Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing?
Speaker 1: Are we rolling? Hi? Welcome, Welcome to confession. I'm father
Speaker 1: al What saw your mind? Kristen? I've done a lot
Speaker 1: of things. Kristen Wigg has indeed done a lot of things.
Speaker 1: She was a caterer, a waiter, the lady who gave
Speaker 1: out peach samples at a farmer's market. She's done floral design.
Speaker 1: She's answered phones at a law firm that lasted a day.
Speaker 1: But one thing she has done with astounding consistency for
Speaker 1: much of the past seven years is make me laugh
Speaker 1: until tears are streaming down my face. What was your name?
Speaker 1: Kristin Wiggs? Characters on Saturday Night Live are exercises in juxtaposition.
Speaker 1: The repulsively friendly target cashier, let's see soundscreen, nose plugs.
Speaker 1: I wear nose plugs around the house when my neighbor
Speaker 1: cooks bractoli, the revolting sexpot. One time, when I got
Speaker 1: really scute, I just read my shirt open and did
Speaker 1: tons of two any little bounces in a row. Judy
Speaker 1: the pathologically nervous travel expert. I'm not nervous. I just
Speaker 1: changed my mind about doing this. Just getting. I didn't
Speaker 1: change my mind. I changed my clothes, just getting my clothes,
Speaker 1: and change my addressed and I live it. Twenty one street,
Speaker 1: just getting job, one two street, just getting. I didn't
Speaker 1: move and I can move my body. Look just kidding.
Speaker 1: Lorne Michael's called Wig one of the top three or
Speaker 1: four performers in his show's history. Kristen inhabits her characters
Speaker 1: with the fierce commitment of a veteran film actor. It's
Speaker 1: no wonder her transition into movies was so smooth. Well
Speaker 1: you're kid, and you'll be my maid of honor. God,
Speaker 1: of course, of course I will. Perhaps Wig is best
Speaker 1: known for her starring role in Bridesmaids, which she also
Speaker 1: co wrote, earning her an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
Speaker 1: This spring, she's appearing in Jennifer Westfeld's new movie Friends
Speaker 1: with Kids. With all this success, it's hard to believe
Speaker 1: Whigg's career in comedy almost didn't happen. She grew up
Speaker 1: in upstate New York and Pennsylvania, never dreaming of making
Speaker 1: a living in the entertainment industry. When it was time
Speaker 1: for college, performing didn't even cross her mind. I was
Speaker 1: an art major. It wasn't really for me. I was
Speaker 1: kind of in my I hate the word party phase.
Speaker 1: I hate that word. I was having fun, I guess
Speaker 1: at that time, and I taking it easy. I was
Speaker 1: taking it easy, and then I didn't really know what
Speaker 1: I was having, Like what am I going to do
Speaker 1: with my life? You're in your ring ding ding peg.
Speaker 1: I've never used that term, but I'm going to And
Speaker 1: then I went back to Rochester because I wasn't sure
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do. And then I just started
Speaker 1: like taking classes at the local community college. And then
Speaker 1: I was like, I want to travel art art classes
Speaker 1: and there's no performance element of you're doing and more
Speaker 1: people saying to you, God, you're funny. I don't think
Speaker 1: people wake up when they're you know what. I never
Speaker 1: really did plays. I mean, if I had to give
Speaker 1: a speech in class, I would try anything to get
Speaker 1: out of it. I hated talking in front of people.
Speaker 1: I still actually don't really like doing that. If I
Speaker 1: myself and it's a group of people, it still makes
Speaker 1: me nervous. Anyway, after I was back in Rochester, I
Speaker 1: did a Knolls semester. Do you know what that is?
Speaker 1: It's like outward bound where you like live outside and learned.
Speaker 1: Is it like meaningful or is it ring ding ding? No,
Speaker 1: it's meaningful, yeah, soul searching and yes, oh yes, of
Speaker 1: course for three months there was a little bit of that.
Speaker 1: It's called what knowles National Outdoor Leadership School. You're laughing
Speaker 1: in me, it's like outward outdoor Leadership. Yeah. It was
Speaker 1: like you learn how to live outside and like just
Speaker 1: incase apocalypse and if you get lost in the woods,
Speaker 1: like I wouldn't know what to do. And if I
Speaker 1: was with you, I would bring up this conversation and say,
Speaker 1: you're on your own, you go get lost in I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be in the hotel watching Bridesmaids on pay per view. Anyway,
Speaker 1: long story short after that, went back to Rochester and
Speaker 1: then applied to the University of Arizona. Went there for
Speaker 1: a year. Why they're um, it was a boyfriend thing.
Speaker 1: And then you're pretty normal up until now, pretty normal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And then then I took an acting class. Where at
Speaker 1: University of Arizona, my major was studio art and you
Speaker 1: could pick three different types of art for that major,
Speaker 1: and it was like sculpture, painting, and I just tried
Speaker 1: this class called performance Art, which was very like writing
Speaker 1: poems and doing kind of yes, like very weird light
Speaker 1: changes and things like that, which was like my first
Speaker 1: experience of being on a stage. Even though it was
Speaker 1: like this tiny little box in front of a class.
