Thursday, March 24, 2016

Ghostbusters: Meet Kristen Wiig's Erin Gilbert

The debut of the Ghostbusters reboot is a mere seven months away and writer/director Paul Feig is reticent to give away any details on the project. Yes, it’s an all-female cast starring four of today’s funniest female comedians. Yes, the original heroes — Dan Akyroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson — are back in cameo roles, as is the film’s original love-interest-turned demonically-possessed temptress, Sigourney Weaver. Yes, the ECTO-1, the proton packs, and the original Ghostbuster logo will also make a return. But after that, it’s a whole new world.

Feig calls Wiig’s character, Erin Gilbert, “Particle physicist, academic firebrand, spectral warrior.” Little else is known about her character except she enjoys battling the ethereal and likely doesn’t have much of a social life.

What Feig will divulge is how kinetic the chemistry was on set between Wiig and her co-stars: Melissa McCarthy, who plays scientist Abby Yates; Kate McKinnon, who plays avant garde researcher Jillian Holtzmann; and Leslie Jones, the transportation official Feig describes as having “a particular skill set.”

“They are four incredibly talented women, each with a unique voice and style of comedy,” Feig adds. “The fact that they meshed so well and complemented each other so well made this team of paranormal warriors a very interesting and fully-rounded group. The funniest people who come from sketch, stand-up, or just comedy, in general, work well together because the good ones know they are only as good as those they are playing off, against, and with. The set was a fun, supportive and creatively fertile environment.”

Kristen Wiig: The Anti-Comedian

Kristen Wiig's Saturday Night Live characters respond to social discomfort by talking too much and moving too much. They're a blur of tics and noises. (It's not coincidental that she does a great Kathie Lee Gifford impression.) But in the dimly lit Gordon Ramsay restaurant of her L.A. hotel, in her hipster black knit beret, Wiig is leaning back, sipping green tea and not talking or moving much at all, just being cool. It's awkward but not comic awkward. Normal awkward. Usually performers will answer "How are you?" with enough to fill your notebook. But Wiig didn't do any performing at all until she was in her late 20s. Not college theater, not high school talent shows, not little skits for her parents. In fact, she doesn't really like to speak to crowds. "At parties, I'll start talking and notice everyone is looking at me and feel dumb and say, 'Forget it,' and then start eating things," she says.
Which is how she is in movies — no crazy hair, no crazy eyes, no crazy jumping into other actors' shots. In movies, she's the anti–Will Ferrell. She played indie small in Ghost Town, Adventureland and Extract. After she was in minor roles in two Judd Apatow–produced movies, Knocked Up and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Apatow asked her — as he has Steve Carell, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel — to write a movie that she could star in for his company. So she and Annie Mumolo, a friend from the L.A. improv troupe the Groundlings, co-wrote Bridesmaids, a dude comedy with a chick-flick plot: a single, unemployed woman (Wiig) is asked to be the maid of honor for a friend (Maya Rudolph) who's marrying a rich guy.

It's a smart blend: the Apatow heart squishiness is already built in, and the crude jokes feel new when told from a woman's perspective. We've all seen explosive diarrhea onscreen before — but we haven't seen it from characters trying on wedding dresses. And until now, no film has given nearly enough attention to the plight of mothers changing the sheets of their pubescent sons.
Still, a movie with both fart noises and gowns is a tough sell, and it took four years for Bridesmaids to get made. "Maybe studios don't want to see women acting in a way that isn't womanly," Wiig, 37, says. "Maybe people don't." But the more Wiig devolves into horribleness in Bridesmaids — tearing apart the wedding-shower cake out of jealousy — the more sympathetic she is. "Kristen has this really likable personality that doesn't require her going big," Apatow says. "There are certain people — you love them, but you like seeing them abused. It might be the most important comedy quality: 'I love you, but I want to see horrible things happen to you,'" he adds. "She plays wilted very well," says Mumolo. "It's these boiling emotions inside barely making their way out because she's working so hard to cover them."
Covering her emotions doesn't seem as if it requires a lot of work at the restaurant, as we eat our finger sandwiches. The problem is that Wiig is shy, cool and pretty — not the petri dish of insecurities from which most comedians are made. She loved high school. (Not only was she not in any clubs; she was also one of those people who sneaked into yearbook pictures of the clubs to make fun of them.) At the University of Arizona, Wiig studied art. Then she moved to L.A. and did arty jobs: florist, graphic artist for a plastic surgeon (she illustrated what patients would look like after an operation), decorative painter. When Wiig eases up around people — I've heard — her weird creativity comes out, and she does a lot of voices and imitations. So many that the decorative painter she worked for recommended that she see a show by the Groundlings, the troupe that trained Phil Hartman, Conan O'Brien and Lisa Kudrow.

Kristen Wiig is Worried You Might Get Sick of Her (As If...)

The in-demand actress is everywhere this year, appearing in festivals gems and studio comedies. Indiewire caught up with Wiig to discuss her busy year and her new film, "Welcome to Me."
 
Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me"
Alchemy Kristen Wiig in "Welcome to Me" 
 
Editor's Note: This post from the SXSW Film Festival is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of Indie Film Month. Today's pick, "Welcome to Me," is available now On Demand. Need help finding a movie to watch? Let TWC find the best fit for your mood here.

Kristen Wiig is very busy. So busy that when Indiewire was told we could only get 10 minutes with her to discuss "Welcome to Me," her latest indie to hit theaters and VOD, we took what we could get with a smile.

This year alone, the "Saturday Night Live" alum stars in a whopping five films. Three of these -- "Welcome to Me," "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "Nasty Baby" -- have already screened at various festivals ("Welcome to Me" is out now, the other two are awaiting release), while the remaining two -- "Masterminds" and "The Martian" -- are studio pictures set to open before the end of the year. On top of promoting all five this year, Wiig is busy making more for the coming year, including the female-led "Ghostbusters" revamp, which reunites her with her "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig, and "Zoolander 2." And in July, you can catch her on Netflix's eight-episode series prequel to "Wet Hot American Summer."

Of all her projects this year, "Welcome to Me" is likely the one to feature her standout performance. In the dark comedy, written by Eliot Laurence and directed by Shira Piven ("Fully Loaded"), Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a mentally unstable woman who wins the Mega-Millions lottery, goes off her meds and decides to use her fortune to launch her own TV talk show. Wringing laughs out of a character who's mentally ill is dicey, but Wiig somehow pulls it off by staying sincere to Alice. The feat has garnered Wiig some of the strongest reviews of her career since the film's premiere at last year's Toronto International Film Festival.

"Welcome to Me"
Alcemy "Welcome to Me" 
 
You have a lot going on this year. What do you say no to, I'm just curious?
[laughs] You can never control when things come out. A lot of the stuff you shoot years ago, and it takes -- for instance, "The Martian," that we shot a long time ago, and "Masterminds" we just shot last summer, and it's...yeah.

Do you find it overwhelming?
 The timing of everything?
I want to make sure that they are spaced out properly, because I don't want people to get sick of me, and you just have no control over it. It's so weird. I could work every day for a year and nothing comes out, and then all of a sudden things come out at the same time.

I'm not sick of you, which says something.


"I want to make sure that they are spaced our properly, because I don't want people to get sick of me." Kristen Wiig
Not yet. [laughs]

But you're obviously in demand. What about a project has to chiefly appeal to you for you to want to take it on? Your career path post-"Bridesmaids" hasn't been a predictable one.
It's such a simple answer and it's so boring --
Say it.
-- it's just the script.
Really, that's all that it comes down to?

I mean that's not all that it comes down to, but if someone says, "Oh there's this script, it's Martin Scorcese," I'll be like, "I really don't need to read it. I'm in." [laughs] Obviously, the director is a part of it too. This one in particular, I read it and it was like page three, I was like, "I'm in"  I love the script, I love the writer, I love the character, and the whole story and all the other characters. I just love character-driven material, especially ones that are just so specific, and Eliot [Laurence] is such a good writer.

Did you see Alice in clearly defined terms when you first read the material? Because she's a hard one to pin down.

She is. I know, when people are like "Describe your character," I'm like "I can't."
I liked to ask Eliot a lot of questions when we were doing things. I'm a writer too, so I understand that when you're writing something and you're creating these people you have such a connection to them. You know them, and in your mind you know what they look like and how they stand and how they move and how they would dress. I really wanted to get as much as I could out of Eliot as, like, even when she just looks at stuff. I just wanted to get it right because I loved her so much, and I wanted to put in what I got from it, but I really wanted to collaborate with him and Shira [Piven] to honor the script as much as possible. I don't know if that makes sense, but yeah.

