Alia Shawkat Looks Beyond Search Party

Since landing a barbie commercial at age nine and the Fox family series State of Grace at eleven, Alia Shawkat has built an impressive résumé that now includes Being the Ricardos and Transparent. These days, she's thrilled to be getting recognized as Dory Sief instead of Maeby Fünke of Arrested Development — because that means Search Party found its audience after moving from TBS to HBO Max.

"I have a theme of being part of shows that are appreciated a little after their time, but I'm proud of that," says Shawkat, who upped her game on Fox's Arrested Development. "It definitely molded my sensibilities about timing, reading scripts and all of that. Watching these masters work and joke around made me funnier and sharper. I'm so grateful. But when you do a show with such high-quality writing, you get spoiled!"

Shawkat's been spoiled again — this time by scripts from Charles Rogers and Sarah-Violet Bliss for Search Party, now in its final season. The comedy thriller follows four deliciously unlikable twenty-somethings as they search for a missing acquaintance, who ends up being the most cringe-worthy of all. Dory has led her gang on a quest that breeds murder, infamy and celebrity status... and then tears them apart.

"It's a real time capsule," Shawkat says. "This generation has a lot of strengths, but its biggest weakness is trying to convince everyone that their lives are so freaking good. We all have to find out what brings us meaning in life, but this is a satire of the most extreme people doing whatever it takes to make sense of it all."

Beyond the writing, Shawkat credits the collaborative nature of the "scrappy" production and her chemistry with costars John Paul Reynolds, John Early and Meredith Hagner for keeping viewers tuned in to the madness — and for luring in such stars as Jeff Goldblum, Ron Livingston, Susan Sarandon, John Waters, Rosie Perez, Jay Duplass, Busy Philipps, Ann Dowd, Chelsea Peretti and the late Louie Anderson.

Having stepped up as a producer and director of Search Party, Shawkat says the ending feels bittersweet. "This was the first job where I showed up and was all cylinders go, every day," she explains. "It built my confidence in terms of what I believe I'm capable of as an actor. Now I realize I can write and be a creator of my own show."

In fact, she cowrote and starred in the 2018 Netflix film Duck Butter and is developing a series inspired by her own experiences, about an Iraqi American whose family owns a strip club. She's also a series regular in FX's upcoming Jeff Bridges series, The Old Man.

Meanwhile, on Search Party, an enlightened Dory reunites the gang for one last ride. Shawkat promises: "We're going out with a fun, powerful bang."

This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #1, 2022, under the title, "After Party."