00:00Oh, I hope there'll be a sequel.
00:01There's a script.
00:02It's, I laughed out loud, a lot, which is rare.
00:06So we'll see.
00:07I mean, it's not up to me.
00:10Hey, Harper's Bazaar, I'm Lisa Kudrow,
00:12and this is Building Character.
00:15What's your name?
00:17I'm Ursula.
00:18Ursula?
00:20I like that name.
00:21I don't.
00:22I hate it.
00:24That is Ursula, the waitress, on Mad About You.
00:28I had been fired from Frasier, which was a big show.
00:33I was starting to run out of money,
00:35about to look for a day job,
00:37and my agent called in the morning and said,
00:40Mad About You is offering you a part.
00:43We think it's too small.
00:46The character doesn't have a name,
00:47it just says waitress,
00:49and it's only like two or three lines.
00:51We say pass, and I said, nope, I am not gonna pass.
00:55It's the best show on TV.
00:57Who am I to say no?
00:59By the end of that week,
01:01Danny Jacobson came over and said,
01:04so you're pretty funny.
01:06Would it be okay with you
01:07if you were in five more episodes,
01:11which would make a total of six
01:12and make me a recurring character?
01:14And I said, yes.
01:16I didn't have to look for a day job.
01:18Many hundreds of millions of years ago,
01:21the Earth was ruled by...
01:22Excuse me one second.
01:23Do you think you're ever gonna want to go out with my cousin?
01:25Many hundreds of millions of years ago...
01:27I thought Mad About You was a big deal
01:30because of Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt
01:32and the cast of actors.
01:36Richard Kind was on it, Lila Kenzel,
01:38they were great.
01:39Everyone was great.
01:40Stephen Wright, who's brilliant,
01:42who I worshipped,
01:45I got to, like, talk to him and hang out,
01:47and that made me feel great.
01:49What are you doing here?
01:50Yeah, I was over there,
01:52and then you said,
01:52excuse me, hello, miss,
01:53so now I'm here.
01:55No, no.
01:56How come you're working here?
01:57Because I was Ursula on Mad About You,
02:00one of the writers,
02:01his boyfriend at the time,
02:03David Crane,
02:04had a pilot called Friends Like Us.
02:06They were looking at
02:07who could play the role of Phoebe.
02:09Jeffrey suggested me.
02:12They had to address the fact
02:14that the same human is on Mad About You,
02:18and then a half hour later,
02:19there she is on this show.
02:20They're twin sisters.
02:27Jennifer and Monica!
02:28Jennifer and Monica!
02:29Oh, my God!
02:31Jennifer and Monica!
02:32Oh, my God!
02:33This character is Phoebe from Friends.
02:36That was a very simple audition
02:38in that it was just sort of a monologue.
02:42It's in the pilot
02:43when Rachel's cutting up the credit cards
02:45and Phoebe is saying,
02:47my mom had just killed herself,
02:48and I was, you know,
02:50my stepdad was in prison.
02:51To me, it's funny if she's sort of like,
02:54you know, like, as everyone knows,
02:56you know, when your mom kills herself
02:58and then your stepdad's in jail,
03:00you know, as it happens.
03:01I knew people like that,
03:02people who were like,
03:04you know, it's no big deal.
03:07Like, big things happen to them.
03:08I could do that person.
03:10I now pronounce you
03:13husband and wife.
03:20Phoebe ending up with Mike
03:22was this very...
03:22I thought that was the right choice
03:24because there was also talk about
03:25maybe she ends up with David,
03:28who was the science guy,
03:29who's very sweet,
03:31and Hank Azaria, come on,
03:32he's very talented.
03:33But Phoebe and Mike,
03:35that's who I think
03:36Marta and David liked.
03:38They did talk to me about it,
03:39but I could tell.
03:41I always imagined that
03:42Phoebe and Mike later on
03:44had kids,
03:46and Phoebe really got into
03:48being the mom
03:49who brought the art supplies
03:50and the big projects
03:52and music stuff.
03:54I thought she'd be great at that
03:56and a great cheerleader
03:57for her kids.
