WEBVTT - Ellie Kemper Gets Brain Freeze with Alec Baldwin 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:10.000 This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to. Here's the thing, 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:15.040 My chance to talk with artists, policymakers and performers, to 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.280 hear their stories. What inspires their creations, what decisions change 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:25.520 their careers, what relationships influenced their work. My guest today, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:31.160 Ellie Kemper, is adorable, even she's admitted that she does 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.880 closely resemble Strawberry Shortcake. Most of us were first introduced 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.320 to her as Aaron, the eager and friendly receptionist on 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.680 the office. These days, she's the star of Unbreakable Kimmy 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.200 Schmidt on Netflix, now in its second season. Ellie Kemper 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:52.080 says she plays exaggerated versions of herself, so you'd be 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:56.000 correct in assuming that she is kind, optimistic, and self effacing. 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.960 Consider her theory on why she's been successful in Hollywood. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:04.959 I have a very um large face that is moonlike 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.520 and sort of friendly and rube ish. You know, I 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.840 think I look like someone moonlike face that's responsible for 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.480 the career you have. Actually, yes, I think so, because 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.120 all the characters I've played sort of play up that 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.759 aspect of me, and certainly I think I do. I do. 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.680 I am sort of naturally cheerful and Sonny, I think 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.080 I am healthy. I think healthy, yes, not manic, and 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:33.840 certainly certainly I get bad yes, and that's not I'm 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.240 not manic. Thank you. Oh good, Now now it's confirmed. 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.679 Maybe if I were a stand up or something, maybe 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.600 that might be, you know different. I did not do 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:43.440 what was the beginning of that part of your career. 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.640 At the beginning of my career was in improv. So 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.880 I started doing improv comedy in college and I felt 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.320 like I was good at it. And that was the 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.440 first time I felt like I can do this. This 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:56.880 is something that I feel connection to and and not 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:58.880 only do I feel a connection to it, but it's 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.280 something that I want to or sue after college is over. 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:04.800 And that's that's how I started. I started doing stuff 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.440 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:12.280 the People's Improv Theater. Started in college at Princeton, Yes, 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:17.120 to study English. I didn't go there to study English. 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.720 I got there and decided I'll study English. But I 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.880 actually played field hockey my first year. Well I was. 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.320 I was good in high school and I was captain 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.440 my team. And then I went to college and I 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.079 never played I said on the bench the whole time, 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.800 and I one day worked up the courage. It was 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.400 like Rudy to ask the coach, you know, like you 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.640 gotta put me in. Why am I not going in? 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.960 And she said because I had the tools but was 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:45.400 having trouble building the house. Yeah, she I never saw 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.760 her take off her some glasses and still position. I 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.960 could not. I know you didn't. I didn't let him know. 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:57.360 I quit in fact, But you went to Princeton not 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.840 knowing what you wanted to study. You decided to study 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:01.520 in wh once you got there, that's right. Did you 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.520 have an idea what you wanted to be or do? No? 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.040 And I regret that because I think that it's so nice, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.760 if it's helpful, if you know in middle school or 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:11.600 high school what it is that you want to do. 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.200 I think that just helps to make decisions for you earlier. 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:16.760 But you didn't know you wanted to be an actress, 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.160 then that's right. If you did four years at Princeton 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.320 and graduated with a degree in English, and then you 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:24.440 went to OX I did for a master's for a 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:28.799 master's that I did not complete, but talk about. I 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.920 was like, let's give it one more go, I'm not 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:37.400 done yet. I've still got those quads. I have very 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.240 strong quads, quadriceps um. But I quit that. Then after 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:42.400 a year, I went to school for a year and 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.760 decided this is not satisfying, this is not I am 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:47.800 not an academic, Okay, so that is not what I 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:49.720 wanted to pursue. So I moved back to New York 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.120 after a year. Well you're not an academic, but you 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.520 went to Princeton and Oxford. Yeah, but I'm not how 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.480 did you get into Princeton and Scott Oxford if you're 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.600 not a student. I got in on pluck. No, I 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.800 know what I'm how do you get in? I'm well rounded. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.440 I'll say that. I think that. I always I felt like, okay, 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.200 well I have strengths in different areas. So I felt 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.880 like that's that's I mean, I'm not dumb, but I 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.880 but I but I am not. Um. I just spoke 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.039 at Bucknell the other day and I was surrounded by 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.560 professors and like, oh, these are academics. Now forgive me 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:21.680 for saying this, but you come from a very prominent 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:23.920 family in St. Louisia. I don't know your family's family's 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.680 family somewhere in your family a big organization. Correct, Yeah, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.080 I'm trying to answer the question not sound like a jerk. 