"Right now on "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'", we'll hear from the hilarious women behind TV's best comedies." "This is my first roundtable." "It's gonna be great." "I've been around for 50 years." "(laughter)" "Talk about the history of television." "People go to touch me a lot, and they think" "I, like, want to have sex with them, I guess, 'cause my, like, character's horny." "(laughter)" "The bartender said, "I don't mean to insult you, but you look just like Allison Janney."" "And I said, "Well," "I am her, and my drinks will be free for the rest of the evening."" "Can my girls call you and you confirm that they both virgins?" "Yeah, I can, but I'm gonna tell you, I can tell right away," "Y'all?" "Nasty." "(Lacey)" "Gina Rodriguez," ""Jane the Virgin"..." "Rachel Bloom," ""Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"..." "Allison Janney," ""Mom"..." "Niecy Nash, "Getting On"." "Lily Tomlin," ""Grace and Frankie"." "Ilana Glazer, "Broad City"." "♪♪" "Welcome to "Close Up" "With 'The Hollywood Reporter'"." "I'm Lacey Rose, television editor." "Let's dive right in." "Allison, obviously, doing a comedy was something that, that you wanted to do." "Now, this is a comedy that has a tremendous amount of, of depth and drama to it," "But why was that a decision that was so important to you?" "And what was it about that story?" "Well, two things:" "I had been looking for that, that format for a long time, the multicam, because as Lily went through it with me in the "West Wing" days of, uh 18-hour days." "And, um, then I did a single-camera comedy with Matthew Perry that didn't go for many seasons." "But the hours were still the same on that, and I was like," ""Lord, I've missed a lot of my life, um, acting, which has been grateful, but I missed a lot of my life, life life." "This came along, the "Mom" show." "Chuck Lorre and Anna were already on it together, and they asked me to come in and read for it, which my agents were like, "You don't have to read anymore,"" "I said, "No," "I'd like to read for this"..." "Yes!" "because I think it's important that the mother and daughter have a good chemistry, and I understand why they wouldn't want to." "I would rather read then go in and, having been given the part, 'cause it makes me feel more confident as I walk on the set first days, so you know that I" "So I went in and read it and I loved it." "It's a show about recovery," "I think that's a-an important part of the show and definitely one of the main reasons I wanted to do it, because it was about people in recovery, which is an important issue to me, and I love" "Anna Faris so much, and we have a good relationship there, and it's" "Have you learned about the recovery process through the show?" "I-I learned about it way before" "I got to the show." "(Lacey laughs)" "Yeah." "Uh, and a number, for a number of different reasons." "Uh-huh." "Some dear friends" "I've been through a lot of things." "Mm-hmm." "So I-I felt very comfortable walking in the shoes of someone who was in recovery, and I get a lot of people who come up to me on the street who are like," ""Thank you for the show." "I've been in recovery..." da-da-da, so they tell their stories, like, you know?" "And I feel very" " I'm very proud of that part of it, like I was with "West Wing", of what that show did." "To be an actress and be a part of a show that puts something people need and people laugh at, it just makes me happy." "And then, and showing a show like this that recovery isn't all, um, you know, awful, terrible." "It can be hard work, but it also can, um" " You can survive it." "(laughter)" "Hey." "Hey." "What you doing?" "What's it look like?" "I'm cleaning the fridge." "At 3:00 in the morning?" "I can't drink," "I can't do drugs." "Let me organize our milk and cold cuts." "(laughter)" "You want to take a break and maybe talk about what you're feeling?" "Really?" "You want to know how I feel?" "Death, death, death, death, death, death, death." "Happy?" "Rachel and Ilana, you've created these vehicles for yourselves to star in." "Can you describe what that process has been like?" "Creating my own work and creating my own character was kind of like my haven, from when I didn't feel like I was talented enough, and, like, my first writing job that I had, everyone in the room was, like," "really, really, really good, and, like, I felt like," ""Oh, I'm by far, like, the worst writer in here,"" "and I'd go home, and I'd been doing music videos, but, like, I started writing more music videos to be, like," ""Okay," "I am a good writer," "I'm not, like, imagining things." "I am a good writer, just, like, within the context of all of these people who are, like, really good," "I don't feel like a good writer, so, like, creating my own work was almost, like, my way to, like, affirm, like, okay, I'm not crazy." "Like, I'm in this for a reason." "And there was a certain" "I don't know if there's a certain safety." "Totally." "Totally." "(Ilana)" "You know, sometimes I feel, like, with "Broad City,"" "a lot of ourselves are in this show, and a lot of this