Speaker 1: It was literally acting one on one that was one
Speaker 1: class one class, and I was terrified to take it
Speaker 1: because I, like I said, I hate standing up in
Speaker 1: front of people and performing. But something about this class
Speaker 1: we learned about improv and my teacher was really supportive,
Speaker 1: and at the end of the class he was just like,
Speaker 1: have you ever considered doing this? And I was like, no, yeah, right,
Speaker 1: was my teacher. Yeah. I just kept thinking about it,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't really happy there. I didn't really like
Speaker 1: the art program wasn't really for me. I don't want
Speaker 1: to say I had an epiphany, but I did have
Speaker 1: one of those moments where I was like looking at
Speaker 1: myself in the mirror and I was like, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? What do you want to do? If you
Speaker 1: could do anything in this world, what would it be?
Speaker 1: And I was like, I want to move to l
Speaker 1: A and try to be an actor, which was crazy,
Speaker 1: but I didn't stop myself. I packed my car like
Speaker 1: the next day and my roommate at the time in
Speaker 1: Arizona lived in Beverly Hills, and she said I could
Speaker 1: come stay with her. Started flowing in that direction. I
Speaker 1: didn't tell my parents that I was leaving arit office,
Speaker 1: and I just kept saying, God, it's really hot here.
Speaker 1: There's much sand everywhere, exactly West Hollywood, Arizona. Um. And
Speaker 1: when you got there, how quickly did you get into
Speaker 1: the down things thing? Not quickly because I moved there
Speaker 1: and I was like, kind of paste, don't you kind
Speaker 1: of you're kind of creeping up on this. I got
Speaker 1: there and I was like, what a slow motion epiphany?
Speaker 1: It was in a pivo. I got there and I
Speaker 1: was like, what am I doing? Because l A is
Speaker 1: a city of actors and performers and writers and filmmakers
Speaker 1: for the most part, I mean, that's where they all go.
Speaker 1: And I had zero experience. I wasn't, you know, nineteen
Speaker 1: and I just got a job and like, wasn't really
Speaker 1: doing anything job doing what I worked at anthropology? Did
Speaker 1: your story? You're so close an anthropology? Yeah? And I
Speaker 1: did like, were you security? I wasn't security, No, But
Speaker 1: I did a lot of like visual stuff because of
Speaker 1: my art background. I had help with like the displays
Speaker 1: and stuff. But when you say you you weren't sure
Speaker 1: what you were doing, there's something about you. In the
Speaker 1: time I've known you have been around, you were You're
Speaker 1: still kind of that way. Oh yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: I'm ever going to figure it out. I don't know,
Speaker 1: do you ever? I don't know. I mean I think
Speaker 1: that there's two types of people in the business and
Speaker 1: I've met. That is the ones that have that very
Speaker 1: Mickey Rooney kind of I'm going to be in show business.
Speaker 1: You know, they're kids and they just wanted to eat, sleep,
Speaker 1: and drink it. Then there's people who are, if not accidental,
Speaker 1: they certainly have a sense that they're visiting. I'll do
Speaker 1: this for now. You know. Yeah, I love performing, but
Speaker 1: there's such a big part of me that's like, don't
Speaker 1: look at me, do you know what I mean? It's
Speaker 1: hard to find that balance. I think also, like people
Speaker 1: assume if you're an actor, that you just like walk
Speaker 1: into a room and you're like, hello, listen to this story.
Speaker 1: I want everyone to gather out. The exact opposite. If
Speaker 1: I'm in a room full of people and someone says like, hey, Kristen,
Speaker 1: what happened at that thing. I'll just be like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'll start sweating and your dreaming going to dinner and
Speaker 1: someone else does all the talking. Yeah, that's why I
Speaker 1: like going to dinner with you. So when you're there
Speaker 1: and you get into the Groundlings, Groundlings opened everything up.
Speaker 1: How so because for you you're thinking acting and it
Speaker 1: was a performing on class. You said I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: to l to be an actress. And do you feel
Speaker 1: that you crossed the line and it was I'm a
Speaker 1: comedian or I'm a comedy actress. You never felt that way. No,
Speaker 1: I think it was it was improv. It was watching
Speaker 1: people be on stage acting without a script. There was
Speaker 1: something in me that was like, I want to do that.
