Inspired by the cheesy TV movies he grew up watching, John Early wrote, directed, and stars in Maddie’s Secret—a quirky comedy-drama with a believable story: a lively young woman in Los Angeles tries to build a career in food media while secretly struggling with bulimia.

It’s worth noting right away that as Maddie—who goes from washing dishes to developing recipes on camera at Gourmaybe, a media company inspired by Bon Appétit—Early is careful not to turn her into a cartoon. We’re not meant to laugh at her gender expression or her eating disorder. Millennial food culture, though—think gochujang cookies and weird fusion food trucks—is the real target of the jokes. In one scene, as Maddie throws together an eggplant dish, her supportive husband Jake (Eric Rahill) casually starts filming her cooking. Her response got big laughs from my audience: “I just wanted to make my husband some dinner, and now I’m in post-production.”

The rest of the cast—who help balance the story between satire and genuine emotion—includes comedy stars like Kate Berlant (as Maddie’s coworker and best friend Deena, who starts questioning her own priorities), Vanessa Bayer, Claudia O’Doherty, Conner O’Malley, and Pat Regan.

Kate Berlant and John Early in Maddie’s Secret.
Photo: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

“To me, my movie is Freudian,” Early says of his directorial debut. “It has a love of Freud from someone who’s never read Freud.”

Early has been a fixture in the entertainment world for a while. He co-created the 2022 special Would It Kill You to Laugh? with his longtime friend and collaborator Berlant, played Elliott on the dark comedy Search Party, and earlier this year starred as the creepy son Tim in Wallace Shawn’s What We Did Before Our Moth Days at the Greenwich House Theater. Before Maddie’s Secret hits theaters on June 19—his first feature as a director—Vogue sat down with Early in New York’s Stuyvesant Square to talk about writing and becoming Maddie, the many films that inspired him, and the joy of working with a bunch of friends.

Vogue: Before we start, I should mention I know you take everyone to this park. I’ve heard you do all your interviews here.

John Early: This is the spot. Sorry.

It’s okay, but I’m onto you. Anyway, I listened to the A24 podcast you did with Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and you mentioned writing most of your movie while on the set of Eternity. How did you actually come up with this story?

Well, the whole idea started with the vibe—the budget level and the spirit of it. My friend Harris Mayersohn, who has produced work for Cole Escola and Conner O’Malley (two friends I really admire artistically), made these very off-the-grid, mostly self-funded, low-budget guerrilla film projects. I was kind of desperate to do something like that. So I was thinking from a place of cheapness. I knew the strength of the project would come from its handmade quality and that “let’s make a movie” feeling. I also wanted to work at a budget level where I could hire my friends, who, like me, are amateurs.

Important to do!

So I brought this idea to Harris in February 2024. I was writing something more adult and serious. Then I saw this movie Death of a Cheerleader—a TV movie from the ’90s with Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin—and they were screening it in LA. I thought, oh, I need to drop everything and make something this fun! They were in the exact same situation as me: trying to make something that feels like a 1950s melodrama but with no money. They’re not shooting in big studios, and they have kind of amateur actors. But—There’s real clarity in the storytelling, and obviously a kind of camp quality to it.

From there, how did you find Maddie?

Very quickly, I thought, okay, I want this to be about contemporary life, and I kind of wanted to play the ingénue. But I didn’t see myself as a woman yet. I thought, I’m a gay guy. There was something funny to me about having that ingénue energy while working in media. You know?

I do get it.

Media felt funny to me. Making a movie that had an old-school feel but was set in the present—that made me laugh. Then I thought, what’s the job? Hello—food is so cinematic. And if I’m working in this teen movie genre, what’s the dark secret? If you’re a food content creator, the shadow side is having an eating disorder. It came together really fast. About as quickly as I’m explaining it now.

I was hoping you might show up in a wig.

I actually have them in New York. I had them shipped here for promotional stuff.

But you shot a lot of it in LA?

We shot Maddie’s house in Silver Lake at my own house. That was a budget decision—it meant we could take as much time as we needed to get ready. And if we damaged something, we didn’t have to worry about the owner being mad. It would just be me mad at myself. Her aesthetic had to be my aesthetic—she’s an exaggerated version of my tastes and styles, and the ways I’m hopelessly an East Side LA millennial.

I know you’ve talked about this before, but you’ve mentioned Clockwatchers as an influence. I missed your recent screening at Metrograph, but I watched it on my own.

I would have gotten you in! But maybe it’s better to watch alone. It’s very sad.

I could totally see the influence. I also immediately thought of Girl, Interrupted, especially the scenes inside the institution, with Deena as a kind of Lisa—the troublemaker—and Pat Regan as… Whoopi Goldberg? Are there a lot of source materials for Maddie’s Secret?