03:57Smelly cat, smelly cat,
04:01it's not your fault.
04:04I realized Smelly cat
04:06had taken a life of its own.
04:08Well, I wasn't sure
04:08which came first,
04:10whether they kept writing it in
04:13to make it something,
04:15or it was something
04:16and so they kept writing it in.
04:18I swear,
04:19I don't look at big picture,
04:21especially in that time
04:23and with friends.
04:24It's like, okay,
04:25so what am I doing?
04:26Okay, great.
04:27Because Phoebe was kind of far away
04:29from who I was as a person,
04:32and so to me,
04:33all I could do was,
04:36okay, evolution's wrong.
04:37Why?
04:38Okay, let me see.
04:39That was really all I could
04:41pay attention to
04:42in this pea brain of mine.
04:45Performing Smelly Cat
04:46with Taylor Swift
04:47in the biggest arena
04:49I would ever be in.
04:50That was a challenge
04:52that I was happy to take on,
04:54and Taylor just made it
04:57so easy,
04:58she said.
04:59I planned these surprises
05:00for the people
05:01who come to see me
05:02because they've saved their money,
05:04they've bought the tickets,
05:06they've waited,
05:07and it needs to be special.
05:08You know,
05:10the bigger they are,
05:11the nicer they are,
05:12is the truth.
05:12And so talented.
05:14Michelle,
05:15what are you up to?
05:17Oh, okay.
05:18Um, I invented post-its.
05:20You're kidding.
05:22You must have made a fortune.
05:24Well, yeah.
05:25There's Michelle Weinberger
05:27from Rome and Michelle.
05:29That was my very first audition
05:31ever on Earth.
05:33I was in the Groundlings.
05:35Robin Schiff,
05:36who had been a Groundling,
05:37wrote a play
05:38called Ladies' Room.
05:39They were doing
05:40backers' auditions,
05:41and I auditioned
05:43to be airhead number two.
05:45Airhead number one says,
05:47ugh,
05:47I hate throwing up in public.
05:49Airhead number two says,
05:51me too.
05:52And I thought,
05:53oh, how funny
05:54if she makes me too
05:55seem like,
05:56what?
05:57Wait a minute.
05:58It's too crazy
06:00that you hate
06:01throwing up in public
06:02because I hate
06:03throwing up in public.
06:04Me too!
06:05And they thought
06:06it was funny,
06:06so I got the backers' audition.
06:08Then we did the play,
06:09and they were named
06:10Romy and Michelle.
06:11I had been Michelle Weinberger
06:13since, like, 1987.
06:16Nice outfits.
06:17Post-its must be
06:18really lucrative.
06:22The clothes are another issue
06:24for that movie.
06:25That was Mona May,
06:26who was phenomenally great.
06:28That was so much fun
06:30working with her.
06:31I also don't know
06:32what color looks best on me
06:36and what silhouette shape
06:38is good.
06:38I don't know.
06:39Luckily, Mira loved blue,
06:41and she knew exactly
06:42what kind of silhouette
06:43she needed.
06:44Mona May, you know,
06:45came up with this,
06:46like, baby doll pink
06:48and this A-line silhouette
06:51that does look good on me.
06:52Yay!
06:52And all the suits and things,
06:55and my favorite look
06:56was the businesswoman's lunch.
06:59I loved that.
07:00Night in my bed,
07:02I hear the clock tick
07:05and think of you.
07:07The dancing was choreographed.
07:10Smith was the choreographer
07:12who was so adaptable.
07:15Because Mira had taken ballet
07:17and thought it was very funny
07:18if she's just, like,
07:19twirling around
07:20and doing too much,
07:21while I made it very clear
07:23I do not dance.
07:24But wouldn't it be funny
07:25if I just sort of posed
07:27and Smith put that in
07:29in a way that was
07:30really hilarious to me.
07:33I hope there'll be a sequel.
07:35There's a script.
07:36It's, I laughed out loud.
07:38A lot.
07:39Which is rare.
07:40So, we'll see.
07:41I mean, it's not up to me.
07:43And I need to know
07:44that I'm being heard.
