“What the fuck am I fucking doing here?”
So screams singer Charli XCX in episode 4 of Overcompensating, where she plays herself in one of the show’s buzziest cameos. She’s about to play a concert at the fictional Yates University, trapped in a dingy cement green room that has no doubt been host to a number of theater kid hookups.
‘Overcompensating’ review: Benito Skinner’s college comedy is a raunchy, thoughtful laugh riot
To answer Charli XCX’s own question, what she’s doing here is absolutely tearing the roof off. Her appearance in Overcompensating is short, yet memorable. So memorable, in fact, that I’ve been unable to get her delivery of “Do you think I want to play fucking ‘Boom Clap’ in a fucking college?” out of my head since I heard it in Overcompensating‘s very first teaser.
Charli XCX’s heightened portrayal of herself is the latest in a long line of celebrities poking fun at themselves in cameos. (See: the entirety of The Studio.) Here, she teases everything from the ubiquity of “Boom Clap,” one of her breakout hits, to her party girl image. (“No cocaine?” she asks her student liaison Grace, played by Mary Beth Barone.)
There’s a meta hilarity to Charli XCX’s college appearance in the show. Overcompensating was filmed over the summer and fall of 2024, aka brat summer, aka the new peak of Charli XCX’s critical and commercial success. It’s almost impossible to imagine her playing another college campus now — and even if she did, you can bet “Boom Clap” wouldn’t be on the set list.
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It is here, though, serving as comedic percussion to the vomit and diarrhea attacks suffered by Yates students Benny (series creator Benito Skinner) and Carmen (Wally Baram). The song really can’t catch a break!
Also on the Yates set list are “I Love It” and “Boys,” the perfect soundtrack to Benny’s panicking over his crush on friend Miles (Rish Shah). Adding to Benny’s panic is none other than Charli XCX herself, who, in a nightmare sequence, leads the crowd in a chant of “Benny likes boys!” She delivers each cheer with a wicked gleam in her eye, culminating in a scream and mean girl smile so deliciously unhinged and committed you’ll wish she’d stick around for more of the series.
Still, less is more when it comes to the celebrity cameo, and the concert isn’t the only dose of Charli XCX Overcompensating gives us. She also serves as an executive producer and the show’s executive music producer, delivering a synth-y soundtrack that would often feel right at home at a club (but that also comes with a fair dash of yearning). And of course, her songs feature heavily, including such bangers as “claws” and the currently trending “party 4 u.” (Fingers crossed that brat songs pop up in Season 2.)
On top of her worldwide pop domination, Charli XCX is pivoting to more acting roles, including in upcoming films like Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, and Daniel Goldhaber’s remake of Faces of Death. She’s also launched her own production company, Studio365, which will be producing films like A24 and Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment, as well as the next film from Audition director Takashi Miike. (Charli XCX will also star in both.) And if her brief cameo in Overcompensating is any indication of what’s to come, consider me ready and waiting for Charli XCX’s acting era.
Overcompensating is now streaming on Prime Video.
