- 2 days ago
Jameela Jamil, Tiffany Haddish, Amy Sedaris, Jane Levy, Elle Fanning and Robin Thede joined The Hollywood Reporter to talk about their respected television shows.
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00:00:07Hi and welcome to Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:00:10I'm joined today by Jane Levy, Amy Sedaris, Elle Fanning, Tiffany Haddish, Jamila Jamil, and Robin Thede.
00:00:19Thank you all for being here. We're gonna dive right into this.
00:00:23We have all spent a lot of time at home in the last few months.
00:00:27What do you guys feel like you've learned about yourself during this time?
00:00:31I've learned that I am a filthy, filthy woman. Not in a fun sexual way, in like a really unhygienic
00:00:39way.
00:00:39I'm going sometimes five, six days between showers.
00:00:43I also didn't realize how comfortable I am by myself, or at least with my boyfriend.
00:00:50That sounds terrible. He's with me. I'm not completely alone.
00:00:52But I've learned that I love him even more than I thought I did because this is really when a
00:00:58relationship gets tested.
00:00:59But also I've learned that I exist very comfortably in confinement. This suits me.
00:01:06This is my teens all over again. I've been training for this my whole life.
00:01:09This is good. I'm good. I like it for me. Sorry for all of you.
00:01:13I got a question. I got a question. Five, six days between, are you at least wiping where the sun
00:01:19don't shine?
00:01:20Am I doing the sex work as well? Yes, I am.
00:01:24At least that. I feel like you don't have to submerge your whole body, but as long as you hit
00:01:28all the spots, you know, the hot spots.
00:01:37I've learned not to be so sad in my ways, you know, I've learned to appreciate not even joking tongs,
00:01:44you know, kitchen tongs.
00:01:45I don't know what I ever had against them, but I'm obsessed with kitchen tongs now.
00:01:49But I've always cooked and cleaned, and I'm a homebody, but I've learned, like, I was prepared for this.
00:01:55Like, the Girl Scout in me, I had everything. I wasn't out desperately trying to buy stuff.
00:01:59The only thing I hoarded was hay for a rabbit. I have a seven-pound rabbit, and that's the only,
00:02:04I hoarded 30 pounds of hay.
00:02:06The only thing I didn't have was a thermometer, but I used her rectal thermometer.
00:02:10The rabbit's rectal thermometer would take my temperature, but, you know, I cleaned it and everything.
00:02:14But I just learned, you know, and I'm good.
00:02:19I've learned a lot about resiliency and people's collective resilience.
00:02:25Like, if we would have been told three months ago, which we were, that we were going to be inside
00:02:29for this amount of time,
00:02:30me being like, what if we were told that? We were told that.
00:02:33But it was such a daunting idea, and we've done it.
00:02:38And I feel like, yeah, and just how collectively to take care of one another, you know, to not go
00:02:46outside and to wear a mask,
00:02:47not just for your own safety, but for the people that you come across.
00:02:51I've learned that I am way more emotional than I thought I was.
00:02:55I'm actually really sensitive.
00:02:58And I guess because I always keep busy and go to work and, like, go be active with friends.
00:03:04Always. I'm always doing something every single day to be told to stop and sit and be still.
00:03:10Then it leaves me with my thoughts.
00:03:12And my thoughts are off the chain.
00:03:15And then I start to get all in my feelings.
00:03:19And then I'm like, why am I crying?
00:03:22And I think I might be a little bit, got some issues in here because I've been doing stand-up
00:03:28comedy shows to the plants.
00:03:29Like, I am an addict for laughter.
00:03:32And, like, when you are by yourself, like, I've been playing YouTube videos of babies laughing.
00:03:37Like, audience, like, listening to my old, like, comedy tapes and stuff.
00:03:41Like, I need it, like, to function.
00:03:44Yeah.
00:03:45And so when I don't get enough of it, I cry a lot.
00:03:50Laugh through the tears. Yeah.
00:03:52Yeah.
00:03:52I can relate to that.
00:03:55I can relate.
00:03:56I think I'm a pretty, like, I'm a very antsy person.
00:04:00And I always want to go, go, go.
00:04:01And I always want to be thinking about the next project, the next character, this story, that thing.
00:04:07Like, so I guess I've learned this has kind of slowed me down a bit.
00:04:13And I've been with my family and my grandmother and my mom and my sister were all together.
00:04:18So, you know, that's a lot of emotions and a lot of commotion going on.
00:04:23But having, like, the family time again and kind of teaching myself to relax and breathe a little bit.
00:04:29Because that's very, that's hard for me to do.
00:04:31I like going.
00:04:33Totally.
00:04:34I get that totally.
00:04:35Yeah, I think for me, I've been able to learn that I'm a little more domestic than I ever thought
00:04:40I was.
00:04:41I mean, I always liked to cook, but I never had time.
00:04:43I never did my hair.
00:04:45And I went on YouTube University and learned how to do all sorts of styles.
00:04:49I'm very proud of myself.
00:04:51But I've been cooking.
00:04:53I basically host a cooking show with my family every night.
00:04:56Call them up and they'll go, what are we making today?
00:04:58And I'll walk them through the recipe and they'll do the same with me.
00:05:00So, it's been a really, you know, as hard as this time has been for so many people, I think
00:05:06those of us who are lucky have had a chance to reconnect with loved ones.
00:05:11And that's been really nice.
00:05:12And I think that I haven't learned, but it's been confirmed that I'm incredibly lucky and incredibly grateful for the
00:05:20friends and family that I have.
00:05:22I think gratitude is a big thing for all of us.
00:05:24We've all started to really appreciate, especially seeing what's happening everywhere on the news.
00:05:29You feel so lucky to be somewhere comfortable and safe and have loved ones who are safe.
00:05:33I also think I'm never going to shake hands with anyone ever again as long as I live.
00:05:37I can't believe we've been doing that.
00:05:39The amount of times a hand has just been on some sort of dick and then we've touched it.
00:05:44And we have a penile imprint on our hand and we've just been allowing that.
00:05:49I've been alive for 34 years.
00:05:51I don't even, I don't even think about the dick.
00:05:54What about someone else's coochie?
00:05:57I don't feel like, no, I don't, I don't feel like people touch coochies as often as
00:06:00I'm always thinking about shit.
00:06:01People that don't like, that's what I'm always thinking about.
00:06:04It's everywhere.
00:06:06It's everywhere.
00:06:07It smells funny.
00:06:10All those in favor of handshaking being canceled, say aye.
00:06:15Oh yeah, cancel the handshakes.
00:06:17I miss hugs.
00:06:18I need a hug so bad.
00:06:20I miss hugs so bad.
00:06:22Like, I need 15 hugs a day.
00:06:24I think that's why I do comedy, because comedians always hug each other.
00:06:27Like when they see each other, because they know how hard it is to be on stage.
00:06:30And I haven't had a good hug in so long.
00:06:32And I give, like my brother gives me hugs, but that ain't the same, is it?
00:06:36That's my little brother.
00:06:38For a lot of you guys, this is the first time in years where you aren't sort of constantly
00:06:44in motion project to project to project.
00:06:46In this sort of moment of reflection, do you think it'll change the sort of professional
00:06:51choices that you make from here?
00:06:53No, I don't think for me.
00:06:55I mean, I'm a writer and a show runner as well, so it really hasn't slowed my days down.
00:06:59I've just shifted to all my writing and producing projects and, you know, focusing on getting my
00:07:04show back to work as safely as possible.
00:07:07So I'm incredibly busy, but I don't think it will really shift much.
00:07:13I do think there's a period where we're going to have to consider safely working and how, especially
00:07:19for performers, how you perform without PPE, you know, all that sort of stuff.
00:07:23That's a huge concern for me as a performer and as a show runner.
00:07:27But in terms of the work I take, no, I mean, especially once there's a vaccine, I feel like I
00:07:32hope everything will be back to normal, but people will just be more aware given the events
00:07:37of the world and what we're talking about in our social conversations.
00:07:41But in terms of the mechanics of the business.
00:07:43Are there different stories sort of in this moment that you want to tell?
00:07:46I mean, my stories have always been centered around the experiences of black women in comedy.
00:07:51So I'm already telling the things that I wanted to tell and those stories will continue.
00:07:54So I don't think it'll change much.
00:07:56And I don't really think the world wants to see a bunch of like quarantine movies after this,
00:08:01but that's just my personal feeling.