is" "(fingers snapping) fly by the seat of your pants, and it's real in that way and authentic in that way." "We really are running around New York City." "It's like, "We have like an hour to go on this block," you know," "It really is" "But then, because of "Broad" "City," I've gotten other roles, and, man, I'm, like, so used to bossing people around," "I'm like, "You can go."" "And it's like, you can't go, this isn't "Broad" "If it's not "Broad City,"" "I can't tell people to go or, you know," ""That's good."" "But I also like the challenge of focusing on a role, and you're showing up and acting someone else's words and you're focusing on filling your every limb, every finger with this character." "It's a different kind of control that I also admire now." "They almost feel like two different muscles, like it should almost be," "I think, a separate acting category in some ways, 'cause, like, even if it's scripts you haven't personally written, like, we improvise a lot." "If a line in the moment isn't feeling right to me," "I'll rearrange it and, like, no one tells me, like," ""Don't rearrange that line"" "because, like, it's my character, and that's just such a different, I think, muscle from, like, coming on a set and interpreting someone else's words, so it's almost like a safety net." "I guess it depends on what set you're on, because, like, for me," "I definitely, like" "You know," "Jennie wrote "Jane the Virgin,"" "but I created who Jane is." "Sure." "And with her, she gives us a lot of freedom." "She trusts me in my experience with Jane now, so I-I don't know, I wonder what, how, you know" "I guess it's gotta be-it's gotta be the situation you're in." "For "Reno," you improvved." "It was all improv, you know?" "We created the characters, and then we-we just had a small little logline, and then you just go." "Wow." "And so we never" "Logline per scene?" ""Getting On" obviously-- very different." "That's amazing." "Yeah, and "Getting On,"" "yes, is scripted, and even the character that I play, because I did not get invited to the part of the industry that had this tone for a very long time." "It was like," ""Oh, no, dear, we know what you do:" "you do broad."" "Mm-hmm." "(laughter)" "You do very big comedy, we got you." "And I'm like, "Well, can I try that over there now?"" ""No, no, no, no, no, we know what you do."" "Right." "And so, getting the invitation to come and, and play Nurse Didi has definitely changed the conversation about me, 'cause people are like," ""We didn't know you did that."" "Unbelievable." "You know what I mean?" "If I hear Yvette clucking" ""I told you so" one more time in the background, I'ma reach through the phone and strangle her." "(loud slurping)" "Mm-hmm." "No, no, no." "Yeah." "No, thank God." "Well-well, call me-call me when you get there." "Okay, bye-bye." "Stop licking your ugly balls and go mingle." "With "Grace and Frankie,"" "is this a show you feel like could have been made, you could have done" "20 years ago?" "And if not, why is this the right time for this show and the right sort of environment for a show like this?" "Well, I think it's just come together." "I don't think I could have done it 20 years ago." "Why not?" "I don't think I would have been old enough." "(laughs)" "Oh." "Well, sure." "But could a show like this have been made then?" "and what does it say about the landscape that it is being made now?" "Oh, goodness." "(laughter)" "I still" "Talk about the history of television." "That's what I'm doing." "God, uh, I don't" " I don't think people were ready until the demographic got itself into place" "Right, right." "There's a lot of older people, but the show has a huge young audience." "But the older people were suddenly there, and they were a market to be delivered to." "Mm-hmm." "And Jane Fonda and I were just, like, two likely people to do that." "I'd like to appeal these results." "Excuse me?" "I'd like to speak to someone who understands the biased nature of standardized testing, or someone who will consider an essay in lieu of multiple choice." "We don't have that person." "Mmm." "All right, let me take it again." "I can't do that." "You flunked three times." "You need to wait a week to retake it." "A week?" "!" "Oh, look, there's a very angry woman coming this way." "Don't pay any attention, just be cool, just follow my lead." "Hey, girl." "What did you like about the role?" "What drew you to a project like this?" "Well, I liked the money first." "Get it, girl!" "I mean!" "(clapping, all talking at once)" "And we all like the money." "And then" "Well, I didn't think about money in the old days." "(Lacey)" "You didn't?" "No, I was" "I'm marveling at your good clarity." "You girls have good clarity." "Uh..." "When did that change?" "Well, I mean, you know, when you're getting" "The" " Most of your life has been spent." "Uh-huh, uh-huh." "And you have less of that to look forward to?" "Mm-hmm." "Theoretically." "Right." "Mm-hmm." "Yes, you start thinking about," ""Well, will I have enough money to live it out?" "Mm-hmm." "Or will I have to cut back on my lifestyle?" "Lots of, you