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For a brief period there, it seemed like Euphoria might be the last zeitgeist-y TV show to get proper funding and distribution, and we’d be stuck with Girls rewatches and two-minute brainrot fruit microdramas. But suddenly, there’s a rash of new attempts to capture the lives of zoomers and zillennials, like Rachel Sennott’s I Love LA on HBO Max and the FX sitcom Adults (and Ivy Wolk hasn’t even been given a check yet). Now, another very 2020s-coded production is in the works: SUBS, a dark comedy about building a multi-million-dollar OnlyFans empire. It’s being developed by Run-A-Muck Media with Ilene Chaiken (The L Word) and Rose Gilroy, the screenwriter daughter of model-actress Rene Russo and Dan Gilroy. Gilroy wrote a short story related to the show, titled “Backstage Bella,” that dropped on Run-A-Muck’s editorial platform today.
Doubling as main characters are OnlyFans creator Ari Kytsya, whose life inspired the series and is the executive producer, and fellow OnlyFans star Sophie Mudd, who consulted on the show and plays the main “opp”: an AI model whose social presence is impossibly perfect and poreless. Scroll Mudd’s real-life pages and you can believe how she might be AI — they’re all glinting waters, fuzzy beaches, and sultry smiles tilted just so, along with elaborate cosplays of BMO from Adventure Time and The Amazing Digital Circus’ Pomni. After being discovered by a bikini company when she was 18, Mudd kept posting and accrued a following. She got her first taste of acting fame in The Idol, where she arrived as an extra, but got along with so well with everyone that Sam Levinson and The Weeknd’s team wrote a part for her. If SUBS gets picked up, it will be her biggest break yet. She hopped on a call from LA to discuss the peaks and valleys of the OnlyFans life, what Hollywood’s gotten wrong about it so far, the manosphere and more.
The concept for SUBS seems very cool and very now. What is the plot like, and what’s your role in it?
Sorry, my cat is going crazy in the background. I have two siamese cats, they’re brother and sister. I’m a crazy cat lady. The show is about the OnlyFans industry, taken from me and Ari Kytsya’s real perspectives on OnlyFans. The main character Eve, and then Grace, her bestie, work together to blow up Eve’s OF. I think we’ll have to wait and see how that expands for her. I’m playing an AI model — kind of the villain in a sense. They find the online page of my character, who’s named Backstage Bella, and they’re like, “How is she always here? How is she in Japan? Paris? How does she always have this outfit?” Everything is always perfect, and they can’t figure out how she’s doing it. Then they find out that she’s really an AI. So I guess I’m their opp.
How did you get involved?
So I actually have the same trainer as Rose Gilroy, who wrote SUBS, that’s how we met. Shoutout Eric. We all had dinner one night at the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood — I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this, but it’s featured in SUBS — and Rose was telling me about the show. I told her about my industry, and we really clicked.
Are there specific ways you see your experiences reflected in the show?
I really love how in SUBS we talk about checking the stats, going through trends to create the best content. I check my metrics a lot. It is a business and we know what people wanna see. I have a big whiteboard here where I write things down — right now, it’s a lot of different cosplays and places I wanna travel to for the cosplays. Nothing that I post is ever really random.
What are the rock bottom moments of an OnlyFans creator that you’re hoping to show in SUBS?
We’re still in early development, but I can talk about the experience generally. I think some people get really set on checking their earnings everyday. The ups and downs of that can be scary. Content being leaked on the internet is another thing that people can get anxious about. Probably all the OF girls and guys relate to that. I’ve had things leaked. I have a team that works on that, but there’s a weird thing where they can get the US websites down but sometimes with overseas websites, they’re harder to take down. I would always just say don’t post anything that you don’t [want] to get leaked.
Sorry you have to deal with that. Are you concerned about competing with AI models now, in real life, as an OF creator?
I wouldn’t say competing, no, I don’t really see it as a competition. I will actually say I’m very impressed by some of the AI models because sometimes I’m watching the video and I’m like, “Oh this is really cool!” and then I’m like, “This is AI.” It takes me a second to catch. Something really cool about OF is that you get to talk to your fans, and create a real connection with them. I don’t think an AI can do that. You never know, but I think people really love the authenticity of OnlyFans.
Have you gotten any AI accusations yourself?
I actually got one on my Reels the other day. I was like, “Okay,” I mean, I’ll take it. It’s kind of a compliment to me.
Do you use AI?
I have used AI — not on myself, but in some of my photos, to add things to the backgrounds for some of my cosplay stuff. I wouldn’t say I use AI a ton in my photos, but I’m a ChatGPT girl for sure. I use it a lot for cooking recipes. Sometimes to help scout locations for cosplays as well.
How has Hollywood gotten its portrayal of OF wrong in the past? Thinking of Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria, or Elle Fanning in Margot’s Got Money Troubles.
I don’t wanna say they didn’t capture it, but I think there’s some misinformation about the business behind the scenes, and that’s what I really wanted to see in SUBS. A lot of people think I just wake up and take the photo by myself in the morning and have a bunch of money in my bank account. But that’s so not how the business works and I’m excited to show the truth. There are managers, there’s statistics, there’s so much going on.
Were you aware of Rose Gilroy’s work, and her family’s, before this? What perspective do you think she can she bring to the show?