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.640 I don't know if prominent is a word. Success Uh 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:37.920 kind yeah, yeah, no, my my successful business? Yes? Yes, 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.280 are you the weirdo in the family of the four 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.080 kids that anybody else's show business? I told your parents 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.440 are going to go take your Princeton and Oxford degrees 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.560 and go beyond TV whether like no, no? They on 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.560 the contrary, they did not flinch. I think my dad 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.039 sort of thought, oh, she'll try. In fact, he said, like, 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:54.720 try this for a year and see what happens. Now, 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.640 you know, well, actually not in your case because you 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.679 were employed right away. But after a year for most people, 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.760 nothing really happens. What your first year trying to become 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:05.480 an actor in New York City? Um, but nobody ever 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:07.839 discouraged me from doing that. My mom is an actress. 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.960 I mean she sheciated at home and raised her four children, 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.160 but in high school and she's a performer, I guess 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:15.440 that's what I mean to say. And she was always 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:18.640 in the college plays. She's very funny. Both of my 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.320 parents are very funny in very different ways. But my 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.400 mom is closer to me in terms of, uh, she's 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:27.120 more animated, I guess and energy wise. Um, she was 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.559 miss Adelaide guys and dolls, you know that, that type 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.719 of lady. But they were both very supportive. And my 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.719 younger sister, Carrie is a writer. Um on silicims. It 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.000 hasn't come out yet. It hasn't come out. I have 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.279 to tell you no, we've put that on hold for now, 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.040 but I want to return to that. But I personally 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:48.200 want to write a book, a book of essays, just 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:56.479 my own, some some um nonfiction. Yes, I do. I 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.040 have a lot of time. Let's not let's thank you. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.760 I think that's a compliment that I wouldn't have time. 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.040 But I have a lot of time. So um, I've 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:05.960 been trying to write in the meantime because I think 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:07.920 that is something that I've been saying for ten years 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.039 that I want to write a book and I haven't 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:13.279 done it yet. When you did the Office and you 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.360 came onto the Office, you're a cast edition, which is 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.880 always a wonderful thing. I had that happened to myself actually, 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.640 where I was a cast edition on a on a 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.760 nighttime soap opera. I did the show, not s Landing, 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:25.599 which was a huge hit on TV, and I came on. 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:27.600 I was like, Wow, this is great because all of 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.040 you have done all the hard work and built this 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.599 like cathedral of soap opera. And I was gonna walk in, 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.839 do a couple of numbers here and leave. When you 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.359 were cast addition on the show, how did that happen? 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:40.559 How did they find you? Um? I met with Greg 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.560 Daniels and Mike Shure, who Greg Daniels adapted the British 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.599 show to American television and I got that meeting through 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:54.040 my agents at WM and WM and working a lot before. No, 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.839 this is what had happened. I had auditioned for Saturday 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:01.440 Night Live. Maybe you've heard of it and I maybe 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:05.840 you've hosted That'll just nut and I auditioned. Obviously did 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:07.960 not get the part, but I do it did help 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.040 to put me on you know, people's radar, I think. 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.360 So I just signed with a manager prior to that audition, 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.240 and then I got meetings with all the big agencies. 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.760 So I signed with W M E and they were 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:20.760 developing a new show which turned out to be Parks 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.679 and Recreation, which I think is what I was initially 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:26.240 being considered for and I even read for a character 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:28.920 that's not in Parks and Recreation, but I think was 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.880 maybe going to be. And and then my manager called 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:33.440 me to say, first all, I didn't really know it 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.120 was an audition. I thought I was just I don't 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:36.920 know what I thought I was doing reading a script 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.480 with Greg Daniels. And then my manager told me, he's like, look, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:42.000 I don't know how to say this, but you didn't 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:43.440 get the part. And I was like, I didn't know 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.120 there was a part that I was. It's okay, I 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:49.480 don't know. Sometimes they have a way making me feel 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:53.000 worse like than I do when we tell you bad news, 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.480 we want you to feel bad. Yeah, play the part, 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.520 be crushed. So then I was crushed. But then this, 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:02.240 this part of Aaron Hannon came up a few months later, 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.280 and because I hadn't gotten any job on Parks and Recreation, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:07.800 I of course was available, and so I auditioned for 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.520 that and that's how I got it. And this kind 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.680 of like in that world, when you get into that 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.040 wheelhouse with them and they know you, they're going to 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.480 find some way. They're gonna always call you when they've 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.240 got something. So yeah, yeah, that the introduction was the 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.600 main thing, just as as meaning Lauren Michaels was was 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:26.800 enormous on its own. Being in a room with Oh 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.840 my goodness, when you come on the Office. You started 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:31.880 season five, yeah, the end of season five, and you 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.560 did until the end of season nine. Yes, it was exactly. 