Speaker 1: I know that I can do that. For some reason,
Speaker 1: it was less scary to me than having words in
Speaker 1: front of me, because I think when you're handed a script,
Speaker 1: you know that you're supposed to do it in a
Speaker 1: certain way, and people will think like, how is she
Speaker 1: reading this? But when you're improvising, there's nothing to compare
Speaker 1: it to and you can do whatever. Yeah. But when
Speaker 1: I started taking classes at the Groundlings and taking improv,
Speaker 1: it was like something just like clicked and I felt like, all,
Speaker 1: this is what I want to do. And but at
Speaker 1: the same time, did you get a sense of what
Speaker 1: you're doing? It was working. You were pretty good at it.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I think so, but you were good no,
Speaker 1: I mean it was something. It was nice to have
Speaker 1: that thing that I knew that I was good at. Finally,
Speaker 1: besides art, which is very personal and quiet, and you know,
Speaker 1: that was just sort of something I did by myself.
Speaker 1: You don't talk to anybody when you're drawing or painting.
Speaker 1: It's very um isolating. And for me, doing the Groundings
Speaker 1: was the exact opposite of that, because it's such a
Speaker 1: community and you're you improvise with other people and you
Speaker 1: have to connect with other people to make it work.
Speaker 1: Audition to get in it's like a school. I mean
Speaker 1: you have to go and take the first class, and
Speaker 1: then after the first class, your teacher tells you if
Speaker 1: you can move on or if you should repeat it,
Speaker 1: or if this isn't for you, and then you just
Speaker 1: keep going. And then the third level is like it's
Speaker 1: writing intensive. So that's that's like where I learned how
Speaker 1: to write was at the Groundlings. And the Groundlings was
Speaker 1: how long probably like four or five years. I guess
Speaker 1: a few years. Yeah, I mean there's time in between
Speaker 1: some of the levels because there's such a long waiting list.
Speaker 1: And then once I got into the main company, I
Speaker 1: was only in it for a handful of months before
Speaker 1: I got Now, when SNL comes knocking, for those we knocked,
Speaker 1: I don't know if they not, well, we sent it im.
Speaker 1: My manager sent a tape in. So you had an
Speaker 1: agent and a manager. I had playing the whole thing
Speaker 1: out there. I had a manager working. I've done a
Speaker 1: few pilots, I guess, and a few commercials. She weren't
Speaker 1: cloistered over there on the groundlings. You were, you were working,
Speaker 1: I was, yeah, I mean I still was had odd jobs.
Speaker 1: And when you connected with the SNL people, you sent
Speaker 1: material to them. Naomi sent a tape in. And then
Speaker 1: your manager, Yes, sorry, my manager, Naomi Odenkirk, whose I
Speaker 1: wouldn't have any of my career if it wasn't for her.
Speaker 1: I used to babysit for her, and then I asked
Speaker 1: her to come see my groundling show and she was
Speaker 1: like okay, um, yeah anyway, So that's how she signed
Speaker 1: me was from seeing me there. But she just kind
Speaker 1: of set my tape in and then you know, you
Speaker 1: don't hear anything, and then you just get a call.
Speaker 1: We'd liked her to audition this summer. Five characters, three impressions,
Speaker 1: five minutes, and I was like, Okay, I don't really
Speaker 1: have any impressions, so I'm gonna have to Like I'd
Speaker 1: never done impressions on stage at the groundings, it was
Speaker 1: just kind of like joking around with my friends. Flew
Speaker 1: out there. It was the most terrifying experience. Who are
Speaker 1: you doing it for? I don't even remember deceived darkness.
Speaker 1: I don't even I just remember Lauren was there, and
Speaker 1: and Seth and Marcy Tina, you know friends I had
Speaker 1: met it. No. I went to New York once when
Speaker 1: I was in eighth grade and like went to to
Speaker 1: like hard rock cafe or something. When I was in
Speaker 1: the eighth grade. No, I came to New York and
Speaker 1: I was like what. I bought a stopwatch because I
Speaker 1: really thought they were going to just turn the lights
Speaker 1: off at five minutes, because they said, like it's five minutes,
Speaker 1: please don't go over. So I was like electric. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I practiced in the with like a stopwatch, trying
Speaker 1: to get it under five minutes, exactly five minutes, and
Speaker 1: I don't do stand up, so the idea of performing
Speaker 1: by myself, I felt okay, I felt pretty good. They
Speaker 1: laughed a little bit. I was warned, you know, like
Speaker 1: it's going to be quiet, just do it. It's a
Speaker 1: tough crowd, just do it and go. If anything, I
Speaker 1: just felt happy that I did it because I was
Speaker 1: so terrified and shaking. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat,
Speaker 1: and it was over. I didn't hear anything, and I
Speaker 1: was like, okay, well that was an experience. And then
Speaker 1: like a month and a half later, we got a
Speaker 1: call saying can she come back, you know, and if
Speaker 1: she has new stuff or other stuff that would be
Speaker 1: great too. And I was like, I've crammed everything I've
Speaker 1: ever done in that five minutes. But then I just
Speaker 1: I came up with some new stuff, went back and
Speaker 1: did it again. Then they asked me to stay and
Speaker 1: meet with Lauren. I don't remember what I said, I
Speaker 1: do you have kind of an Alzheimer's problem now because
Speaker 1: you don't remember a lot. I don't remember because I
Speaker 1: was I was I do have a horrible memory. But
Speaker 1: also I was so nervous and probably didn't say much anyway,
Speaker 1: and then he was like, you know, well we don't
Speaker 1: really have room for you right now, but you know,
Speaker 1: your audition was great. I mean he was so sweet,
Speaker 1: and I was like okay, and then I left. I
Speaker 1: was so confused, and then I went home and then
Speaker 1: the season started, and I remember watching the first show
Speaker 1: and being like, well, I didn't get it. And then
Speaker 1: after the fourth show, we got a call saying can
Speaker 1: she come? So then I started, like fifth show in
Speaker 1: I started, which was even more nerve wracking because you
Speaker 1: feel a call you when they said get out here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: had you watched the show prior to yeah? Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'd grown up watching oh yeah, especially high school. I
Speaker 1: remember it was like people would watch it and then
Speaker 1: remember of high school. Yeah, I don't really remember. So
Speaker 1: you you you had an awareness of the show when
Speaker 1: you were a fan of the show, so when they
Speaker 1: called you and asked you to come, you felt nervous.
