Sharon Horgan

Sharon Horgan – Life, Career, and Memorable Voices

Discover the journey of Sharon Horgan — Irish actress, writer, comedian, producer and show-creator — from a turkey farm in Ireland to BAFTAs, Emmy nods, and hits like Catastrophe and Bad Sisters.

Introduction

Sharon Horgan is a multifaceted creative force in television and (occasionally) film. Though perhaps best known as an actress, she is equally celebrated as a writer, producer, comedian, and director. Her work often explores relationships, family, awkwardness, and emotional truth with a blend of humor and honesty. Series such as Pulling, Catastrophe, Motherland, Bad Sisters and Divorce have won critical attention and affection from audiences around the world.

Her story is compelling not only for her successes, but for how she forged a distinctive voice in comedy and drama, often from left field. In a landscape that often pigeonholes creators by one role, she has resisted being contained.

Early Life and Family

Sharon Lorencia Horgan was born on 13 July 1970 in Hackney, London, England, though she holds Irish citizenship.

When she was around four years old, the family moved to County Meath, Ireland, where her parents ran a turkey farm.

She attended Sacred Heart Convent School in Drogheda in her youth. Shane Horgan, is a former professional rugby player for Ireland and currently works as a sports analyst.

Education and Formative Years

As an adult, Horgan pursued higher education at Brunel University, studying English and American Studies.

While building her craft, she took on a number of odd jobs to get by, including waitressing and various other roles, as she attempted to break into acting and writing. Dennis Kelly, a playwright and writer, and the two began collaborating on comedic scripts and sketches.

Their writing collaboration would become foundational for her breakout into TV comedy.

Career and Achievements

Breakthrough: Pulling

The first major success in Horgan’s career came with Pulling (2006–2009), a BBC sitcom she co-wrote with Dennis Kelly and starred in. Pulling, she played Donna, one of three women navigating life, relationships, and chaos in London.

The series earned acclaim for its frank, sharp humor and honest depictions of friendship, sexuality, and modern life. British Comedy Award for Best TV Actress for her work on Pulling.

Though Pulling was relatively short-lived, it established Horgan’s voice and reputation in comedy.

Catastrophe and Growing Recognition

Horgan’s later work that truly broadened her audience was Catastrophe (2015–2019), which she co-created with American comedian Rob Delaney. Catastrophe, she plays an Irish woman, Sharon, who becomes unexpectedly pregnant after a brief affair with Rob’s character. The show follows the messy, hilarious, painful realities of life, love, parenting, and compromise.

Catastrophe earned multiple award nominations, including BAFTA and Emmy nods, and enhanced Horgan’s status as a writer whose work blends humor and emotional resonance. 2016 BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Writer (along with Delaney).

Other series she has created, written, or co‐produced include Divorce (2016–2019), Motherland (2016–2022), Shining Vale, and Bad Sisters (from 2022). Bad Sisters, in particular, has gained recognition and accolades (including a BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2023) for its darker, dramatic‐comedy tone.

Acting, Producing, and Other Work

In addition to her writing and creation roles, Horgan acts in many of her own projects and others. Her film credits include Imagine Me & You (2005), Game Night (2018), The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022), Dating Amber (2020), Military Wives (2019), and more.

On television she’s appeared in sketch shows, dramas, narration, voice roles (e.g. Adventure Time, BoJack Horseman, Disenchantment, Bob’s Burgers) and more.

She also co-founded a production company, Merman, with Clelia Mountford. Merman produces many of her series (including Catastrophe, Motherland, Bad Sisters, This Way Up, Frayed, and Herself).

She has directed as well: her directorial debut came in December 2012 with a semi-autobiographical short, The Week Before Christmas, inspired by her childhood on the turkey farm.

Historical & Cultural Context

Sharon Horgan’s rise coincided with a period in television when women creators began claiming more space—not only as actors but as voices behind the camera. Her work helped shift how female relationships, motherhood, and emotional complexity are portrayed in comedic and dramatic narratives.

Her Irish heritage and upbringing outside urban centers often subtly inform her work, in the way she approaches identity, estrangement, belonging, and tone. In series like Bad Sisters, Irish settings and cultural nuances are front-and-center, giving local specificity and emotional depth.

Her willingness to blend comedy and drama, to court awkwardness or discomfort for truth, aligns with broader changes in TV that blur genre lines (comedies with dramatic stakes, dramedies, etc.).

Legacy and Influence

• Female Creative Leadership: Horgan is an example of a woman who has successfully navigated acting, writing, producing, and directing, thereby helping to open doors for female creators in a still-male-dominated industry.

• Authentic Voice: Her work is widely praised for emotional honesty, vulnerability, and willingness to depict messy lives, not polished ones.

• Genre Fluidity: She has shown that comedy doesn’t need to stay light, and drama can benefit from humor; the hybrid web she weaves is increasingly influential.

• Narrative Risk-Taking: From Bad Sisters (which involves darker themes) to her early work about life’s awkwardness, she is willing to take tonal and structural risks.

• Mentorship & Production Influence: Through her production company Merman, she helps produce diverse and ambitious projects beyond her own writing.

Personality & Creative Style

Horgan’s style frequently features:

• Wit and irony, used to probe deeper truths.

• Emotional directness, even when the subject is shame, failure, or mess.

• Relational focus: many of her plots orbit around friendships, family, partnerships, and the conflicts within.

• Tone shifts: she moves from domestic comedy to moments of tension or heartbreak with agility.

• Self-reflexivity and meta-awareness, sometimes referencing her own life or creative dilemmas within the story.

In interviews, she comes across as grounded, self-aware, ambitious but cautious, and generous in acknowledging collaborators and influences.

Selected Quotes

Here are a few lines and thoughts attributed to Sharon Horgan (or paraphrases) that reflect her mindset:

• “I think you can take chances in the script with where you choose to have a laugh or to release the pressure.” (on Bad Sisters)

• On her working life: she has spoken about how being raised on a turkey farm instilled a strong work ethic and an early awareness of labor, effort, and aspiration.

• In interviews she often highlights that the best humor comes when it's grounded in truth and risk, rather than safe jokes — a philosophy evident across her writing.

Because Horgan is less commonly quoted in short aphorisms than she is in interviews and show dialogue, many of her most powerful "lines" live within her scripts.

Lessons from Sharon Horgan

From her life and career, one can draw several lessons:

1. Start late, start anyway: Horgan didn’t become prominent early; she built steadily, tried many paths, and used every experience.

2. Wear many hats: her success stems from moving beyond acting to writing, producing, directing — shaping her own opportunities.

3. Lean into discomfort: her best work often inhabits spaces where characters are uncertain, awkward, conflicted—and she doesn’t shy away from that.

4. Build collaborators: her partnership with Dennis Kelly and others shows how creative alliances can catalyze breakthroughs.

5. Root in personal experience, but don’t be limited by it: parts of Horgan’s scripts draw on her upbringing, but she doesn’t confine her stories to that; she uses them as emotional fuel.

Conclusion

Sharon Horgan continues to be one of the most compelling voices in contemporary television—a creator who blends humor, heart, and surprise in ways that feel both intimate and bold. Her journey from a turkey farm to Baftas and Emmy nods is inspiring, not for its glamour, but for its persistence, inventiveness, and refusal to settle for formula.