00:08:02Tiffany, you were nodding to suggest that you might choose differently.
00:08:06Oh, I'm definitely choosing differently.
00:08:09I'm definitely gonna make sure I have at least, I'm gonna plan out my schedule
00:08:13because I've been napping and I think naps are magic.
00:08:17So definitely I'm putting in my contracts that like when we get back out there,
00:08:22I have to have a one hour nap.
00:08:25That means nobody talking to me.
00:08:27Nobody trying to, Hey, can we go over these lines?
00:08:30What are your ideas about this?
00:08:31None of that.
00:08:32I need one hour to shut my eyeballs and zen out.
00:08:36Like I need my naps.
00:08:38That's important.
00:08:39Super duper important.
00:08:41And I'm definitely gonna be telling different types of stories.
00:08:44My comedy definitely has evolved.
00:08:48Cause I've had time to watch myself do comedy.
00:08:50Cause like I said, I've been in the backyard talking to the plants and doing comedy for them,
00:08:54which I'm calling plant based comedy.
00:08:55How will it change both the stories you want to tell and what's funny?
00:08:59Like everything I do is going to bring joy.
00:09:01Right.
00:09:01But some of the things that I like, I want to start talking more about history, right?
00:09:06There's, you know, they don't teach a black history in school.
00:09:09And so I feel like it's a, it's very diluted and people are very confused.
00:09:14So I want to start doing things that represent black history and not just the slave stuff.
00:09:19Cause we, we passed all that.
00:09:21Okay.
00:09:22We've been there, done that.
00:09:24If we've done a lot of really awesome things as, as people.
00:09:27And it was in, in like the thing that I feel like people don't understand is all people
00:09:32are awesome and you can't be awesome without others.
00:09:35There has to be like something that pushes you into being in your greatness.
00:09:40Right.
00:09:40So like, I would love to do a movie about Flojo and I've been running like every day on
00:09:45my little treadmill, get, get my mind right.
00:09:47Like in channeling Flojo.
00:09:49I want to remake Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
00:09:52I want to do something like that.
00:09:54So, you know, that's part of why I've been talking to the plants, preparing myself, using
00:09:59my imagination.
00:10:01See?
00:10:02Did the plants greenlight your project?
00:10:05Oh!
00:10:07Did you say what?
00:10:08Grassroots.
00:10:08I said, did the plants greenlight the movie?
00:10:10Oh yeah.
00:10:11It's greenlit.
00:10:12It's happening.
00:10:12Good.
00:10:13It's happening.
00:10:14It was a plant pun, greenlight.
00:10:17I don't know if Who Framed Roger Rabbit happening, but maybe I'll do something else in that realm
00:10:21of live action and cartoons together.
00:10:26I would love that.
00:10:27How about your comedy?
00:10:28You mentioned your comedy would evolve in this moment.
00:10:31How so?
00:10:32Well, you know, in my comedy, I want my comedy to be educational yet entertaining, informative
00:10:40more.
00:10:41You know, like in the past, I've talked about things that I know, sex and my trials and
00:10:45tribulations.
00:10:46Now, I want to talk about other things that I have learned while I've been sitting in this
00:10:51house.
00:10:51I've been reading books.
00:10:53I've been reading this book, The Color of Money.
00:10:55Okay?
00:10:57Black Banks and the racial wealth gap.
00:11:00I want to talk more about money.
00:11:02I want to talk more about politics.
00:11:04Like, I don't really know a lot about politics, but I know politicians talking about that more.
00:11:10And, like, the changes of the human body.
00:11:14Like, I'm 40 now, and I am noticing all kinds of changes, and probably I wouldn't notice it
00:11:20if I was busy going, going, going all the time.
00:11:22So I'm stationary, and I'm noticing my body is playing tricks on me.
00:11:27So I'm going to be talking about that.
00:11:29What about the rest of you?
00:11:30Do you think the choices that you'll make, having had this moment of reflection, will change
00:11:35at all?
00:11:36And if so, how?
00:11:37I think the industry as a whole is going to change.
00:11:40Not just the way that we make film, especially in the next couple of years.
00:11:44But also, I think the stories that people want to hear.
00:11:46There's been a huge shift in our societal narrative and what people care about.
00:11:50And no one cares as much about the influences or the flashy stuff or all the money.
00:11:54And I think, you know, even celebrity has turned into something that people went from glorifying
00:11:59and loving and aspiring towards.
00:12:01Suddenly, there's this like visceral animosity towards the privilege, which I think is completely
00:12:06understandable.
00:12:07And I always thought it was a little bit weird beforehand that people would glamorize and aspire
00:12:13just towards that.
00:12:14Not to say there isn't loads of privilege that comes with it.
00:12:16But I think we're kind of entering a moment where people don't want to see that stuff so
00:12:20much anymore.
00:12:20And they want real stories told.
00:12:22And I think we've also because the world has come to a standstill.
00:12:25We are hearing more human stories than we've ever heard before.
00:12:28So I think I'm hoping that for women, the material continues to evolve because that still needs
00:12:34to be done.
00:12:35A lot of men still write more interesting and informative and nuanced roles for extraterrestrials
00:12:42than they do for women.
00:12:43So we need more female writers.
00:12:45We need more women execs.
00:12:46I think that needs to change.
00:12:47And I think also we definitely need more representation.
00:12:50We need stories that aren't being told to burst onto the screen.
00:12:54And I think we've heard in so many different ways that the public are done with waiting
00:12:58for the media to catch up with where society's at.
00:13:02So I'm hoping I will see more interesting scripts at my door.
00:13:05And I think that is just my mega fun answer.
00:13:10What about you, Amy, Elle, Jane?
00:13:13I mean, I agree with everything everyone's saying, but inside I still want to be really silly
00:13:17and I want to laugh at shit and make fun of people.
00:13:20I mean, you know, I don't want that to go away either and get so serious about stuff.
00:13:25You know, maybe a new character for me will come out of all of this.
00:13:28But, you know, exactly what everyone else is saying.
00:13:33I mean, it's true.
00:13:34I got something for you, girl.
00:13:36I got something for you.
00:13:37Your imagination is on point.
00:13:39How do you guys feel like Hollywood sees you?
00:13:43If a casting director were to call, what's the role that they most commonly sort of bring to you?
00:13:49To sort of answer this question and the last question.
00:13:52Well, first of all, I feel definitely changed in this moment and how I think will be revealed to me
00:14:00over time.
00:14:01Our show came out during the pandemic and our show is a musical and it's full of joy and silly
00:14:09comedy,
00:14:10but it also has this theme of grief.
00:14:13And a lot of audience members have connected with me on the internet to say that during the pandemic,
00:14:20the show offered them great catharsis, like cries, tears from laughter and just a great distraction and entertainment.
00:14:29Just high on life and this fantastic presentation.
00:14:33Woo!
00:14:35Oh, you know, um, it's just how a song gets stuck in your head and, you know, the calendar thing
00:14:41with the spark point watch,
00:14:42um, turning everything into Christmas.
00:14:45Um, that's why I was singing the song because of the watch and because of Christmas.
00:14:52Do you understand how important this pitch is?
00:14:54Totally.
00:14:55In the past, some of the things that I have done in my career that I've like made the most
00:15:00money have been horror films.
00:15:02And thinking about maybe having a horror film that came out in the past couple months,
00:15:07I feel like I would feel less like my art had offered something to people in this way that I
00:15:12felt really was meaningful.
00:15:13So not to poop on all horror films because I still like watching them.
00:15:19Uh, but I, I think that maybe veering towards like projects that are really full of heart rather than just
00:15:27violence or gore.
00:15:29Obviously that's part of storytelling.
00:15:30But, um, for me, I just felt like it was a really gratifying thing to hear that our show offered
00:15:35anything to people during such a hard time.
00:15:39I think you've said that, that horror is sort of taxing on your nervous system.
00:15:43Totally.
00:15:46Screaming and crying and also like, sorry to be so dark, but like every horror film a woman is raped.
00:15:52Like it's, I'm kind of over that.
00:15:55We got to start raping men in these horror films.
00:15:58We got to rape some dudes.
00:16:00Okay.
00:16:01You're right.
00:16:03Fuckin' L, Tiffany.
00:16:05Let's change it up.
00:16:06Let's change it up, ladies.
00:16:07Equality.
00:16:08That's feminism.
00:16:09Feminism is equality.
00:16:11El, what are the, when roles sort of come to your door, and obviously you were, you were now shifting
00:16:16and trying to, um, you know, and producing your own material.
