Model: Liza Koshy. Photographer: Tom Marvel.
Liza Koshy sashays through a New York photo studio on midtown Manhattan’s far West side, her hair swept in an updo, her face patted down beautifully and a black sleeveless ankle-length frock trimmed with sparkles, enhancing her petite frame.
She’s slipped off the heels, provided by stylist Cannon for the magazine’s photo shoot, and stands in her bare feet, a bundle of energy, her Colgate smile lighting up her face.
Elizabeth Shaila Koshy, influencer turned Hollywood rising star, has reason to grin. She’s enjoying an action-packed year co-starring in “The Naked Gun” with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. She wrapped ‘The Man With the Bag’ opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger for Amazon MGM Studios and she just completed an independent horror movie in her home state of Texas (a path she likes to note that she shares with fellow Houstonian Beyonce).
Koshy, who arrived in New York a few months ago, after living in California for ten years, is on the kind of upward trajectory that can be simultaneously exhilarating and a little scary if you’re not living in the moment.
While no-one welcomes being put in a box, Koshy fits into a big one. Her comedy and range are reminiscent of Lucille Ball, who shattered entertainment barriers both on camera and behind the scenes.
Dress & earrings, Oscar De La Renta. Necklace, ring & bracelet, Verdura.
Ball didn’t have the internet to help her, but Koshy does and the comedian has used it well. With north of 70 million followers across social media channels including 19.8 million on Instagram alone, she’s been a bonafide online star. But it’s Koshy’s comedic talents, along with her writing and producing that dazzle. Koshy’s thousands of skits and growing film work spotlight a notable talent on the rise. In a recent online video, she even pulls off an “I Love Lucy” setpiece. Speaking with Koshy, she’s liable at any moment to give a humorous riff on a question or comment, as if she’s practising one liners for a comedy club appearance.
A few months ago, with the professional wind at her back, Koshy moved to New York. A fashion enthusiast, the city suits her, after making her mark as a teenager selling DIY T-shirts on social media, hosting Vogue’s Met Gala coverage, and sitting front row at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris. Koshy can wax rhapsodically, like a true fashionista, about designs by Nicolas Ghesquiere at Louis Vuitton and about Maria Grazie Chuiuri, who recently departed Dior, where Koshy has been a beauty ambassador since 2020.
I met Koshy at her New York shoot and interviewed her by Zoom from her new home in Brooklyn, an experience that was full of laughs. Our conversations have been edited for clarity and length.
Dress, Rick Owens. Earrings & Bracelets, Alexis Bittar.
CONSTANCE WHITE: What are you wearing? I love the one-shoulder look on you?LIZA KOSHY: I’m wearing Vivienne Westwood that I actually just got from The RealReal. I love second-hand and I love consigning myself. Anything that I have over the past three years, has either been gifted or thrifted or is from TheRealReal.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Does that have anything to do with the fact that you’re petite? Is it easier to find petite online? They do say that half of style is having the right fit, not so much the style of the clothing itself.LIZA KOSHY: It’s all about the tailoring of the piece; being custom-made for you and custom-made for your body. I tailor everything. I tailor myself – even hand- me-downs from my older sisters, they’re much bigger than my size. I learned to sew very young.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Yesterday, I saw you on the set.LIZA KOSHY: Yes – and God is a woman indeed because yesterday, I did the shoot and I was period-free. Today it came. Day 1 period realness at a photoshoot, is not ideal.
CONSTANCE WHITE: I watched you in front of the camera doing fashion and you were like to the manor born. You may be five feet – almost, but you seemed like you’re six feet. To what do you attribute that?LIZA KOSHY: That’s from the second puberty of your Twenties, when you’re trying on every costume possible. It’s about who you are as you separate from your family. You’re stepping into your own power, your own voice. You emulate the legends, the role models. You emulate your parents, your heroes. Your heroes show you what’s possible. Liza (Minnelli) is the evergreen. She is the one and only. I was given the name Liza because my mother loved Liza Minnelli so much. Little did she know she would have her own woman of the stage!
Dress, Givenchy. Shoes, Giuseppe Zanotti. Earrings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Having the background you have: An American mother of German descent, an Indian father, the baby of three, from Houston, Texas. What does this all have to do with your success?LIZA KOSHY: I attribute it to my parents giving me the creative coupon and freedom to explore an artistic avenue as a means to a career. And especially coming from an Indian background, the stereotype and the truth is, your parents might want you to be more academically focused than artistically focused.
CONSTANCE WHITE: You’re going to be an engineer young lady!LIZA KOSHY: Exactly. An engineer, a doctor ,a lawyer. Indian families are like, ‘if you want a place to stay at home forever, until you’re 60, do it’, but they also want you to be the American dream. And it’s why they came to this country and have their hopes and dreams for you.