"Welcome to Me"
Alchemy "Welcome to Me"
 
About honoring the script, did you also feel a necessity to honor her mental illness?

Oh, yeah. I mean that was the first thing we talked about was the tone of the movie. Because this movie, making fun of her or laughing at her to me is a totally different and frankly uninteresting story. I think relating to her and being able to laugh, just because she sometimes does things that are funny, to me is more interesting. We were very sensitive to the fact that she has this illness and that that's just part of who she is. That's not why we're laughing or why we're crying, it's just part of who she is. I just wanted to respect that and be educated about it. If she's funny it's because she did something funny, not because she's got this illness.

Did that make you more protective of her in a way? Especially when screening the film with audiences, like in Toronto.

Yeah, it's funny because I've done a couple other films where there are scenes that I thought weren't that funny, and people laugh and I was kind of like, "Oh gosh." And I did feel like I was watching someone laugh at someone I know. The comedic stuff: you never know what people are going to laugh at ever. That's what makes even just being on "SNL" exciting. You just never know what people are going to respond to, and you're always surprised. It's never what you think, and they laugh at things you don't think they're going to laugh at, it's just the way it goes. Of course with this there were things that I wasn't sure people were going to laugh at, but I think this was a little more obvious as to what was funny. I was really nervous in the scene in the hotel room when I'm having that breakdown, I was really scared people were going to laugh. [laughs]

Did they laugh in Toronto during that scene?

I mean, they didn't laugh. It's not a funny scene at all, but again it's me and it's happened before. I think I just will always have a little bit of that nervousness.

Welcome To Me
Alchemy "Welcome To Me"
 
Well, one of those scenes that can elicit either laughter or outright shock is the scene where you go full frontal in the casino. The press in Toronto really ran with that scene following the film's premiere. Did it occur to you before making the movie that the scene would garner so much press?

I mean, you definitely know it's going to be talked about, because it's nudity. [laughs] And it's just not that common. But it was something when I read it, I knew, okay if I do this movie I have to do this scene. I was not about to say, "I want to do it but let's change this." The vulnerability of her and her walking through the casino naked, and me as a performer just doing the part, we're kind of connected. I was like, "Well if I'm going to do this, if Alice is going to do this, then I'm going to do this with her." I don't know if that makes sense, but I just knew that I had to do it. I was scared for the obvious reasons, because I'm an actor, and I'm a woman and I'm naked. People are going to talk about that. People are going to talk about my body and people are going to talk about what I look like, and that's just the nature of the world. But for me, after I did it the first time it was so incredibly freeing. I was like, "Wow, I'm naked! Here I am, fuck it!" [laughs]

I was explaining it to my dad and I was like "It's not sexual!" Like that makes it any better. [laughs]

Indiewire has partnered with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand for May's Indie Film Month. Enjoy exceptionally creative and uniquely entertaining new Indie releases (“Still Alice,"“Lost River,” “Maggie,” Good Kill," and more) all month long on Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand. Go HERE daily for movie reviews, interviews, and exclusive footage of the suggested TWC movie of the day and catch the best Indie titles on TWC Movies On Demand.

Kristen Wiig Shows Up To ‘Tonight Show’ As Peyton Manning — Hilarious Video

Funny woman Kristen Wiig brought the laughs during her latest appearance on ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ when she sat down for an entire interview dressed as Super Bowl champ Peyton Manning! Even the pro comedians couldn’t suppress their laughter during the sit-down! Watch it here!

Kristen Wiig, 41, has done it again! For her interview on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Feb. 12, the Zoolander 2 actress dressed up as Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning, and really got into character for her hilarious impression. She even showed off some of her NFL-worthy quarterback skills! Watch the hilarious video below!

Rather than using her appearance on The Tonight Show to promote her role in the soon-to-be-released Zoolander 2, Kristen chose to do her entire interview as the Denver Broncos quarterback, despite knowing next to nothing about him, or football for that matter. Dressed in Peyton’s full uniform complete with a #18 jersey and a blonde Manning-esque wig, Kristen sat down with the late-night host to reveal how she felt in the final moments of the Super Bowl match on Feb. 7, as well as some other lesser known facts about the NFL pro.
“Peyton Manning, I can’t believe…first of all, I can’t believe you’re still wearing the uniform all week long,” Jimmy told his guest. “Thank you for doing this. I know this is last minute. You look good.” The Ghostbusters actress, who didn’t seem to know much about Super Bowl 50, said she was “still so tired” from Sunday’s big game. “I tried really hard. I’m thinking I’m so far from the line. I’m far away from the line and I have to get it to the…I gotta do it, gotta get this ball to the guy.”