know, practical things come into play." "What are the hours on that one, Lily?" "Well, we are working long hours, because it's a single-camera show." "Yeah, yeah." "(Rachel)" "Well, you wanna know something?" "Do you want wanna know something kind of funny really quickly?" "Yeah." "When we went to pitch "Crazy" "Ex-Girlfriend" to Netflix, you were right ahead of us pitching "Grace and Frankie,"" "and it was you and-and" "Fonda." "Fonda and-and Marta and then 30 executives, and so, Aline Brosh McKenna and I-- my co-creator-- were in the lobby, and we were like," ""(bleep) here." "And we gotta be up to pitching after Lily Tomlin,"" "and so, like, we really went into that room being like," ""Look, um, probably not gonna get (bleep) with this, uh," ""'cause you probably bought whatever that other project was," ""and, like... (laughter)" "You could tell their eyes were kind of like fogging up too!" "(laughter)" "♪♪" "♪♪" "Welcome back to "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'."" "We're talking with the women behind TV's funniest comedies." "What do you guys wish you knew about sort of, about success in Hollywood when you were starting out, and, and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently in your careers?" "Starting as a young actor," "I thought that everyone who was an agent or was famous, they were like here, and they knew something I didn't." "And I'd walk into a room being like," ""I'm walking into a room with, like, a golden person."" "And I think just, like, now that I've actually, like, met really successful people and, like, heads of studios, like, we're all just, like, people made of guts who, like," "poop and fart." "Oh, I--." "Oh, you don't?" "I'm sorry." "There are some of us who don't." "Okay, I'm sorry." "I also don't poop and fart." "I'm so glad you said that, Lily." "That's what makes you so human." "That's why we're meant for each other." "I retract everything" "I just said... and I need to do some thinking." "Is there anything, if you had to do it all over again?" "No, I think I tried to create a world by creating those characters, so I thought, "Well, my world is better than the other world."" "Mm-hmm." "People would tell me what" "I could be or I couldn't be, and I'd say," ""Who asked you?"" "I know I didn't want to hear anything, because I was afraid it would derail me." "As I told you, your-your show of" ""Search for Intelligent Life"" "was the first time that" "I saw someone writing and then performing their own, like, characters and their own character, like, scenes and sketches." "Well, that play, my partner Jane wrote that play." "That is Jane's authorship, totally." "Oh, really." "Yeah." "Well... (laughter)" "Something else to think about, Rachel." "(all talking at once)" "I'm just really sucking at the roundtable." "Ah, yes." "No, I" " No, I'm only saying that in Jane's-- in Jane's defense." "I'm, um, I'm intimidated by those of you who, and I think everyone here does, uh..." "Have you done standup before?" "No, I want to." "Have you done improv?" "I know you've done improv." "(Gina)" "I've done improv, yeah." "I'm the only person here who has not done that, and that is like, I" "You are funny as (bleep)," "Allison!" "But that's the stuff, to be able to do that, and create characters of... is something that" " I can't even do it in playing a game, like getting drunk with friends and going," ""Okay, you be the person,"" "I'll be like, "Uh..." "I'll just watch."" "I'm like, I'm not" "Yeah." "It's about trust." "I" " No, I know I'm good at" "I know I can do, um, you know," "I can memorize lines and hit my mark like nobody's business!" "And, you know, I learned that from Laurie Metcalf..." "She's a-- with us on-on "Getting On."" "However, Laurie is very different from Alex Borstein." "Yeah, yes." "I can throw anything at Alex." "You know, she can throw it back and we can play, but, you know," "Laurie is equally as brilliant, but she's by the book." "Well, also, something you were saying-- something you were saying, Gina, made me realize, like," "I think that being on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"" "has actually taught me the right way to act, 'cause I think that too many times," "I would go into an audition, not actually interpreting the words as I would interpret them and crafting a character, but doing an impression of what" "I thought they wanted." "They wanted." "Oh, always, yeah." "And because I have a-- because" "I created this character, it took that filter off, where it's just like," ""Oh, I'm just gonna say (bleep) like I'm myself, and, like, now, since I've done the show and gone into auditions, that's how I'm doing everything now," "and so your idea of like" "Owning." "You don't have to necessarily write a show to create a character, like" "It's just like, yeah, be yourself" "Bring yourself there." "and bring yourself to the table, and, like, treating every role as if I wrote it, even if I didn't write it." "Yes." "Ohh, mm-hmm." "(scoffs)" "There's... yeah." "♪ I got them heavy boobs, heavy boobs ♪" "♪ Dense like dying stars ♪" "♪ I got them heavy boobs, heavy