Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Katie Curic, and this is next question.
Speaker 1: I don't know about you all, but just thinking about
Speaker 1: Molly Shannon makes me smile. For six seasons, she starred
Speaker 1: on Saturday Night Live and brought to life so many
Speaker 1: enduring characters like Catholic schoolgirl, married Katherine Gallagher. Sometimes when
Speaker 1: I get nervous, I sticked my fans under my arms
Speaker 1: and then I smell my fingers like that proud fifty
Speaker 1: year old Sally O'Malley. Not one of those gals who
Speaker 1: is afraid to tell her real aid. I had to
Speaker 1: kick scretch kick and Delicious Dish co host carry rialto
Speaker 1: please welcome the owner of Seasons Eatings, Pete Schwetty. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot about her story I didn't know, like
Speaker 1: how she dealt with loss at a very young age,
Speaker 1: her Zaney father and coming into her own as a comedian.
Speaker 1: She gets into all of it in her new book
Speaker 1: called Hello Molly, and we get into all of it
Speaker 1: in our conversation Hello Molly. Well, Hello Molly. That was
Speaker 1: such a mom thing to do. But hey, what are
Speaker 1: you gonna do? Molly Shannon? I'm so happy to talk
Speaker 1: to you. Congratulations on your book and everything in your life.
Speaker 1: And just before we talk about what's in your book,
Speaker 1: how has it been, Molly? Have you been enjoying this
Speaker 1: book tour? Uh? You know, how was the process of
Speaker 1: writing it? Are you feeling super vulnerable? Just tell me
Speaker 1: what you're thinking and feeling these days. I do feel
Speaker 1: I have really been enjoying the process. I'm really proud
Speaker 1: of myself that I wrote a book. And yes, you
Speaker 1: I do feel vulnerable, but I mostly I've just been
Speaker 1: enjoying it. I've been enjoying the process, and I think
Speaker 1: I just appreciate opportunities and show business. So I have
Speaker 1: a generally positive attitude. Yes, but it's very very like
Speaker 1: deeply profoundly personal obviously, and uh, it's full of, as
Speaker 1: one critic said, emotional truth and just burying your soul
Speaker 1: and kind of letting people into the deep dark places
Speaker 1: of your psyche. Um. Is it something that made you
Speaker 1: at all trepidacious or does it feel liberating? What? Um? Yes?
Speaker 1: I think I thought about everything deeply and thought about
Speaker 1: it a lot, and would comb over stuff like is
Speaker 1: that okay? And is that? What about that? And what
Speaker 1: about that? I think deeply about each element. It's not
Speaker 1: like random or anything. I'm really thinking about it. Um.
Speaker 1: But I also think women should share their stories. And
Speaker 1: I think vague sentimental writing is kind of ring. And uh,
Speaker 1: I just was like, if you're gonna do it like
Speaker 1: you know, you did it. It's like, if you're gonna
Speaker 1: do it, do it, you know what I mean. I
Speaker 1: feel like women need other women, people need people, you know.
Speaker 1: I think, um, sharing stories is important. So I just
Speaker 1: wanted to be brave and do it and honest and
Speaker 1: yeah yeah and vulnerable. Yeah are you sick of telling
Speaker 1: these stories over and over again? Are you enjoying the
Speaker 1: publicity of it all? Um? I? I I guess I'm
Speaker 1: a comedian, so I don't mind telling the stories over
Speaker 1: and over again because I feel like I'm always like, oh,
Speaker 1: you can perfect how you tell it and set it
Speaker 1: up that way. I'm always thinking like as a writer.
Speaker 1: And also I had to do live book events, so
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I've got my little you know,
Speaker 1: act together on the roads. You you get better at
Speaker 1: kind of knowing Oh that fits, that works, like, you know.
Speaker 1: For those live book events, that made me nervous actually,
Speaker 1: because I felt like, are they expecting a comedy show
Speaker 1: or something? Is this. As a comedic actress, I felt like, oh,
Speaker 1: I better give them a thousand percent. And I said
Speaker 1: to my book publishers, I was like, do they know
Speaker 1: it's just like a Q and A because I get
Speaker 1: worried about, you know, being bor boring or something, you know,
Speaker 1: And did they tell you you don't have to do
Speaker 1: a whole like stand up routine. They did. They said, yep,
Speaker 1: you don't have to when people know what this is,
Speaker 1: and it's okay. But as I continue to do them,
Speaker 1: I would still, you know, okay, that story, that story
Speaker 1: gets a laugh, Tell that one. That's a good story
Speaker 1: that gets a laugh. So I, as a performer who
Speaker 1: does comedy, of course I am conscious of that. You know, well,
Speaker 1: you don't have to. You don't have to tell the
Speaker 1: stories that got to laugh. You can just have a
Speaker 1: s full on straight conversation with me about anything and
Speaker 1: everything you want to talk about. But wow, Molly, you know,
Speaker 1: I guess the tears of a clown. This is what
Speaker 1: I thought about when I read the part about your childhood,
Speaker 1: because I don't think that was particularly well known Molly,
Speaker 1: that you had a terrible loss when you were four
Speaker 1: years old. You lost your mom you lost your sister
Speaker 1: and you lost your cousin in a car accident, and
Speaker 1: your your father was badly injured as a result of it.