As for the final score of the game, Kristen once again seemed at a loss for words, hilariously replying, “it was 14-6…in my mind anyways.” Unsurprisingly, Kristen also didn’t seem to know which player was named MVP, either. “He didn’t do anything wrong the whole game,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m so proud of you. Just go out tonight. Just go out tonight! Don’t worry about it. Just have a good time.'”
The former SNL star also fibbed about other aspects of Peyton’s history, including where he went to school and what he studied (Note: it was not the University of Florida, like Kristen suggested). During a rapid-fire round, Jimmy also asked her to pick her favorite pre-game meal, favorite color, favorite hobby, favorite band, favorite clothing store and favorite yoga pose. Well, just let you experience those laughs for yourself though.

The whole thing ended with Kristen showing off her not-so-spot-on football skills, throwing a gold ball in the general direction of a small hole across the stage.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time that Kristen has declined to appear as herself on The Tonight Show. In previous appearances, she’s pretended to be Michael Jordan, One Direction’s Harry Styles and even Khaleesi from Game Of Thrones. Clearly, she’s got a knack for pageantry!

Interview with Kristen Wiig

Maybe it’s too much to ask for from a romantic comedy, but could “Bridesmaids,”[opens Friday] which stars and is co-written by Kristen Wiig, be the vanguard of a revolution for women in Hollywood? Let’s hope so because the Oscar for Kathryn Bigelow didn’t really open the floodgates for women directors. So maybe it’s up to teenaged girls with guns and women in designer gowns crapping in sinks to subvert the invidious stereotypes of women on the big screen.

That, anyway, is part of the argument in a recent “New Yorker” article, “Funny Like a Guy” by Tad Friend, which is about Anna Faris in particular and on women behaving badly in the movies in general. (A theme also touched on in this “Slate” article I just spotted). The idea is that upcoming roles such as Faris’s in “What’s Your Number,” Cameron Diaz’s in “Bad Teacher,” and Wiig’s in “Bridesmaids” might convince the studio powers that be that women can indeed be as crude, lascivious, dumb, insensitive, and randy as any man in the average Judd Apatow movie. Which this in fact is, as Apatow produced it (Paul Feig directed).

In it Wiig plays Annie, a thirty-something woman who has failed at everything she’s done, in her career and in her relationships, and is about to move in with her mother. Then to make things worse, her best friend, played by Maya Rudolph, announces she’s getting married.

True, Annie has been named Maid of Honor, but she fears she’s now going to lose Lillian along with everything else she values in life, not so much to the new husband but to Helen (Rose Byrne), Lillian’s new BFF and one of the bridesmaids. Though Helen seems sweet and perfect, she is actually more needy than Annie, and apparentlymore ruthless, and in the course of the wedding preparations the two engage in merciless, hilarious, and often scatological warfare over Lillian and the coveted role of Maid of Honor.

I got a chance to interview Wiig along with fellow cast member Wendi McLendon-Covey while they were in town recently promoting the film. When I brought up the idea of “Bridesmaids” being a revolutionary turning point for women in Hollywood, I got the feeling that she thought I didn’t really know what I was talking about.

Oh well. Here’s the transcription.

PK: When I first went to see “Bridesmaids” I thought that it was “Something Borrowed,” which I had just seen a trailer for.

KW Wiig: You mean you just mixed it up?

PK: I did yeah. I saw the trailer and thought, God, that looks awful. So when I saw the real movie I was stunned by the opening scene [a slapstick-y love scene between Wiig and Jon Hamm] and everybody was laughing hysterically throughout the whole thing. All of the guys in the audience, too. I understand there’s a concern that it’s not going to cross over to men.

WW: I don’t know if I would call it concern, but…

Wendi McLendon-Covey: I just think we never wanted it to be a chick flick.

KW:: Yeah, we always intended it to just be a comedy. For both.

PK: What is a chick flick, anyway?

WMC: Something like “Sex and the City.” “Something Borrowed.” Where it’s going to appeal more to the ladies.

KW: Yeah I think a chick flick implies strictly made for women, I guess.

PW: Well the title, people might be misled.

KW: They might, yeah.

PK: Was that the original title?

KW: No. We had a hard time thinking of a title.

WMC: But the poster. Look at those ladies. They look like they’re going to beat you up in that alley.

PK: It’s kind of like “Sex and the City” but they do look tougher. They could probably kick their ass. Did you think of a title like “Bride Shits in the Street” or something like that?

KW: Ah, but see we can’t put swear words in there. I had a bunch of titles that had swear words but they wouldn’t let me.

PK: You’re friends in real life. And you’re both from the Groundlings?

KW: Yes.

PK: So was there a lot of improvisation going on in the making of this?

KW: Yes yes yes. We shot the movie. We did the scripted version. We would write lines that day. Other people would suggest lines.

WMC: We would film it all ways and just determined what was funniest, what served the story the best, but they were really collaborative.

PK: So all six of you were a group? You all know each other?

KW: I didn’t know Ellie [Kemper] or Rose [Byrne] before we started rehearsals.

PK: Were you involved in the casting process?

KW: Yes, I was.

PK: It seems like a really realistic depiction of how women get along, unlike a chick flick. Why is it so hard to get movies like that made, where women are actually being themselves?

KW: I don’t know the answer to that. I hope that changes. I don’t know why it is a struggle, if it is. You don’t see that many posters with six women on it, which is a shame. And hopefully that will get better and change.

WMC: I don’t know if the movies just aren’t being written, or they’re not being green lit, or there’s just so much vanity from other actresses that they don’t want to.

KW: Or maybe a man is reading it and he doesn’t understand it. I don’t know.

PK: How did you get this one made?

KW: After I did “Knocked Up,” Judd approached me to write a movie with myself as the lead, and he said, “Do you want to write something? You can write it with a friend. Pitch me some ideas.” So I went to Annie Mumolo, who’s one of my best friends and who I wrote with a lot at the Groundlings. And I said, do you want to write this thing with me, and she said, oh, I’ve been thinking of ideas, and this was one of her ideas. So it just kind of happened. We pitched it to Judd and he was like, great, write it up.

PK: How long ago was that?

KW: About four-and-a-half years ago.

PK: What were some of the obstacles along the way to get it on screen?

WMC: Your schedule as a famous movie star.

KW: My schedule was a little bit of a challenge. We really wanted to make sure that each character had their moment. Their story had to make sense and why we were all in this group together without it seeming too random. For instance, Helen’s character in the earlier drafts was much meaner and over-the-top. But we really had to have it make sense that she was friends with someone that I was so close to, so we had to kind of show the connection between Maya’s character and Rose’s character to have it make sense. Because you didn’t want to be, like, well why is she friends with her? Doesn’t she see what she’s doing? Just trying to figure out the story. And you go through so many drafts and you think you have something that works, and then maybe another movie comes out that has something similar, or you realize, you know what? This end kind of doesn’t work now. Or, we never resolved this story. So we have to do it all under 130 pages.

PK: You must have wince every time somebody mentions “The Hangover,” because you’d been working on this long before that.

KW: Well, I mean, I wouldn’t want people to think that we wrote it in response to “The Hangover.” The comparison to the movie I totally understand. It’s an ensemble cast, it’s a comedy. It’s about people who are in a wedding together. But the plots are very different.

PK: In “The Hangover” the attitude men have towards marriages is dread. But here, all of the women envy the bride.

KW: Except for her [Wendi’s] character.

PK: It seems like all of the marriages depicted in the film are kind of horrible. [To WMC] You’re not very pleased with your sons or your marriage.

WMC: But I think what it is is that they’re in something and they think it’s supposed to be something else, but at the end they realize, what I have is pretty good. The grass is always greener.

PK: So is there going to be a “Bridesmaids 2″?

KW: I have no idea.

PK: I was reading this article in “The New Yorker” about Anna Faris, which went into a lot of analysis about why there are so few films made that involve non-stereotypical women’s roles. And one reason is that the movies they make can’t be repeatable, that they can’t make a franchise out of “Bridesmaids,” for example. Although, maybe you could.

KW: That’s what they said? Really? I’ve never heard that.