07:47Am I being heard?
07:49Fine.
07:50I'll get you juicy.
07:51No, no.
07:52Just take this in
07:53and make it more flattering.
07:55This is Valerie Cherish
07:57from The Comeback.
07:58Around 2003, 2004,
08:01I couldn't get it out of my head
08:03that there's these reality shows now.
08:05Survivor had been on
08:07in the first season.
08:08It was the most despicable human
08:10that everyone decided should win.
08:12And Amazing Race,
08:14it's the most undignified view
08:17of humans I'd ever seen.
08:20And they're signing up for it.
08:21And then there was
08:23The Osbournes,
08:24which was funny and entertaining.
08:25They kind of seemed to know
08:26what they were doing.
08:27And Anna Nicole Smith,
08:29which didn't feel good, safe, fine.
08:33Just started thinking about all of that.
08:35And, oh my God,
08:36what if an actress
08:37who's so desperate
08:38to be back in the spotlight
08:40that she agrees to do
08:41a reality show called
08:43The Comeback,
08:44which to me also was,
08:46ugh, how pathetic.
08:48Gotta get me a gay, Mickey.
08:49Gotta get a gay.
08:50Why don't I just call Lou?
08:52When The Comeback first came out
08:54in 2004,
08:55we had no point of reference.
08:57You didn't have
08:57The Housewives yet.
08:59You had Orange County.
09:00It hadn't caught on yet.
09:02But it just all felt
09:04so punishing to her.
09:06It was before
09:07the acknowledgement
09:08of certain bad behavior.
09:11It's not as uncomfortable
09:13as it was when it first came out.
09:15Is there a third writer?
09:16That's the best part.
09:17You're not gonna have to deal
09:18with any asshole writers.
09:19It's being written by AI.
09:22Uh-huh.
09:24Wow.
09:24By season three,
09:26we have moved off
09:27of reality shows so much
09:29because now,
09:30we're all in our own reality show
09:33posting them,
09:34you know, on social media
09:35and like,
09:36I don't like that take.
09:37Let me do another one.
09:38Okay.
09:39To bookend
09:39the first,
09:40second,
09:41and now the third season,
09:44AI is what
09:46I think everyone's
09:47very concerned about.
09:49Oh.
09:51What?
09:52What do you want?
09:53What do you want?
09:53Just go!
09:57Oh!
09:58Oh!
09:59Perfect.
09:59Just perfect.
10:00This is
10:01Mrs. Griffith from EZA.
10:03This was the second movie
10:05I was in with Emma Stone.
10:07In 2008,
10:08we shot a movie called
10:09Paper Man
10:10and Emma Stone
10:11was in that
10:12with Jeff Daniels
10:13and I got to be in it.
10:14She's phenomenal
10:15and I knew it then
10:17and especially in EZA,
10:19forget it.
10:19I mean,
10:21remarkably talented
10:22and it's not just the talent,
10:24it's the person.
10:25Ego is,
10:26felt really kept at bay,
10:28you know,
10:29thinking about
10:30other people
10:31and what's going on
10:32with them.
10:32So smart.
10:33Because he didn't want
10:34me to lose my job
10:35and he doesn't want
10:35to get in trouble either,
10:37so he said it's you.
10:38I'm sorry.
10:39The scene where
10:40Mrs. Griffith unravels
10:42in front of Olive,
10:44Emma Stone's character,
10:45what I remember is
10:47that I could not
10:48shed tears
10:50and I was meant to.
10:52I'm having a nervous
10:54breakdown and crying
10:55and I was crying
10:57but no tears were coming out.
10:59It's as if there was
10:59no water in my body
11:01and it also,
11:02I was going through
11:03this period,
11:03it happened in Paper Man.
11:06So I don't know
11:06what all that was about
11:07but it's embarrassing
11:08because Emma Stone
11:09I think is really good
11:10and got to see me
11:11not able to
11:13accomplish something.
11:15Yeah,
11:15I still feel a little bad
11:16about that.
11:17Sorry, Emma.
11:17Thanks so much for watching
11:19and be sure to check out
11:20the comeback on HBO.
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