Speaker 1: Other than nervous, I I don't know if there was
Speaker 1: even much more than nervous. I was happy. I was
Speaker 1: so happy. I was like, this is too good to
Speaker 1: be true. And in my mind I'm thinking I'm moving
Speaker 1: to New York City? Where do I live? How do
Speaker 1: I get around? How do I move my stuff? What
Speaker 1: if I get there and none of my stuff works?
Speaker 1: You know it's getting us And I was a huge
Speaker 1: It's a huge deal. I mean I jumped up and down.
Speaker 1: I was I couldn't believe it. And I think the
Speaker 1: difference with SNL's if I had gotten my big break
Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it, if it was a
Speaker 1: pilot or a TV show got picked up or a movie,
Speaker 1: you kind of know what to expect, And with SNL
Speaker 1: you have no ideas written yet hasn't been written, Like
Speaker 1: what am I going to do on the show? How
Speaker 1: how does it's live? It's an hour and a half.
Speaker 1: But for you, in terms of that open field running,
Speaker 1: so to speak, in terms of there being a blank canvas,
Speaker 1: you went in there and you've created all these this
Speaker 1: incredible range of characters. You have a woman that's your
Speaker 1: writing partner, yes, Annie Mamolo and Annie Mamola. Where did
Speaker 1: you meet her at the ground when you went? Did
Speaker 1: they bring her along with you? When did she come along? Well?
Speaker 1: I mean I wrote Brides Means with her, but she's
Speaker 1: not she's not understand Who do you write with on SNL.
Speaker 1: I write a lot with James Anderson and Kent Sublet,
Speaker 1: who came from Groundling, to describe how that works, because
Speaker 1: people who don't know Wes and L don't know that
Speaker 1: there are these pairings. People kind of find something they
Speaker 1: dig right for you. Just find the people that you
Speaker 1: have they want to write for you. Yeah, and it's
Speaker 1: a similar sense of humor. It's easy, and people just
Speaker 1: naturally gravitate towards to give me a character that one
Speaker 1: of them wrote for you. The secret word sketch, I'm
Speaker 1: thrilled to be here. Look at me. Mindy Grayson is
Speaker 1: her name that like old Hollywood. They write that I
Speaker 1: have nothing to do with that, and it's such a gift,
Speaker 1: no secret words to an actress. I see the word
Speaker 1: and I explore it. And the movie reviewer Linda she
Speaker 1: was the Groundlings. I hated one and love the other.
Speaker 1: Gas so that you brought in your baggage with you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then I write that with Paula. Yeah. Yeah. My
Speaker 1: next film is Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland
Speaker 1: or what I like to call it, Alice and wonder
Speaker 1: if someone put LSD in my crystal like she originally was.
Speaker 1: I was doing her I think in the show maybe
Speaker 1: that that I was in when I got SNL and
Speaker 1: the most distracting thing along Helen Obama Carter, how would
Speaker 1: it Linda review Bridesmans would in Linda Sex, She'd probably like,
Speaker 1: there's too many women in it. When when I originally
Speaker 1: did that character, it was a sketch at the Groundlings
Speaker 1: and it was a woman who was on the plane
Speaker 1: who was watching the in flight movie, which was the Matrix,
Speaker 1: and she was so confused by it and she didn't
Speaker 1: understand anything, and she just kept talking to the people
Speaker 1: and like what is going on? And I tried it
Speaker 1: as a sketch at SNL like five times. It went
Speaker 1: to dress maybe three times, and finally someone was like,
Speaker 1: why don't you just try or an update, and so
Speaker 1: that's how she eventually got on the show. Recently, you
Speaker 1: did the news segment with Seth. We were that blonde
Speaker 1: bimbo who had her legs. Who is that woman? Rebecca LaRue?
