Totally.
I'm so excited for you. Congratulations.
I really appreciate it. How did that come about?
Like what was the totally.
I come from a more like long form space. I was an assistant in entertainment and a writer's assistant in a room. And I always knew I wanted to take the character to television and, you know, bring bring the stories into, you know, longer form spaces. And this fell in my lap a bit where. Now, this past summer, summer before that, I my editor reached out with this really lovely letter.
And she was like, do you know about audio originals? Like, yeah, this could be a vibe. And I was like, absolutely. It's just I don't want it to be my voice for four hours because God help us if that's what it were. I want to have a cast. I wanted to feel like a TV show, which is really like where my heart is. I love that. Yeah.
And so then, you know, pretty quickly after that, it was, you know, getting started and a very long writing process. And then eventually, you know, production and casting last this past summer. Yeah. And yeah, I just feel really lucky. It's just it's really crazy to have such like a long form project.
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Chapter 3: What is Sabrina's new audiobook about?
Yeah, yeah, I just read Quicksilver by Kelly Hart.
Okay, okay, I need to start to venture more.
Yeah, tap in. Love that one. I started reading another series. What is it called? From Blood and Ash.
okay i'm just i'm reading a bunch of romance fantasy like you're kind of trying out to the different author yeah these different like fairy fucking books i love fairies and you know i'm just i'm perusing that's the thing you know and i started venturing for like my own things i'll tell you after but i'm like doing other things so i'm yeah yeah i consider this research oh absolutely i'm downloading and it's even more serious
and it's even more serious i'm like i know like i'm gonna be honest like in all of these like with the spotify like answer your questions about being a reader i'm like i'm sorry i'm reading sarah j mass okay i'm sorry i'm sorry you guys don't want to hear what i'm reading you don't want to hear about it it's embarrassing like i'm sorry like i was an english major at smith college i didn't finish some of those books i'm sorry and i am reading sarah j mass hey i've read i've read animal farm i
All right. You did it. I read 1984.
I read it. I read that. I read that. And that's it.
And I've read all of that shit. All right.
Now's my time. You know what? Sometimes you just want to enjoy yourself. Exactly your time. But really, though, it's like let's actually read something not for the sake of telling people we're reading it.
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Chapter 4: How does Sabrina feel about her recent acting role?
question turning the mic but do you feel like so you had nerves about the goodreads of it all um did you feel like a prep for that from other online comments or just almost felt like more vulnerable like a different yeah I think it feels yeah I think it feels different it felt different to me because like social media hate is so different from like and it feels like corny to say but it's like when it's
art that you're putting out or something you're putting out that feels vulnerable because there are a lot of vulnerable parts of my book. Of course. Hearing people's commentary on that is not something I'm willing to entertain, especially because in so much of the book, I talk about like my family and like my sister and my fiance.
Like I talk about very intimate parts of my life that I don't typically do online. Totally. Totally. So I think that's why I was feeling like wary of it. And also, I didn't want to be another influencer book, which is like with because like, like, I don't want people to think you want to understand.
Right. You're like, I didn't just like kind of do that.
Yeah. Like, it makes sense for me to do this. If you really think about it, like, you know, sometimes people come out with shit and you're like, that doesn't make any sense.
It definitely makes a lot of sense.
It's like inauthentic to their brand. I felt like this was authentic. So I just didn't want it to be perceived in that way. Totally. But it wasn't necessarily like I was willing to entertain revisions to it. In fact, I said this the other day, like the only reviews I've seen that were they're not even negative. They're just kind of like whatevs. It's women going. I already knew like most of this.
You're like, and it wasn't for you.
Right, right.
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Chapter 5: What are the challenges and benefits of being an influencer?
Right. Because it's so like one from one extreme to the other.
Really. And so I think there's like that. I'm so grateful for that perspective. I'm grateful too, that I was around like famous people and glam and like those things where to enough to, I mean, I'm grateful for any moment. Like I'm still like, woohoo, like glam. But at the same time, I think the big thing you have to remember, right. Is everything is ultimately work.
Yep.