I was very lucky to be the youngest of three. I had two incredible sisters – I still have them (laughs). I was an experiment of a child. They kicked me to the curbs of LA or I kicked myself to the curbs of LA. I moved out at 19 to pursue a dream that had yet to be cemented. I didn’t really know what I was doing at the time.
All I knew is I loved to try on clothes, try on costumes, try on voices, express myself creatively, no matter what canvas I was given. At the time I was given the canvas of Vine and YouTube, or whether it was the church, the school play – I owned that stage.
Dress, Zhivago from The Residency Experience. Earrings and rings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Yes, you had one of the fastest growing YouTube channels ever. You also had done one year of college and dropped out. But how was that family dynamic? Was Dad and the family like, “yaaay!! Go Liza!!!” or was their trepidation?LIZA KOSHY: There was rupture and repair. I was not making my parents aware of what I was doing. I was secretly recording videos in my bathroom or when they weren’t at home. They were out working. I was often alone.
There was an eight-year age gap between my older sister and I and with my other sister, six years. It was a generation gap. They were in college and I was in high school. I was left to my own devices. And that’s literally what it was; I was left with my device (she shows her phone) and with my friend circles – and it was one big group chat. Connecting digitally with others was a mode of expression for me. Creating characters was a way of me discovering myself. Creating dialog in the shower.
Dynamically, my sisters have always been incredibly supportive. But early on, in the very beginning, my middle sister tattled on me. She said, ‘Dad, she’s making some weird videos online, there’s an audience, people are watching her. There is no way she goes to school with 4000 kids!.’
My Dad went through my phone and made me delete every single follower.
Dress, Monica Ivena from The Residency Experience. Shoes, Gianvito Rossi. Earrings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Were you heartbroken?LIZA KOSHY: Was I housebroken?
CONSTANCE WHITE: (I’m not sure if that was a joke or not.) Were you HEART broken?LIZA KOSHY: Yes, I was heartbroken at the idea that what I was building was being shattered by my own family. But at the same time I was willing to break down in order to build up. And I built trust with my Dad. From that came a conversation that, ‘I’m making these videos. These are characters. It’s not my personal life.
I don’t think I even put that as succinctly as I can now at 29. I was 17. But he understood the subtext from my emotions: This is a creative, chaotic child, let’s let her loose.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Did you think that you would or could build a business out of this?LIZA KOSHY: It clicked that I could funnel that creative energy into merchandise and apparel. That’s when I was cutting the holes out of shirts and putting it online and saying, ‘Hey ya’ll summer’s coming. I’ll give you a T-shirt. You give me $20.”
I also had an Instagram account called Dress with Jess. I always had this interest in fashion and discovery of our own expression.
Dress, Monica Ivena from The Residency Experience. Shoes, Gianvito Rossi. Earrings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: What are your three or four best tips for building a YouTube channel?LIZA KOSHY: Well it changes according to the algorithm and the rules change every day.
- But a Golden Rule is to express what you are genuinely curious about. Don’t cater to the curiosity of others. Invest in what you find yourself giving your precious resource – your time and attention – to because that’s what will shine through whether that’s crocheting or what makes consumers buy today. Do that thing that the universe sent you here to do. Don’t leave the universe on red!!
- You don’t need as much as you think you do to get started. Whatever you have available just go for it. I have my janky light. It might be a polaroid camera.
- Be consistent. That’s a golden rule across all things – faith, friendship, family, your body and being disciplined about showing up. Don’t wait for motivation. You never know when motivation is going to show up. But being ready at the time it does, makes all the difference.
If you want your audience to grow, don’t complain if you only post once a month. Be disciplined about posting regularly.
Dress, RVNG Couture. Earrings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Liza, are you or are you not – inquiring minds – want to know, doing your YouTubing, influencing, your online stuff or are you focused on pure Hollywood Entertainment? Are you melding the two? What is the situation?LIZA KOSHY: I’m smiling because I’ve never been asked this question. I appreciate the question because it’s just to the point. Direct. Where you at? Where you been? Answer the phone. Are you ever gonna show up again? You just gonna leave us on red? Yes, I left on red.
From 2015 – 2018 I posted weekly consistently. Returning in that manner at this point is not something that I’m going to do – at least not any time soon – not while I have so much joy collaborating, being the puzzle piece in someone else’s master plan. And then creating and writing scripts of my own.
CONSTANCE WHITE: I feel like there’s a bring Liza back movement online.LIZA KOSHY: I would ask them what they mean ‘come back’. I’m here. In a different way. I’m here. I never left. I’m here working and I’m excited for the next chapters.