Speaker 1: I think is her name? Here to tell us how
Speaker 1: we can meet a significant other by New Year's Flirting Expert,
Speaker 1: Rebecca LaRue. I want to tell you that I've never
Speaker 1: laughed so hard in my life, and like the last
Speaker 1: year then when I watched you do that, if you
Speaker 1: want to explain what you're doing right now, just like
Speaker 1: body language stuff you know that people can do. There's
Speaker 1: these women you play who have that kind of it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean to do with femininity or sexuality, it's just
Speaker 1: more of their psychological jaggedness, if you will. And Linda,
Speaker 1: that could be Uncle Bob. You take a character that
Speaker 1: it has there's no really no gender specifics to it.
Speaker 1: Then you turn around you play a woman who was
Speaker 1: very gender specific. It looks like, you know, you started
Speaker 1: flirting already. I'm just listening to you. I'm just really
Speaker 1: hearing you. You play the super hot, horny actress and
Speaker 1: you were so funny. I mean, there are some people
Speaker 1: in comedy who can't do both that. I have to say.
Speaker 1: One of the greatest gifts that I've gotten from SNL
Speaker 1: is getting out of my comfort zone. I realized, I
Speaker 1: think Lauren realized probably the first handful of years that
Speaker 1: I was there. Most of my characters were ladies in
Speaker 1: their forties with like short hair and weird sweaters that
Speaker 1: nobody Barbara Bush, no one wanted at the dinner party
Speaker 1: and The good thing about being at S n L
Speaker 1: for me creatively is to think, Okay, I'm comfortable enough,
Speaker 1: I really want to try something that's not some you know,
Speaker 1: something that I normally do. And that's when I actually
Speaker 1: first came up with the character, Um Shannah. One time,
Speaker 1: I need a bunch of peanuts and I had a pain.
Speaker 1: You're made billy button. So the doctor to me he
Speaker 1: needed to still simple and I need to poop when
Speaker 1: the dainty's cutest little void cup, the one that's like
Speaker 1: sexy but then does like gross things. Because I was like,
Speaker 1: I really want to write a character that looks kind
Speaker 1: of good but blank. And that's kind of where the
Speaker 1: Flirting Lady came from too. I was like, I just
Speaker 1: want to try, you know, i'd really know what that
Speaker 1: was going to be. I mean, none of it was
Speaker 1: really on the page when we wrote it. But for you,
Speaker 1: do you feel like, when there's a quotient of a
Speaker 1: character which is a sensuous quotient and you're sending it up,
Speaker 1: do you realize that you could walk out the door
Speaker 1: tomorrow and probably play that character for real in a
Speaker 1: straight film. I mean, have you ever wanted to do
Speaker 1: play a leading lady in a dramatic film a love story. Yeah,
Speaker 1: period film. I would love to do that straight film. Yes,
Speaker 1: I hope, I hope I get the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1: I was just actually talking to someone about this the
Speaker 1: other day that the audience very quickly puts you in
Speaker 1: uh folder, like they know you how they first knew you.
Speaker 1: I'm Kristen from SNL or comedic actress, and people are
Speaker 1: always so surprised when I want to do dramatic stuff. Really, like,
Speaker 1: you really want to do that? Have you had any
Speaker 1: offers for that? Um? I mean there's a couple of
Speaker 1: things that I'm looking at doing next that aren't comedies
Speaker 1: at all. One of them is really not at all,
Speaker 1: and I'm horrible movie. I just want to be in
Speaker 1: a town. Do you ever want to do a harm
Speaker 1: movie with me? Are you kick a paranormal Blair? Which thing?
Speaker 1: We're just completely Lucy Goosey, just cameras and we improve
Speaker 1: we could shoot it in here. We're on the radio
Speaker 1: and then we just hear voice a dad announcer who's
Speaker 1: in here, in lacks in here, you know, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that later on. Okay, I love that. Talk about
Speaker 1: Jennifer Westfeld's film. It was it like for you acting
Speaker 1: in the film, Um, it was amazing. It's it was
Speaker 1: a much more dramatic part than I've had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to do that. I loved it. I loved it. It
Speaker 1: was so part of it was satisfying to me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it was. But what part of it was hard?
Speaker 1: As far as the performing part. There were a lot
Speaker 1: of kids around. It's like, oh, you're not supposed to
Speaker 1: be crying, you know how it is when you've got
Speaker 1: and she had all of that. Actually put the dog's
Speaker 1: bed against the wall and then we'll have the dog
Speaker 1: will Can I go here? Rex? Rex gets one signal?
Speaker 1: Let me send courtesy van for Rex back to the hotel.
Speaker 1: Wrap on Rex, or just give a bird? Yeah, well
Speaker 1: they can be you know, but it's raw. Even the
Speaker 1: birds that don't talk, say your name. Just pigeons outside
Speaker 1: clam shells on the beach, Alec. Can that be in
Speaker 1: our horror movie? Can that be the end of the
Speaker 1: horror movie where we just zoom in on a clam
Speaker 1: shell on the beach. It's called the mollusks. I love it.
