Emma Stone _ Molly Shannon _ Actors on Actors - Full Conversation

Frozen? Frozen like a pea? Yeah, exactly. Like a pea. Um... I want to be frozen and then propped up on our couch in our living room and I can watch you to make sure you don't cheat on me when I'm gone. You're going to make sure I don't cheat on you. It gets funny, but that's what I'm going to do. I am going to ask you the traditional actor interview question. Great. The A number one of actor interview questions, which is what drew you to your role in Other People? I would say the writing was so good. Naomi and Adam Scott are amazing producers and Naomi called me and she said, Oh my God, the financing came through. So it all happened really quickly because we didn't know if the financing was going to come through and it was the summertime. And so she said, I really need to know quickly. So they sent me the script. I read it up in my bedroom. Written by Chris Kelly, the amazing. He is now the head writer of Saturday Night Live with Sarah Schneider, his partner. Big comedy writer who you know from working on SNL. And the script took my breath away. I thought it was so beautiful. In real life, I'm a mom. I have my daughter Stella's 13 and our son Nolan is 11. And I just related to it as a mother, like how a mother will fight to the end of the earth for her children and her family. And I thought it was so touching. And I love that the main character played by Jesse Plemons has just broken up with his boyfriend and he goes from New York back to live with his conservative family in Sacramento and take care of his dying mother. I thought it was funny, touching. It had all the elements I love in a movie. It's the kind of movie I would go see and I couldn't believe that I got offered the part. I was like, this feels like a dream. I couldn't believe it. So I was so excited. I don't think anybody else is surprised you were offered the part because you're so stunning in it. It's supposed to be you. It was very clearly supposed to be you. Thank you. And I was going to say, I was so excited that I had to calm myself down. So after I read it, I called Chris Kelly from my kitchen and I said, I would love to do your movie. And he was like, you would? Really? He sounded like surprised or something. And then I went running around the block for like 45 minutes and I just listened to Miley Cyrus and I had to run myself around my neighborhood like a dog to calm myself down, like get myself, because I was so overjoyed. That's amazing. Yeah. I love it. You could just write your own roles, you know, write something that's as interesting as you are. What are you going to do? I have my own club. Is it going to happen every time? I think so. Emma. Yes, Molly. I have to say, I saw La La Land and I was blown away by your stellar performance. I was, I just, I thought you were unbelievable. It is the best thing I've ever seen you in. I haven't had this feeling in the movies for a long time. I saw it with a group of people in the afternoon and I walked out of there and I felt so moved. It made me feel so happy. It was like why people make movies. I was, I laughed, I cried. I thought your performance was like a tour de force. You were spectacular. And I really related to your character. I loved it. Like as a struggling actress and I love that you work in the coffee shop on the lot. I was so moved by your performance and I just want to congratulate you. It was, it was just phenomenal. It's like one of my favorite movies ever, I think. I just loved it and I'm talking to everybody about it. And I was just like, I can't wait to interview Emma. So you were fantastic. Thank you so much. So let me ask you this. So how did you, first of all, how long did it take to shoot? It was two months to shoot and it was about three months of rehearsal before we shot. Three months of rehearsal before you shot? Like in dance studios? Two and a half months. Let's be honest, it was just two and a half months. Of mostly, was it mostly choreography and doing the dances and singing? Yep. And so we had to get to know our choreographer, Mandy Moore, who's incredible. If you watch, do you see So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing with the Stars? She does these incredible dance numbers on those shows. And she, so she was kind of used to, I mean, not on So You Think You Can Dance, but on Dancing with the Stars, she was sort of used to working with people who were just learning to dance for the first time. And so it was really comforting because the first, I would say, six weeks were spent with Ryan and I just basically learning to tap and ballroom dance for the first time and then her sort of rearranging her choreography to make us look as good as we possibly could look as new tap and ballroom dancers. But it was so much fun. I mean, it was so great to get to learn these new, you know, these things you never thought you would be able to do in a movie, especially in this way, like in one shot doing these kind of Fred and Ginger dance numbers. So it was really, really cool. It's funny, like when you say that about dancing, you seem like such a natural dancer, singer. I mean, you are, I just thought, oh, you're a dancer and a singer and I didn't, I didn't get to see you in Cabaret and I want to go back to that after, but you were fantastic. And I wanted to say, isn't it funny though, that would be like my dream, like to be in a movie where it's like, I've got to wake up five, four, three, and a one, two, three, let's go. You know what I mean? Me too. Singing, dancing, coffee breaks, lunchtime. You