boobs ♪" "♪ I can't run real far ♪" "♪ Let me break down what I just said ♪" "♪ Each of my double Ds has the volume of a toddler's head ♪" "♪ Not bitching' 'bout my boobies, they look super fly in shirts ♪" "♪ But if I swung them in your face ♪" "♪ You'd be like," ""Oh, my God, that hurts" ♪" "♪ I'm blind, holy crap ♪" "♪ I literally can't see... ♪♪" "The one thing that I was, um, gonna add to that, to that question you asked was," "I don't think there's anything" "I would want to know different, because I think it was my naiveté" "Sure." "that got me where I am." "I didn't know that you had to have an agent and a manager to get an audition." "Mm-hmm." "I just called somebody I met at a workshop and was like," ""I don't know if you remember me, but my voice does sound like" "I need to drink lotion, so he recognized it right away." "Drank lunch." "Um, and yes, and I said," ""Well, this is Niecy Nash." "I'm broke, I got a baby and I need a job."" "Oooh." "And he said," ""Be down here at 3:00,"" "and I got through my first producer's session for a feature film with no agent, no m" "'Cause I didn't know you couldn't do that." "Yeah, mm-hmm." "I didn't know that it was, you know, ill-fitting, so when I walk in and everybody was going "Who are you with?"," ""Oh, who are you with?"" "and they were playing the game of who got the best agent, and they asked me and I said "Myself."" "You know what I mean?" "I don't know, you know what I mean?" "And when I was standing in that audition, and that man said to me" "It was 15 people deep in there, and the director, and he said" "I did my little" ""under five lines."" "Yes." "And he said," ""Thank you."" "He said, "Send her out and have her read this and this."" "So it was another little "under five"." "I was like, "Okay."" "He said, "Well, go in the hall and prepare."" "I said, "Just to read this?"" "'Cause I'm ready!" "I said," ""I'm ready now."" "Yeah!" "And so the man" "I said, "Will you stop pushing me?"" "So, when I get ready to read the thing, the man, the director said, "Thank you,"" "and I said, "You're welcome,"" "and he said, "Thank you,"" "and I said," ""Don't mention it."" "(laughter)" "He said, "No, thank you, you may leave."" "Hand to God, I said," ""Oh, well, did y'all pick me?" ""Because I told him" "I got a baby at home." ""Did you tell them that I told you I got a baby at home?"" "That's unbelievable." "I mean, and, literally, they told me I had to leave, and do you know what I said?" "I said, "It's a shame" ""that you would have people come all the way down here" ""and not tell them if you're gonna get them a job."" "I said, "But my mama told me everybody got a boss."" ""I'm telling on you, I'm telling on you, and I'm telling on you."" "And the people" "And-and how these people booked me for this job" "You got the role?" "!" "Holy (bleep)!" "It was in the movie" ""Boys on the Side,"" "and my scene was with Whoopi Goldberg." "Drew Barrymore was in it." "(Rachel)" "Oh, (bleep)!" "Yes, it was my first job." "And they were like," ""Oh, my God."" "But I didn't know any better, and I was like, "Wait a minute!" "I need this job!"" "Yes!" "Shaking my head around and acting all crazy in there, but-- but I do think that when you do have a "no matter what" disposition and you enter in," "I don't even think to" "I feel sorry for people if they don't book me, not because you" "No, just because I feel-- it's honest-to-God truth." "I feel like," ""Oh, you don't know." ""God has blessed me," ""and I know that I will make this project great."" "This is my conversation in my head." "Love it, love it." "And I go," "I go, "Okay."" "Funny, funny." "You know what I mean?" "But if they don't pick me," "I feel like," ""I'm telling you something," ""I'ma come in this business and do something." ""I'ma make a mark, I'm gonna do something with myself."" "I never feel like, "Sorry."" "Mm-hmm." "And so that's what I would say is, trust your gift, because we all have different giftings, and whatever that thing is, it's all brought us to this roundtable." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Welcome back to "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'."" "We're getting into it with your favorite comedy actresses." "So, what is the funniest or strangest feedback you've ever read or heard about yourselves." "I tend to not read anything that's written." "I don't." "I avoid everything, um, so the only thing" "I come into contact with is people coming up to me in the, in the grocery store and saying, "My gosh, you're-you're so much prettier in person,"" "and this is my, where" "Oh, my God, I went to a bar one night" "This is back in the beginning days of, of "West Wing,"" "and a bartender said, um," ""I don't mean to insult you, but you look just like Allison Janney."" "(gasps and laughter)" "And I went" "Show me one like this, whack!" "I said, "Now, tell me why would that be an insult?" "I'm curious."" "And he said," ""Well..."" "He said," ""You're, you're just, you're a lot prettier than she is,"" "and I said," ""Well, I am her, and my drinks will be free for the rest of the evening."" "Yes!" "My God, yes!" "Yes." "When I was doing a little series called "Reno 911!"