Thank you. I think the film achieves a unique tone because it’s very openly a reference. It’s a pastiche of movies. I’m referencing Showgirls—there’s that satirical cultural commentary. I’m referencing TV movies. But I think it only reaches that emotional intensity, sincerity, and strange, mysterious vulnerability because I didn’t realize I was doing it—because of the indirectness of its camp approach. Its main reference is a movie called Kate’s Secret, about a bulimic housewife from the ’80s. And it has that cheap paperback Freud quality of Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie—the whole mother-daughter thing. To me, my movie is Freudian. It has a love of Freud from someone who’s never read Freud. I worship Freud—never read a page!

Speaking of references, tell me about Maddie’s costumes.

Toni Collette in Clockwatchers and her mousiness feels very Maddie to me. Her costumes were modeled after Toni’s. A lettuce-edge tank top—that was my favorite term I learned from this movie, “lettuce-edge.” We looked at old photos of Alicia Silverstone from the Clueless and Excess Baggage eras. And there was something tomboyish about Maddie. In my backstory for her, she’s from San Diego, so I imagined her growing up around mall skater culture and Delia’s.

Definitely. You mentioned earlier that when you first came up with this idea, you didn’t see yourself—or the character—as a woman. When that changed, did you have any doubts about taking on the role? And how did you prepare to get into Maddie’s body?

I’ll tell you the whole, ugly truth. The main reason she became a woman was that when she was a gay guy in my imagination, it didn’t work. I almost don’t need to explain it. What was true about the character from the start was that she was an ingénue—brightness.Optimism, naivety! And when I tried to apply that to a gay character working in media, it came across as satirical, harsh, and ironic. That probably says more about my own internalized homophobia than anything else—because why couldn’t you create a gay guy who’s sunny and optimistic? You absolutely could. They exist. But I’ve always wanted to play women in film. Over the years, I’ve had female characters, and I was definitely hesitant at first. But once I gave in to it, I felt so much joy, color, and expressiveness flow into the project.

As for the transformation, the beautiful thing was that it just came naturally. She was just there. The voice and even the emotions, oddly enough, were already there. But yes, it was a lace-front human hair wig. I wanted her to look like a natural blonde with a no-makeup look. She represents a new kind of perfection—that messy, cute thing people try to achieve on social media. But she’s not doing it in a forced way. And I had quite large breasts.

Is it too personal to ask your cup size?

I think it’s something crazy, like triple F.

Wow.

It’s wild because to get the right proportions, we had to go as big as possible. We used mastectomy patient inserts. We bought bras and these inserts sold to women who’ve had double mastectomies. I also had hip pads and special tucking underwear. It helped that she wore drapey cardigans, which could hide some of the more awkward parts of my body. It was a fascinating sculptural process we figured out quickly with very cheap clothing.

This is a movie about food. Do you cook? Do you have knife skills?

I have no knife skills. But I do love to cook.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

I love cooking pasta, like every other girl. I enjoy emulsifying a sauce, you know?

Do you use a cookbook or websites?

I’m hopelessly like Maddie. I use Bon Appétit, the New York Times Cooking app, The Infatuation, and Eater. It’s pathetic. But I’m slowly starting to move away from recipes and just throw something together—a little pantry pasta.

Lastly, I have to ask: after Moth Days, would you play Mary in Oh, Mary! if they came knocking?

Well, of course. That’s so sweet. I’m craving more theater after this play.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about John Early directing his first feature film Maddies Secret based on common questions a real person might ask

BeginnerLevel Questions

1 Who is John Early and why is this a big deal
John Early is a comedian and actor known for shows like Search Party and The Other Two This is a big deal because hes mostly been in front of the camera so taking on the directors chair for the first time is a major career shift

2 What is Maddies Secret about
Its a comedydrama that follows a young woman named Maddie who returns to her small hometown and tries to hide a big embarrassing secret from her family and old friends Its about the chaos of keeping up appearances

3 Is Maddies Secret a comedy or a drama
Its a mix of both John Early describes it as a cringe comedy with real heart Its funny and awkward but it also explores themes of shame and acceptance

4 Who is in the cast
Since John Early is wellconnected in the comedy world the film features a lot of his comedian friends including some surprise cameos The lead role is played by a rising star but specific names havent been fully announced yet

5 When and where can I watch it
Its currently in postproduction It will likely premiere at a film festival first before hitting streaming services Theres no official release date yet

IntermediateLevel Questions

6 Why did John Early decide to direct instead of act in this film
He wanted to tell a very personal story from a specific point of view He felt that directing would let him control the tone and the awkward silences better than acting in it would Hes said he wanted to build the world rather than just be a character in it

7 What was the biggest challenge he faced as a firsttime director
Early has talked about the challenge of