know what I mean? Lunchtime. It sounds like a dream, you know. By the way, you looked beautiful in the movie too. As you do now. I loved, you have such good posture. Oh, well, right now I can feel my back starting to ache because I'm slouching so much. Thank you for saying that. Oh, interesting. And I don't know if other people have this feeling about you too, but when I first saw you, I felt like I already knew you. I was like, oh, there's Emma. I don't know, do a lot of people feel that way? You almost feel like, I feel like, oh, that's my friend. But then I'm like, oh, that's right, she doesn't know me. And when I met you for the first time at Saturday Night Live, Emma and I met at the 40th anniversary briefly. I think you were like about to go on stage or coming off stage. And I remember feeling like I already knew you. And then I'm like, oh, that's right, we don't know one another. But I had this feeling of just warmth and like I've known you for a long time. Maybe that's you and me though because I have, and I was just telling everybody, I don't know if I told you this at the 40th, but you know that I had a signed headshot of you in my bedroom as a child. What? You realize that? Really? As a birthday gift, I was given a picture of you from your SNL picture in black and white. It said XO with a heart and then you had signed it. And I, a couple of weeks ago, I was like, hey, mom, okay, I'm going to see Molly. Can you tell me if you faked this for me because you knew I wanted this? She was like, no, no, it's a real headshot. We really sent away and got this headshot. So I grew up with you in my bedroom and the best job of watching you all the time. And so maybe we just have like a little connection to each other or something. That's amazing. Because I definitely feel that way with you. That's so sweet. You're fired. It's Christmas. Yeah, I see the decorations. Good luck in the new year. So you and Ryan Gosling have worked together. Obviously, is this your third movie? It's our third movie, yeah. And what was it like working with somebody who you know so well? What was that like on the movie? It was pretty great, especially with something like this where you feel like, I mean, and it probably is the same in comedy. The more you know someone, the easier it is to kind of just like move with them. Yes. And it's because it is obviously rhythmic. It's a musical. It's so nice to kind of already have the rhythm of the person and be able to sort of embarrass yourself in front of each other. Because I think learning to do, you know, to ballroom dance with a stranger would be a very awkward experience. But it was so nice to learn with him because, and to sing with him and all of that because I just felt it's a much safer feeling, I think. And did you have to, were you on like a special, it seems like such a rigorous physical shoot with your voice, your body, almost probably like Broadway. Did you have to like train or did you really get good sleep or were you very, my question is, you seem very disciplined. Like when I see you on screen, I'm like, Emma seems really, you seem very disciplined. Really? Yes. Thank you. Just the way, the way your career has gone, I just, I just, I'm so impressed with all that you've done for your young years. And yeah, I wanted to ask you, so when you're shooting a movie, are you, do you go running or do you have special actress food that you eat? I like to call it special actress food. It's like black seed oil kind of thing. Like a special, well no, I have a joke that I used to say like actresses. Do you have like a special actress food in your regimen? Yeah, I do. No, just kidding. But I worked with actresses who get special food delivered in special containers and it's like just special food just for actresses and special warm drinks. Like it's just like actress special things that people have to eat when they're shooting. Do you know what I mean? So I call it special actress food. Like it could just be brown rice and vegetables in a special tea made by someone special just for actresses. So I wondered if you have special actress food you ate while you were shooting La La Land. Or a special exercise routine. I didn't have a special exercise routine outside of that dance stuff that we were doing. I was doing like, I mean I got really, right after this movie I played Billie Jean King and I had to bulk up and eat special actress food, which was like protein shakes that were a little different. But for this one it was pretty much just my same favorite snacks, which is chips and salsa and just a lot of tea on my singing days. I really, I mean that's pretty vital. But I had just done cabaret before La La Land. And I was like a crazy person during that because eight shows a week. And my voice is my Achilles heel, so it's the first thing to go. And I was like, have you ever had those Grether's Pest? Yes, I love them. They're the best. They're incredible. I had one this morning. I would just pump those all day and then I made a special tea that was half green tea, half throat coat. And I would have like eight of those a day. Which is too many for your digestion. Interesting. FYI for the future. Don't have that many. It's so interesting you say that. I have that my Achilles heel is my throat too. I get hoarse a lot. So how did you do SNL? Well, it's so funny. I never had trouble on Saturday Night Live, but you're right. Broadway was different because it's like singing, dancing. And I worked with Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes. I did Promises Promises. And they really