... (cheering and applause)" "Everybody remembers that, but when I was doing "Reno,"" "I made a decision to-- because we got to create the characters that we played, and they said," ""What would you like?"" "And I said, "Baby hair and a big bootie."" "(Lacey)" "Mm-hmm." "Now, here's how that manifested in my real life in two ways." "One:" "People who were fond of, you know, a lot down in the" "You know, the Dirty South, is what we call it." "People would come up and go, "Hey!"" "And they would look for it." "And I was like, "No, you know," "I wore a prosthetic, um" "Oh, did you?" "Oh!" "And I also wore a padded bottom when I put on the police uniform." "Mm-hmm." "Wow." "So, some people were disappointed." "Mm-hmm." "Some people thought" "I lost weight." "Some people were like," ""Hey, wait, what is going on?" "You look so much smaller in real" " TV makes you" "I get that all the time." "I get that." "But-- here was the funniest part:" "I wore the prosthetic butt on the red carpet." "(gasping and laughing)" "And the media, because the reason being, it was, like, we were promoting the movie." ""Reno 911!" ":" "Miami," so I said," ""Well, I wore a bathing suit in the movie,"" "so I'll wear my costume." "They're like, "Are you sure?"" "I go, "Yes."" "And then social media, some of these outlets, just dragged me." "They were like," ""She looks horrible..."" "(gasps)" "Ohh." "because they thought it was my real body, and they were like, "She should be ashamed of herself for wearing that,"" "and they" "Then they later came back and apologized." "The main organization that did it came back and said that they were sorry when they realized it was prosthetic, but it was a mold of the real thing." "I was like," ""S-so?" in the end..." "Uh-huh." "It was just, it was crazy to be judged in that way." "Sure." "Also, if it had been your real body, it's still a crazy thing to say." "Well, yes." "Yeah." "Yeah, crazy." "We know the value of beauty." "It's like... whether it was prosthetic or not..." "And now it's so interesting, because now everybody's injected cement into their bootie anyway." "So, I don't get it, like the trends, the idea of" "I was early!" "I was the cause!" "You are the cause." "It was ahead of your bootie time." "You know, when I was 16," "I had a big bootie, and I grew up and everybody's trying to, you know, get booties like the" "Kardashians, I'm like," ""I done had it all along."" "(laughter)" "I had it all along." "But I'm glad it's a trend now." "It's in vogue now." "What I get because I play a virgin on television is people desiring to tell me their specific..." "Mmm, yeah." "either sexual orientation or if they're currently having sex or if they're themselves a virgin." "Oh." "I know, it's very interesting, like, 'cause I'll get a, like, a... (gasps)" ""Jane!"" "And they'll hug me because Jane is so sweet, and then I'll be like..." "I would never, I would never," "I would never." "Are you crying?" "(Baby)" "Jane, no!" "This is worse than sex crying." "No." "No." "Yes, you are." "No, I'm not." "I can see the tears." "Okay, fine!" "Fine, I'm crying, okay?" "But I don't wanna be, so just ignore it, okay?" "The point is that my life is really overwhelming right now, and I have never missed a deadline, and I could really use an extension so I could put my best foot forward." "Do you need a minute to compose yourself?" "No!" "(sobbing)" "Yes." "Thank you." "(Ilana) It's more, for me, it's more the in-person, like, what people expect" "Mmm." "regarding the character." "I wonder if that happened to you with "Reno," that people, like, thought you were her, you know, or I don't know if that happens to you guys?" "That's a weird thing to me, and people also go to touch me a lot, you know?" "They think I want to, like..." "Sure." "have sex with them," "I guess, 'cause my, like, character's horny." "I'm like, "What?"" "I'm like, it's, you know, the afternoon." "You don't?" "So, that in the hall earlier was" "You didn't really intend that with me?" "Well, really, it's special when it's special, which it was with us." "Mmm, mmm." "But if it's not" "If I" " If I don't, most people don't." "Honestly, I've never felt closer to you." "You are a damn king!" "What if we tricked her into having a threesome?" "People really shouldn't trick other people into having sex." "Whoa!" "I've heard so many women say that, but when you say it," "I really hear it." "All right, penis kiss." "(horn honks)" "(kisses)" "Ahh, okay." "Some stuff would happen, um, online to me, because my show's, my character's, like, depressed, and deals with, like, her depression and anxiety." "I have a ton of people just, like, send me anonymous-- not anonymous, but, like, over-Facebook message." "They're like," ""Are you okay?"" "Well, no, it's the opposite." "It's people sharing, like, really personal, like..." ""Last year, I tried to kill myself" or, like" ""I was just diagnosed as schizophrenic" and-and, like... just automatically putting their trust in me, just because they feel like they know me, which