Yeah, I knew of her and her family. She wrote [the screenplay for] Fly Me To The Moon, which I knew about. I think that Rose and Ari Kytsya, bring a really honest perspective to the industry. The business, the hard sides of it, the good sides of it. It’s from people who know the industry inside out.
I’ve been helping with consulting on the show. Honestly, right when I got to the Paramount Lot to meet with the Run-A-Muck team and Rose, it was just so amazing. I felt so accepted and so honored to be part of the show. They were so curious and wanted to make the show accurate. Funny story, I was telling Rose about a stream I went on with Clavicular and the manosphere and all of that, and I think that’s brought up on SUBS, which is cool.
What was your reaction to going on the Clavicular stream?
That was probably four or five months ago. It was definitely an experience. He was tough. He actually had a lot of bad things to say about the OF industry, but it was honestly funny to listen to. He wasn’t a fan, but now I’m seeing that supposedly he’s managing some OF girls, so…
Money talks.
I think he’s changed his perspective a little bit. Interesting fella, for sure.
The manosphere has become such a talked-about thing; I see viral tweets all the time from men critiquing OnlyFans creators and their bodies. Has this stuff had a mental impact on you, and has audience behavior gotten more toxic in the last few years?
Any kind of negativity online is definitely upsetting to see. But I’ve been doing this for so long that I have a thick skin and I’m not so affected by it. I also feel like people like to make comments just to go viral nowadays. I’m like, “Do you even believe what you’re saying?” I would say the manosphere stuff has definitely gotten toxic. I have witnessed that, but I don’t take it personally at all. I know who I am and I have so many amazing, supportive people around me.
Have you gotten offers to go on any other manosphere streams?
No. I don’t think I would do that. I’m a little scared. Streams are amazing, but manosphere ones are kind of mean — the comments are intense.
Do you have any favorite streamers?
Ooh, I really like Emiru. She’s this cosplay fun streamer. I occasionally watch Neon’s clips. I don’t watch a ton of Twitch on my TV, I watch a lot of clips on TikTok.
I’m randomly on some ASMR streams sometimes. Do you know kitty ASMR? She’s so cool. She did one with movie theater snacks, so it was like popcorn, hot dog, M&Ms; she created them all out of clay and dipped them in wax, then cracked it right in front of the microphone. I find it so satisfying. I’m like, “Maybe I should get into ASMR.” That would be a dream collab for me, honestly. I actually have all the equipment and a full stream room upstairs. I’m gonna start streaming on Twitch, that’s gonna be my next thing. I love gaming too.
What games?
Dress To Impress on Roblox is my favorite game right now. You go in as this blank mannequin. I kinda feel like it’s me, in a way. You get to pick out outfits and then walk down a runway, and you can rate all the other competitors. I feel like a lot of my life is Dress To Impress. I’m picking out an outfit everyday and kind of creating a character.
Were you friends with Ari before? How has it been to work with her?
We’ve always followed each other on Instagram. But I’m so excited to work with her. I think her perspectives on the industry are amazing and she’s such a girl’s girl. If anything, I looked up to her for a while because she’s so honest and that’s something we really need on the internet.
Your breakout role was on The Idol. How do you look back on that experience now?
It was literally one of the best experiences of my life. There were some nights where we would just be there until 5:00 am filming, and we all filmed at The Weeknd’s house, which was really cool. It kinda felt like we were just one big family hanging out in the guest bedrooms. I was so lucky to work with such talented people as someone who was not from that world at all. I’m still in touch with a bunch of people from the cast, we all follow each other on Instagram.
Do you think critics were unfair to the show by reviewing it so harshly? Why do you think people didn’t “get” it?
The show was always going to be polarizing. It was provocative at times, and I think everyone knew that going into it. But I’m really proud of how it came out. I loved being a part of the show and getting to watch the creative process was really cool. I’ve never felt so safe on a set. Everyone was so professional. I think sometimes when the media sees something that’s different or polarizing, they can put their own spin on it, and I think that happened with the show. But at the same time, some TV just isn’t going to be for everyone, and that’s okay.
Talking about OnlyFans generally, do you feel like it’s changed in the last few years? Around COVID, it was this crazy new thing, and now it seems very saturated. Every viral X post has a dozen people trying to get you to click on their page.
There used to be more of a stigma around being an OnlyFans creator. I feel like as we’ve progressed a bit more, people are more accepting. They’re now talking about it on TV, when maybe in the past people were like, “Oh, you do OnlyFans?” and giving you that look.
Does having to constantly keep up with trends give you anxiety?
There’s definitely times where I get anxious about it, but I also think it’s really fun. I mean, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and so I’ve grown up online. I’ve been doing this since I was 18! I’m someone who loves to be creative, so writing on the whiteboard and coming up with all these new concepts for me, and getting to play dress up with cosplay, is like a dream job.
What was your internet presence like when you were younger, pre-Instagram?
I was such a Tumblr girl. We need to bring back Tumblr, it was such a fun way to be creative. It’s like having your own website… I used to have the sparkly cursor when you’d go to my page. I think you can also answer questions on there — I was always into Ask.fm when I was in high school.
I was a Sims girl. I was a Club Penguin girl — my igloo was pink and I think I had the bigger membership, so I had a bunch of puffles. I had the disco lights, I had everything. I actually went on Club Penguin recently and the servers are still open. We have to bring Club Penguin back!