Jacket, CD Greene. Glasses, Paradis Winslet.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Let’s talk about this next chapter. It’s really remarkable the people you’re working with -when you think of Liam Neeson,who you’re with in “Naked Gun” opening now in theaters. We think about Nicole Kidman (who’s in Netflix’s A Family Affair, still going strong since last year).LIZA KOSHY: I call them my friends. It’s up to them to call me whatever they want. They can call me or they can text me.
Liam is an incredible human. I’m very lucky to say I got to learn from so many greats. Liam Neeson. Pamela Anderson (The Naked Gun). Arnold Schwarzenegger, Damon Wayans, Jr. There are so many greats I’ve been able to learn from. There’s a practice that I’ve found they all have in common. They are so ridiculously empathetic. They all embody the human experience so well. They’re all so generous.
It’s a trope that actors might be self absorbed but what makes a good actor, a good actor is being a curious and empathetic human. The ones that last a lifetime tend to be the curious, sweet humans, who love to tell a story.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Naked Gun is going to be in theaters everywhere but I rewatched “A Family Affair” which is still on Netflix. How could we leave out Zac Efron? Are you taking serious acting lessons? You are so good in it.LIZA KOSHY: Oh my gosh yes! How could we leave out Zac Efron! My bad Zac!
A Family Affair was a turning point for me because that showcased a different side of my abilities. To sit in that and tap into a moment of drama with Joey King ( who starred in A Family Affair) was a turning point for me to start looking into more dramatic scripts. And though Naked Gun is a comedy, it’s supposed to be played like a drama.
CONSTANCE WHITE: What do you hope to get from Naked Gun when it comes out?LIZA KOSHY: I would love to do it again. A sequel would be nice.
Dress, Area. Hat, Piers Atkinson from The Residency Experience.
CONSTANCE WHITE: You moved from Houston to L.A. for love, now seven months ago you said you moved from L.A. to Brooklyn for work. How do you like it and tell me a little about that?LIZA KOSHY: It’s been exactly a decade since I moved, at 19, to L.A.
I moved to Brooklyn in January. I told myself last year I’m going to move to NY.
I ended up booking The Man With The Bag, an Amazon Studios movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I play a techie named JJ. I shot for three months in New York. I took a stipend from that and ran and put it down on an apartment in NY. I love it. I was called back home to Texas. I was in Texas for two months shooting an Indy film out there. I can’t wait for that to come out. It was a horror comedy.movie.
Dress, Genny from The Residency Experience. Earrings and ring, Doves by Doron Paloma. Shoes, Gianvito Rossi.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Do you sing or dance?LIZA KOSHY: I wanna be on Broadway so bad. That’s also a reason I always wanted to move to New York.
CONSTANCE WHITE: I saw your hilarious Dollar Store video which you made a few years ago. You already got it! Send that around for your audition tape for Broadway.LIZA KOSHY: We got in a bit of trouble for that. That’s like eight years ago. Long story short, I thought I could rip off a Frank Sinatra song. Ripping off Neeeeewwwooo York, Neeeewww York and calling it Dollar Store, Dollar Store. I think it’s all settled now.
CONSTANCE WHITE: You are so talented. You were giving me Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball for all her slapstick, the impact in front of the camera as a comedian and she was also an incredible groundbreaker behind the scenes. Tell me about some of the impact she’s had on your life.LIZA KOSHY: I love Lucy so much. She had my favorite quote, to be tattooed someday. To be compared to her is some of the highest praise I could receive. She said, I’m not funny. I’m brave.’ I hope to forever embody that bravery; to be able to throw your whole mind and body into the bit and into the joke. To be able to work with Deborah Kaplan ( Liza on Demand co-creator and writer with Koshy and Harry Elfont)) who wrote Liza on Demand on YouTube. I understand what it feels like to be one of the first. To be so lucky and to be humble. Now the lines are all blurred (between legacy media and digital media) but back then it was breaking down the barriers.
Dress, Genny from The Residency Experience. Earrings and ring, Doves by Doron Paloma. Shoes, Gianvito Rossi.
CONSTANCE WHITE: You were quite brave to let go of this huge success on YouTube and say you’re going to forge another path? How do you feel the fear and do it anyway?LIZA KOSHY: At the time. I was terrified to do it.
The fear of disappointing others. Fear of not living up to expectations. Fear of falling short of this definition that I created myself. What I created online was a plethora of characters that I taught people to expect from me on a weekly basis.
