‘Glow’ Star Britney Young Discusses How The Show Empowers Women, Encourages Diversity

In the '80s, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, or GLOW, redefined everything the world knew about the sport. More than two decades later, a new batch of women are here to do the same.

“Glow,” a Netflix original series paying homage to the pioneers of female wrestling, is set to make its streaming debut this Friday.The show stars Alison Brie, Sydelle Noel, Jackie Tohn, Britney Young and more as the rag tag members of an all-female wrestling group based in Los Angeles called GLOW. While the series is neither a remake of the original “Glow,” nor an exact depiction of the ladies of GLOW, its message is the same — we are woman, hear us roar.

The idea for the show came after showrunners Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive saw “GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” a documentary about the founding and growth of GLOW in Las Vegas, on Netflix. The duo teamed up with Jenji Kohan, famed for projects like “Weeds” and “Orange is the New Black.” They got to work, assembling writers and a cast and thus, “Glow” was born.

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International Business Times caught up with star Britney Young, who plays Carmen Wade on the highly anticipated show. Carmen is a “shy, but friendly and kind” young woman determined to make it in the wrestling industry. Once she joins the ranks of GLOW, she quickly realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

“She’s the daughter of a wrestling dynasty family, and she really wants to be a wrestler,” Young explained to IBT. “When she becomes a part of GLOW, she realizes that she might not be ready for the Hollywood limelight just yet.”

Carmen never relents in her quest to make her mark on the wrestling world. Inspired by the ladies she’s surrounded herself with, she digs deep and discovers “she’s not just this shy girl who does whatever her father says.” She evolves as “Glow” progresses, becoming an “empowering and very inspiring” person.

A follow-your-dreams storyline isn’t all this Netflix original’s got going for it. “Glow” has been praised for bringing together a diverse cast, celebrating their differences on camera. Young, who noted that women have historically been typecast as boy-crazed teenagers, doting wives and secretaries, was elated to join an ensemble bringing so much more to viewers.

“What I love about ‘Glow’ is we have a woman for everyone,” she said. “Our characters come from so many different backgrounds and have so many different stories to tell.”

As a plus-sized actress, Young has found that she is often chosen for parts where size is a part of her story. “Glow” gave her the opportunity to play a plus-sized character that was so much more. Carmen is “strong and beautiful,” and viewers will have the chance to see all that and more when they tune in.

“I”m a plus-sized girl in a business that doesn’t really accept plus-sized girls. Our show is really about accepting female bodies. They’re strong and beautiful in any size, any shape, any color,” she said. “I really was drawn to that. Like, ‘Oh, they’re looking for my type, but my character isn’t going to be about my type — it’s celebrating my type.’ That’s what we need on TV right now.”

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The body positive message in “Glow” really hit Young when Netflix released the character posters corresponding with the show. For hers, they opted for something simple — “just me flexing my arm.” During the shoot, Young joked that she’d be fine with them photoshopping her arm if they weren’t happy with the way it came out only to find that they’d decided against it in the end.

“I was pretty taken aback and just had to stop for a little bit,” she told IBT. “When they originally told me that’s what they wanted as the poster, I was kind of joking around like, ‘If you guys don’t like my little flabby arms you can totally photoshop it!’ and I realized I was [doing that] not to be offended when they did and they didn’t! I was so grateful.”

All episodes of “Glow” Season 1 will be available for streaming Friday on Netflix.