Speaker 1: And have people been as shocked to learn this about
Speaker 1: you as I was. Yes, I think people were like, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. And I kind of put it
Speaker 1: in context and I explained where certain characters came from,
Speaker 1: like Sally O'Malley, how she limps when she come on
Speaker 1: comes on stage, and how that's really me imitating my
Speaker 1: dad's limp after the accident, and then her kicking is
Speaker 1: really my wish for my dad to kick the braces
Speaker 1: off a lot of them. A lot of my characters
Speaker 1: are impressions of my dad. But as women, um there's
Speaker 1: a lot of kicking, a lot of physical stuff, and um,
Speaker 1: sometimes when you're not even conscious of stuff, it just
Speaker 1: comes out. You pour it out into the art and
Speaker 1: it helps you heal and survive. So I think it's
Speaker 1: interesting because people knew me as a comedian, but then
Speaker 1: to give the backstory of kind of where this comes
Speaker 1: from is hopefully can put it into a context. You know,
Speaker 1: We're gonna say one more thing, Katie. Yes, some people
Speaker 1: were asking, you know these interviews might be emotional, and
Speaker 1: this is hard, but you know, honestly, I don't mind
Speaker 1: being deadly serious. I am a more serious person in
Speaker 1: real life, and sometimes I find it harder to have
Speaker 1: to have to just be funnier, you know, do be
Speaker 1: on late night shows. You know, I'm so appreciative that,
Speaker 1: but that's really hard, Like I almost my true nature
Speaker 1: is to be more serious. You know. Well, can you
Speaker 1: talk I mean, at the risk of making you talk
Speaker 1: about it again as you I'm sure you've you've done.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a very harrowing story. Uh, tell us
Speaker 1: set the scene and what was happening, and then Molly,
Speaker 1: I can only imagine, and in fact, you write about
Speaker 1: all the emotional baggage that you and your father were
Speaker 1: left with. Can you give us the circumstances and what
Speaker 1: happened with the accident? Um? Yes, Well, there was a
Speaker 1: graduation party, um for my cousin, and it was like
Speaker 1: an all day party that went into the evening, and
Speaker 1: there had been drinking. And I was four years old,
Speaker 1: my sister Mary was six, and my baby sister Katie
Speaker 1: was three, and um, yeah, so my dad's version of
Speaker 1: the story, and I believe my dad. He stuck to
Speaker 1: his story till his death. Um and never wavered. Um.
Speaker 1: So And I lay this out in the book in
Speaker 1: the accident chapter. But basically, there was drinking earlier, he
Speaker 1: had taken a nap, and then they left much later
Speaker 1: at night, A group of people takes him out to
Speaker 1: the car, good bye, goodbye. You know. I guess my
Speaker 1: dad asked my mom to drive. She said, no, you're fine,
Speaker 1: you can drive. Yes, my cousin to drive, who was
Speaker 1: only five, And I think they let him drive, and
Speaker 1: you know people, a group of people are saying goodbye. Um,
Speaker 1: this is a different time now, I remember this is
Speaker 1: nineteen nine. We have so much more awareness on the subject. Now.
Speaker 1: We have mothers against drunk driving, we have friends don't
Speaker 1: let friends drive drunk. This is you know, people didn't
Speaker 1: wear seatbelts. It was you know. So anyhow, so we
Speaker 1: left and then the card jaid crash. It was ninety
Speaker 1: minutes into the drive home. And I will never know
Speaker 1: exactly what happened, Whether he fell asleep nodded off because
Speaker 1: he'd driven for ninety minutes, and did drinking. Was drinking
Speaker 1: involved in that? Yeah, I did drink. If he fell asleep,
Speaker 1: did drinking contribute to that, yes, probably, I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to bail him out of that, but there
Speaker 1: was never a blood alcohol report. So you know, my
Speaker 1: dad always stuck to that story till his death, like no,
Speaker 1: I had asked them to drive, and you know, so
Speaker 1: I chose to believe him. And I really admired my
Speaker 1: father and he was, like my mom, a gypsy rose.
Speaker 1: And after that horrible, devastating accident, he pulled himself up
Speaker 1: by his bootstraps and went on to raise two girls
Speaker 1: in the seventies and did his best job. And you know,
Speaker 1: he was a really good father, you know, but that
Speaker 1: must have been gosh, Molly's just a crushing blow. How
Speaker 1: old was your mom when my mom was thirty three? Yes,
Speaker 1: it's a crushing blow, um to my dad, to me,
Speaker 1: to my sister Mary, who survived. It was I'm aged
Speaker 1: four and life, as you know, it's just gone. Everything
Speaker 1: changed in a split second, and it was it was horrible,
Speaker 1: you know, And losing a parent at any age is
Speaker 1: extremely difficult, but losing a parent as a kid is
Speaker 1: just like a whole another thing. That's just you know,
Speaker 1: very sad. And you know it was I was in
Speaker 1: heavy grief. When I was little, really feeling like when
Speaker 1: I would do fun stuff, like my mom took my
Speaker 1: my aunt took me to the supermarket to buy, you know, toys,
Speaker 1: I would be like, Katie should be here. She would
Speaker 1: love these toys. Like everything made me mad. And when
Speaker 1: we went to live with my aunt after the accident,
Speaker 1: and my aunt um would cut sandwiches, but she would
Speaker 1: leave the cross on. I was like, no, my mom
Speaker 1: cuts the cross off. Do it like my mom? You know.
Speaker 1: It was just mad and heavy grief, too much for
Speaker 1: a child, you know, And you were four years old,
Speaker 1: and yet you remember so much. You talk about looking
Speaker 1: at Mary and having her sort of fall apart, your
Speaker 1: older sister h in the hospital, and it's it's amazing
Speaker 1: to me how how vivid those memories are for you still. Yes,
Speaker 1: they are so vivid and stuff you'll never forget. And
Speaker 1: it is interesting because it's such a you know, I
Speaker 1: remember that. I remember people coming into the hospital. Nobody
Speaker 1: would tell us what was going on. I was like,
Speaker 1: where is my mom? Where's Katie? And and then yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought, well Mary will be my guide posts. But
Speaker 1: she was just so upset and looking out the window
Speaker 1: and you know, crying, and so it was just like
Speaker 1: I was like, where is my mom and where is Katie?