taught me. Like Kristen would do stuff like if we went to a loud party after, she would go, this is too loud. We have to leave. You're going to get hoarse. And I was like, great. Or restaurants that are too loud, you have to sit against the wall so the sound bounces off. I learned all these tricks. That's so crazy. And then I did the same thing as you. Like I would really watch it. I have no dairy because that stuff does make a difference. Dairy, I had no dairy the entire time. Yeah. Or really, sugar. You kind of have to just, you have to live like a monk. Yeah, exactly. Dude, Broadway is the craziest thing I've ever experienced. I'm so happy to hear you say this because I was like, this is hard. This is so hard. And it's physically taxing. Like if you pull your muscles. It's really like being an athlete, I felt like. Yeah, a friend of mine did a part in a show with the lead in a Broadway musical and fractured both of his feet from dancing and just had to keep going eight shows a week. Like with stress fractures in both feet, you don't realize how much people are going through. There was a girl in the Kit Kat club that had the flu for like a month and a half. Oh my God. Because you just don't get a chance to get better. It's really intense. It's funny thinking about that because you really do think about your health and being healthy and your immune system when you have a grueling shoot like La La Land or being in Cabaret. Like you really do have to be healthy. I have a question for you having to do with health and preparation. So in Other People, obviously your character is dying. And what was the preparation for something like that? Well, that was interesting because there was a scene like there was a scene where we smoke pot and get high. We take too much pot. And in real life, we shot that at about 4 o'clock in the morning. I was coming down with a really bad cold. So I felt weakened and I was like, oh, this is great because you can just use how you feel like tired. We felt like it was like 4 o'clock in the morning. We just kept shooting and improvising and doing crazy stuff. So it really kind of how I felt kind of worked with the material. I thought you didn't want to try medical marijuana. Well, I tried it. I see that. But why are you so stoned? How much butter did you use? Just one stick. I think we had such amazing hair and makeup people, Elle and Darby and Annie and Matthew Mungler. We just had such an amazing team. They made me look. They did such a great job. And Chris Kelly would really help me with the different degrees of sickness. Like he'd say, you know, she's she's off chemo now. So she's a little better. She has color. But now she's on chemo. Now she's so he really guided me through it by how she would be like in this scene with the teacher. She's really lost her voice. So he really he helped me so much. And I and I did lose a really close mom friend to breast cancer. And she was young. And so I spent a lot of time with her. So I really saw what she went through. And I did use that a lot. I really saw the ups and downs and how, you know, everything she went through and always getting blood tests and, you know, how scared she was. So I thought about her a lot and Chris's mom and just really tried to serve the writing. But I didn't really do anything physical so much for it because the money came together so quickly that I didn't have time to really change my body that much. And then how quickly were you shooting? God, it came together. I feel like in like two or three weeks. Oh, wow. Really quickly. So there wasn't that much rehearsal time or anything. Yeah. So just kind of jumped on jumped in there. Wow. It's so incredible. So did you did you add anything? I mean, when you I know this was his story. This is Chris's story. But did you have ideas for how certain things evolved? Were there any scenes that you I mean, obviously you improvised in the in the pot scene. Yeah. Was there a lot of that? Did you have an opportunity to do that a lot or did it feel very kind of like you were honoring that his version of the story? Yeah, I think I mostly just honored his version. And he was really great with saying like, look, it's semi autobiographical. It's not a docudrama. So he doesn't he was like, I don't want to be like, no, my mother was like this. Right. He just sets a tone. He's the nicest guy. He's so collaborative. And he made me feel so comfortable. And because I know sometimes if the writers are on the set, if they haven't directed it, sometimes I get nervous. Like, do you mind if I massage the line a little? Is that going to be insulting to you? Some people run it word for word for word. And then sometimes people don't care. They're like, yeah, you know, do it first that way. And then you can kind of massage it. Chris, the writing was just so excellent that I really didn't change. I just did it exactly as written. But he, because he's from comedy and improv background, he wouldn't care if you did. But I really didn't have to. I really kind of stuck, stuck to it exactly as it is. It was beautifully written. Oh, that's so sweet. So I wanted to ask you working, first of all, the unbelievable director, Damien Chazelle, how did you meet him at first? And how did, how did you come about doing his movie? Did you guys know one another? Did you meet in Brooklyn for dinner one day? I'm so curious how you guys met. I didn't go to Brooklyn. Yes, I mean, the Meatpacking District. Right, the Meatpacking District. Yes, or the Upper East Side. We met up at Carlyle. Yes, of course. Yeah, of course. Over a martini