00:16:19But, but how does Hollywood sort of, what's the lane Hollywood wants you to be in?
00:16:24Um, I think, I mean, right when you asked that question, I was like, boop, I know, like it totally
00:16:30like stuck in my head.
00:16:31But, um, I mean, I, when I was 14, I, um, was cast as, um, Sleeping Beauty in Maleficent.
00:16:40And that moment definitely changed my life and like the trajectory of also differentiating myself, like apart from my sister
00:16:48and being recognized as myself.
00:16:51And I, you know, that, that role is, um, very important to me, but also I think it, you know,
00:16:57it's a Disney princess and, you know, I'm this blonde.
00:17:00It comes with a certain, a certain stigma, right?
00:17:04Like, and, and I think people probably, that's the biggest movie I've done.
00:17:08So people know me sometimes most for that film.
00:17:11I think for me, what was exciting about the great getting to try out the comedy world, because also some
00:17:17people are like, they think of me, oh, like serious or doing dramatic roles or just playing the kid.
00:17:23And I was like, okay, like getting to do, you know, stretch my comedy chops was exciting.
00:17:29Cause I'm like, I feel like I'm a very funny person in real life.
00:17:32And people are like, wow, you're funny in the show.
00:17:34I'm like, thanks.
00:17:36Like, yeah, like, you know, um, so I think for me, it's just constantly challenging myself and I love surprising
00:17:42people.
00:17:43I love shocking people and proving to people that I'm not exactly who they think I am.
00:17:49So, I mean, I think being in this pandemic, like, um, Jane was saying is like my show came out
00:17:54at that time as well.
00:17:55Um, and I was proud of that.
00:17:57Of course, it's very raunchy and crazy and out, out there, but it's touching on very, um, modern themes and
00:18:06things that, you know, are happening in the real world and are quite serious themes too.
00:18:10So I was, I was proud that it came out at the time and was on the right side of
00:18:14that conversation and, um, was still escapism and entertaining.
00:18:19So I think for me, um, and even thinking on a producer side and putting on another hat, um, which
00:18:25is always something I've been interested in, but just looking for more roles.
00:18:29Um, that do that, I guess, if that makes sense, but I'm happy.
00:18:33I mean, this is huge for me to be like in the, I'm like comedy actress round table.
00:18:37Like I've never been in the round table.
00:18:39And then like for comedy, I'm like, I'm freaking out.
00:18:41Like, this is super cool.
00:18:43So I'm that this is new.
00:18:45I feel like a new chapter for sure.
00:18:50What about the rest of you?
00:18:51What tends to sort of come your way?
00:18:53You know, what's been coming my way a lot lately, always the mama that's been through something,
00:18:59whose kid ends up getting hurt some kind of way and fighting for the justice.
00:19:05And I'm trying to get out of jail or I'm like, no, no, I'm not doing that.
00:19:11I'm not doing that.
00:19:12I know people that live that.
00:19:14I'm not doing that unless it's super, super good.
00:19:18The writing has to be impeccable.
00:19:19Right.
00:19:20And a lot of times it's like telling these stories that could be powerful, but the writing is garbage.
00:19:28So no offense to whoever's out there watching this right now and knows what I'm talking about.
00:19:34They know.
00:19:35I get sent a lot of very sexual roles.
00:19:38Lots of a woman who has, you know, what would be described, I guess, by the writer as too much
00:19:43sex.
00:19:43And, you know, that's kind of that tends to be one of the ways in which we we show nuance
00:19:47in a woman that how her life is complicated is and how much she drinks and how many people she
00:19:52sleeps with.
00:19:53And so that's been something really strange to me.
00:19:56I mean, it's fine.
00:19:57I love sex and stories about it, but I find that that is overwhelmingly I am the either the sexy
00:20:03girlfriend or the annoying girlfriend who derails the protagonist, the male protagonist life.
00:20:08And I'm so tired of that always being the case.
00:20:11And I've been watching so many films during lockdown and realizing how often that storyline comes up, that a woman
00:20:18is there to instigate difficulty for a man and she doesn't really get to be the great comedian.
00:20:24And so I think that that is something I would rather I don't want to be someone's sidekick and I
00:20:29don't want to just be someone's fuck toy in a film.
00:20:33I want more complex and more nuanced roles, especially within comedy for women.
00:20:38And I think that we are coming into a great moment.
00:20:40But that that can't be where we stop.
00:20:43We have so much more to do, so many more stories to tell because women are amazing and they are
00:20:47hilarious and they are filthy and complicated and interesting.
00:20:50And I guess, Robin, that's also why I love your work so much because of how many different layers of
00:20:55women you show.
00:20:57Thank you so much. That means a lot.
00:20:59Robin, what are the stories you felt like you previously couldn't tell and how in this moment might that be
00:21:04changing?
00:21:05Oh, I've never had a problem writing or doing what I wanted.
00:21:09I think for me, I don't think Hollywood does see me, to be honest.
00:21:14I don't get sent scripts. I don't get random calls. I don't audition.
00:21:17I create shows and I act in them. And for me, that's just been the way it's been for the
00:21:23many, many years I've been in this business.
00:21:25I was never that girl.
00:21:28So for me, writing was the way that I got on shows and then creating my own shows with the
00:21:33vision for what I wanted to do.
00:21:35A black lady sketch show is the seventh sketch show I've done, but the first that I've created and been
00:21:40in charge of.
00:21:40So in terms of those characters, it's like I never had any restrictions on what I was going to do,
00:21:47even when I was in late night television.
00:21:49And now that I'm back in my sketch home, I never had any restrictions on what I wanted to do
00:21:53because I was the person who got to say yes or no.
00:21:57I mean, the network always had something to say, but they bought the show, so they knew the vision.
00:22:00So I'm incredibly lucky in that way. And exactly what Jamila was saying and Tiffany was saying about and all
00:22:06of us really about writing and getting projects where you're like this could be really good.
00:22:10But the writing is so bad or it's from the wrong point of view. I took charge of that.
00:22:14And luckily, I'm able to do that. And I have that skill set because everyone, you know, can't.
00:22:19But I have been incredibly lucky and I've also worked really hard to be able to create stories that I
00:22:27want to see on television.
00:22:28And it's so cool to be able to take four black women on this sketch show and do what has
00:22:32never been done in history.
00:22:34You know, have a black woman director, all black women writers or all black women cast and be able to
00:22:39play over 100 characters in six episodes, have 55 celebrity guest stars in six episodes.
00:22:44Like people just want to play. It's a playground where we haven't been able to come together before.
00:22:49And Tiffany, we still waiting on your schedule. Well, it's wide open right now.
00:22:53It's wide open. I know, I know. Let's write a sketch where I play a white woman in history.
00:22:58Let's redo the King and I since they had a Russian man playing the Thai King.
00:23:03Let's do I beat a white woman in the King and I. Let's do it.
00:23:08Well, sadly, I think that'll have to be on a different show. We don't really cover that kind of material,
00:23:12but.
00:23:14You don't want to remake white classics?
00:23:17I certainly don't. There's plenty of other spaces that can do that.
00:23:20I do stuff that can only be done by black women.
00:23:23And I think that's what's so cool.
00:23:24Well, then let's do Cleopatra. Elizabeth Taylor.
00:23:26Okay, you got it.
00:23:27Cleopatra. Because that was actually, okay.
00:23:30Perfect. Perfect.
00:23:31What about you, Amy? Do you feel like Hollywood sort of has you in a lane?
00:23:37And is it the lane you want to be in?
00:23:39I'm with Robin. I'm not really in a lane. I'm not really on Hollywood's radar, really.
00:23:43I'm more off a little bit under the radar, which is what I like.
00:23:47I like to spearhead my own projects, get the people I know involved in it and put on a show,
00:23:53you know, and kind of stay out of the way.
00:23:56Sometimes a script will come my way, but it's usually a character.
00:24:00You know, I'm always like, well, does this make me laugh? Will I have fun?
00:24:04What am I going to look like? Who else is involved?
00:24:07You know, do I really feel like getting on an airplane and flying, you know, to go do it?
00:24:11I mean, all these elements play into it, but I'm like Robin, I like to create my own things and
00:24:16get the right people involved.
00:24:18But it is funny when a script does come to you, you're like, what, really? And then, you know, oh,
00:24:23they give it to Claire Danes.
00:24:25I'm like, of course, you know.