Speaker 1: And nobody's telling us what's going on. They're just bringing
Speaker 1: us all these presents, and we just had our beds
Speaker 1: filled with toys, and I was just like, uh, must
Speaker 1: have been so confusing too, just for a little four
Speaker 1: year old girl to even attempt to process everything that
Speaker 1: was happening. It must have been so overwhelming. And this was,
Speaker 1: of course, you talk about a different time where people
Speaker 1: weren't that conscious about drinking and driving and all the
Speaker 1: things that were aware of today. They also weren't that
Speaker 1: knowledgeable about green and about processing grief and helping kids
Speaker 1: with grief. And I think in many ways we still aren't,
Speaker 1: of course. You know. I think about my girls who
Speaker 1: were six in and two when they lost their dad
Speaker 1: after a nine month illness, so kind of a different
Speaker 1: set of circumstances and six and ten, you six and two,
Speaker 1: six and two so little. So yeah, of course I
Speaker 1: relate to them, you know. And did you I know
Speaker 1: that you've you've talked about going to therapy, but this
Speaker 1: was much later when you went and and and talked
Speaker 1: about these issues. Did you get any help, any kind
Speaker 1: of counseling as a little girl to help you deal
Speaker 1: with this. No, I did not have any counseling. And
Speaker 1: I think people were like, don't talk about it, I'll
Speaker 1: make her sad, you know, And teachers didn't know what
Speaker 1: to do, and you know, nobody talked about you know,
Speaker 1: people didn't talk about it, and I think I didn't.
Speaker 1: I probably didn't want to talk about it because I
Speaker 1: think you don't want to stand out in school. You
Speaker 1: don't want to feel different. You want to just blend
Speaker 1: in and be normal. You know. It's so true. That's
Speaker 1: what kids do. They want to be normal. They don't
Speaker 1: want to have they don't want to be different than
Speaker 1: the other kids. And it's interesting when Ellie, Ellie's dad
Speaker 1: was sick, because Carrie was just so little. Ellie was
Speaker 1: in kindergarten and I I had this social worker come
Speaker 1: in and do this thing called the worry cup, and
Speaker 1: everybody put one of those plastic sort of fake gemstones
Speaker 1: into this cup in the middle of the circle and
Speaker 1: they all talked about what they were worried about, and
Speaker 1: what it did is Ellie obviously said she was worried
Speaker 1: about her dad who was sick. But other people said,
Speaker 1: I'm worried about my grandmother, I'm worried that my dog
Speaker 1: is going to die, and I'm worried about this that
Speaker 1: or the other thing. But it basically it made it
Speaker 1: made Ellie's pain and anxiety. It normalized it because it
Speaker 1: showed that she wasn't alone and that other kids were
Speaker 1: really worried about things too. And I remember her teacher
Speaker 1: telling me it was one of the most profound experiences
Speaker 1: she had ever had as a teacher. But you know,
Speaker 1: there obviously that wasn't around when you were a little girl,
Speaker 1: and you just were Obviously people didn't know what to say,
Speaker 1: and you just felt weirder and weirder. I'm sure, yeah,
Speaker 1: I although I did have a priest at St. Thomas
Speaker 1: who did when we moved back to our family home
Speaker 1: after my dad recuperated. We lived in my aunt for
Speaker 1: a year, and we did have a family priest when
Speaker 1: we went to church one day who knelt down and
Speaker 1: acknowledged the loss. He was like, no, Molly, you've lost
Speaker 1: your mother and your baby sister, and this is very sad.
Speaker 1: And he held my hands and looked deep into my eyes,
Speaker 1: and I really appreciated it. I was like, I felt
Speaker 1: seen mean and understood, and I was so happy he
Speaker 1: said something, and I just I loved him for it.
Speaker 1: He had big, thick eyebrows and and irish brogue. I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, I just I loved Father Murray
Speaker 1: for for that. You know, did your dad talk about
Speaker 1: it much or was he sort of of the school
Speaker 1: let's not bring it up because it'll make Molly and
Speaker 1: Mary sad. He had a picture of her by his
Speaker 1: bedside night table, with her in her wedding dress with
Speaker 1: a rosary draped over the photographs. So I grew up
Speaker 1: always seeing that in her mask card. And he would
Speaker 1: talk about her, yes. And when he would clean the house,
Speaker 1: you know, he was a single father after that, so
Speaker 1: he would he would get stressed out cleaning and and
Speaker 1: then you know, he would take sometimes he would take
Speaker 1: Dexi mill to clean the house, a combination and embeeming
Speaker 1: and tranquilizer. He would stay cleaning and clean all the
Speaker 1: next thing in the house was sparkling, clean and even
Speaker 1: play Judy Garland. And then we would sit on the
Speaker 1: floor in the kitchen on the carpet. It was like
Speaker 1: nineteen's kitchen and we would eat He's like, don't get
Speaker 1: crumbs on the ground. But we would be like angel
Speaker 1: of God, my guardian, dear to whom God's love commits
Speaker 1: us here. God bless Mommy, Katie and France. Every day
Speaker 1: we did that every every day. Yeah, so he kept
Speaker 1: their memory alive for you and your sister. He really did.
Speaker 1: And he would talk about her, and yes he did,
Speaker 1: he did. Yes, yes, he would talk about We'll be
Speaker 1: right back with the ever Charmie often hilarious, Molly Shannon,
Speaker 1: right after this, your dad sounds like such a character, um,
Speaker 1: not only taking speed to do the housework, but also
Speaker 1: also just how much funny was. And you describe him
Speaker 1: as as your mama June, you know, and and um,
Speaker 1: tell me a little bit about him, because he sounds
Speaker 1: like he was so much fun to be around. He
Speaker 1: really was. He was just like very silly. He was
Speaker 1: a frustrated performer. He always said that he wished he
Speaker 1: would have gone to the Cleveland Playhouse and been an actor.