And I shut that down because I didn’t feel the genuine passion and excitement for that anymore because I was working with Deborah and Harry Elfant and these actors and I just got bit by the bug of the joy of collaboration, the joy of being on a team. And I come from a drill team background. I was transitioning from performer. (To writing, producering, directing).
The internet kind of locks you into a chapter of your life.and it’s hard to shake it out of yourself. You’re not that monolith that people want to lock you into.
I never stopped creating. I never stopped growing and evolving and that’s what I’m proudest of. Every human is creative. There are different mediums through which we create it. Happiness is a choice, that’s what this is for me.
CONSTANCE WHITE: What are some of the types of things that you would like to produce? What are some of the stories you want to tell?LIZA KOSHY: It’s similar to what we said with Nicole Kidman seeing these stories we know exist and put on screen. Stories championing women. Also Pamela Anderson and her documentary, being so vulnerable.
Stories I experienced in college, things I used to do with my friends:Women being ridiculously silly and dressing up as men for Halloween and getting shut out of a frat house because we weren’t women. We’re dressed up with mustaches and we’re shut down. We can’t go in.
So, it’s funny to see. Capturing moments like those that talk about the bigger picture of what it means to be a woman in today’s world and be dismissed, is what I want to do right now. It’s the Barbie speech. But It’s the Barbie speech in comedy sketches sewn together into a film script.
Or, it’s what it means to be the model minority: You’re quiet. You don’t show anger, you don’t show sadness, you don’t show fear. I know it’s very specific but that’s what I want to see. It’s more real.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Do you have rituals that you do on a daily or weekly basis to keep your life feeling balanced?LIZA KOSHY: It’s an hourly basis for me. I drink so much water. It’s something we deny our body needs. And coffee. It’s meditating. It’s working out .It’s engaging my mind to be creative for at least 15 minutes a day. Engaging in conversation with my peers. We’ve been hit by two strikes and the wildfires. This industry can be hard.
CONSTANCE WHITE: What’s hard about it?LIZA KOSHY: What’s hard about it is that your stock ebbs and flows. The interest and energy around you ebbs and flows. Sometimes the transition from child star to adulthood can be hard. Casting, they don’t know where to put you. That’s difficult to navigate, especially for women.There’s a gray area for women.
Dress, RVNG Couture. Earrings, Doves by Doron Paloma.
CONSTANCE WHITE: You share so much of your talents and yourself with us, what is something about you that people would be surprised to know?LIZA KOSHY: How quiet I am. I am a yapper but I’m an introvert. I call myself an introvert-gone wild. I’m so curious about people. I show up for my people. But I’m a very quiet person who likes to meditate. You can enjoy an abundance of creativity in silence, in stillness.
CONSTANCE WHITE: Thank you, Liza.LIZA’S EVERY DAY FASHION STAPLES
A pair of cat-eye sunglasses.
White Levi jeans. (I’m a Beyonce girl!)
Anything black, white or gray.
LIZA’S EVERY DAY BEAUTY STAPLES
I believe in beauty from the inside out.
Water. Sips every few minutes.
Sleep.
Magnesium.
Melatonin, especially helpful around periods.
Papaya enzyme face wash.
Myecelin water.
Collagen mask.
Talent: Liza Koshy @lizakoshy
Photographer: Tom Marvel @tommarvelphotography
Creative Director: Cannon @thecannonmediagroup at Ray Brown @raybrownpro
Hair Stylist: Linh Nguyen @linhhair at SEE Management @seemanagement
using R+Co @randco
Make Up Artist: Mark Williamson @markwilliamson45 at Artist Management @artistmanagemen
using Makeup by Mario @makeupbymario & Bdellium Tools @bdelliumtools
Manicurist: Casey @caseynails at The Wall Group @thewallgroup
using Olive & June @oliveandjune
Lighting Director: Murat Ozdemir @1muratozdemir1
Production: Winnie Noan @winnie_noan
Director of Video: Edsta @edsta
Digital Artist: Theresa Hong with Cosmic Pixels @cosmicpixels_nyc
Digital Tech: Olivia Wohlers @wohliviaa
Lead Stylist’s Assistant: Max Reid @lu3alo
Photographer’s Assistants: Michele Swain @michelewihelminaphotography |
Eric Wallace @polymathicwallace | Karim Chehimi @phillyk215 | Helen Chi @MissHelenChic
Grip: George Pepe @gspepe
Fashion Team: Priscilla Martinez @priscillamartinez | Alice Chan @_alisss.c | Sofia Sinzmeyer @sofiazinsmeyer |
Hailey Hendershot @haileyyhendershot & Mario Rubino @mariorubinoo
Special thanks to: Tessa, Lauren, Nicole and CJ at Luna Entertainment
Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam
