Amelia Dimoldenberg always knew Chicken Shop Date would be a hit. "I actually thought it was a hit from the very beginning," the UK comedian says of the YouTube series which she created and hosts. "And then it was just about persuading people to see my vision."
Chicken Shop Date began as a magazine column for Dimoldenberg's local youth club's publication, before she transformed it into a proper chat show. Now, she has amassed more than 2 million subscribers and her videos — interviewing stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Paul Mescal over fried chicken — have become viral sensations.
"It's just been a matter of time — over 10 years — to get people to see what I see, because I've always thought it was really original and funny and a different way to interview celebrities," she reflects. "So, I've always thought it was going to be a hit. I've just been patiently waiting until now. And now going to the Oscars to work some magic there!"
As this year's Oscars Ambassador, Dimoldenberg will serve as the face of the 96th Oscars social media campaign in the role of Social Media Ambassador and Red Carpet Correspondent. "I really, really cannot believe it, and can't wait to get to Los Angeles and to do some amazing interviews," she says. "To be doing this for the Oscars itself is really, where do you go? It's all downhill from here!"
Below, Dimoldenberg shares with A.frame her five favorite films.
Directed by: Bob Spiers | Written by: Kim Fuller
Spice World is one of my favorite films of all time. Back in the day, I was always Baby Spice. I think actually now I'm transitioning from Baby to Posh. I feel like now I'm Posh Spice. But I'm a massive Spice Girls fan, and I just was blown away when I saw that film for the first time. It's such a fun film with so many amazing cameos, and I really think the sense of humor of it is brilliant. The huge bus that they ride on that is giant on the inside, I always thought that was a real bus — not done on a soundstage. I just thought it was absolutely brilliant.
And then when I found out that it was based off the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, I watched that and thought, 'Wow! God, I love that film too.' So, for me, Spice World, because of its place in pop culture, and it's just fun! It's just very fun.
Directed by: Stephen Daldry | Written by: Lee Hall
Billy Elliot is a beautiful film that is so funny, but yet so sad in many ways. It's so charming, it's so British, and it's so special. You can rewatch it so many times and then you find new things about it. I also think it's a political film at the same time. It's about the strike, about Thatcher's Britain. It's about ballet, it's about toxic masculinity, and it's all packaged up in this really beautiful, charming film. I love it. I think it's brilliant.
Directed by: Mark Waters | Written by: Tina Fey
The original Mean Girls is one of my favorite films of all time. I remember going to see that at the cinema with my friend and my mum, when you had to go with your mum to cinema. I'd never seen something so funny. Every single line is perfect. It never gets boring watching it, and I've watched it about over a hundred times. Everything about it, from the costume to the characters to the storyline, it's just iconic, and I feel like nothing will ever beat it, really.
Directed by: Victor Fleming | Written by: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf
The Wizard of Oz is one of the first films I remember seeing as a child. I remember being in awe of Dorothy and being petrified of the Wicked Witch of the West. The songs are spectacular, and obviously, the key to an incredible musical is the songs being really good, really memorable. The set, the stage design, the story, the moral story of it. Also, again, its place in cinematic history — being one of the first Technicolor films — and the legacy of that film and how it's been so influential, I just think it's one of the greatest films ever made. And my dog teddy bear that I've had since I was a child is called Toto.
Written and Directed by: Molly Manning Walker
Number five takes the place of my current favorite film, because your list of five is always evolving, isn't it? How To Have Sex is a really amazing British film that blew my mind. I think it's a really important, powerful film that really resonated with me in terms of how it explores sexual consent and what it means to say no in certain situations and to go along with things in certain situations. It felt so authentic, which is so hard to do, and has some incredible performances by actors I'd never seen before, which I always love.
I saw it with a group of friends and seeing it with people who it all really resonated with, that was a really powerful cinema experience. I'm really interested to see how it resonates with American audiences, because to me it's so intrinsically British, but I feel like there's themes which I feel like are universal. I just think it was a really, really, really great film. It made me think a lot about my adolescence. And I think it's really crucial viewing for all young people, and all young boys, actually, as well.
