00:00Jen, Stumble is exactly the show we need right now.
00:04Besides being a comedy queen,
00:06what drew you to the role of Courtney Potter?
00:08Unemployment.
00:10That's what really sort of lights my fire
00:13in terms of roles
00:14is needing to keep the lights on
00:16and food in the fridge.
00:18But also, the writing is so sharp and so good.
00:22Jeff and Liz Astroff are geniuses.
00:24And the chance to play a role
00:26that is so funny and so heartfelt
00:30and the pace is so fast.
00:35I love it.
00:36I get to flex every muscle.
00:38And how much about the world of competitive cheerleading
00:41were you familiar with before signing on?
00:44Dude, I only knew...
00:45Well, I was obsessed with cheer during the pandemic,
00:48like all of us were.
00:48So that's all I knew.
00:50And after I watched cheer,
00:52I, of course, sunk deep into a rabbit hole of Daytona Clips.
00:56And so I knew that.
00:58I knew that, like, there were these, like,
00:59Olympic-level athletes doing incredible feats
01:02with almost no oversight.
01:04And so that's what I knew.
01:06But then I read Monica's autobiography,
01:08and I got to work with her on set
01:11and with Dalston, Delgado,
01:13and also the cheerleaders that we have
01:15that are pro cheerleaders
01:17and past competitive cheerleaders.
01:20So I had to rely on them a lot.
01:22Monica, obviously, is very involved
01:24with the series season EP.
01:25She's also an actress on the show.
01:27I know!
01:28You know, did you get her stamp of approval on set?
01:32I think I eventually did.
01:33Do you know what I mean?
01:34Like, her approval is...
01:36It's hard won.
01:37Like, but then if you get it,
01:39you feel even better.
01:39But she's gonna make you work for it.
01:41But I adore her now,
01:42and she is maternal but gruff.
01:46But she makes you want to do
01:48the best job every day.
01:50Like, her own work ethic is so inspiring.
01:53Kristen Chenoweth, as your surprise nemesis
01:55on the show, is such a delight to watch.
01:58True?
01:59Of course it's true!
02:00I was tired of being overlooked.
02:02You're too busy stomping around,
02:03being all high and mighty,
02:04looking down your nose at me.
02:05Don't you deny it?
02:06And the worst part of it?
02:08You made me feel small!
02:09I trusted you.
02:11And you betrayed me.
02:12What was it like working with her?
02:13Terrible.
02:14She is, um...
02:16She's the worst kind of person.
02:19She's incredible.
02:20It makes me upset how talented she is,
02:24how kind she is,
02:26how generous she is.
02:28You're just like,
02:28this can't all exist
02:29in this little, tiny, carry-on-sized person.
02:34And yet it does.
02:36We should all be so lucky
02:38to get to be in her presence.
02:39She's really a phenomenon.
02:40Well, and I'm really fascinated
02:42by the dynamic between Courtney and Tammy.
02:45Yeah.
02:45Who do you think is to blame there?
02:47Did Courtney not give her a chance to step up?
02:50Did Tammy ever ask?
02:52Can you speak to that?
02:53I think, probably,
02:56that Courtney is like a dog with a bone, right?
02:59Like, she's got an objective to pursue,
03:02and she will pursue it at any cost.
03:05And I don't think she noticed
03:06that Tammy wanted more.
03:08I think it's a very...
03:10I mean, we all have those friends
03:11that are absolutely goal-oriented,
03:14and it makes them kind of a steamroller,
03:17and they might not see
03:18what's on the other side of them.
03:20And also, she's a smaller person,
03:22so it's hard to see.
03:22Another dynamic on the show I love
03:24is, of course, Courtney and Boone.
03:26It might be one of the most supportive relationships
03:29in recent TV history.
03:31Oh, my love,
03:32if it makes you feel any better,
03:34SDSJC was never your home.
03:36Boone, it does not.
03:37What I'm saying is,
03:38it doesn't matter what school you're at,
03:40because your home is right here with me.
03:43Is Taron Killen as supportive off-screen
03:45as he is on-screen?
03:46Dude, Taron is the best.
03:49He is so wonderful.
03:51He's warm.
03:52He's collaborative.
03:53He will roast you within an inch of your life,
03:55which is how I give and receive love.
03:57So he's like my dream husband.
04:01Well, I saw in an interview
04:02that he's, of course, married to Kobe Smulders.
04:05Who's also a dreamboat.
04:07Who's also a dreamboat,
04:08but he said he was very used
04:09to being the supportive husband,
04:11so it was very easy for him to channel that as Boone.
04:14Yeah, and look, he's a little bit improv.
04:17I'm a little bit rehearsed until it's dead.
04:20And so he has to sort of give a little bit,
04:23because I want to rehearse stuff, right?
04:24Like, if there's a bit to do, I want to work on it.
04:27I want to be like, so I'm going to take the pillow,
04:29I'm going to put it here,
04:29and then I'm going to do like this.
04:31No, wait.
04:32I'm going to do like this,
04:33and then I'm going to take the pillow.
04:34And he's like...
04:35Because he wants to do it like in the moment, you know?
04:37So he has to like rehearse with me,
04:40I think, a little more than he would want to,
04:42but he has such a giving spirit about it.