And I think that like, You know, you really like when you're when I've a person now who like gets in the car and does the glam like I've been doing this week. It's funny because I literally all I can think about is like when I was like, and your car will get there like on the other side. I bet it's super trippy. Yeah, I can't forget it. Yeah, it's like an experience. Totally.
There's something surreal about it. It's a great sort of constant reminder of gratitude, I would say. And yeah, I think it also really taught me, too, that when I did go viral that first time, I was like, it's lightning in a bottle and I don't want to lose it and I don't want to just have 15 minutes. How do I like beat this with a hammer over again? Stretch it out. Right. Stretch it out. I do.
I hit the mic. Like all I do is I hit it left and right. And so I think like, yeah, overall, I'm just grateful that that's kind of like the way things have gone. Totally. You know what I mean? Absolutely.
Yeah. I think all the time that I'm grateful that if I got a platform, I got it when I did. Yes. Because I feel like it was at the perfect time because I got it.
Were you a quarantine blow up person? Yeah.
Or a little after?
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Chapter 6: What insights does Sabrina share about her writing process?
Right.
Yeah. I know. I'm like 20 or I'm like 18 years old. And I'm like, it's about my craft. But I literally like at the time was thinking like that, which is not normal. That's what you need. And so then I really do think if I had gone to a co-ed school. Yeah. I don't think I ever would have auditioned for like the comedy team. I think that was like so scary.
I feel like, and it's so funny now because I'm like, everyone does improv. But at the time, like improv sounded like the scariest thing ever. And it's like, you have to get up and make a fool of yourself and just like release inhibitions. Right. And if I had a crush on someone, like in the audition. You said that was going to work against me.
I'd say, and I'm going to get up there and I'm going to go, and this will be my character.
You literally like joining a convent so that you can focus.
I'm like Sydney Sweeney as that nun. And I'm like, I'm ready to be taken seriously.
You're enlisting so that you're not distracted. Yeah.
if there were men there i never would be successful i never and that's t honestly honestly it takes a great deal of um like power and self-reflection to be like no you know what i need to go somewhere where i can thrive and be myself and not feel judged totally because it's really not about like their approval it's feeling judged it's it's making you like resistant to it and you're like if i want to like really embrace it i gotta go somewhere where i feel safe and you
love that you can't do something like that halfway like no not at all it can't be like oh i'm gonna do a little pursuing my dreams about a little bit of like balancing it with trying to be this person that i don't actually have that image which is what i was like in high school and it's like this is not sustainable no but i was like i'm like what if myself tanner um bled all over onto the white couch
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Chapter 7: How do Drew and Sabrina view the evolution of content creation?
not actually like pure thinking thing is so much to do with like perception like even stand up like getting up on that when you walk onto a stage as a stand-up as a man yeah you already have something get walking before you reach the mic you know what i mean you already have something in your physical voice yeah in the ways that like we are taught right to the ways that we are having to analyze our voices like journalism professor like you're already losing
Yeah, you're already trying to win the room. Exactly. Like, you're fighting a losing battle already.
So it's like, will it ever change? I don't know. It'll take a while, but it's kind of interesting.
But I think that's why when women joke about shit, like, it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. Like, that's why I found you so unbelievably funny. Thank you. Because it's shit that is so, first of all, harmless. It's not hurting anybody. But it's also so specific. And it's like something I... That's like my favorite kind of humor is like when it's so niche and specific.
And when women joke and laugh about it, like it's fun. It's sisterhood. It's community. When men get a hold of the trends or jokes, you're like, you guys ruined it.
You ruined it. And also, well, now I hate it. Yeah. Also, with what you're saying, too, I personally think what I do is is coming from a pretty self-deprecating place of like, if I haven't been the girl in the video, I certainly can relate in some way.
And then it's like if it's a lot of women, which often is in the comments laughing, I mean, that's so cool, too, because I think women can laugh at themselves. I agree.
That's what I'm saying. I think that's why women are so funny because women are inherently self-aware people.
and self-reflective and that's what it because we're forced to be i agree that's why we were joking about it before we started that like when people say mean shit to us sometimes it's funny yeah and we respect the craft right so we're like you know what you got me and and that's we were like it's a little like that was good it's a little like okay
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