00:24:27Did anyone else get sent that script that had a woman who's a police officer undercover and the part she's
00:24:32playing is a hypersexualized bimbo as her undercover role?
00:24:36And she has to say to two of them, in fact, you know what, this is actually too filthy to
00:24:40say on this interview.
00:24:41No, no, no.
00:24:42I think it might be okay.
00:24:43Keep going.
00:24:44At one point, one of the lines, I mean, I got, I got sent this by my agents.
00:24:47But one of the lines in the script is when she's telling these two men that she wants to feel
00:24:55both of their cocks slapping together inside her mouth, which begs the question, how small are their cocks?
00:25:06How big is my mouth supposed to be that there's room to come apart?
00:25:09When do you start shooting it?
00:25:11To get up.
00:25:12What was the gross part?
00:25:13The gross part was when I say, I want you to cover me in your man milk.
00:25:22This script was written by a very, very famous actor and a lot of very big names went up.
00:25:29And you're starring in it.
00:25:30I'm just wondering if anyone else.
00:25:31This is your next project, right?
00:25:33Covered in man milk.
00:25:36This is the kind of shit people think that I want to say.
00:25:38You're making a porno.
00:25:39Wow.
00:25:41Yeah.
00:25:41Steven Spielberg.
00:25:42It wasn't even.
00:25:43It's like a weird turn.
00:25:44Yeah.
00:25:45Anyway, I'll stop talking now.
00:25:47I just wondered if anyone else had seen that.
00:25:49That's amazing.
00:25:50No, but that's fascinating.
00:25:51I mean, that's, that's the kind of stuff that honestly, when I was a few years into the business and
00:25:56I just wasn't seeing the results as a comedian and as a performer that I wanted.
00:26:00I really was like, okay, I'm just going to write, I'm going to write and write myself into stuff.
00:26:03Cause it was like, you see stuff like that once or twice.
00:26:06And it's just like, come on, we can't, we can't make a living this way.
00:26:11It's totally demoralizing.
00:26:12Well, and black women, black women honestly don't even usually get sexualized unless they're, unless they are like a sex
00:26:18worker or a dancer or something like that.
00:26:21But black women usually are the opposite where they're just not sexualized at all.
00:26:25Like they never have sex and they're not attractive.
00:26:28So it's like, it's, it's kind of both sides of the coin, you know, and it's, it's, it's tired.
00:26:34Those stories are so tired.
00:26:36Those characters are so tired and they're not real.
00:26:39Tiffany, is that been your experience?
00:26:40And is that changing at all?
00:26:42You know, when I, when, um, I first hit the scene, you know, I was offered a lot of roles
00:26:47where they want you to expose your breasts.
00:26:50They want, um, uh, I remember that one movie, uh, that, uh, uh, Chris Rock did.
00:26:55And it's like, he meets the two girls and they have like a threesome and then Cedric gets in there.
00:26:59And they're like, he's like supposed to like all over their face or whatever.
00:27:02And like, you know, just let that baby batter go all over their face.
00:27:05And it's like, Tiffany, they're offering you the role.
00:27:06I was like, I don't want that role.
00:27:08I'm a standup comedian.
00:27:09And I, I don't let people do that in my face in real life.
00:27:13I don't want that baby batter facial in real life.
00:27:15So why would I do it in this movie?
00:27:17Like you're going to have a little bit of respect for me, period.
00:27:20If anything, I shoot my juices in his face, but I'm not doing that to me.
00:27:26Okay.
00:27:27Period.
00:27:28You're not going to disrespect this, but God made this face for a reason.
00:27:31And you're not going to disrespect it now.
00:27:33Um, when it comes to being in my lane now, like definitely, I feel like sometimes my representation
00:27:39tries to get me to go outside my lane.
00:27:42And if it is against my morals and I do have some, I know I'm a little wild, but I
00:27:47do have
00:27:47some morals and some standards.
00:27:49And if it goes outside of that, then somebody might get fired.
00:27:52If you try to push me into something I don't want to be dealing with, you might get fired.
00:27:57Cause it's like, you disrespect me.
00:27:59You, you work for me and it's like, I'm a company, right?
00:28:02I'm a brand.
00:28:03And if you try to push that brand outside the lane, but it's like against the policy of
00:28:08the company, like you might not need to be working here no more.
00:28:12So my people, they, we have weekly conversations about where I'm at mentally, what I want to
00:28:20do.
00:28:20And right now, almost everything that I'm doing, I'm producing.
00:28:24Some of the stuff I've written on, like I'm, I do not play.
00:28:27My lane is big.
00:28:28I got a, I got a five highway lane.
00:28:31You know, I'm even opening up a grocery store.
00:28:33I'm not playing out here.
00:28:34I'm, I am going to be a mogul.
00:28:36I'm creating generational wealth and I have morals and standards and I'll be damned if
00:28:42anybody makes them sweat.
00:28:44But I want to see you in roles that are like, I want to see you in a loving relationship.
00:28:48I want to see you in whether it's a comedy or drama or whatever.
00:28:50Like I know, I know what you can do.
00:28:52I've known you for decades.
00:28:53Like I want to see you in something where we actually get to see you, you know, like you
00:28:57said, like that role where you will leave that alone.
00:29:00But yes, I want to see you with the baby better.
00:29:03But you know what I mean?
00:29:04Like, I want to see you.
00:29:05I want to see all the dimensions of you.
00:29:07And, and do you feel like those things are coming your way?
00:29:10Those things are definitely coming and I've done some of them.
00:29:14They'll be coming out sooner than later.
00:29:16Um, I don't know if y'all noticed, like the way I've been moving, every single thing
00:29:20that comes out is a, it's like, it's me, but it's a different version.
00:29:23Like I did the Madam CJ Walker story.
00:29:25That was a period piece.
00:29:27And that was a way different version of, you know, what I normally, what people normally
00:29:32think I would do when I did the kitchen, you know, that was like a more dramatic piece.
00:29:37Uh, then I, then I hit you with some, some comedy, like a boss, you know, like I'm always,
00:29:42I'm moving.
00:29:43Cause that's how I am in real life.
00:29:44I move, I sway, like, but, and I play, but wait till you, wait till you see, wait till
00:29:50you see the movie I got coming out with, um, with, uh, with Billy Crystal.
00:29:54You're going to be like, Oh, okay.
00:29:56And it would be Crystal.
00:29:58Yeah.
00:29:58I'm curious on the, on the great.
00:30:00There's obviously, we were just talking about the, I, I, you know, about sex on screen.
00:30:05There's, there's a lot of it, but in your case, it's the, the nudity is much more the
00:30:09men than the women.
00:30:10I'm curious.
00:30:11How does that change a dynamic on set?
00:30:13Catherine, the great in real life.
00:30:16She was a kind of the first woman who was, um, slut shamed, honestly.
00:30:22I mean, the whole horse rumor, um, was created because she loved sex.
00:30:27She was very, um, open and had multiple lovers.
00:30:31And so that's a, you know, obviously our, our story is not a historical document, but
00:30:35a lot of truths, um, are, are in it.
00:30:40And, and, um, that's a big part of Catherine's character.
00:30:42So sex, you know, is incorporated in the show a lot.
00:30:46Um, and just her first wedding night is not exactly, it doesn't go to plan how she thought
00:30:53it was going to be.
00:30:54I mean, there's, there are a lot of things to talk about here because of course we're,
00:30:57it's a period show.
00:30:58So we're corseted up with multiple layers of skirts.
00:31:03And so just the logistics of actually getting naked for the women, it takes a long time.
00:31:09So it's like, everyone's kind of just having fully closed sex.
00:31:13Like, all right, girls, like we're going to just lift up your skirt, you know, and like,
00:31:16that's fine.
00:31:17There was an intimacy coordinator on set, which I have never had.
00:31:21I don't know if any of you guys have had that, but, um, that was very new to me that
00:31:26on a
00:31:26show, a woman that was there, um, to make sure everyone felt comfortable and also made
00:31:32sure that the sex looked real.
00:31:33So there would be times where Nick, you know, or whoever the guys would be in the wrong position.
00:31:39It's like, it doesn't look like you're doing it, you know, um, or just like simple things of like,
00:31:45maybe you should, you know, wipe your hand off or like these little details that you don't think
00:31:49about.
00:31:50But I do love that our, our show is very sex friendly and it's just a part of it.
00:31:55And, and it captures Catherine's journey too, because she does get a lover and that's more passionate.