Speaker 1: Let's get shut out. Someone's got to be listening to
Speaker 1: somebody really good with a typewriter, not a computer typewriter.
Speaker 1: Brold School. Yeah, this is Alec Baldwin and you're listening
Speaker 1: to here's the Thing. More coming up in a minute.
Speaker 1: This is not like Baldwin and you're listening to here's
Speaker 1: the Thing. So you wrote Bridesmaids as everybody knows. Okay,
Speaker 1: An Mama. I don't know Annie, but I know you.
Speaker 1: And there really is something in this business when you
Speaker 1: see somebody who is as lovely as you are, and
Speaker 1: as pleasant as you are, and as talented as you are,
Speaker 1: and kind of unassuming. I mean, you're not a very
Speaker 1: self important artist in this business, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden you go, wow, you know, if you make
Speaker 1: a movie that's just this huge success. We look back
Speaker 1: on it, now, what do you think. When we were
Speaker 1: making the movie, it was like, we wrote this thing,
Speaker 1: we hope it works. Whose idea was it? Everyone's having fun?
Speaker 1: What's going to happen? The original just the idea of
Speaker 1: the story was Annie. Jed asked me to write something
Speaker 1: for myself after I did Knocked Up, and he's like,
Speaker 1: you can write by yourself. You can have a writing partner.
Speaker 1: Most of the sketches that I wrote at Groundlings with
Speaker 1: someone else where with Annie. So I just called her
Speaker 1: and we'd kind of talk loosely, like someday we should
Speaker 1: maybe write a movie, but that's so daunting. I don't
Speaker 1: know how to write. He said, let's write twenty sketches,
Speaker 1: sketches we can do. Yeah, and then just I kind
Speaker 1: of put them together. So she had this idea and
Speaker 1: I was in New York, and so she actually went
Speaker 1: to Jed's office and you know, I was like him,
Speaker 1: Annie's our idea, and He's like, okay, yeah, start writing it.
Speaker 1: So every hiatus, I would come to l A because
Speaker 1: that was the only way we really worked together was
Speaker 1: being in the same room together. We discovered Skype later,
Speaker 1: but we like to do everything together. We're not one
Speaker 1: of those teams that just says like, hey, write this
Speaker 1: and send it to me. We like to do everything together.
Speaker 1: You like working together. I love working with It's so easy.
Speaker 1: We've never gotten in an argument. Yeah, she's in the movie.
Speaker 1: She she plays the woman next to me on the
Speaker 1: plane that's like freaking out, says that the woman got
Speaker 1: sucked in the toilet. She's the best, she's so she's
Speaker 1: one of the fun Yeah, and then what happened? And
Speaker 1: then how much note did you give from somebody else?
Speaker 1: Was it all like it was there? Well, it's a
Speaker 1: different process, I think than you would have with other producers,
Speaker 1: and that we were writing every day on set, writing
Speaker 1: all lines, writing new jokes, and we would have scenes written.
Speaker 1: He'd be like, Okay, write this scene again, but maybe
Speaker 1: this happens, or how about instead of these two characters,
Speaker 1: maybe it's the other two girls that are there. So
Speaker 1: it was constant writing, rewriting. Every day. We would get
Speaker 1: a packet of scenes from old drafts, scenes that we loved,
Speaker 1: scenes that other people's ideas. Yeah, yeah, I mean it
Speaker 1: was a lot of it, a lot writing, and then
Speaker 1: you shot the movie where and l a yeah, And
Speaker 1: in terms of the casting, it looks to me like
Speaker 1: you got everybody you wanted. True. Yeah. One of the
Speaker 1: reasons why Annie and I wanted to write this movie
Speaker 1: was that we know so many funny women from the groundings.
Speaker 1: And you know which of those were in the film,
Speaker 1: Wendy and Melissa and Maya's a former groundling. We wrote
Speaker 1: the part for Wendy and Melissa we were so lucky
Speaker 1: to have her come in and read and improvise with
Speaker 1: me forever. And Ellie and Rose were the only ones
Speaker 1: that I didn't know and talk about Rose Burne who
Speaker 1: I saw her at the SAG Awards, And of course
Speaker 1: she looks um yeah, I saw at the SAG Awards,
Speaker 1: and she definitely is dear in the headlights when you
Speaker 1: meet her. She's very sweet, but she is divine and
Speaker 1: she's so game. Do you find that all you need
Speaker 1: to be as a good actor to get the comedy thing?
Speaker 1: Or didn't there something special to comedy to play? I
Speaker 1: think you just said, I mean to be game, you
Speaker 1: have to be willing to not look good, to put
Speaker 1: it out there, poke fun at yourself. You kind of
Speaker 1: just have to do it. And and Rose is like
Speaker 1: it's like when you meet her. First of all, she's
Speaker 1: drop dead gorgeous. I stared at her for like the
Speaker 1: first three days of rehearsal and was just like, what
Speaker 1: the hell, where did you come from? And she's funny.