Speaker 1: So everything around the house like it was like games.
Speaker 1: Or if you went to the candy store like staffers
Speaker 1: on Stopain Boulevard and Cleveland. O, how he go, Molly,
Speaker 1: how about if we go into candy store and I'll
Speaker 1: putend like I'm blind, and I was like okay, Like
Speaker 1: everything was like a scene or a sketch. And he
Speaker 1: would knock boxes of chocolates over and then he would
Speaker 1: take samples and go, is this chocolate? Like very silly?
Speaker 1: And then um. He would also undress the mannequins or
Speaker 1: he would if a lot of times he didn't want
Speaker 1: to pay because he worried about money. So if we
Speaker 1: went to the amusement park Giaga Lake, he would say
Speaker 1: to Anne Rampton, you know, I'll tell you what. Why
Speaker 1: don't you speak around the back and hop over the
Speaker 1: fence and then come meet me in the front. So
Speaker 1: I don't want to pay for you. So we were like,
Speaker 1: you know, we're like eleven and ten or eleven, and
Speaker 1: we climb over and hop over barbed wire fence and
Speaker 1: get scratched, and then he wouldn't have to pay, you know. Um.
Speaker 1: But then he could equally turn and get mad too,
Speaker 1: Like he would have to take us to you know,
Speaker 1: get us our clothes for school. And we went to
Speaker 1: this local place called the Lollipop Shop, and my dad
Speaker 1: was buying dresses. You know, he had very good taste.
Speaker 1: He was like, classics are the best. He bought all
Speaker 1: the dresses to the counter and then the woman said,
Speaker 1: oh no, I'm sorry. He had pulled him off the
Speaker 1: sales rap sales rack. She said, no this, these dresses
Speaker 1: aren't on sale, and he was like what. Then he
Speaker 1: would kind of blow up and like, well, that's false advertising,
Speaker 1: and he would go and knock all the clothes down
Speaker 1: off the rack, one rack, two racks, and push the
Speaker 1: racks over. Then come on, girls, and then he would
Speaker 1: like you weren't mortified. We were mortified, And then he
Speaker 1: would hurl an insult at the sales person like on
Speaker 1: the way out, like and fix your teeth. Come on girls,
Speaker 1: you know, like terrible. We'd be like, oh no, yeah,
Speaker 1: so um yes. So he was charismatic and funny, but
Speaker 1: then he could also you know, get stressed out and
Speaker 1: with all responsibilities of shopping and cleaning and cooking and
Speaker 1: you know, um. But but overall though, he was very
Speaker 1: loving and I felt like he always had my back
Speaker 1: and he believed in me and you know, accepted me.
Speaker 1: So you know, I wanted to tell a real, you know,
Speaker 1: truthful portrait. It was, yeah, sometimes complicated, but I had
Speaker 1: deep love for my father, and was he the one
Speaker 1: that encouraged your theatrical creative side, Molly? How did that blossom?
Speaker 1: And how did he? Um, gosh, I guess nurture that? Well?
Speaker 1: He was he He loved movies. We grew up watching
Speaker 1: Judy Garland and Easter Parade and Rously and Russell, and
Speaker 1: he loved those strong dames. So I grew up watching
Speaker 1: them thinking oh, maybe I should be like them. And
Speaker 1: then we were always doing skits in the house. We
Speaker 1: would do like a telephone game. I call it the
Speaker 1: Gym Shannon School of Acting, where we would take phone
Speaker 1: calls and my dad we had to be really real,
Speaker 1: so I would answer the phone, Hello, Shannon rests his Molly,
Speaker 1: and you go, no, no, that sounds fake, or you
Speaker 1: would start the call like you you want to uh
Speaker 1: huh yeah, And so you had to do it really real,
Speaker 1: so much to the point where when friends were over,
Speaker 1: we would fake ring the call. And if say you
Speaker 1: were at my house and I was, you know, Katie's
Speaker 1: over for a play date, I'd be like, hello, Shannon
Speaker 1: rests Molly. Yeah, yeah, Katie's right here. Uh huh yeah, right, okay, yes,
Speaker 1: I can put it on you know, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: pull you in so much that we could really trick
Speaker 1: our friends. And I really do use that acting technique now.
Speaker 1: I used it in White Lotus. I always try to
Speaker 1: use the Gym Shannon School of acting in my you know,
Speaker 1: professional Well, how does that how does that translate to
Speaker 1: like the roles you're playing the Gym Shannon School because
Speaker 1: you it gives a natural performance. It does give it
Speaker 1: not It's not like some caricature. It's real. So if
Speaker 1: you're playing you know, like Kitty and White Lotus, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing like and Darla and come over here. I'm
Speaker 1: doing Oh he's so cute. I'm doing it real. But
Speaker 1: she's making it real. But she's that type of person.
Speaker 1: But I still hope to do it grounded and real.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing I mean that is from my dad.
Speaker 1: It wasn't that interesting. And then and then in l A,
Speaker 1: I remember struggling and I was like, oh, it's so hard.
Speaker 1: I'm not blonde and beautiful. I'm never gonna make it.
Speaker 1: He was like, well that's not a good attitude, Molly.
Speaker 1: You're never gonna make it if you have that attitude.
Speaker 1: And he's like, what you need to do is you know,
Speaker 1: put on your high heels, doll yourself up, put on
Speaker 1: some lipstick, and you march in there to those Hollywood
Speaker 1: agents and casting directors and you say, hey, hold the phone,
Speaker 1: I got talent and use your singing voice. And I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, I don't know if that's gonna work.