is actually really, like, amazing" "(Gina)" "I was gonna say, kind of beautiful." "It's beautiful and amazing, but, like, it's interesting, someone seeing you on a show just feeling like they know you and then feeling like," ""Oh, I know this person," "I can tell them, like, the most intimate thing about myself." "That's been, like, the most interesting thing" "Sure." "of the past year for me." "I feel that way with the sexual, like with" "Yeah." "talking about sex and talking about virginity and talking about saving yourself, you know?" "'Cause I met a girl the other day that said," ""I'm also saving myself"" "She was 25" ""Saving myself for marriage,"" "and I was like, "Girl, get it." "That's amazing."" "She was so convicted, and she was beautiful, and she just got a, like, an amazing job and, you know, in administrations at the university, at U.C.L.A., and I was oddly proud of this human being" "I had just recently interacted with, and how we both kind of walked away gaining something." "Mm-hmm." "Well, can you give" "My girls call you and you confirm that they both virgins?" "(laughter)" "Yeah, I can, but I'm gonna tell you, I can tell right away." "Y'all?" "Nasty." "(laughter)" "You right." "You're right." "I'm not even gonna deny it!" "Nasty, nasty, nasty." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Welcome back to "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'."" "We're talking with the funny ladies behind TV's best comedies." "I assume in both of your cases," "I mean, a lot of fans do sort of mistake you, uh, for this character." "I mean, I'm guessing people, uh, walk up to you and want to get high with you, or they get up to you and they want to talk politics with you." "Yeah." "Um... (laughter)" "And I always disappoint in that scenario." "Well, what do you do in those scenarios?" "No, no, no." "I s" " I just, I, you know," "I was famously offered a job to work for some-some political organization after" "Uh-huh." "and I'm like," ""No, no, no, I-I--"" "It's actually been a burden for me to-to... that people think they are gonna meet C.J., and I'm" "I'm just so not her." "It's very hard to play a character that is so beloved and so smart and so confident, and it's... and especially someone who can dress someone down, and-and, you know, without having to, you know" "I dress people down, five days later, like," ""Oh (bleep)!" "I should have said that."" "We all do that." "I feel-I feel, definitely, intimidated because my character is" "Well, especially if you're ready to block them." "You hear what I'm saying?" "Because, like," "I am definitely not Jane, but I feel very lucky to play this character that I get to walk and kind of utilize her, like," ""What would Jane do?"" "kind of situation, because she is so moralistic and honest and truthful and caring and kind and generous and giving, and so it definitely helps me check myself." "Yeah." "Mmm." "But I feel like a front sometimes when people" "And what do you attribute this to?" "What do you mean?" "Just like a tough childhood, what?" "Oh-- oh, me, like, why am I so hard?" "Yeah, yeah, like" "Why am I so hard?" "(laughter)" "(Lily)" "I'm trying to figure it out." "Lily, would you like to change seats?" "Are you feeling scared right now?" "I'm protecting her." "No, no, I feel very simpatico." "See?" "Thank you, ooh." "It was weird the first time" "I got recognized." "Someone came up to me, and they're like," ""Oh, my God, you're so tiny!"" "And I was like, "Yeah."" "And, and they were like, "They must pad you on the show,"" "and I was like, "Oh, are you talking about..."" "I was like, "Oh, yeah, well, my boobs are big."" "She's like, "No, I'm not talking about your boobs."" "(laughs)" ""Let me clarify..."" "And I was like," ""Oh, okay..."" "What do you mean?" "(Rachel)" ""Thanks."" "I think she-she said" "I looked chubby on the show, or I looked curvier on the show, and then I was wearing a long, baggy sweater." "But then she, like, loved the show, so it was weird, 'cause I had to just be like, "Thank you."" "(laughter)" "Well, I've played so many characters that, I mean, characters I've invented for my own..." "Mm-hmm." "...material, just broad, out-there characters like Ernestine" "Mmm." "the phone operator." "That's very different from somebody I might play who's a more realistic, although Ernestine is quite realistic, as big as she is." "What if" "If people come" "I'm amazed at your experiences." "I don't know if it's, uh, a matter of genera- it's generational." "Mm-hmm." "I don't recall anybody, uh, assaulting me on the street or-or say" "You know, people are kind of affectionate toward me" "Mm-hmm." "for kind of like the body of my work." "Mm-hmm." "For all these years, and then if they're young people who don't know me, then they might know me for one thing." "Yep." "Maybe they know me for "Frankie,"" "from "Grace and Frankie."" "That's their only experience." "See, I sometimes have the opposite problem." "I have boundary issues, and then I have none, and it's always been a problem." "Like, I, after bad relationships," "I never built up, like, "Well, this next relationship," "I'm gonna take my time."" "It's always just been like, "No, I love you, and you're gonna solve me now."" "Like I've never" " I've never built up those walls, so sometimes when people recognize me from the show," "I geek out over them geeking out about me to the point where, like, they have to walk away sometimes." "And maybe because my show's new, and it just happened, so, like" "Well, like, the other day," "I was on an airplane," "Wow!" "and someone was like," ""Oh, my God, I love your show,"" "and I was like, "Oh, my God, tell me everything about you,"" "and they're like, "Um... okay." "I work in software, and I was like, "Really?" "!" "What does your wife do?" "Tell me about your cat."" "And, like, at a, at a certain point, they're just like..." "Oh, my God, oh, what a great" ""Well, I gotta" " I gotta bounce," and I'm just like," ""No!" "No, let's talk more,"" "Like it will probably get me killed at some point." "The point that I was at is that I like that I have fallen into the category of being an approachable celebrity or personality." "Mm-hmm." "because I've hosted a lot of shows, and so I bring a lot of the truth of who I am to those things, so people feel like they know you, and I was at a restaurant where there was another" "celebrity not so approachable, and literally you saw, you know, people were like, "Oh, my God, she ate a fry, she ate a fry."" "I'm like, I'm like, you know, people were in a panic, but they were clutching their pearls, they were looking from afar." "Meanwhile, my table was" "Grand Central Station." "Yes!" "(laughter, all talking at once)" "Yes, it's just all of that, and I'm like, I'm trying to eat my fries too, y'all, but okay, come on." "You know?" "So, I do like that people feel..." "Sure." "...like they know me, and, you know, I just like it, 'cause I-I want them to know that I've revealed up a part of myself, so." "Well, I get a lot of those phone requ-requests." "Oh, you do?" "Do you accept them?" "They went Ernestine, though, 'cause, you know, they want Ernestine to call their mama." "Ohh." "They're not interested in me." "Right." "They want, they want" "Ernestine to call." "(Lacey) And does she?" "Oh, yeah, sure." "We could call my mom after, Lily." "What?" "How's that feel, after so many requests, like, are you still happy to do it?" "Or is it like a mix of a bunch of things?" "Uh... (laughs)" "You know, that's, like, the most" "No, I don't mind for just a moment, it's when they, like they, if they win a prize." "Like if I put on, in some charity, I say" " They say," ""Do it, say that you'll do an Ernestine,"" "so then I have to take a big sheet of paper and talk to their dogs." "(laughing)" "Oh, my God." ""Fido's not here right now."" "I don't know, it's just... ♪♪" "♪♪" "Welcome back to "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'."" "We're talking with" "TV's hottest comedy actresses." "Over the past year and a half, conversations about women and men and-- and whether it's pay disparity and whether it's opportunities for women, um, have become a big piece of the conversation, and I'm curious," "have you had incidences where you've felt like, this is different for me as a woman in this business?" "(Lily)" "Oh, my goodness, back in the earlier days, there were very few women that would have the balls that you girls do." "I mean, you-you're out of sight, really." "Yeah, it is." "I was on "Laugh-In."" "I was a big hit on "Laugh-In..."" "Sure." "...and that was a show that was" "There's three networks in the entire industry..." "Oh, my God." "...so you're just like, if you're in a top show, you're in a top show." "People are" "Everywhere you go, people are putting napkins on their heads and... (blows raspberry) ...blowing raspberries, and," "I mean, it's unbelievable." "Yeah." "And, so, my next step was to get specials, television specials, so I did my first special, and I got a huge rating for it, you know, just huge, and so I said," ""Well, I'll do another show, but I don't want a-a partner." "Mm-hmm." "They said, "Well, you've gotta have somebody that we can talk to." "(sighs)" "Ohh." "This is how bad it was." "And I went and I talked with every top producer in, in the variety business from" "Norman Lear to Grant Tinker, and so I finally decided Grant" "Tinker would be the most open." "Mm-hmm." "And I was going along, doing the show, and preparing sketches and stuff, and then I watched something that I wasn't in, and I was gonna sit there and watch it and comment on it," "and Grant said to me," ""You go on home, we'll take care of things."" "(all)" "Ooh!" "(Niecy)" "The pat." "Ooh, yeah, the pat." "So bad." "Ooh... really?" "Like... (laughs) it is" "(Lily)" "You must feel my pain," "I can see that in your face." "Well, you know what?" "You know what it is, is, like, it's" "It's all these, like, subtle..." "It's almost like when someone gives you pity eyes." "And that's not just, like a female thing, but, like," "I just" " The air of" ""Oh, honey..." "You're so cute."" "But, I mean, but as you guys are rolling around, do you feel any of that?" "Do you feel the sort