He Called Her Unloveable. She Said Fuck it and Made a Show: MK Abner on 'Girl Failure'

By Reese Carmen Villella

Mary Kate was dumped the day before her 24th birthday, turned that heartbreak into the hilarious web series Girl Failure, and then (because the universe has a cruel sense of humor) was dumped again the day it launched.

Mary Kate Abner and Keith Leung in the series 

Mary Kate “MK” Abner is a 25-year-old actress, filmmaker, and self-proclaimed “girl failure” based in New York City. Girl Failure, the four-episode web series she created, wrote, and stars in, follows a fictionalized version of herself navigating the aftermath of a breakup with a guy who tells her she’s unlovable. 

The series was brought to life by a tight-knit team of friends and collaborators. There’s Diana and Benji, played by MK’s real-life friends Diana Rendon and Shiv Pai, who support her character with a mix of empathy, reality checks, and occasional participation in her revenge plots. There’s Josh Michael, the ex (played by Keith Leung), whose memory haunts Mary Kate and, in classic NYC fashion, ends up being cast alongside her in a play in the fourth episode. The show was co-written with director Olivia Steinberg, shot by Matthew Liang, and produced by Liang alongside Makayla Leilua and Alan He, a talented and sickeningly adorable power couple.

Diana Rendon and Abner in a promotional photo

I’ve known MK since she was 20, when we met during my freshman year of college (her junior year). And while I promise I won’t make this article about me, I do want to paint a picture of her for those who don’t know her. Meeting MK for the first time felt like meeting a Disney princess; she’s gorgeous, kind, and has such warm energy. So imagine my surprise when I showed up to her 24th birthday party, excited to finally meet her boyfriend, only to be told by a mutual friend, “Oh, he actually just broke up with her.”

“That can’t be right,” I said. “It’s her birthday.” But it was right. And even worse, he broke up with her because, according to him, she was “unlovable.”

MK radiates positivity. She’s the kind of person who is easy to talk to and, yes, easy to love. And while anyone on the outside could dismiss that “unlovable” claim as complete bullshit, MK carried that fear with her long after the breakup.

Shiv Pai, Rendon, and Abner in the series

MK describes herself as a “late bloomer” in love, having not dated until after graduating from college. Before her first real boyfriend and long-term relationship, she was briefly seeing a guy on an improv team (strike one) who ghosted her after a few weeks. Then, she dated Ex-Boyfriend #1 for about a year before he decided she was unlovable. This breakup was devastating, not just because her relationship was over, but also because she internalized his criticisms. She fixated on what it meant to be lovable, whether she measured up, and wondered if there was something wrong with her. 

With this, MK began noticing a pattern: emotionally inconsistent men who pursued her, only to withdraw once she reciprocated. That contradiction fed into this growing fear that something was wrong with her, that she was somehow attracting people who would ultimately take advantage of her.

After the breakup, MK began channeling her emotions creatively. But before she put pen to paper, she put vlogs on TikTok.

At the time, MK was making daily TikTok vlogs while brewing her morning coffee, so as she went through the breakup, she documented it in real time, sharing the emotional fallout in detail. While I look back on this as a sort of iconic cultural moment, MK clearly has some disdain for this era. She admits she “let people into her business,” and not everyone received it kindly. Some saw it as “too much” or even “making her look crazy.”

Behind the scenes

I think this speaks to a larger tension for women between emotional honesty and public perception. As an artist, a public figure, or even a girl innocently trying to share her coffee routine, there’s a constant push and pull between authentic expression and the way that expression is judged. How emotional is too emotional? When does “emotional” turn into “crazy”?

So, when she decided to stop vlogging and start writing, MK’s work took shape as a feature screenplay, exploring similar themes to Girl Failure: sisterhood, community, and heartbreak. Through that process, MK came to realize that the story wasn’t really about romantic love but about the need for community and connection. From there, Girl Failure was born.

The main character shares her name, blurring the line between fiction and reality. MK says one of the biggest challenges was crafting a character who is flawed but still likable, avoiding the extremes of being either too insufferable or too perfect. MK made a deliberate choice that, by the final episode, her character hasn’t fully learned from her experiences. MK’s character is grounded in the simple desire to feel loved -- it keeps her empathetic and relatable, even as she makes the wrong decisions, trusts the wrong guy, or weaponizes her Instagram story. Her co-writer, Olivia, played a key role in shaping that balance, grounding the character and ensuring that audiences feel for her, rather than judge her.

Abner in the series

As she was developing Girl Failure and coping with her breakup, MK also started a new relationship. In hindsight, she realized she wasn’t heartbroken over her first boyfriend as much as she was hurt by what he said. This second relationship felt deeper, more intense: so when that ended, it reopened the earlier wound. She found herself asking, “Why am I here again? Have I not grown at all?” 

And the cherry on top, as if a birthday breakup weren’t bad enough, is that this one happened on Girl Failure’s launch day, which just so happened to be Valentine’s Day. I’m gonna need the universe to give my girl a break. Breakup #2 piled on top of all these existing anxieties. Not only was she anxious about Ex-Boyfriend #1 seeing the series, but she was now facing the same insecurities all over again. 

But through the show and its release, MK has come to understand that breakups are about more than just specific relationships. They’re about how those relationships make you feel about yourself and the lingering fear that the worst thing someone has said about you might be true. 

Behind the scenes

I could go on about why you should watch Girl Failure and who it speaks to, but I think MK sums it up best: “Girl Failure is for girls who listen to Audrey Hobert. Girl Failure is for girls who listen to Addison Rae. Girls who have been dumped on Valentine’s Day. Girls who have been dumped on their birthday. Girls who used to be man-eaters and accidentally fell in love. Girls who have anger issues. It’s for girls.”

Girl Failure captures what it’s like to date in NYC as a Gen-Z lovergirl. Viewers have been reaching out to MK, telling her that the show made them feel less alone after their breakups. Even some of MK’s married friends have reached out, saying that the series resonated with them. And, in my experience watching the show and talking to MK about the inspirations behind it, I think the series genuinely encapsulates a lot of my own anxieties, woes, and experiences dating in today’s swipe-ridden dating scene. 

And so, if Girl Failure proves anything to me, it’s that Mary Kate Abner is, without a doubt, easy to love. 

Girl Failure is now streaming on YouTube! You can also follow the show and Mary Kate on Instagram: @girlfailureshow @mktheballerprincess