Speaker 1: But when I had my first meeting with a talent manager,
Speaker 1: Barbara Jarrett in um New York City, who represented an
Speaker 1: up and coming freckle faced Jerry O'Connell, and stand by me,
Speaker 1: I did do that. I sang the song Chica Go,
Speaker 1: Chica Go. I sang at Judy Garland song like my
Speaker 1: dad liked. And I got up on the desk and
Speaker 1: Barbara Jarrett was like, you got a kid, and she
Speaker 1: signed me and I was up. You know. So it's
Speaker 1: like his advice work. Did you call your dad and say,
Speaker 1: hey it worked, dad, I did. He knew it. He
Speaker 1: was like I told you, you know, he was always like,
Speaker 1: all yourself up, jump on the desk, and usually you know,
Speaker 1: and use your voice. Is that what he said exactly?
Speaker 1: He did use your singing voice. Yes, that's so funny.
Speaker 1: I know, it's so crazy. Um, so I have to
Speaker 1: ask you about there was a time in Cleveland when
Speaker 1: when you hopped on a plane wearing with a friend
Speaker 1: wearing ballet to twos after your dad dared you, Yes,
Speaker 1: my dad dared us. He said, you know what would
Speaker 1: be the greatest stunt if you hopped on a lane, boy,
Speaker 1: that would bind you up in the front pages of
Speaker 1: the papers, and so and and I one summer day,
Speaker 1: right before Labor Day, decided to do it. We told
Speaker 1: my dad, I think we told her brother and he
Speaker 1: was like, we're never gonna get do that. And we
Speaker 1: we took the rapid transit out to the airport Cleveland,
Speaker 1: hopping at the airport, and we figured if the hopping
Speaker 1: on the plane didn't work, we would go take a
Speaker 1: ballet class. Yeah. Anne was eleven, I was thirteen. So
Speaker 1: we had pink leotards on, our hair pulled back in buns,
Speaker 1: and um pink skirt and pink tights and we looked
Speaker 1: like a little innocent prima ballerina's. And we went to
Speaker 1: the airport and we saw two flights, one to San Francisco,
Speaker 1: went to New York. And I was like, let's go
Speaker 1: to New York. We just went up to the gate.
Speaker 1: This is before security. This is nineteen seventy six, and uh,
Speaker 1: we just said to the Sertis committee, get on and
Speaker 1: just go. Say goodbye to my sister. She's on the flight.
Speaker 1: She was like, oh sure, you sweet girls, go ahead.
Speaker 1: And then we went and the plane was and I crowded,
Speaker 1: and we ducked down in the seat and then um
Speaker 1: the plane start. She forgot about. The plane starts backing
Speaker 1: up and then going towards the runway and we were like,
Speaker 1: oh god. We start saying Hail Mary's were like, Hail
Speaker 1: Mary for the gracefulders wip me, blessed our the almost
Speaker 1: blessed frough them justicing room to go, and then the
Speaker 1: planes up in the air and we couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1: And then that same woman came around to ask us
Speaker 1: for our drink orders, and she looked like she was
Speaker 1: in shot. She was like, and I getting lady something
Speaker 1: to drink. And we were the coat Galipinus. And then
Speaker 1: we had the best flight. Then we when we landed,
Speaker 1: we thought we're gonna get busted, and we're walking down
Speaker 1: the aisle and then we got to the front of
Speaker 1: the plane. We see that same stewardess and she just
Speaker 1: went fie, ladies, have a nice trip. She was in
Speaker 1: like a like a she was she looked like she
Speaker 1: was about to So what what did you all do?
Speaker 1: Then we went and we asked people, you know, how
Speaker 1: do you get So we were at JFK. We didn't
Speaker 1: know anything about New York City. I just said, well,
Speaker 1: we had to get to the to the subway station
Speaker 1: in the airport. So we walked. We were just like,
Speaker 1: how do you get to the subway? And that We
Speaker 1: walked for twenty minutes and then we topped the turnstile.
Speaker 1: We only had a few dollars, and then we went
Speaker 1: and we dined and Dash had a little diner, and
Speaker 1: then we went and we stole I Love New York
Speaker 1: t shirts and and we just were tooling around the
Speaker 1: streets of New York like how did you get home?
Speaker 1: We called my dad and then he was like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, we're like we're in New York. And he
Speaker 1: was like he couldn't believe it, and he couldn't be
Speaker 1: mad at us since he'd given us permission, so he uh,
Speaker 1: he was like, oh my god, oh my god. And
Speaker 1: then he called anne rams mom and she immediately broke
Speaker 1: out in cold sores. And she was like, oh my god.
Speaker 1: And then my dad thought, well, maybe Mary and I
Speaker 1: will drive to New York City from Cleveland and meet you.
Speaker 1: So he called a couple of hotels to see if
Speaker 1: we could wait in the lobby till he got there,
Speaker 1: and they no hotel wanted to be responsible. They wanted
Speaker 1: an adult with a credit card. So he was like,
Speaker 1: all right, well you gotta come back home, and you know,
Speaker 1: come back home tonight and you know, try to hop
Speaker 1: on a plane back home. I'm not paying for it.
Speaker 1: So we went back to the airport and we tried
Speaker 1: to help on three and it didn't work. He kept
Speaker 1: getting caught, and then we called him and he put
Speaker 1: it on his credit card and we eventually had to
Speaker 1: pay him back with our babysitting money. But it was
Speaker 1: the greatest day ever. That is such a funny story.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised you haven't used that in a movie or
Speaker 1: done a skit about that. Yeah, I know I've told
Speaker 1: the story orally, but it's just it's crazy. And I'm
Speaker 1: still very close to Anne Ramped, the girl in the story.