PK: Yes. Also that 15% of the producers are women, and 7% of the directors, or something like that

KW: Which is interesting because I think there’s a statistic that more women actually go buy movie tickets than men.

PK: They also mention that your film is a kind of breakthrough for women, if it does well.

KW: Well, a lot of times you have to trust…if a female writer says that no, really this is how women think or, really this is how women talk, I think people have to start trusting that a little bit. Because then if it gets made and it’s on screen, women will be able to relate to it and say oh yeah, that’s happened to me. With the Jon Hamm character, a lot of women have experienced dating a guy who maybe isn’t that nice to them and with the Chris O’Dowd character [who plays the Mr. Right that Annie keeps rejecting], running away from someone who’s really nice to you. And there’s no big story plot line behind that. It’s just that most women can really relate to that.

PK: Why is that? Why does she run away from that guy that’s good for her?

KW: Because girls do that sometimes. I don’t know, maybe she felt like she didn’t deserve it or she got scared, when you’re used to having one thing, and then someone nice comes along, you’re a little like, wait, there’s gotta be something wrong with this guy. She’s been hurt. It’s a lot of things. She’s got some baggage.

WMC: To add to that too though, everybody likes to solve a puzzle. So your puzzle is like, why am I not good enough for you? So you keep going back for more.

PK: Was Paul Rudd supposed to play the cop? In an interview you did a while ago you said that he was going to be in the movie.

KW: Oh. He was in the movie. He was in a scene that actually got cut.

PK: Women behaving crudely and engaging in a raunchy kind of humor, the food poisoning scene, the opening scene – do you think audiences are ready for women in those kinds of situations?

KW: Yeah, it’s 2011. Women do that stuff. Women swear. Women get drunk. Women pass out in their own vomit.

WMC: They’re ready for it. It’s testing well.

KW: And it’s not like we’re the first women to do it. We should be able to see things how they really are. And it shouldn’t be this huge new thing. But it is.

PK: You said it’s testing well with men and women. So it might be a cross-over hit.

KW: We hope so. We didn’t intend to make this just for women. We don’t consider it a chick flick. I hate that wording. But it’s a comedy.

PK: Do you think there’s a difference between male and female humor?

KW: I think for the most part funny is funny, and a lot of times if you think something is geared towards men women will think it’s funny and vice-versa. I think there are some things that maybe men gravitate towards and women gravitate towards. But for the most part, I think it’s unisex.

PK: What’s it like working with Judd Apatow?

KW: He’s great. This wouldn’t have happened without him. He put a lot of trust in us, and he was extremely collaborative and helpful with the script, and again on set. Thank God he’s a fan of improvising, because he just let us shoot and shoot and shoot. He was always trying to top things. He added a lot to the movie. He had a lot of ideas, like the dress shop scene – he and Paul thought of that whole thing. It would’ve been a much different movie without him.

WMC: He was also the one to say, No, let’s make sure they don’t get to Vegas.

KW: Yes, that’s true.

PK: That could be the sequel. I’m curious why the women in this movie, instead of confronting their mutual opponent, which is male patriarchy, tend to turn on each other.

KW: In the movie?

PK: Yes. Helen and your character are at odds with each other, trying to destroy each other. Whereas the real culprit is people like the Jon Hamm character.

KW: Well I think in the case of Helen and Annie, it’s really a case of the fight over Lillian, and I think I see Lillian moving on as such a loss for me, and such a reminder that my life is really not that great. So I want to hold on to that as much as I can. And when I see someone like Rose Byrne’s character Helen come in, it makes me feel like I should be that. In some ways they’re almost different stories, the Jon Hamm part and that part.

PK: Did you have any role models? Any comic actresses?

KW: Yeah. I’m sure that I was influenced by everyone that I watched. I did watch a lot of SNL when I was younger. I’m a huge Joan Cusack fan, Dianne Wiest, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Teri Garr, I mean there’s too many people to even list.

WMC: Abbott and Costello.

KW: Martin and Lewis. Tim Conway.

PK: That scene where you’re carried away on the security fence, I thought that’s definitely a Lucille Ball moment. But it seems to be a tradition in comedy that women have been pushed into being the ditzy person in the romantic comedy, or the” Sex and the City” type. Do you think that this will be changing? Has this been a frustration for you?

