Freeform’s docu-series The Come Up drops viewers into downtown Manhattan, where six early-twenties creatives juggle open-mic nights, gallery deadlines, and messy 3 a.m. feelings. Photography prodigy Sophia Wilson, gender-bending actor Claude Shwartz, and rising performance artist Ben Hard join Gayety’s Caitlynn McDaniel to unpack the thrill—and indigestion—of letting cameras roll while you still haven’t figured out if kombucha counts as dinner.
Wilson, who landed a Vogue spread before graduating high school, says the show finally lets her audience see the chaos behind her pristine portraits. One episode follows her sprinting across the Williamsburg Bridge, medium-format camera flapping, after she realises the golden-hour light she scouted is vanishing. “Perfectionism looks cool on Instagram,” she laughs, “but the panic sweat is real.”
For Hard, a non-binary musician with a knack for avant-drag, vulnerability means showing failed gigs—like the night a smoke machine short-circuited mid-ballad. “I wanted the series to capture the courage it takes to bomb in public and come back swinging,” they say, twirling a neon mullet that feels more sculpture than haircut.
Shwartz, who transitioned while auditioning for Shakespeare in the Park, finds the cameras cathartic. One storyline tracks their first on-screen romance: a tender subway-platform kiss that aired unedited. “Growing up I never saw trans joy that wasn’t filtered through tragedy,” they note. “Now some kid in Ohio will binge this and realise they’re allowed meet-cutes too.”
All three praise the crew’s intentional care: nightly debrief circles, consent check-ins before filming family calls, and a wardrobe policy that let cast choose outfits reflecting cultural roots without producer approval. The result is a series that balances aspirational nightlife montages with the quiet realism of phone-bank shifts to pay rent.
Mistakes aren’t a plot twist—they’re the syllabus. Whether Wilson’s photo shoot floods, Shwartz flubs a monologue, or Hard oversleeps a studio session, each misstep becomes proof that young artists learn in public and keep the tape rolling. The Come Up invites viewers to do the same: chase the dream, own the cringe, repeat.