Speaker 1: More with Molly in just a minute. I know that
Speaker 1: when you were at n y U you had a
Speaker 1: very formative experience. That kind of I think opened your
Speaker 1: eyes and simultaneously opened doors as well. Can you tell
Speaker 1: us about that in your final project? N y U
Speaker 1: Drama School was great. Uh. Yeah. We had to do
Speaker 1: the exercise where it was like where you have to
Speaker 1: be the our Laquino and it was the only grade
Speaker 1: for the semester, and students were renting out warehouses to
Speaker 1: practice their and our Laquino is basically like the comic
Speaker 1: relief in the Italian uh theatrical experiences. It comes out
Speaker 1: he's the clown. And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, you're
Speaker 1: renting out at warehouse to practice your arloquino and I
Speaker 1: hadn't done that, and it was getting closer to and
Speaker 1: and I think for the for the class, maybe only
Speaker 1: two people have performed the ar laquino for the class
Speaker 1: because they were just like a long, kind of long
Speaker 1: routine and you had to sew a fake penis with
Speaker 1: the sock because it's a boy character. That part was fun.
Speaker 1: I was like, I sewed up my little fake penis,
Speaker 1: but but I did not practice at all, and then
Speaker 1: the day came right to perform and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh god, I'm so scared. Um. I knew that they
Speaker 1: wanted beats of three, like you had to if you
Speaker 1: did a gimmick like come through the jory had to
Speaker 1: try once, try twice and then you know, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you you know, and then the third time you succeed.
Speaker 1: So there had to beat jokes with beats of three
Speaker 1: and but and you had to make a long story short,
Speaker 1: I just went crazy. I just committed with my full
Speaker 1: heart because I figured, you know this, this is a
Speaker 1: big comic performance, and I think I know what this is.
Speaker 1: I think it just has to be spontaneous and big
Speaker 1: and broad and take chances. And I just went crazy
Speaker 1: and I used the acting teacher. I kind of improvised
Speaker 1: in character as you are Lakino, kind of playing around
Speaker 1: with him and like you think you're such a big deal,
Speaker 1: you big acting teacher. And the kids loved it. To
Speaker 1: make a long story short, the performance brought the house down.
Speaker 1: I fell in the trash can. I did beats of three,
Speaker 1: I you know, came through the door. I did all
Speaker 1: the physical things and I got a standing ovation and
Speaker 1: it was like kind of a turning point, m YU
Speaker 1: where I was like, oh my gosh, maybe I'm onto
Speaker 1: something like this, you know, this kind of organic, um,
Speaker 1: big comedy performance where you stick with the basic beats
Speaker 1: but then let yourself be really free within those parameters.
Speaker 1: And I think I did use that years later on
Speaker 1: Saturday Night Love. I know, like a lot of people, Molly,
Speaker 1: you didn't get the gig after your first audition, right,
Speaker 1: what happened? No SNL came around and they asked for
Speaker 1: a tape, and all these women in town very funny
Speaker 1: comedy when we're all making you know, five minutes VHS tapes,
Speaker 1: And I spent all my waitressing money on my tape
Speaker 1: and had this editor do it. And I had no
Speaker 1: money after that, and I was I was on a
Speaker 1: pay phone outside of my apartment on the corner of
Speaker 1: Fountain and Vine across the Elpoyo Loco, when I found
Speaker 1: out that Lauren Michaels had passed or you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you ever saw it. And I cried
Speaker 1: on the pay phone and I I was broke and
Speaker 1: and I was so disappointed. But then I thought, you
Speaker 1: know what, I'm just gonna take a deep breath, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna continue to perform and write and do my
Speaker 1: stage show and write characters and developed more new characters
Speaker 1: so that if they come back around, I'm going to
Speaker 1: be locked and loaded and ready. And they came back
Speaker 1: around five years later and they said, can we have
Speaker 1: a tape again? And I said, no, I'm not getting
Speaker 1: my tape. You gotta come see my live show and um,
Speaker 1: because I thought it teems too easy for them to
Speaker 1: say no. And Marcy Kleine flew out and saw my
Speaker 1: live show. She was like, you're coming to New York
Speaker 1: to audition for Saturday in It Live and so and
Speaker 1: the rest, as they say, is history. But during those
Speaker 1: five years, so you just stayed at it. You just
Speaker 1: did your show you wrote you did, but you also
Speaker 1: did something I guess, the ma'm at scam. M. Yes,
Speaker 1: well we were back during that period. That was before
Speaker 1: I got Saturday in It Live. That was probably a
Speaker 1: little bit after drama school. My friend Eugene Pack and
Speaker 1: I were in l a Um having a really hard
Speaker 1: time getting agents. We would I would walk up and down,
Speaker 1: Sen said boulevards, slit my head shot under agent stores.
Speaker 1: Nobody was calling, and we thought we gotta figure something out.
Speaker 1: So we I called it the mam At Scam. We
Speaker 1: had studied with David Mammon at n y U You.
Speaker 1: Gene Peck studied with him more than me. I took
Speaker 1: a few classes. But we just decided that we would
Speaker 1: uh call agents and um agents that we were interested
Speaker 1: in meeting. Like I wanted to meet the agent that
Speaker 1: represented Joan Cusack. I was like, that's somebody that might
Speaker 1: like comedy girls. So we did our research and we
Speaker 1: each had a list of people we wanted to meet.