00:32:01And the sex with Peter is, um, uh, not at all.
00:32:06So, um, and it was hard to keep a straight face during those scenes with, with Nicholas Holt.
00:32:10He is so hilarious.
00:32:12And I would be like biting down on a pillow when he's like having to thrust and say these
00:32:17lines or just like, we can't take it seriously.
00:32:20Fucking bitch.
00:32:21I loved you.
00:32:23And you feel this has affected that love detrimentally.
00:32:26The fact you're trying to kill me, indeed, it has cast a pall.
00:32:29Un-fucking-believable.
00:32:31I'm about to cut your throat and you're making jokes.
00:32:34Perhaps that is why you love me.
00:32:37Say hello.
00:32:39No.
00:32:44He's really there.
00:32:46Under your hand.
00:32:48I'm happy that I had someone that I felt comfortable with and we could actually be like embarrassed
00:32:54in front of each other.
00:32:55Like that was something that was new for me with comedy.
00:32:58I think it's so important to like embarrass yourself.
00:33:02Go for it.
00:33:03It's fine.
00:33:03And, and he was a partner that I was like, let's just try to embarrass each other and challenge
00:33:08each other.
00:33:09And that made everyone feel much more, you know, safe and supported during all those scenes.
00:33:14I like to call that dare to suck.
00:33:16Dare, just take a chance.
00:33:18Dare to be horrible.
00:33:19Yes.
00:33:19You actually might be great.
00:33:20Dare to be horrible.
00:33:21Yeah.
00:33:21I could never do that.
00:33:23I could never do anything like that.
00:33:25What, sexy?
00:33:26Like sex scenes would get naked or pose in your underwear.
00:33:29I just could never, it just doesn't interest me.
00:33:31It's not funny to me.
00:33:32That's the part I wrote for you in this movie.
00:33:35I don't know.
00:33:37Yeah.
00:33:37Yeah.
00:33:37But have you seen that wedding night scene that she's talking about?
00:33:41It's so funny.
00:33:43So good.
00:33:43It's so funny.
00:33:44It's just the first episode of the great.
00:33:45It's so good.
00:33:46It's so funny.
00:33:47And she gives this amazing, Elle, you give this amazing speech right before what you think
00:33:51it's going to be.
00:33:52And then it's totally not that.
00:33:54Oh my God.
00:33:55I cried.
00:33:56I cried laughing.
00:33:56Oh God.
00:33:58That means a lot.
00:34:00Laughing at my sex.
00:34:05Amy, one of the things that you hadn't done until this show was play yourself.
00:34:09And it was something you hadn't been interested in doing.
00:34:12Why not?
00:34:13And how did you ultimately get comfortable?
00:34:16Because I realized that I was the odd man out.
00:34:19Like even though I was doing all the characters around me or people would come on, I was like,
00:34:22oh, I'm the queer one.
00:34:23I'm the one nobody really likes that much.
00:34:26I'm the straight person.
00:34:27So somehow that gave me a hook to play.
00:34:29Your sperm, Dan, attached itself to my second uterus, sort of like a barnacle on a sunken
00:34:36sea vessel where it went into a hibernatory remission.
00:34:40I don't think we need to go into all the scientific details.
00:34:42The short story is you better get a second job because we're a family now and we have
00:34:48expenses.
00:34:49Ah, look, I already have a family.
00:34:52I'm happily married with children.
00:34:56Yeah?
00:34:57What are you doing here?
00:34:58But I just have more fun playing characters and being other people and looking completely
00:35:03different.
00:35:03I just, it just seems like you're playing like you did when you were five or six years old.
00:35:08And that's just what I enjoy doing.
00:35:10I just can't imagine ever getting tired of it.
00:35:13One of the things you've said about these sort of characters that you play is if I'm going
00:35:17to be in the makeup chair, let's get ugly for it.
00:35:21Ugly is so much more fun to play.
00:35:23Yes.
00:35:24Yeah, I love playing hideous.
00:35:26I mean, if anybody's seen my show, you know I never look like myself.
00:35:29I play men.
00:35:30I play ball headed like 150 year old people.
00:35:34I play everything.
00:35:35I love just hiding in those characters and being able to, to don those different looks.
00:35:40And the funny thing about our show is we don't actually do a ton of prosth, we don't do any
00:35:46prosthetics actually.
00:35:47It's all done with pretty minimal makeup, but the hair is a big part of the transformations
00:35:53and also, um, just making really smart and quick makeup choices because we shoot our show
00:35:58really fast.
00:35:59Are you ready to provide a verbal yes?
00:36:01I mean, I felt like I said that.
00:36:02Yeah.
00:36:02You know it.
00:36:03Okay.
00:36:04So what do you say?
00:36:05Yerp.
00:36:06Yes.
00:36:07Yam.
00:36:07Yes.
00:36:08Yammon.
00:36:09Yes.
00:36:10Yodel.
00:36:10Yes.
00:36:13Yeah.
00:36:18That was just a sound.
00:36:19Yeah.
00:36:20Yes.
00:36:21But yeah, whenever, the uglier the better, man.
00:36:23I love it.
00:36:24I love playing men.
00:36:25I love playing hideous people.
00:36:27Plus it gives people, it gives hair and makeup a chance to be creative.
00:36:30Yeah.
00:36:31And everybody, you know, I did a small part on the Mandalorian and, and I was like, okay,
00:36:36just give me a mullet and take my eyebrows away.
00:36:38But the guys who were doing it were like, most girls come on the show and they want
00:36:41to be pretty.
00:36:42Yeah.
00:36:42They want to look exotic or pretty.
00:36:44And I'm just like, oh, I, I'm not like that.
00:36:46But everyone had so much fun because they got to make me look ugly.
00:36:49I also, I really hugely object to how much time they make us spend when they're trying
00:36:55to make us look nice or glamorous.
00:36:57Oh my God.
00:36:58After like, after season one of The Good Place, I objected.
00:37:01I took the producers aside and I was like, nah, an hour and 45 minutes.
00:37:05How ugly do you think I am?
00:37:07An hour and 45 minutes.
00:37:09What is this?
00:37:09Avatar?
00:37:11So I was like, I'm doing my own makeup.
00:37:14Yeah.
00:37:14So I said, I'm doing my own makeup.
00:37:16I know how to do it.
00:37:17I have the, I've had this hairstyle since I was two years old.
00:37:19Uh, they even made a, they made a little Tahani doll of me in my hair and makeup look.
00:37:26And my hair and makeup was the same.
00:37:28I was like, I want the same amount of time as the boys.
00:37:29This is a comedy.
00:37:30I need to turn up.
00:37:31I need to be funny.
00:37:32I can't be funny if I'm tired.
00:37:33I'd rather be funny than look perfect or look utterly like glamorous and glossy.
00:37:38So I got the same hair and makeup time as the boys.
00:37:41So it's 25 minutes in and out.
00:37:43And I got sleep and it infinitely improved my performance.
00:37:47I couldn't remember my lines when I was tired.
00:37:49It's a crazy, uh, it's a crazy thing to put, especially on, on comedians.
00:37:54I think is the idea that our sleep and our memory and our timing and our energy isn't important.
00:38:00When I think that's the most vital part of us being able to show why we should have women more
00:38:06and more so in comedy.
00:38:07We can't do that.
00:38:08We can't be funny when we're cranky and tired.
00:38:10I'm a bitch when I'm tired.
00:38:12I'm not funny.
00:38:14Jane, your show is one that sort of walks this tonal tightrope.
00:38:18I mean, you can go from some singing and dancing to bawling and back in 20-something minutes.
00:38:23Are you more comfortable and more at ease in one versus the other?
00:38:26And how do you sort of balance that?
00:38:28A lot of people have asked me this question because, like you said, the show goes from slapstick sometimes, farce,
00:38:36like clowning.
00:38:37There's a song that I had to do that was like completely physical comedy and talk about being embarrassed.
00:38:43I was like, if I don't do this all the way, it's going to be so it's going to fall
00:38:46so flat.
00:38:47So I have to go all the way.
00:38:49But for me, I approach a comedic scene the same way as I approach a dramatic one.
00:38:56I guess it's just like an energy shift that like I couldn't really explain.
00:39:01But I, you know, there's like a tempo to comedy.
00:39:06There's a there's timing, but that's more it's sort of like I just have to get into the mood.
00:39:10But I technically speaking, I approach the scenes the same way.