Speaker 1: She has no improv experience, and she improvised like crazy
Speaker 1: in this movie. I don't know. I think she's play
Speaker 1: that Cotillion kind of broad. It's that we've seen that
Speaker 1: a lot of manifestations but you've got to stay with it,
Speaker 1: you know, you've got to never comment on it. And
Speaker 1: that's what I love. Wash. She was like it was acting.
Speaker 1: She's like playing this really a stick up her, you
Speaker 1: know what? Yeah, and Annie and I've always said the
Speaker 1: hell and character that she played was the toughest to
Speaker 1: figure out because and for her, I think the toughest
Speaker 1: to play because she's this person that my character instantly
Speaker 1: hates and as an audience member, you have to get that.
Speaker 1: But my best friend is very close with her, so
Speaker 1: you have to see what she sees in her too.
Speaker 1: So Rose was that perfect thing of like, oh God,
Speaker 1: she's driving me crazy, but oh I kind of want
Speaker 1: to hang out with her. And she did that women
Speaker 1: like if men are friends and then you have a friend,
Speaker 1: I can't stand. But with men, they understand just don't
Speaker 1: bring right. But with women it's like, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: come on, yeah, bring her over. He's not so bad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And then she comes over and you're like, Hi, talk
Speaker 1: about Melissa. Melissa at the Groundlings was a little ahead
Speaker 1: of me. From the moment I met her. I just
Speaker 1: was like looked up to her and had never seen
Speaker 1: anyone in my life not only embrace characters like she does,
Speaker 1: but creates them. The stuff she does at the Groundlings,
Speaker 1: I mean, people see her Inbrise Me and obviously are
Speaker 1: talking about her, but the stuff that she's done at
Speaker 1: the Groundings is insane, like shows sold out when she's
Speaker 1: you know, doing her stuff. When she came into audition
Speaker 1: for this, it was absolutely perfect. There's something very maternal
Speaker 1: about Melissa, which was very important in that character. And
Speaker 1: also she's just can I swear on the show? I
Speaker 1: think of a metaphor? Okay, she's effing brilliant. Can I
Speaker 1: just say that she brought life to that character and
Speaker 1: we're like so lucky that she's in the movie. What
Speaker 1: are you doing next? Have you any movies in the can?
Speaker 1: I have one movie that's in the can right now
Speaker 1: called Imagine that um Bermin and Paulcini directed. They did
Speaker 1: American Splendor, and they did one of my favorite was
Speaker 1: The Extra Man. Yes they did. They're they're married, They're great,
Speaker 1: so yeah, but that's we're actually doing. Um. I'm a
Speaker 1: writer in New York. My relationship has just ended. Without
Speaker 1: giving too much away, people think that I tried to
Speaker 1: kill myself and drama. It's it's a drama with comedy
Speaker 1: in it. Um and then I have to be released
Speaker 1: to a family member when I'm in the hospital because
Speaker 1: they don't have enough room in the hospital, and so
Speaker 1: I have to go home to my mom, who in
Speaker 1: that bending plays I'm seeing her or talk to her,
Speaker 1: and you know, eight ten years so it's sort of
Speaker 1: going back home finding out what's important, that whole kind
Speaker 1: of thing. I love the script. I'm really excited. I
Speaker 1: haven't seen the finished product yet, but I'm really excited
Speaker 1: about it. This is a trite question, but I often
Speaker 1: think about this myself, being older than you and coming
Speaker 1: from a different generation. When I would come in and
Speaker 1: I would meet people that were not peers of mine,
Speaker 1: but people that I really admired. But I didn't always
Speaker 1: work with people that were, you know, on Turner classic movies,
Speaker 1: so to speak. I wasn't making movies with John Garfield
Speaker 1: but the and William Holden. But when I would meet
Speaker 1: these people that I deeply admired, it was just such
Speaker 1: an amazingly resonating experience. And on SNL you've got a
Speaker 1: different person every week, presumably, who were some of the
Speaker 1: ones that are most memorable to you? That you work with.
Speaker 1: You were like, I can't believe I'm standing here doing
Speaker 1: my thing with blank well SNL side and neut bending
Speaker 1: on this movie. I completely had that with her. I
Speaker 1: couldn't believe I was doing scenes with her and she
Speaker 1: was playing my mother. I mean, I can't even just
Speaker 1: very gifted. Yeah, um, I got SNL. It's like every
Speaker 1: week there's different Can you think of even one or
Speaker 1: two that you just went holy, no, no, come on true? Um.
