SAMANTHA HURLEY, DID YOU GET ANY OF OUR BABY TEETH?
- iowastage
- Jun 14
- 4 min read
In the final hour, we had a quick Q&A with I'm Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire playwright and all around iconic badass, Samantha Hurley! Samantha Hurley is a on the verge of Hollywood Walk of Fame status (but make it theatre). She is a creator, collaborator, and colossal fangirl making her way in Chicago. We were honored and thrilled to be the Midwest Premiere of her play I'm Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire which closes on June 14. Diving into her work has been an experience like no other. Her Y2K fever dream of a show allows for deep exploration, silliness, and stupidity. We are grateful she took a moment from her recent auntie duties to answer some quick questions from the cast!
How long was the play in development? What was that process like?
SH: The play started as a ten minute play for an assignment in my college playwriting class. After I graduated and moved to New York City, we did it as a one act in a small festival competition where we lost big time to a truly terrible play about someone getting assaulted on the subway. During the pandemic, I was bored
and looking for a creative project, so I called up my friend from college who I’d previously worked with on an original play my senior year (a play about how the moon landing was fake - which will never see the light of day) and I was like “what if we turn that Tobey Maguire play into a full length” and it was full steam from there. Another one of our friends from college had become a successful producer in New York and when he heard we were working on this play he wanted in. From there we did a couple workshops in various apartments (we had the cops called on us because someone was yelling for "help") and basement studios in New York until we were ready for a 29 hour reading where we cold emailed a bunch of different theaters and producers inviting them to the reading. Most of them said no, but the team at the cell theater was so charmed by our cold email they decided to come and loved the play and programmed us for their following season. The play went through another workshop before we went into rehearsal for our off-broadway premiere. We had a sold out run in the summer of 2023, which led to a licensing and publishing deal and then our London production at the Southwark Playhouse in the summer of 2024.
Why Tobey Maguire?
SH: I really wish I could remember why I chose Tobey Maguire. I’m such a title person that I think the name just sounded good. I’m not a huge spider-man fan. I don’t even think I’ve seen the third movie. I’m much more of a One Direction girl.
What Britney Spears song describes YOUR relationship?
SH: Currently, I’m in my “Work Bitch” era.
What is the reality of the play for you
SH: To me, the play is real. These are real people with dealing with real stakes. And Shelby def goes to prison.
Have you had any responses from Tobey Maguire’s team? Or Jake Gyllenhaal?
SH: Tobey’s team is aware, but respectfully, does not give a fuck about us, which is actually best case scenario for me because I could never look that man in the eye.
What moments in the script are particularly
personal for you? Any stories you’d like to share or go into more detail on?
SH: I wrote this play because I wanted to do something fun with my friends. It was created in this vacuum of no expectations, which is why I think it works so well.
When we stop putting pressure on ourselves to create art that we think others will respond to and just allow ourselves to be stupid and silly with our friends that's where the magic happens.
The response has been so unexpected and wonderful and it actually blows my mind that people want to say lines like “queef with style” or “the corn doesn’t fall far from the hole.” I had to fight very very hard with my collaborators to keep the Jake Gyllenhaal nightmare sequence, so that is a big highlight of the show for me. I am a sound designer's worst nightmare because I will creep up to them during tech and beg them to add more horse noises.
Did you get any of our baby teeth?
SH: Firstly yes. Secondly, that is one of my favorite lines in the play because Tessa, the actress who originated the role, would always ad lib “where are they?” very softly to herself which made me laugh SO hard.
SH: PS: Makes my heart so happy that you’re having such a good time with the run! The set looks so sick and the horse masks are everything!!!! My sister just had a baby, so I’m currently in Maine on baby duty, but best of luck on the rest of the run! We are about to go into rehearsals for our Chicago premiere which runs September 18-October 31 so if any of you are in Chicago let me know would love to see you there! Thanks again for the sweet response and putting on our silly stupid show. Means the world!
Iowa Stage's production of I'm Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire by Samantha Hurley runs June 5-14, 2026 at the Stoner Theater in the Des Moines Civic Center.
Tickets available here.
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