00:39:15Is it easier to laugh or cry?
00:39:16I am a crier.
00:39:18So it's not like it's hard.
00:39:21It's it's definitely more painful.
00:39:24Laughing is more fun.
00:39:25But I've been thinking a lot about fantasy since Tiffany brought up Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
00:39:32which is one of my favorite movies of all time.
00:39:34That's my favorite movie, girl.
00:39:35I could do a whole thesis on it.
00:39:37Okay.
00:39:38So good.
00:39:40But like and talking about being ugly and being evil and playing characters.
00:39:46For me, at least the most fun part about acting and making television shows and movies is like the fantastical
00:39:54element.
00:39:54I'm not interested in watching shows or movies about people who look like me and sound like me and just
00:40:01like go about my life the way that I do.
00:40:03I want to see something greater.
00:40:05So I think comedy in some ways fits into that world.
00:40:10I don't know.
00:40:10Hearing all of you guys talk about that.
00:40:12I was just thinking like imagination and blowing things out bigger and fantastical realities are more interesting to me as
00:40:19a performer.
00:40:20Robin, I'm curious.
00:40:22The shift to a black lady sketch show, it is not at all topical.
00:40:27You have obviously came, your prior projects, your more recent ones, have been in the late night space.
00:40:36The, you know, having to consume the news 24-7 and have a point of view and one that you
00:40:43have to have sort of humor brought to that.
00:40:46How much was this sort of decision to move away from that by design?
00:40:50How much of that sort of task of trying to have something to say that is and find humor in
00:40:55these moments weigh on you?
00:40:57It weighs on you a lot.
00:40:59And, you know, I was doing it for five, six years straight with Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore and Chris
00:41:07Rock executive producing my late night show.
00:41:08But I was show running my late night show.
00:41:10I was the only person on it.
00:41:12I had no correspondence.
00:41:13I was head writer on the nightly show managing a huge department and a big show and consuming news 24
00:41:20-7.
00:41:22Everything from Ferguson to the Charleston shooting to Trump being elected.
00:41:29We got canceled on the nightly show right before that happened.
00:41:31And then my late night show came on right after he took office.
00:41:34So, you know, I think I have not I had not let up in any of that pursuit for for
00:41:43many years.
00:41:44And those kind of years are like dog years.
00:41:46They kind of feel much longer for people who have to live it every day.
00:41:52So for me, I knew my next project after my late night show got canceled was to go back to
00:41:56my roots and sketch and to affect change differently.
00:41:59You know, it wasn't going to be me coming on TV every night talking about my opinions about politics and
00:42:04pop culture.
00:42:04But it was going to be making a revolutionary statement by the existence of this show.
00:42:08And I think this show is political in its nature and in its existence.
00:42:12And, you know, all of the first that we've created, but also in the fact that it's just good.
00:42:18It looks good.
00:42:19It's funny.
00:42:20It's hilarious.
00:42:21Like, I'm just so proud of it.
00:42:23It's the thing I'm most proud of in my career.
00:42:25And I have a lot to be proud of.
00:42:26Like, it's just the thing that for me, that shift felt natural.
00:42:30It felt like a return to home.
00:42:32I really wanted to be in hard comedy that was scripted and didn't have anything to do with politics.
00:42:37We never mentioned politics on the show because we think that the political act is existing.
00:42:43And it ain't been playing all these characters and being able to play black women like you've never seen them
00:42:49before.
00:42:51And so I think for me, that was the way I knew I could do my next step in the
00:42:56work that I want to do.
00:42:57Tiffany, you've sort of called yourself a joy ambassador.
00:43:00I think I have that terminology correct.
00:43:04How challenging is it to sort of play that role in this moment?
00:43:07Obviously, we are in the middle of a pandemic.
00:43:09But if we weren't and you had a show to do this weekend, how do you be funny in this
00:43:14moment?
00:43:14Can you be funny in this moment?
00:43:16It is very difficult to be funny in this moment.
00:43:19But I'm going to be honest with you.
00:43:20If I had a show this weekend, I would light that stage up.
00:43:22And I'm an administrator.
00:43:24I'm an administrator of joy.
00:43:27Ambassador, that's...
00:43:28No, no.
00:43:29Administrator.
00:43:30I'm delivering it.
00:43:31I'm presenting it, right?
00:43:32And I worked so hard because I want to bless the ones that did look out for me.
00:43:35Like, my granny, she looked out.
00:43:37So, now she needs a little help.
00:43:39I got her staying in my house.
00:43:40And, you know, I love her to death.
00:43:44But she is a major cock blocker.
00:43:46I can't even have sex in my house.
00:43:48She's a super cock blocker.
00:43:50I didn't block no cock from her.
00:43:51But, you know what I'm saying?
00:43:53She had five kids, four baby daddies.
00:43:55Ain't nobody stop her.
00:43:57If I had a show this weekend, though, I know I would kill it
00:44:00because I would just talk my truth.
00:44:03I would talk about the truth.
00:44:04Like, people are asking, Tiffany, how can we solve this?
00:44:07What action moves can we do?
00:44:09What do you think we could do?
00:44:10I don't know.
00:44:12To be honest, I don't know.
00:44:13But I know when I have problems and I want them solved, I just stop having sex.
00:44:17And everything's solved.
00:44:18So, if everybody just stop having sex,
00:44:22especially if you're in an interracial relationship and your man is white,
00:44:26stop having sex with your white men.
00:44:28Things will change.
00:44:30If you're a white woman and you got you a white man, stop having sex with that white man.
00:44:34When a white man ain't getting no sex, things change.
00:44:38That I know for a fact.
00:44:40I actually thought it was because no one's having enough sex.
00:44:43And that's what's making everyone so cunty.
00:44:45That ain't why.
00:44:46That ain't why.
00:44:47That ain't why.
00:44:47See, sex is power.
00:44:49Now, you take the power away and you want, he want that power.
00:44:53Now, he walking around with blue balls.
00:44:55You know what I'm saying?
00:44:56Like, in a black man, he not getting no sex.
00:44:59He gonna team up with the white man.
00:45:01Look, brother, we gotta figure this out.
00:45:03Okay?
00:45:03The women ain't having sex with us.
00:45:05And I don't wanna have sex with a man.
00:45:06I mean, I did it before.
00:45:07I don't wanna do it again.
00:45:08Look, we got to figure this out.
00:45:11We gotta make it right.
00:45:12I'm telling you, things will change.
00:45:14Jamila, I wanna ask, you came to The Good Place.
00:45:16Your background wasn't necessarily as an actress per se.
00:45:19At what point in the run of the show, did you feel like you were an actor?
00:45:24The Good Place was my first ever audition for anything.
00:45:27I'd never, ever acted.
00:45:29I mean, when I was six, I played Oliver's mother, like, on stage at school.
00:45:34So when I was asked by the casting director if I had any acting experience,
00:45:37I was like, I did theatre in England.
00:45:40And I was referencing my pre-nine-year-old school plays.
00:45:45I guess it was probably sometime through season two.
00:45:49Season one was really hard.
00:45:51I mean, I think generally as a woman, you have a tendency towards imposter syndrome.
00:45:56So when you are literally an imposter, someone who's never acted, surrounded by veterans
00:46:00and people like Ted and Kristen and even my supporting cast have all been working for about two decades.
00:46:05Hey, this is a weird question to ask. I'll just throw it out there. Can I ride your centaur?
00:46:09I'm afraid Tanya's quite particular about whom she allows to ride her.
00:46:14I tried, and she gave me a withering stare.
00:46:18It turns out centaurs are a bit tricky.
00:46:19You didn't have, like, a stable full of horses growing up?
00:46:22Of course, but they just pulled our carriages or performed in our horse ballets.
00:46:26We weren't so... what's the word? Judgmental.
00:46:30With whom can I speak about acquiring new shoes?
00:46:33You can't expect me to walk around in these flats all day like some common glue factory hobo horse.
00:46:37Eleanor, you were looking for me?
00:46:39I felt so unworthy of being there and so stressed.
00:46:42So stressed that I used to comfort eat my way through the entire of season one.
00:46:48So I was almost concentrating on how much gas I had rather than how nervous I was having to act
00:46:54face to face with Kristen.
00:46:56I would avoid eye contact with her for the first seven episodes.
00:46:59I used to try and look at someone else while delivering all my lines to her
00:47:01because I just couldn't look her in the eye because I felt guilty for being there.