Speaker 1: I wanted to meet Bernie Brillstein. I wanted to be
Speaker 1: on Twin Peaks, so I wanted to meet the cast
Speaker 1: member of Twin Peaks. So so basically what we would
Speaker 1: do is we would Friday nights at about four o'clock,
Speaker 1: we would call different agents offices. My my character was
Speaker 1: Liszt Stockwell, Jean's fake Eugene's character was Arnold Katz, and
Speaker 1: I would call these agents and I would say, Hi,
Speaker 1: this is list Stockwell calling for X agent and UM
Speaker 1: listock Well from David Mammont's office, and they would put
Speaker 1: the agent right on the phone and I would say, listen,
Speaker 1: Barb or whatever. I have this kid in town. He's
Speaker 1: the star of David d play. He's like the hot
Speaker 1: up and comer and you got to meet him. David
Speaker 1: speaks so highly of your agency, and they were like, squeep,
Speaker 1: please give David my best and um, we knew that
Speaker 1: the legendary playwright, uh screenwriter David Maammitt Gary Glenn Ross
Speaker 1: wasn't in a llay a lot. He was more of Vermont,
Speaker 1: New York, so we kind of knew there wouldn't be
Speaker 1: a cross check. So if people were excited, they were
Speaker 1: excited to do that. David Maammont thinking about them Friday
Speaker 1: afternoon and they would say, great, you know, why don't
Speaker 1: you have Eugene call me and what's out at the appointment.
Speaker 1: But we had a rule since Eugene Pack and I
Speaker 1: had worked in sales together. We worked at Park Avenue
Speaker 1: Squash in Fitness in New York and we had a
Speaker 1: role we were selling health club memberships that you could
Speaker 1: not hang up the phone, so you had the credit card,
Speaker 1: you have to have sale. So we did the same
Speaker 1: thing with the mam and skin. You couldn't hang up
Speaker 1: until you have the appointment in the book. So whatever
Speaker 1: obstacle there was, we had an answer. So they said,
Speaker 1: have have Eugene call me. Liz, I'd say, this kid
Speaker 1: is so busy, he's just meeting everyone, he's in rehearsal,
Speaker 1: So why don't we just get the appointment in the books.
Speaker 1: And then we would crack up with Jane would pass
Speaker 1: me a little notes and and then they would say great,
Speaker 1: you know, and then he'd have them meeting and then
Speaker 1: they say, Liz, we should have lunch. I'd say, I
Speaker 1: love it. I'll have my assistant call you. I was
Speaker 1: just a positive gal, very positive, happy, so funny. And
Speaker 1: that's how we got in. And I got casts on
Speaker 1: Twin Peaks through the Mammit scam. Geane Pat called the
Speaker 1: legendary casting rictor Joanna Ray. She was like, I would
Speaker 1: love to meet Molly. Give David my best. And then
Speaker 1: she met me and she was like, you Twin Peaks,
Speaker 1: you must meet David Lynch and she cast me on
Speaker 1: Twin Peaks. That was through Arnold Cats. I met Bernie
Speaker 1: brill See and Bernie was like, yeah, my best to David.
Speaker 1: You must meet my daughter Molly. You know nich I mean,
Speaker 1: so it was just like we met everyone did did
Speaker 1: they Did they ever find out it was a total scam? Um? No? Actually,
Speaker 1: now they'll know, yes, And now they'll know. Yes, um no,
Speaker 1: Joanna Ray does does know now and she was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, that is so funny. She was just
Speaker 1: such a wonderful cast regetter. But Katie, what I have
Speaker 1: to say is we felt like we're doining them like
Speaker 1: a favor to their meeting this talent. They're meeting talented,
Speaker 1: they're meeting us, yes, meeting us. And I feel like
Speaker 1: sometimes women do need to push the envelope a little
Speaker 1: to even out the biased playing field in Hollywood. Maybe
Speaker 1: more women need to do that sometimes. Yeah, they need
Speaker 1: a friend like Eugene. Really you need a partner in
Speaker 1: crime because otherwise it's no fun, right, exactly exactly. I
Speaker 1: mean it was fun and people, it was very good
Speaker 1: energy and the brilliant David Man that people were delighted
Speaker 1: that he's on their mind. It was all very positive.
Speaker 1: You know, it's all very positive, lying right, yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: but you know you talk about Hollywood and kind of
Speaker 1: compensating for the bias that exists. I do feel like
Speaker 1: there are many more opportunities opening up where there weren't before.
Speaker 1: But I'm curious about for for a woman as she
Speaker 1: gets older. You know, women used to be considered washed
Speaker 1: up by thirty right back in the day. And and
Speaker 1: do you feel like that's that's changing. I mean I
Speaker 1: could only speak for myself, I hope, so I just think, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting, like as far as comedy goes. I
Speaker 1: I remember being like, I really feel like I have
Speaker 1: to write for myself because I felt like if I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna be in these like boys shows, I'm going
Speaker 1: to be reduced to these like little parts of like yes,
Speaker 1: doctor or I don't not to make a generalization, but
Speaker 1: I felt like as a woman, I feel like if
Speaker 1: you could write, you should write for yourself. Um, it's
Speaker 1: going to be better if you can. But and I
Speaker 1: also feel like I never wanted to react against men.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be a woman or be a
Speaker 1: girl and right from a girl's point of view and
Speaker 1: such kind of like I can be like that, didn't.
Speaker 1: I don't think reacting against something is good. I think
Speaker 1: just come from within and be yourself. It's so exciting
Speaker 1: to see you and in a lot of these roles
Speaker 1: these days. Talk about some of the recent roles that
Speaker 1: you've had, because I'm always so delighted, Molly when I
Speaker 1: see you, and I think Oh, I'm so happy Molly
Speaker 1: is in this. So let's talk about some of the
Speaker 1: roles that you've done in in recent years. Promising Young Woman,
Speaker 1: How was that? That was so fun? Emerald Fennel is
Speaker 1: so talented. I read that script and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, this is so good. It's one of
Speaker 1: those things that just you close that script and I
Speaker 1: was like, I have to be in this movie. Um.