KW: There’s a million different kinds of people out there. And that includes women. We don’t just fall into three categories. People know that in real life. I think it’s interesting to see that on film. Especially when you see someone that you can relate to, and you’re not even sure why. You know, oh, that lady kind of reminds me of my mom’s friend, just because of the way she is, the way she acts, or the way she talks. But it’s a real person. It’s a real set character. But it doesn’t have to be the crazy neighbor.

WMC: I know what you’re saying. Hollywood doesn’t know what it likes until you show them. Sometimes there’s a breakout person, like Gabourey Sidibe. You would look at this women and say, actress? Hollywood would never let that happen. But guess what? People love her. You gotta show people, hey this is worthy of watching. And people will fall in line. And I think Kristen Wiig, look, there’s no denying she’s the most popular cast member of SNL.

KW: Don’t say that.

WMC: She’s being modest. You won’t brag on yourself but I will. Clearly, this is a good bet. This is a very safe bet. She’s got rabid fans. I’ve been with her all week. It’s like walking with Paul McCartney. I think whatever Kristen Wiig wants to do, she’s not crazy, she likes things for a reason. I think she made the kind of movie she wanted to watch. There was no agenda behind it. No big women’s studies reasoning behind it.

PK: Although there can be.

WMC: There can be. Of course.

PK: How many times have you seen the movie?

KW: The finished product? Once. I saw it at South by Southwest. I’ve seen a few versions and would get notes of what has changed. Even then the sound wasn’t completely done. So official, done movie I will see at the premiere.

PK: People laugh at the right places.

KW: Yeah it’s terrifying, I was cowering in my seat. Because you don’t know. You could have a scene coming on, and you’re like, oh this is that scene that Annie and I laughed really hard writing that one joke, but then it’s silent. But two seconds later you weren’t even expecting it, something physical on screen, and it’s like the biggest laugh of the movie. You can’t tell what’s going to work and what’s not, which is terrifying when you’re sitting in a room full of people watching your own movie, because you don’t know.

PK: But in general people liked it.

KW: Oh no, they enjoyed it. But it’s hard for me to have an ear for that.

PK: Well you must be used to it on a weekly basis working on SNL, where you showcase your stuff. And going back to your improve days at the Groundling.

KW: Yeah but that’s very instant. You do your thing and people are out there laughing. Whereas in the movie you do you thing 50 times and you have to wait 8 months to see it in a theater full of strangers.

PK: So you’ve got “Clown Girl” and “Friends With Kids” coming up?

KW: Yes, friends with kids is already shot and done. “Clown Girl” I’m writing and “Imogene” is hopefully shooting this summer. “Clown Girl” is based on a book [by Monica Drake]. “Imogene” is based on a script that Michelle Morgan wrote that we’re hoping to get financing for the summer.

PK: And “Friends with Kids?”

KW: Yeah that’s Jen Westfeldt. Jon Hamm’s girlfriend. She wrote, directed, and starred in the movie. We just finished shooting a few months ago. I play a supporting role in that. I’m one of her friends with kids.

PK: And you’re overbearing about that?

KW: A little overwhelmed with the lack of focus by my husband, who’s played by Jon Hamm. Our marriage is sort of falling apart. There’s different relationships within the movie, and we’re the friends that have kids that don’t get along as well.

PK: I’ve read somewhere that you’ve invented 45 characters.

KW: Really? That’s news to me. I should find out where you got that information. I’m a private lady. And I do want people to know that I’m not on any social networks, because I’ve had a few imposters.

PK: I hate when that happens.

KW: Were you the one that was tweeting as me?

PK: I heard about that.

KW: That happens a lot actually. I ran into some young girls in the lobby at 30 Rock, and I was walking away one of them was like, I’m following you on Twitter. And her other friend was like, I knew it wasn’t you. So we took that down.

PK [To WMC] You’re on the network, right?

WMC: I have a Myspace that I haven’t checked in ages. But I have a Facebook and Twitter.

PK If this film is a breakthrough, if it crosses over to men who are looking for a raunchy comedy, and women who are looking for “Sex and the City” as a raunchy comedy…

KW: I don’t know if I would describe it as that.

PK: How would you describe it?

KW: I knew you were going to say that. I don’t know. I can’t look at a movie I wrote and compare it to other things. It’s really hard.

PK: But if it does succeed…?

KW: I have no plans of leaving SNL as of yet. And I will be back next year.

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