00:47:05But I think over the course of spending 16 hours a day with Ted Danson and all of these great
00:47:11actors,
00:47:12just studying them day and night, by season two I'd started to find my confidence.
00:47:16I think I still have so much to learn.
00:47:18But the joy of Mike Schur is that he's someone who writes those interesting, complicated, nuanced roles,
00:47:24especially for women and for people from ethnicities.
00:47:27I wasn't the typical South Asian like, hello, I drive taxi cab, I am your doctor.
00:47:31The only kind of roles that we ever give South Asians historically.
00:47:34He just wrote me as a person, as a human, a complicated, tricky human
00:47:40who's playing out her childhood trauma and her adult life, which is all of us.
00:47:43And so I think that I got so many different parts of Tahani that I was able to play.
00:47:50She went through such a huge emotional journey and period of growth throughout the four seasons
00:47:55that I think I've left there feeling like I have definitely more skills than I went in with.
00:48:02And a stronger digestive system.
00:48:07Elle, obviously acting is something you have been doing for decades, but producing was the new piece.
00:48:13You, like Catherine the Great, sort of found your voice in this process.
00:48:17What was that process like?
00:48:19What did you find were the things that you wanted to speak up about?
00:48:23And how did you get comfortable doing so?
00:48:24It was because I had produced, I guess the first thing I produced was a Netflix film.
00:48:30I was called All the Bright Places and that was a book that I had read and was kind of,
00:48:35I did it with my friends
00:48:38and it was a learning experience on how to kind of get involved more.
00:48:41Because I think I was a child actor, young actor, whatever that term is.
00:48:46But, you know, I've grown up on film sets and I think there was a part of me that I've
00:48:53always been so interested in everybody's job
00:48:56and so curious and just wanted to, I want to tell my own stories or not be, not that you're
00:49:05a puppet,
00:49:06but I mean just the editing room, for example, learning how that works and how scenes can change so drastically
00:49:13just from a music cue or, you know, whose close-up you're on.
00:49:17And just little technical bits like that was something that I learned from this experience.
00:49:24And with The Great, that was a script that came to me that was written by Tony McNamara, who wrote
00:49:31The Favourite.
00:49:32And I hadn't seen The Favourite at that point, so I had nothing to compare it to.
00:49:37So it was even more surprising for me at that moment.
00:49:40But it was a film script at first, and he came to me, oh, you know, wanting me to possibly
00:49:46be Catherine.
00:49:48And it being a TV show, and I've never done a series before, so that was new.
00:49:53And also to, you know, hop on board and help kind of collaborate with him and go do pitches.
00:49:58Like, I've never done a pitch. Like, that was new.
00:50:02Going to, you know, the different streaming services and sitting in a room and kind of, I felt like a
00:50:08circus.
00:50:08Like, everyone has their little spiel, like, okay, you're up next.
00:50:12Like, say why you're passionate, you know?
00:50:13It's like, this is so, it was like pulling the curtain back, you know, just the inner workings of everything,
00:50:20which I absolutely loved.
00:50:23And I would watch, you know, the dailies every night.
00:50:25I would watch all of the edits, which was interesting.
00:50:29For me, I don't, I don't know if it's because I was a kid actor growing up.
00:50:34I loved watching myself as a kid in movies. I thought it was the coolest thing.
00:50:38Like, a kid and you're watching yourself giant on a screen, like, yes.
00:50:43Like, I loved it.
00:50:44So I think that maybe has stayed with me a bit, that it doesn't affect me watching the edits so
00:50:50much.
00:50:50I can kind of separate myself from that.
00:50:53So I got to really have that experience and learning to speak up.
00:50:57I mean, they're in the beginning, you know, you're on phone calls.
00:51:01Yeah.
00:51:01I mean, you're on phone calls that you don't normally, you're not normally on, you know,
00:51:06you're hearing things that you don't normally hear.
00:51:09And there would be times in scripts or, I mean, I'm trying to be specific, but just in general,
00:51:15things that I wouldn't agree with, you know, of edits that I wouldn't agree.
00:51:19And sometimes I wouldn't speak up like in the beginning, obviously it was a six month shoot law,
00:51:24you know, even that was just the shoot.
00:51:26So then there's the post production and everything.
00:51:28But those moments I learned much like my character, I grew in confidence.
00:51:33And then by the end I was on those phone calls, like, you know what?
00:51:37I don't care.
00:51:37I have these notes.
00:51:39And I've also, I just learned, I've been in this business for a long time.
00:51:43I technically started when I was two, you know, I was like, you know, I do, I do know something.
00:51:48And it was a very, I felt very, it was a proud moment just kind of coming into my own
00:51:56and so many different aspects of my life of being able to, to say your opinion, you know,
00:52:02and, and to argue, like, it's okay, get into arguments about it.
00:52:06Like we need to talk it out.
00:52:08And if you don't say your point of view, like, no one's going to know.
00:52:13You have to use your voice.
00:52:14You have to say, you know, and like, you have to.
00:52:16So I learned that that was just like this character was huge for me.
00:52:20And this, this, this show is so dear, but it also just as a human being, like, made me raise
00:52:27my voice more and makes me want to, you know, get to be behind the scenes more.
00:52:33Now I'm like authoritative.
00:52:36I've grown for sure.
00:52:38You referenced the, the horse sex rumor, which is obviously something that has followed Catherine the Great.
00:52:45And I'm curious, sort of, for you guys, have, have there been points in, in your careers where, where you
00:52:52felt misunderstood, where you felt the need to sort of have to clear up a misconception?
00:52:56Tiffany, you, you're, you're.
00:52:59I didn't know where that question was going.
00:53:03I did not have sex with no animals.
00:53:06Has there been a point in your career where you had sex with a horse?
00:53:09No?
00:53:10No.
00:53:10All right, just, just.
00:53:11I didn't have sex with a man that had a horse-sized dick though.
00:53:15Like a little pony.
00:53:15Tiffany, your special starts with this, with you saying some version of people think they know me.
00:53:20People think they, they, they know everything about me.
00:53:24And I'm curious for you guys.
00:53:26What are the sort of, have you felt misunderstood?
00:53:30And what is the process of trying to sort of correct that?
00:53:33If in fact you feel that that's necessary.
00:53:36People come up with crazy stuff to say about you.
00:53:38Okay.
00:53:38They, they look at you and I feel like they put their own little crazy thoughts on you and then
00:53:44they create these stories.
00:53:45But I think it's for clickbait or whatever.
00:53:47But, um, I can't stand that.
00:53:50So, you know, I'm not perfect.
00:53:51I make mistakes.
00:53:52And when I make them, I claim them.
00:53:54Yes.
00:53:55This is the dumb shit I did.
00:53:56Yes.
00:53:56This is the stupid thing I said.
00:53:58And that, but if they make up stuff, now people be making up stuff.
00:54:01Then that's when I use my fake account and I attack, I attack viciously, viciously.
00:54:12And I reach out to my little unicorns and I'll be like, get them y'all.
00:54:16Get them.
00:54:17Just like Beyonce.
00:54:19I have quite an interesting experience because I choose to use my platform to be very vocal
00:54:24and a little bit loud, a bit much about certain social political issues that I have an issue, that I
00:54:31take issue with.
00:54:32And I think people, A, a lot of people think I'm Tahani in real life and that The Good Place
00:54:37is a fucking documentary.
00:54:39And that I'm just who I am.
00:54:40And they think that, and they think I grew up with loads of money and they think that I have
00:54:44this really privileged, perfect upbringing,
00:54:46which couldn't be further from the truth of how I, how I came up in this world.
00:54:49But they just assume and also because she loves philanthropy, but she does it for show.
00:54:54People assume I'm I'm in philanthropy just for show.
00:54:57And it's like this speaking out about things that are stigmatized doesn't help your career.
00:55:02It doesn't make people think that you are easier to work with.
00:55:06It doesn't make people think that you are not a liability.
00:55:08It costs you working relationships.
00:55:09It costs you.
00:55:10I attack giant power structures like any who who would do this for fun.
00:55:15It's not fun, but it's something that I personally choose to do with my career.
00:55:19So I think people tend to start as like Tiffany was referencing people start rumors when when there isn't enough
00:55:26controversy,
00:55:26especially, you know, with women.
00:55:28We see this in this industry.
00:55:29A woman is given sort of like a year and a half of grace where everyone loves her and they
00:55:33love her and we love her.