Speaker 1: Originally she offered me a different part that I couldn't
Speaker 1: do because the kids and my husband I were going
Speaker 1: to Tokey took a vacation. But then she gave me
Speaker 1: another part. Yes, I'm so excited to be in it.
Speaker 1: She's so talented, and I was so happy to work
Speaker 1: with Mike White and White Lotus recently. That was such
Speaker 1: a blast. And Chris Kelly, who I do the other
Speaker 1: two with on HBO Max. And then Chris wrote a
Speaker 1: beautiful movie for me called Other People where I play.
Speaker 1: It's based on his mother who died of cancer, and uh,
Speaker 1: I play you know a wonderful part in that It's
Speaker 1: it's It's one of my favorite performances. And then Mike
Speaker 1: White wrote movies for me like You're the Dog. I
Speaker 1: did Enlightened with Mike, a TV series with Lord Dern
Speaker 1: and My love that show. It's so good. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: played Mike White. Is on fire, isn't he? He's on fire?
Speaker 1: He is? He is. He takes chances. He's really like
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny too. When I was writing my book, Katie,
Speaker 1: he was like, Molly Vague, sentimental writing is not good writing.
Speaker 1: So you know, make it rich, don't make it big.
Speaker 1: You know. He was really encouraging um. But yeah, he
Speaker 1: takes chances, and I think it's great because he ups
Speaker 1: the game and writing. You know, people are like, what
Speaker 1: you know, he really he's brave. Meanwhile, Molly Shannon, you
Speaker 1: have a new show on Showtime. Yes, show tell me it.
Speaker 1: Don't give it away, baby, Okay, great baby. It's called
Speaker 1: I Love That for you. And my character is Jackie
Speaker 1: Vanessa Bear created a show. It's about her childhood and
Speaker 1: overcoming child with leukemia and um. Basically, I play the
Speaker 1: top saleswoman Jackie and it's it's all about the world
Speaker 1: of home shopping network and it's fantastic and premieres at
Speaker 1: the end of the month on Showtime. And Jennifer Lewis
Speaker 1: is in It's all great cast and uh and I
Speaker 1: love Vanessa too, by the way, And it's so exciting
Speaker 1: because I guess in some ways, when you leave SNL,
Speaker 1: you probably there's a part of you that thinks, is
Speaker 1: that all there is? My friend? Yeah, little Peggy Lee
Speaker 1: there for you, Molly. I like that. I like what
Speaker 1: I mean. You probably worry, like what's going to be next?
Speaker 1: And you know, is this as good as it gets?
Speaker 1: Hype thing? Oh? Sure? Yeah, But I had to say
Speaker 1: getting that job so far exceeded my expectations for life
Speaker 1: that I was just like I could actually like freeze
Speaker 1: myself right there and just be so happy. Um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: you do worry about that. But I also really wanted
Speaker 1: a personal life and I didn't want my whole life
Speaker 1: to just be working. I wanted to have kids, and
Speaker 1: so I I just love being a mom. So I
Speaker 1: am pretty laid back about that because my main focus
Speaker 1: is like my kids and acting as more secondary to me,
Speaker 1: and I think that gives that that's made it. Really
Speaker 1: I'm pretty relaxed because that's a great that's a great
Speaker 1: way to be in a great attitude to have because
Speaker 1: sort of it's the it's gravy, right, because You've got
Speaker 1: your priority straight. I met your daughter um at a
Speaker 1: party this past summer. Remember we ran into each other
Speaker 1: where Chris Martin was singing. I think he was singing
Speaker 1: to me, Molly, I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: I'm kidding. Okay, But how are your how are your
Speaker 1: kids doing? My kids are so great. Stella is my
Speaker 1: eighteen year old. She's going to college. She wants to
Speaker 1: be an actress. I'm so proud of her. And my
Speaker 1: son Nolan is just fantastic seventeen. He's a amazing uh
Speaker 1: skate skater, surf He's gotten into surfing lately. He's very
Speaker 1: athletic and just adorable. And they are the apple of
Speaker 1: my eye. And I think I really appreciate it so
Speaker 1: much because my mom didn't get to see us grow up.
Speaker 1: So I get to watch my kids grow up, and
Speaker 1: I just don't I really don't take it for granted.
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is the best, you know, Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: really enjoying it. And I feel like you learned so
Speaker 1: much about yourself as a mom. You know, I really
Speaker 1: am enjoying it. I love learning and reading books and
Speaker 1: I try to become a better parent, and I tried
Speaker 1: to work on myself and become better every day. I
Speaker 1: think the loss of your mom at such a young age,
Speaker 1: I think obviously has given you this Jouis d avive
Speaker 1: and and this appreciate ation of everything good in your life,
Speaker 1: which is a really wonderful thing. Thank you, Katie, It's true.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Yeah. Once again,
Speaker 1: a big thank you to Molly Shannon. Her new book
Speaker 1: is called Hello Molly, and it's out now. You can
Speaker 1: also capture on her new excellent TV show called I
Speaker 1: Love That for You on Showtime. So until next time
Speaker 1: and my Next Question, I'm Katie Curry. Next Question with
Speaker 1: Katie Couric is a production of My Heart Media and
Speaker 1: Katie Couric Media. The executive producer's army Katie Curic and
Speaker 1: Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen, So see
Speaker 1: producers Derek Clements and Adriana Fasio. The show is edited
Speaker 1: and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about today's episode,
Speaker 1: or to sign up for my morning newsletter wake Up Call,
Speaker 1: go to Katie correct dot com. You can also find
Speaker 1: me at Katie Currect on Instagram and all my social
Speaker 1: media channels. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.