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.320 It was initially written for four episodes. It was a 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.200 four episode arc, and then Aaron stayed on. She became 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.079 the new secretary. Did you enjoy it when you did it? 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:46.120 I remember it like a dream. I think I enjoyed it, 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:47.959 But it was the same thing. I thought, these guys 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.160 have the train on the tracks, They've done all the 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.360 hard work, get in there, and you don't make a peep. 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:56.200 You just do right. But it's true. It's like, uh, yeah, 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:58.920 I don't just don't make a splash, and then um splash, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.280 and then uh I did enjoy it. I think the 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.960 very beginning was just like a little bit in shock 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.120 about what was happening. Yeah, because I was a fan 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.400 of the Office, so it's surreal to be interacting with 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.600 people who you've only seen on television, you know. But then, 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.760 and especially when I look back, I'm like, that was 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.760 the greatest job. It was it was so great. Sure, 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.959 so you come on and you keep your head low, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.400 you keep low, keep stay low. Stay love those stars 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.080 of that comedy show. Absolutely, I mean that, I think 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.959 that where are they now? They're not doing Kimmy, They're nowhere. 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.959 They're all thriving. Yes, they are. Minty projects my favorite 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.000 show ever. It's i mean, other than some other television 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:44.600 shows that both of us are. Oh, it's so her. 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:49.240 It's her distinctive voice. It's it's it's it's uh so 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.880 supremely funny. I don't know if you watch or not, 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:54.320 but the lines are just like so polished and honed 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.480 and hilarious. And I just think it's so unique because 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.280 it's Minty's voice. I love it and it means and 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.520 it makes me cry. So it's this very funny show. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.640 And then this last Christmas episode, I text her, I'm like, 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.160 I'm in I'm in tears on the couch. It was 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:11.040 so it's touching. It's it's that is hard to pull off. 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.000 What what did you watch when you were growing up? 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:14.360 And what was TV in your life when you were 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:16.240 a kid? Um? Do you know what? Okay, we did not. 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.680 I didn't watch a ton of television In fact, we 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.280 watched Seinfeld as a family. That was the show we 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.359 always stopped on Thursday nights to watch, which I'm surprised 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.960 because Seinfeld is a little, um, it's a little risk. 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.160 My family is into urban. Well it's a little urban. Yes. 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.439 I'm always so shocked that like four single people on 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.160 the Upper West Side would resonate with an entire country, 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:41.600 but it did, And and my family's conservative, not crazily so, 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.040 but like I remember not knowing what like Elaine's diaphragm was. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.760 It was like, I am still not entirely short the contest. 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.240 I had no idea and nobody explained it or asked, 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:58.640 so that was fine. Just you know what hot dog eating? Right? 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.760 It was who could eat the most hot talks um? 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:03.360 I think I know what it means now, But we 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.440 always watched My sister and I always watched a Letterman 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.800 um uh in high school, mostly because it was on Leader. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.520 Would your parents do for entertainment? Were they entertainment people? 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:14.880 Would your father stay home and like read the Wall 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:19.200 Street Journal? My parents, No, he's not a foreign of hersman. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.760 They love going to the movies. Every Saturday they would 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:23.840 go to the movies. I think and I feel like 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.280 we went when it was appropriate, if it wasn't an 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.360 our movie. UM My mother loves television, so she watches UM, 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:33.360 her share, her share, and my dad also, they both 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.240 love television. In fact, he get a jockey, a sports guy. Yeah, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.040 he was a sports guy. He still is. He works 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:40.320 out every day. He's very regimented. And you have two brothers. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:42.600 I have two brothers, older brother John, younger brother Billy. 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:44.640 What do they do? John is a banker. He lives 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.679 in St. Louis. Of course he is him. He has 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.960 his three angel children who I could only got it. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:56.200 He know, he's got it. These children, He's already the 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.800 bar is so high that if and when I have them, 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.199 good luck, where would this will be without the John's 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.520 I don't know. John is like a rock. He is 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.840 a very he's so, he's unflappable and by the way, 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:11.559 infinitely funnier than my sister and me, who both technically 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:13.240 work in comedy. So, but he still wants you to 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:19.840 give him a free subscription to Netflix. Yes, and little 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.640 younger brother not little younger brother, Billy is about to 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.720 go to UM. He worked at Yahoo for a while 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:26.959 and he's going to go to Kellogg Business School and 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.439 Northwestern in the fall. So the men are in business 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.680 and you and your sister are in the business. Yeah, 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:34.720 that's right, that's right. What does she do now? Your sister? 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.280 She's writing on Silicon Valley on HBO. She wrote on 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.120 the Office while I was there as well, which was 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:40.880 the sister was writing on the show when you were 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.560 on There isn't that? That was incredible. My sister and 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.480 I get along very well. Luckily there's a four year difference, 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.000 and you know, we would have lunched together. She she wrote. 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.600 I think she joined in season six, I think maybe 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.200 the sixth season. And she is so funny, and it 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.199 was she like a moon faced hays To like you know, 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:03.880 she's oh, she looks like Godrey Hepburn. Actually no, seriously, though, 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.200 you just nailed it. She has dark dar you don't. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.240 She has raven hair. She's her face is she raven 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:16.560 hair is out of a renaissance eat. I'm not an academic. 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.040 I don't know art, but it's out of like a 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.040 classical painting. She's beautiful. Where she go to school? She 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:25.200 went to Stanford. Oh my gosh, I know we went 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:28.439 so pathetic and stupid in your Well, yeah, everyone is 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.120 pretty smart, but I don't think that is I don't 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.320 think you have to go to those colleges if you're smart. 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.440 I think plenty of smart people don't go to those colleges. 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:40.560 When let you say that, yes, it's true. Now when 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:45.080 you finished the office, like, what was your feeling? Like? 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.040 I love when I did thirty Rock, I remember, I 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.280 thought to myself, it makes me kind of get choked 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:50.719 up bout a really good cry right now when I 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:52.480 say this, But because it's really hit me more and 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.320 more as time has gone on, because it's like it 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:57.200 was a home. It was home. Because the movie business 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.480 is so gypsy, like I mean, it's so nomadic. Makes 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.840 me cry and I cry a lot. But anyway, the 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.480 dory I cry a lot. I cried the other night. 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.599 What happened? Um? I think it was Oh, it was 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.600 an email. It was an email about plumbing for this 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.960 a plutment. I started crying, but that's a different that's crying. Yeah, 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:19.920 but it feels good and then it's over. We wait 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:21.280 wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.080 wait wait wait wait wait wait wait stop? What was 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.600 the plumbing email that made you crying? Well, it was 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.080 about choosing fixtures, and you cried because because I don't 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.440 know about that. I'm not an academic, I'm not a plumber. 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:36.560 What am I am? Nothing? I give me the lines 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.440 and all, I'm not an engineer, an engineer, and I 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.880 get frustrated very easily. It's always been this way. I 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.000 remember crying doing homework. I don't get it, and just 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.520 I get I get stressed out easily. Does your husband 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.000 handle some of this stuff? He? Or do you wear 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.000 the pants in the family? Oh? No, no, because you're 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:58.040 the star. Oh he's I'm not a star, but I 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.000 when when you're on my show, do me a favorite. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.840 I need you to pretend you're a star while you're here, 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:03.920 because this is this is a show where there's some 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.440 quotient of stardom. We have academics who come on, and 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:09.840 we have people who are like in public affairs and 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.920 education writer. But then maybe people on here who are 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:14.560 film and TV stars, and they need to kind of 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.400 act like I need today, starkay, I am the star 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.440 in the household and in the world. And but Michael 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.200 Coleman is his name, my husband, and he is eerily calm, 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:31.920 not eerily comfortingly calm, so he is a good of 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:37.280 you said eerily. Don't back up because he doesn't he 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.120 know he's a writer. As a writer, who is he 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:41.120 reading for now? He created the show Nathan for You, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:42.760 which if you haven't watched it, you would love it. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.440 It's on Comedy Central. It's stars this guy, Nathan Fielder, 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.800 and it's basically, uh, it's sort of um. He's a 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:53.000 small business consultant who goes in and tells businesses how 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.680 to improve their business. But his ideas are inane and crazy, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.000 and I really do think you would like it. I 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.040 want to be on it. You should be, Well, you 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:01.960 can't be on it. It's all real. It's all real 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.840 life people. So he goes into real life people and 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.520 with him, Yeah you should. I could go with him. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.080 Now we put it out there. Yeah, would that would be? 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.600 That would be something that we were dancing around. Why 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.520 you cried over the plumbing? We are because well it 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.040 was night. So I'm always a little more emotional at night. 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.440 I'm tired from the day, as we all are, and 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:28.160 I get well, this is okay. Here's what I'll say. 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.960 I think for a person, I think for a person, 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.120 I think that I'm sort of emotional. I think I'm 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.720 a little sensitive. I think that I'm a little tightly 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.640 wound for an actress. I am like the most normal 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:43.200 I've ever met. I am no, I just mean that 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.480 I don't have neuroses that are crazy. But I do cry, 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.920 for example, about something that seems too much to handle 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.440 at the time. Now you still haven't answer the question, 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.280 what would the plumbing issue? What what could happen plumbing wise? 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:58.880 It would make you cry? It was a decision I 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.800 had to meet you weren't is in the fixtures? Yes 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.639 it was. Three different fixtures had been emailed to me, 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:10.199 and I don't notice differences. But Kimmi Schmiant doesn't do fixtures. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.320 She does. It's not that she doesn't care, It's just 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.040 that I don't have a strong opinion about them. And 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.359 it made me. I guess the reason I crit is 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.000 I was exhausted and didn't want to make another decision 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.320 for them. And did you choose your husband? Chose? Um? 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.840 It still hasn't been decided. I still hasn't been decided. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:28.600 Would you like me to come over and decide? From 0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:33.160 down there to this new address? Now? The the the 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.040 you get out of the office, and how long is 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.600 the gap from that to Kimmy. Well, in fact, this 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.320 is what happened. As soon as the office was over, 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.399 I filmed a pilot for NBC that did not end 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:44.560 up going forward. It was called Brenda Forever. It was 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.160 very funny. But because that did not move forward, Why 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.560 do you think it didn't go forward? I really don't know, 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.560 because how do you It's like throwing spaghetti at the wall. 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.119 You never know what's gonna stick and what's going to 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.840 resonate with audiences. Frankly, I didn't know how audiences would 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.600 respond to Kimmi Schmidt. It's very weird. So this show, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.639 for whatever reason, the network decided we're not going to 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:06.000 push it forward, which happens all of the time. And 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.399 and well, you know what, there was a threesome scene 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.159 in an interracial threesome. Maybe that was too wild back then, 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.960 it was like three years ago. The pilot for it, 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.359 in the comedy it was a comedy, was very funny. 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:22.280 I played a orchestra conductor and it was and I 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.800 was mean, I really liked it. Meant was an interracial 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.160 three way. Yes, I could see clearly why I didn't 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.560 get picked. This is I mean it isn't that bizarre? 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.960 I mean, with the bizarre is mild you I think 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.520 you would think it was an interracial threesome with a 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:44.560 with a bitchy conductress with a bitchy maestro. She was duplicit, 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.960 she was she was evil like she she was bad 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.280 this character. But but isn't that the new thing antiheroes? 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.880 But then it's a story about what was the show about? 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:55.960 This show? Well, it was split. It was half so 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.880 Brenda Forever. We saw half of the show Brenda was thirteen, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.400 and that was played by obviously not me, um by 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.560 a younger actor. I could do it the route. Could 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:11.160 we stretch a face a little bigger, change your hair, 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.000 a little change pie face will be up for it. 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.600 It's a compliment. But then the other half of the 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.840 show was me as an adult. So that's why is 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.560 Brenda Forever intercut between the young girl and the older 0:19:22.920 --> 0:19:25.359 And it was so I really think you would like it. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.600 It was God, I see it's nowhere, but there's DVDs 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.440 of it. I'll get you a DVD. And even I 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:33.119 think you would like it. It was a lot of fun. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:34.679 I had a lot of fun doing that. But you know, 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:36.600 did one episode the pile. That was it was, it 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:38.960 was it. What did you do? Then? Then I thought, 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.520 what do I do? My agent Richard White's who is 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:45.240 Tina's agent? He and Robert Carl He said the pilot. 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.480 You know that my pilot was not going forward? He said, 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:49.560 get drinks with Tina and Robert New York City, talk 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:51.959 about did you Yes? You had drinks with the two 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.639 of them. Changed. So the first seed of Kimmy was 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:57.440 you sit down with the two of them. Could do 0:19:57.480 --> 0:19:59.960 many of them before. Now you never met them. Now 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.880