Speaker 1: Steve Martin, when I first met him, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I've I've watched you and worship yeah
Speaker 1: for most of my life and that was pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: And de Niro when he posted when it was it
Speaker 1: was amazing less you know what it is because you
Speaker 1: meet people, you go out to parties whatever, and you
Speaker 1: meet people. But when people come to sn L, you're
Speaker 1: seeing such a different side to them because they're not
Speaker 1: in their element. Some of the more dramatic actors don't
Speaker 1: have comedy experience, so they're kind of in there like
Speaker 1: what do I do you know? Someone like Robert de Niro,
Speaker 1: I'm sure he came in the first time he hosted
Speaker 1: and was like, what, it's interesting to see people not
Speaker 1: in their element, come on the show and be sort
Speaker 1: of like, tell me what to do. SNL is winding
Speaker 1: down for you now, Um, I've I don't know, um
Speaker 1: when your contract up this year? Yeah, this is this
Speaker 1: is the last season you're contracted for. And I guess
Speaker 1: it would be safe to say that although people there
Speaker 1: are crying and sobbing and unhappy, that they don't want
Speaker 1: you to leave twas ever, Thus, yes, I mean everyone
Speaker 1: has to leave, uh, And I will say that when
Speaker 1: I do leave, it's not because I not because I'm
Speaker 1: sick of it, and not because I see something better
Speaker 1: or anything like that. It's just that it's time. When
Speaker 1: I do leave, it will be the hardest thing. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, you're there for a week and then and
Speaker 1: on Saturday night you're you're sad because you leave these people.
Speaker 1: And people ask me why did you do it fifteen times?
Speaker 1: And I look at it, my go if you could
Speaker 1: do it fifteen times, trust me, you would. Yeah. This
Speaker 1: is my seventh year, and I mean that's my family,
Speaker 1: it's my heart, it's New York to me, and it's
Speaker 1: your history. Yeah, but you know, you have to leave
Speaker 1: things that you love. But what would you miss? Most
Speaker 1: about us and now, um yeah, it's a two parter.
Speaker 1: At the people. I'm going to miss that camaraderie and
Speaker 1: I'm going to miss seeing all those faces every day
Speaker 1: and what the people bring out in me, that creative
Speaker 1: muscle that you have when you're at SNL. You know,
Speaker 1: it's so fast paced. You're putting a puzzle together and
Speaker 1: it has to be put together by Saturday, and you're
Speaker 1: trying to create something that you It's like you have
Speaker 1: to figure it out by that day, whether you're writing
Speaker 1: it on Tuesday or Thursday, and being surrounded by creative
Speaker 1: people and knowing that you're all in it together and
Speaker 1: you're putting on a show and you're all like pushing
Speaker 1: this huge boulder together. Every Saturday you do something that
Speaker 1: you're scared to do. I think I will miss that feeling.
Speaker 1: And of course you have absolutely no prospects whatsoever. I mean, really,
Speaker 1: it's a really ballsy move on your part, because who
Speaker 1: the f can hire you? I don't know. I may
Speaker 1: go back to open up a canoe shop. Do you
Speaker 1: say to yourself the goal, to the extent that you
Speaker 1: want to say or you can say, is the goal
Speaker 1: for you? Films you like the long breaks and the
Speaker 1: more deliberate, thoughtful process of writing, and it's less, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of factory work like assembly line work like TV
Speaker 1: can be. Yeah, I mean temporarily. I mean I I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't like the word goal because I
Speaker 1: feel like those are always changing for me. You don't
Speaker 1: like having goals. I don't like having goals. That's why,
Speaker 1: you know, do what I do? I don't know. I
Speaker 1: want to direct, I want to live in Paris and paint.
Speaker 1: I want to do like I don't know. I want
Speaker 1: to do a lot of different things. Seriously, if you
Speaker 1: live in Paris and do what I don't know, you'd
Speaker 1: last in Paris for about two months. Well maybe, but
Speaker 1: then I live in Paris for two months. There you go.
Speaker 1: You and I are going to have dinner when we
Speaker 1: talk about the Haunted Studio movie that John is going
Speaker 1: to give us notes on. We'll get together. Also, we'll
Speaker 1: have another lunch of separates to talk about healthy goal
Speaker 1: making healthy right, you know what I mean? It's not
Speaker 1: that I don't think you should have goals. Let me
Speaker 1: go back. What I'm saying is my life right now
Speaker 1: is not what I thought it would be six months ago.
Speaker 1: But you never know what's going to happen, and it's
Speaker 1: so day to day and I don't know. I just
Speaker 1: I don't know. I wake up every day and trying
Speaker 1: to just. But I love that you're so blithe about it,
Speaker 1: but in a healthy way where you're like, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave myself because that's artist right to me. No,
Speaker 1: I never want to stop doing creative things, whatever they
Speaker 1: may be. Christin Wig. Next year you may find her
Speaker 1: baking bread in a corner boulongerie in Paris. Oh, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna bake it. I'm gonna have someone buy it
Speaker 1: for me. I forgot your movie start out, bring it
Speaker 1: to minivered, have someone put the butter on it for me.
Speaker 1: Open my mouth. It's all going well. I can't complain.
Speaker 1: I'm very happy, happy, and seriously funny. Christin Wig. This
Speaker 1: is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's the