and piano music. Okay. So I saw, I actually met him at the Brooklyn Diner, though, which is on 57th. See, I knew, I had a feeling Brooklyn. You heard, you felt Brooklyn. I felt Brooklyn and I saw food. But was it Brooklyn? You had a flat. Yeah. You were right. Tea. It was tea, there was green tea. And we had chicken pot pies. Okay, okay, good. And so we met in December of 2014, and he had come to see me in Cabaret unbeknownst to me, so it was kind of like a, I guess an audition, because he just was watching me sing and dance for two hours. Wow. And I was on cold medicine and probably steroids at that point, so when I heard that he had come to that show, I was like, no, this is a nightmare. And then we went and sat and talked, and he kind of told me the idea of La La Land before he gave me the script. And so I was like, well, this sounds, you know, basically an MGM musical for the modern age. Wow, this sounds really awesome and ambitious, and who knows what it'll be like. And then when I read it, I remember just feeling like, okay, so here we're at a dinner table, and then here we fly into space, and then here there's a huge musical number on a hill. And then we have a really, like, very low-key scene together. It was just so, I just, the tone of it, I remember the audition song in the script just said, Mia sings, she is astonishing. That was the only description for the whole scene, and I was like, how am I supposed to do this? What happens here? So he, so we talked, and he sort of walked me through the visuals and played some of the score that had been written already by Justin Hurwitz, who was his college roommate. At Harvard. And is the composer, yeah. That's amazing. And it was just sort of evolved from there. So basically he saw you in Cabaret and was like, that's my girl. I don't, I mean. I think that's what happened. And then met you and basically, like, did you know at that diner, like, this is my part? He's like, here's, I'd like you to be in this movie. This is what it's about. I didn't, because I hadn't read it, I was like, well, that sounds really great. That sounds really, you know, I have no idea what this is going to be like. And then reading it, and then ultimately hearing it and all of that, seeing it kind of come together. I think I was also, again, on steroids and feeling so kind of wiped out from singing and dancing that I was like, to go do a big movie where you're singing, because every night I felt so great in Cabaret knowing I could do it again the next night. And there was that kind of pressure of, so one day I'm going to sing it, and it's just going to be on film forever, or I'm going to do this dance number. I think that was really, really scary to me at that time. Because I was so kind of addicted to the chance to do it again, and it not lasting forever. Did you have that feeling in theatre that you don't get on film, that you get the chance to do it again? I do. It was amazing, because I felt like, I read that about you, that you felt like doing Cabaret, you said, was just like, I think you said you just felt like it was life-changing, like you loved it, and it made you re-love acting and theatre, and I had the exact same feeling. It felt really like everything I love about it, like putting on your own makeup, and putting on your own eyelashes, and getting to theatre, and that you could do the same thing every night. And then it develops and evolves, and you get better and better at it. Because I remember thinking, oh, I wish people could have come later, because you learn so much about your character as you develop it. Completely. How many months did you do Cabaret? Three and a half. It wasn't very long. Yours must have been longer than that. No, mine was about the same. It was? So I remember really getting into my character toward the end and feeling like, this is so fantastic, and you just get more and more comfortable. And you don't have that luxury with movies, because you're just doing it so quickly. Completely. And one scene, you go home and you're like, oh, well, that scene's ruined forever. Now the whole arc of my character is ruined, because I totally messed up that scene. You know, there's that feeling that I'll kind of get, I'll, I mean, get hard on myself, I think, in a different way than I did doing theatre. Maybe I'm not good enough. Yes, you are. Maybe I'm not. It's like a pipe dream. This is the dream. It's conflict, and it's compromise, and it's very, very exciting. Did you ever have anything strange or odd happen to you during a live show? Because, you know, you can't stop in front of the big audience. Was there anything, any moments like that? Do you wear glasses or contacts? I do when I read. Oh, okay. So you have good eyes. Pretty good eyes, I do, yes. I have, like, I've never met anyone my age with eyesight as terrible as mine. I have, I am complete, I cannot see, like, I would not be able to make out your face if I didn't have contacts in. And so I've worn glasses or contacts since I was, like, seven years old. Yeah. And it just keeps progressively getting worse, which I'm sure I need to have checked out a little further. And one night during Maybe This Time, which is, like, a big number for Sally Bowles and Cabaret, I was singing, and I got really kind of overwhelmed, and I blinked, and both of my contacts came out at once, which has never happened to me in my entire life, ever, anywhere. Like, you'll lose one, but both, and I can't see a thing. So I'm singing, and then we have a whole scene after, and no one knows what's happened. So it's, like, a blackout, and