00:55:34We saw it with Jennifer Lawrence or Anne Hathaway, like all these different famous women where she gets a year
00:55:39and a half where everyone loves you.
00:55:41And then you kind of get overexposed to death.
00:55:43And then just like this perfect cycle, the death like the drag begins and we see it one after the
00:55:50other after the other.
00:55:51And so I am definitely kind of like experiencing that cycle.
00:55:55But thankfully, I'm I'm old and I've been in this industry for a long time and I knew it was
00:55:59always coming.
00:56:00But people start to tell really vicious rumors, especially about women.
00:56:04And that is something that I find so extraordinary because they're not allowed to take us out and kill us
00:56:09anymore.
00:56:10So they discredit us. Discredit is the new death.
00:56:13I think if they feel like too many people are listening to a woman or she's breaking too many glass
00:56:17ceilings or making too many changes.
00:56:19She's stepping outside of her little box.
00:56:21People think you're dangerous.
00:56:22And the reason because they can't get rid of you, they just destroy people's opinion of you, which I think
00:56:28is super interesting.
00:56:28I like when they make up stuff about me dating somebody, when they say that you're dating somebody, but you're
00:56:33not dating them.
00:56:34But then that person starts calling you because they're like, did you start this room?
00:56:38No, I didn't start this room. The next thing you know, you dating them and you like, hey, thank y
00:56:43'all for starting that shit.
00:56:45Do you feel like you haven't gotten roles because of or you've lost roles because you've spoken out?
00:56:51I think some networks where I've gotten involved in HR, if I've seen bad behavior and I have taken it
00:57:00to where it's supposed to go and alerted people,
00:57:02I think they've definitely become like a little bit afraid of working with me because I am a sort of
00:57:07professional tattletale.
00:57:08I'm a whistleblower, but I don't think I don't think it's affected me.
00:57:13I don't think it's affected me career wise when it comes to Hollywood.
00:57:16I mostly think it's impacted probably the sort of like brand relationships, all these different things, because I'm so because
00:57:22I'm sticking to them.
00:57:23I'm trying as hard as I can to stick to my principles and not work with problematic people.
00:57:26But as we're seeing, everyone has got some sort of blood on their hands. Everyone is problematic. Everyone's difficult to
00:57:32work with.
00:57:32And so I wonder what I wonder what the state of things will be after the pandemic now that everyone's
00:57:38kind of shown their ass.
00:57:39I'm going to do a very hard left turn with a final question, which is which is will feel very
00:57:45light in this moment.
00:57:46But when was the last time you guys were genuinely starstruck?
00:57:50I've been so quiet today. Like before we even started like filming, I was sitting over here like a serial
00:57:57killer because Tiffany Ash, I'm like fully starstruck by you like a full body reaction.
00:58:04When I watch you on screen, you like explode. Like I have never seen a performer like you in my
00:58:10life.
00:58:10And when I saw you on here today, I was like, I can't I don't think I can speak for
00:58:15the next hour. And I haven't.
00:58:17I am such a big fan of yours. You are so dynamic. And when you talked about being a joy
00:58:23administrator.
00:58:25Yes. Administrator.
00:58:26I was like, yes, you are. You make me feel like alive when I watch you act. I am such
00:58:34a fan.
00:58:34You're going to make me cry.
00:58:38Amy, who makes you starstruck?
00:58:39I get starstruck even from the manager of Bigalows. I mean, I get starstruck by people's mothers.
00:58:46Any guests we have on the show, I'm starstruck. I'm so scared to work with them. I can't believe they
00:58:51said yes.
00:58:52You know, and then I'm working with them and I'm like, oh, my God, I'm working with David Alan Greer
00:58:57and out.
00:58:58I mean, what am I going to say to you know, it's hard. I'm very shy that way.
00:59:02I mean, I can be out sometimes, but I just get starstruck by, I mean, everybody.
00:59:08I love watching famous people like I kind of like I'd like I've got to go to the Met Ball
00:59:16and I'm just like looking around at everyone like crazy.
00:59:20And what popped in my head was J-Lo and A-Rod were behind me sitting and like A-Rod
00:59:27was like videoing everything.
00:59:30And like J-Lo was dancing to Cher. I was like, what is going on?
00:59:34But like I kept I was observing them very hard that night. I was just like, what are they doing?
00:59:40I'm a starstruck man. Two big moments for me when I when I met Oprah Winfrey, I did pee on
00:59:49myself just a little bit.
00:59:51And yeah, that was on TV for everybody to see. That was embarrassing.
00:59:55But it was it was the most wonderful thing in the world.
00:59:59And to hear her validate like all the hard work that I put in, it was just made my heart
01:00:05melt.
01:00:05And then when I met Barbra Streisand.
01:00:09Wow.
01:00:11We love her.
01:00:15She gave you a bump. She, I believe you have a.
01:00:18She gave me a diamond necklace, a diamond necklace.
01:00:22Oh my God.
01:00:25I'm so emotional. I'm sorry.
01:00:27Wait a minute. Now why did she give you a diamond necklace and diamond?
01:00:31Why did she give you a present?
01:00:32Because I taught her about Cardi B.
01:00:36And.
01:00:36Oh.
01:00:38We talk and stuff.
01:00:40And I just want her.
01:00:41I want to.
01:00:42I want to redo Funny Girl.
01:00:45Like I would love it for her to be my.
01:00:47Wow.
01:00:47Like I've been taking vocal classes.
01:00:50Well, not real vocal classes, just stuff from YouTube University, but I'm working on it.
01:00:55And like that to me was.
01:00:57Cause she's one of the first women to direct, star, produce, write her own movies.
01:01:03Like I, to be able to tap into that knowledge, into the, to the way things were then and how
01:01:10difficult it was.
01:01:11It's a lot easier now as opposed to what it was then.
01:01:14And for her to be able to give me her advice and knowledge on stuff and her opinion and who
01:01:19does her nails and like.
01:01:23That would blow me away.
01:01:24That would blow me away.
01:01:25Both of them.
01:01:25Everyone who worked on The Good Place, all of the different guest stars that we had in.
01:01:29It was just, I was so creepy throughout the whole of filming.
01:01:32I just like, I lost it because I've loved TV and film my whole life so much.
01:01:36It was sort of, it's been my best friend and taking me through the hardest moments.
01:01:38So seeing all these people in 3D was just wild.
01:01:41But I think Maya Rudolph and Lisa Kudrow getting to act opposite them and share scenes.
01:01:47I'm done.
01:01:47I retire.
01:01:48I'm actually using this interview right now to announce that I'm retiring.
01:01:52I have nothing left to achieve.
01:01:54But now that none of them gave me any diamond necklaces, now I feel empty.
01:02:00I'm pissed.
01:02:01You gotta teach them something new every time you meet one.
01:02:04That's what you gotta do.
01:02:05Yeah.
01:02:06Robin, what about you?
01:02:07Oh, same as everyone.
01:02:09I mean, Amy, I can relate so much.
01:02:11I definitely love having a show where we get to have amazing guest stars on the show.
01:02:15I mean, I got to act in a sketch with Angela Bassett and we had Patti LaBelle on the show.
01:02:20And we had, yeah, I mean, the list goes on and on and on.
01:02:24I mean, like I said, 55 guest stars in six episodes.
01:02:26It's insane.
01:02:27And actually, when I sold the show.
01:02:29So, Issa Rae, dear friend of mine, executive produces the show with me.
01:02:33And when we, she said, bring the show to HBO.
01:02:36And we went and had dinner with the executive.
01:02:38And I said, this is the show I want to make.
01:02:41And Issa was like, I support this.
01:02:42I want to produce this with Robin.
01:02:44And they said, great, we're going to buy it.
01:02:47And the waitress came over and said, the gentleman is actually paid for your bill.
01:02:51And we looked over and it was Denzel Washington.
01:02:54Holy shit.
01:02:56And that, to me, was like, what?
01:03:01Like, my full auntie came out.
01:03:04So, I was like, yes.
01:03:05Like, for me, that was the good luck charm this show needed.
01:03:08As if all the other things didn't already fall into place.
01:03:10But, like, that, to me, like, he knew he could tell, like, we were doing something big.
01:03:15And, like, that was crazy to me.
01:03:17Like, that just blew me away.
01:03:19That blew me away.
01:03:19I love that.
01:03:20And that's a perfect place to end.
01:03:22Thank you all for being part of this conversation and joining us.
01:03:25All be it virtually today.
01:03:27Bye.
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