04:44You said yourself, the show is so quick and sharp.
04:48Yeah.
04:49But it does feel like improv.
04:50You know, what is the balance between scripted and improv?
04:54They really, the writers, first of all,
04:56like, the writing is fantastic.
04:59So, and they do let us improv within it.
05:02I mean, I don't really know percentage-wise,
05:05but we try to get a couple of takes that are as written,
05:08and then they just wind us up like a toy and let us go.
05:11So that's nice.
05:13Well, and there's been so many great guest stars,
05:15and the season's not even over, you know,
05:17but obviously Jeff Hiller as Augustus Schlimpf.
05:21Come on.
05:22The candy button factory owner really stands out.
05:25It's not blimp for the B?
05:26No, it's Schlimpf.
05:28With a sh.
05:29Sh.
05:30No, not sh.
05:32Sh.
05:33Sh.
05:33It's sh.
05:34Just give me a look at your math.
05:36Sh.
05:37Oh.
05:38How difficult was it to keep a straight face opposite him?
05:40It's terrible.
05:41Have you seen him?
05:42Have you talked to him?
05:43It's awful.
05:43His whole aura and the faces that he's able to make
05:49and the way he plays it so straight
05:51while making the most ridiculous choices
05:54that you've ever been confronted with
05:58is like a master class, you know?
06:01Like, it felt like, I don't know,
06:04like when I was getting to do scenes with him,
06:06I was like, is this how Carol Burnett felt
06:08working with, like, Harvey Korman?
06:11Like, because I wanted to break all the time.
06:13He is, he's a genius.
06:15And you've really got a great supporting cast
06:18in these cheerleaders.
06:20Are they the best?
06:21I'm crazy.
06:22We call them the babies,
06:23even though they're all firmly ensconced in their 20s.
06:27I just, I can't get enough of them.
06:29They are, I wish I had some really curly gossip
06:32to say about them,
06:33because that would be so much more interesting.
06:35But they are, I mean, each one of them is so good
06:41at that young age, at comedy,
06:44and at the drama, like, the dramatic aspects
06:47of their character.
06:49They have great set endurance.
06:51They are kind.
06:52They are compassionate.
06:53They are weird on, like, a cellular level.
06:57They are the best.
06:59They're the best.
07:00And I saw the actress who plays Peaches.
07:01Did she just graduate from Juilliard?
07:03I know being a flyer is hard.
07:05And maybe you don't like responsibility,
07:07but you cannot quit.
07:08That's not why I quit.
07:10Oh.
07:11Is it because you're afraid to fail?
07:13I've been in jail before.
07:14You can't really fail much more than that.
07:16Then what is it?
07:17Girl, we were shooting the pilot,
07:19and she was,
07:20it was the first thing she had ever done before, Taylor.
07:23And then she, we shot the whole pilot,
07:26and then she graduated from Juilliard the next week.
07:28Like, I can't believe how good these kids are at that age.
07:31I certainly was not.
07:32Which of your younger cast members
07:35do you think have the most natural cheerleading ability?
07:38The most natural cheerleading ability?
07:40Okay.
07:41Well, this is hard,
07:42because Ariana, who plays Madonna,
07:45is a dancer.
07:46She's so good.
07:47Jarrett, who plays DeMarcus,
07:49is also a dancer.
07:51And these guns, I mean.
07:53And he's super natural athletic.
07:55Ryan, who plays Stephen,
07:56who is our middle-aged cheerleader,
07:59is so athletic.
08:02And he can also tumble,
08:03and he also,
08:04I think I'm telling the truth here when I say,
08:07he invented a sport in his youth
08:10called hip-hop karate,
08:12and won Star Search.
08:13Like many of the other teams, Lon,
08:25they've chose to include weapons in their competition,
08:27but it's not required.
08:28You might want to get him in here.
08:30Any competitive cheerleading families,
08:33cheerleaders themselves,
08:34who are watching stumble,
08:35have you heard some feedback from them?
08:38I think they like it.
08:39Everybody that I have heard from
08:42in the cheer community is really,
08:44they're really glad that Monica is on set
08:47to make sure we have our terminology correct,
08:50you know,
08:50and that we are staying true to that world.
08:54I think anybody who works or competes
08:57in these competitive sports,
08:59because yes, it's a show about cheerleading,
09:01but it's really a show about teams.
09:04So we like to say it's like
09:05if Mel Brooks and Friday Night Lights had a baby,
09:09and that baby was raised by Parks and Rec.
09:11I think that's like such a good pitch.
09:14But the families of those teams,
09:16also like the money you have to shell out,
09:19the time, the commitment,
09:21like to really be committed to excellence
09:25is just, it's like a never-ending goal
09:29that you have to pursue,
09:30and my big ups to them,
09:31and well done.
09:33I never did a group sport in my life,
09:37unless you count theater.
09:38Can you tease about the rest of the season to come?
09:41What can I tease?
09:43NBC has threatened my life,
09:45if I give anything away.
09:48I will say we are,
09:50I'm taking my own life into my hands right now,
09:53we are making our way towards Daytona,
09:56and we might get there.
09:59We can, we will, we might.
