Amelia Dimoldenberg Looks Beyond the ‘Chicken Shop’
When Amelia Dimoldenberg was a child, she dreamed of being an editor of Vogue. The London native kept a diary full of magazine collages, taking notes on masthead pages about potential trajectories: “assistant to the editor-in-chief: maybe start here.” Now, at 29, she is the face of some of the buzziest — and most beloved — celebrity interviews on the internet; instead of climbing the corporate ladder, she decided to invent an entirely new set of rungs.
As the creator and host of Chicken Shop Date, Dimoldenberg uses a trademark interview style (wry, flirty, awkward with a wink) to chat with stars — Jack Harlow’s popular episode in 2021 proved paramount to her rise, and Jennifer Lawrence and the Jonas Brothers were recent guests — inside various high-street fast food joints. The venture, which began as a column in a youth-run publication before she started making episodes while attending university at Central Saint Martins, is produced for YouTube under the umbrella of her very own Dimz Inc. production company.
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“My career has really taken off over the last two years, and it’s very daunting,” she says over Zoom from her agent’s office (she’s also recently enlisted a publicist and several full-time employees). “When you’re starting out, you feel pressure to do things just for the money because it means you can pay rent. But now, I think the key to my success is knowing when to say no. My creative integrity is paramount.”
Here, she talks to THR about the view from the top.
Was there a specific moment when you realized that you were going to get famous without working at someplace like Vogue?
When I was younger, it wasn’t clear that I could be stronger on my own, outside of a system of corporations. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve fully realized that I’m going to be on the path of being my own independent output — but once you start making good money, you realize, “OK, I don’t need to be working for someone else, maybe I have something they’re all desperate for.” But who knows what could happen. I look at Pharrell, who with being the creative director of Louis Vuitton went into this big position at a big company. Maybe one day I could be a creative director – not of a fashion brand, but something else.
Does an interview of yours stick out as the most surprising or unexpected?
The interview that has most surprised me was the singer Giveon. There were very few interviews of him available, and the one I did see he was quite sincere so I thought oh, he must be a serious person. But he was so funny and had this great sense of humor. I got to see him again recently, and he told me its one of his favorite interviews he’s done, and that whenever he goes back home to visit family they always put it on and watch it together. I was like oh, that’s brilliant.
Do your parents ever put your interviews on at family gatherings?
When I stay over at my parents, sometimes I will walk in and hear my own voice and realize my mom’s got one of my episodes on her iPad. Then it’ll disappear and she’s like, where’s it gone? She’s always clicking the wrong button and I have to help her get it back again. She actually recently told me she’s been rewatching an tape of mine on tape, when I dressed up as Mr. Bean for Halloween and did a little dance routine. She said it makes her feel better about how terrible the world is.
Were your parents immediately supportive of your career aspirations? Did they grasp the concept of what you wanted to do, given that it’s a bit of a modern invention to be a freelance personality in this way?
I’ve been really lucky. I think it’s a real privilege if your parents are supportive of you, and I do feel for people whose parents are not — because, to me, their word is everything. Even when they didn’t get it, they were like okay cool, let’s just go with it. When I was doing the column through the youth club every Wednesday after school, they were proud of the fact that I was doing that kind of extracurricular work. And then I got into a university [Central Saint Martins] that they were happy about and started doing episodes at university. So there were tangible things happening at an early age.
As your profile rises, what sorts of pressure do you feel to capitalize on it and get as much exposure as possible — especially when it comes to social media?
I suppose I’m an influencer by proxy, even though I would never refer to myself as one. Sometimes I’ll be on TikTok and see these creators vlogging and think, “Should I do that?” And then I think, no. People just love to see me doing Chicken Shop Date or flirting with celebrities on the red carpet — I’m leading with my skill set of being an interviewer, of being a pop culture journalist.
What do you think about the possibility of other interviewers or podcasters following your style of dry, awkward humor? I’m thinking of someone like Bobbi Althoff, who has had success booking guests but doesn’t seem to be landing in the same way….
I do feel like my voice is quite unique, and the show is unlike anything else. We’ve always tried really hard to make sure that we’re always pushing boundaries and doing things people haven’t seen before. Obviously if you’ve created something that people think is singular, that style is going to become influential. That’s just part of how art and culture works. Nothing is really that original if you think about it, so if people are popping up with similar tones that just proves your influence. That’s why it was interesting to me doing Hot Ones, and having Sean do my show, because it shows how different our styles are even though we’ve obviously both got chicken involved. And I’ve had my own influences – I love Ziwe’s interview style, and Between Two Ferns was a huge inspiration for me, too.
Have you gotten to the point where you’re turning down requests for guests to come on your show?
We do have people wanting to come on the show, and we will go through those options and decide whether they’re right. Maybe they don’t have enough of a catalogue of music or something like that. I have a huge Hollywood actor that I really want to get on the show, and we’ve had to say no because we don’t have time on the schedule. And I like to keep people guessing, as well, in terms of the types of guests I’m booking.
Does finding success in the United States specifically feel like some pinnacle for you?
Two years ago I did the rounds in LA, looking for an American agent. I did my whole spiel to everyone out there and one of the main things I said was that I want to be doing red carpet interviews. I think it’s a skill set of mine, and I felt it would be a good way to get my name out in America and beyond. A dream of mine is to be able to base myself out there a bit. I’m working on making that a reality. It’s the dream, isn’t it, to break into American pop culture?
I wasn’t sure if it still was; America feels like it’s in decline.
Well sure, but we all are aren’t we? It’s still the hub of the entertainment industry. I’m working on a few scripts at the moment, actually. They’re not sold or anything, but it’s me learning how to write narrative and get better at creative writing. A long-term plan is to be work on script projects. I went to dinner with Lena Dunham recently, and it was so great to chat with her about her career; she really loves writing, and that’s so exciting to me. But it’s also incredibly torturous. I’ve also been doing a few self-tapes for comedy roles so I would love to do that as well.
Have you ever had to tape the show on a day you didn’t feel like eating chicken?
Oh, no. I had chicken for lunch today! It was the new chicken wrap from Pret [a Manger] that I hadn’t tried before. I’ve got very simple taste, I can eat the same thing every day and not get bored. People ask me all the time, “Do you really eat the chicken?” Absolutely I do. I genuinely, really love chicken and chips.
This story first appeared in the Nov. 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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