the guy that was going to play with me, Bill Heck, I was just like, whoa! And he was like, what, what? We're in the blackout, we have to get off stage. And he was like, I was like, oh, God, oh, no, I'm just going to be on stage scrambling. It's going to make no sense. Or I'm going to give myself a concussion. It was a nightmare. But my biggest nightmare, which has never happened yet, is getting the hiccups on stage. I have such a fear of getting the hiccups on stage. Because what, have you ever, what's happened to you in a live performance? I can't even remember. Has anything like, like the Gilda rib break? Have you ever had anything like that? Um, let's see here. Let me think. You remember that Gilda Radner story where she broke her rib in dress rehearsal? During, no. During Judy Miller? She broke her rib in dress rehearsal, and then she did that whole, like, crazy running into the door. That is painful. With the broken rib. But I wondered if anything has happened like that. I think, let me think here. Because you're so physical. That's so sweet. Yes, I am physical. Nothing's really happened live on stage like that. But when I first started Broadway, I remember being, like, terrified. Like, oh my God, this is, they scooted me out on the stool. And I did write my first line on my hand, which is so unprofessional. I was like, what if I forget my line? And this is it. And I, I just, I, I, I don't remember my first line, but I did write it, and then I got started. I was like, whew. That's a really good idea. Yeah, it was pretty good. Yeah. And then Sean Hayes and I once started laughing really hard, and we could, which, which usually for me is a sign that you're, like, happy and free. And the audience kind of loves it, but we did laugh really hard. And I did pull my hamstring. We were doing, like, a Broadway Cares event in the evening, and I did Sally O'Malley. They want, they asked me to do it. It was, like, a fundraiser. And I kicked really high, and then I, I felt like, there wasn't enough written, and I was like, God, I gotta, gotta give him more, because we had just written it really quickly. And so I did the splits, and I pulled my hamstring, and I was like, ugh. And so I had to miss a night of the show, I think. And then I went and did acupuncture, and it was better, but I joked around with my son, who at the time was really little. He was, like, six, and my son and my daughter would come up to my dressing room for every show, and I was like, I can't go on. I was like, would you be able to put the wig on and do it? And he was like, he really thought about it, because he wanted to help me, and he was like, oh, no, I can't. But I asked him if he could. But I'm really considering it. That's so cute. I have a question. I wanted to ask you about, I loved reading about you and your mom when you came here when you were 14? 15. 15? I just turned 15, yeah. Oh, 15, that's great, yeah. 15, it's a lot older than 14. I'm so impressed. And that you made a PowerPoint presentation. And so your, did your, I want to hear about the PowerPoint presentation, because I'm so impressed that you did that. And then did your dad and your brother stay back in Arizona? Yes. And you and your mom came out here? So my, yeah, I made a little, I had a little, you know, a hit from above. I really felt that I needed to move to L.A., 14, in school. And so I went home, and I made this presentation, just because whenever I get, you know, really emotional about something, or I feel really passionate about something, I start to cry, which is not great. I mean, whether I'm too sad or too happy, I cry. So I was like, I can't ever do a legitimate presentation without getting, like, I just have to go. So I was like, oh, I've got to make this presentation. So I made it and showed it to them. And there was a lot of discussion. And there was this kind of, the thing about my parents is that, which is, you know, this is a horrible situation, but when my mom was 22, her dad died very suddenly. And it lit a fire in her that if you really need to do something, you got to do it now. Like, there's no time. I think that way. Completely. And it's, and I know, we should talk about your family as well. Oh, sure. And so we came out, and every week, she would switch off with this incredible, like, my big sister, whose name is Chrissy, who had been watching my brother and I, who was only 10 years older. So she was a teenager when she started coming and coming over to our house. And for, like, 10 years, she had been our babysitter, basically. But she would come out to L.A. with me every other week so my mom could go back home to be with my brother, which was pretty amazing. That's amazing that she did that. Yes. And obviously, you made the right decision, and it was amazing. It's so funny. I kind of think that way. Like, I think, get started. You know, it's good to start when you're young. I mean, you really knew what you wanted. You wanted to do it. She supported you. She was able to keep the family intact by moving back and forth. It's really impressive. It was pretty wild. You have great parents, obviously. Yeah, I'm lucky. And let me ask you, I loved the scene in La La Land when you have the audition that was just, you're being so vulnerable and emotional, and you get interrupted, and then you don't get the part. Did you have, what was your worst audition that you ever had? Or just a moment where you're like, I give up? Was there ever a moment where you're just like, this is so hard? It's in thinking about that question, because it does bring up all of those questions of, you know, bad auditions that you have as an actor, which is, it happens all the time. I think actors are some of the most resilient bunch on the planet, because it's very rare that you're getting rejected every single day and you keep going. It's like a bunch of first dates. Eventually you'd be like, I'm just going to be single forever. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I think actually the worst time periods for me were not like a bad audition and getting rejected. It's when you feel really ignored. You know when you just stop getting called in for, or I don't know if you, did you go through a period like this when you, because you went to NYU. I went to NYU drama school. And then did you move to LA right after NYU? I did. I stayed there for about maybe a year and I did like under fives on soap operas, but I knew I really wanted to be on television. So my friend and I came out and we decided we're going to do like a stage show and we just came out after college. Did you do pilot season? I never did pilot season. You did your own stage show? I never even, I did my own stage show. I was never, pilot season never. That's so cool. Oh, that's so sweet. I mean, literally that's the conclusion that my character comes to in the movie. It's like, oh, I'll do my own show and put myself out there. But you feel like it's so rare to take the bull by the horns and put yourself out there in that way. That's what I did because I felt like they're not really getting it. Like it's funny when you say pilot season, I wasn't ready for that at all. I had like curly hair and cheap dresses. I wore too much makeup and they were like, they didn't like, my look was not together. So would you get responses like that? Would they say that to you? I had an agent who dropped me and she was like, like a tough, it was like a showbiz agent. She was like, I have two things. I have a bit of advice for you. Don't wear too much, so much makeup and get into therapy. And I was like, okay. So I did both. Okay, good. Yeah, I did. And I'm still friends with her. She's actually lovely and she's a producer now, but she dumped me and I really struggled. So I really related to your character in La La Land. But so yeah, I eventually did my own show because I thought they're not really getting what I do and this isn't really happening. Do you feel solidly like I know where I'm supposed to be? I know who I am. I know my path. No, I think it kind of took a while to figure out. But when I was at NYU, I did a stage show. I had to work full time when I was going to NYU drama school. So I worked at a fitness club called Park Avenue Squash and Fitness. Park Avenue Squash and Fitness says, Molly, how can I help you? I was a salesperson. But then I felt like, God, I was on financial aid and my dad is paying all this money for me to go to school. I was like, I should take advantage of the plays. But I was working out like 30 hours a week, 35 hours a week. So the last year I did a comedy review show with Adam Sandler and Madeleine Nolan, like David Wontek. And it was like where we make fun of the teachers. It was in the Black Box Theater at like 10 o'clock at night. And it was like the comedy show. And I created Mary Catherine Gallagher in an exercise for rehearsals for that show. We just had to do an exercise where she was like, just, the people running the show were really intelligent comedy people. They were just great, great people. I'm still close to Madeleine Olnick, whose, the show was her idea. So we walked through the door. You just walk through the door and make up a character. Don't think about it. So I walked through the door and was like, hi, I'm Mary Catherine Gallagher. And then you just improvise. And then they ended up developing the whole comedy show around that character because they liked it. And she was like a girl who wore red. She was like a girl who wore red. And they ended up making her a murderer. And it was like just this comedy review show. And it became so popular on campus. Oh my God. That people were like, came up to tell me. I consider myself a very serious, dramatic actress all at NYU. But then when I did that show, people were like, you should be on Saturday Night Live. And I was like, really? I never thought of myself like a comedian. But I will say that it came very naturally. I love sense, memory, and acting class. And I love all that stuff. But I was like, this is fantastic. Because you could just be so spontaneous. Totally. So after I did that, I was like, I'm good at that. This does make sense. But I came to that just through taking classes and stuff like that. So then I did head to Los Angeles thinking, I should do more of this and develop a show and do characters in a show. So my friend Gene Pack and I came to LA and decided we would do a stage show and just focus on comedy. Because with the auditions, I couldn't really get arrested. They couldn't quite figure me out. But then I felt like at least my stage show, I'll kind of show them what I do. So I won't just have to depend on the auditions to get so disappointed by all the rejection in auditions. Totally. I thought, I have my show, too. So I have a little bit of both. And eventually, it was my show, my stage show, where I did characters like Sally O'Malley, Mary Catherine Gallagher. I did all these. I created all these characters in that 55-minute stage show that we would do off and on for years. And that's the thing that got me the audition for Saturday Night Live. That's amazing. And then I pulled and used those characters, yes. But it took years.