of sexism that-that exists, and has it sort of changed?" "(Niecy)" "I-Im sure that it exists, and a lot of people may have been in situations where it's staring them right in the face." "For me, personally, I've had so many other things on my plate:" "I was gonna say... raising three children, I got a, you know, a new husband, an ex-husband," "I had a TV husband," "I've had more husbands than you can shake a stick at, and, you know, so it just, in trying to navigate my life, you know, with my church and my friends and my kids" "and my this and my that," "I just try to stay focused on the things that are positive and do my best work, you know?" "Sure." "And a lot of times, you either kill people with kindness..." "Yep." "...and in cases where that doesn't work, my mama..." "You just kill them." "Well, Mama always says" "Just sayin'." "Listen, my mother always said," ""If you cuss somebody out right, they won't even realize it until they get home." "Yeah!" ""Wait a minute!" "What did she say?" You know?" "Even through as women, you and Abbi are young females." "I feel like," "I mean, part of it, sometimes we go through stuff where we're like," ""It's because we're women."" "And it's also subtle sexism because we're young, especially, like, crew guys, you know?" "Mm-hmm." "Recently, this guy was calling us" ""ladybugs,"" ""lovebugs."" "I'm like we have a show, and you're, like, helping run the promo for the show that we..." "But it's also like, I'm not" "I don't need to, um, necessarily sit down and have a talk with this guy." "It's like "ha ha" and then just move on, you know?" "It's, like, unbelievable people are still in that world, but I also this-- this idea of, like, you're, like, "Formation"" "Superbowl feeling." "I feel that too, where it's like, get information." "Yes." "I want to carry that as" ""ignorance is bliss"" "I want to carry that and assume that privilege so that when I'm..." "Yep." "met with that sexism," "I'm like, "Are you kidding me?"" "You know, I want people to feel like, "Oh, what in the world?"" ""I haven't got time for you."" "Yeah, no time for you." ""I don't have time for this." "What are you--"" ""'Cause I'm running a show." "Goodbye." "Bye."" "When you're an auditioning actor, the type of roles you're auditioning for, and you see the difference between the female characters and the way they're written, and the male characters, and it's a" "it's a very, like," ""dog whistle" thing, but, like, it kind of," "I've learned, takes a woman to write a woman well, and I don't know what it is." "And that's a gross generalization, but there's something about" "You can just tell when something's been written by the person that the show's portraying." "Sure." "I mean, before you" "I know you have another question" "I was just curious how you feel now." "I know you said you entered into the business, you know, feeling like "I don't know," "I, like, you know," "Am I really talented?"" "You have to know now that you're frickin' amazing, right?" "(Rachel)" "I-I-I-I do, and, like, it was always this weird juxtaposition of, when I felt, like, confident," "I would just be like, "Hey!"" "And when I didn't" "(laughter)" "Like, when I felt confident, when I felt comfortable in a room, I would do it, but when I didn't feel comfortable, it was almost like I turned into a different person, and now," "especially in the past year that my show's been on, that other person doesn't come out." "Like, now I can walk into a room..." "I mean, God, I never had that idea of, like," ""If you don't cast me," "I feel sorry for you,"" "and I want you to-I want you both to be my life coach, 'cause that's unbelievable that you" "Like, that's so amazing, like, and-and" "That's character work." "That's, like, yourcharacterwork, not character work on somebody you write and put on television, because I think that's what gets lost in this industry." "We go and we tap into all these different human beings, and we get to transform, we don't work on our character." "I'm constantly working on Gina." "I know how Gina feels and where Gina is today and what-what is present in my life and what has been given to me and my blessings and, you know, and my path on the journey" "I want to take." "That gets worked on daily." "All the characters I play" "I love that." "I love to work." "You know, it is." "It's true." "It's soul food." "I love that." "That is" " Yes." "You know, it's true." "It's soul food." "Let's talk about" "Sunday soul food." "It's soul food." "Like, what I am I gonna" "Like, last week, I've been working on empathy, and in those situations, especially, I think, as an actress or a leading actress in a television show in those situations where, you know, you are overworked" "and you are tired, and you, you know, don't have a lot of free time by yourself to be able to work on your character, to be in situations" "Sure." "where you're like, "I don't feel really great right now,"" "versus, like, "I need this and I need this, and I'm gonna be a (bleep)."" "No, it's "I'm sorry" "I treated you that way." "Forgive me for doing this, and can we move forward if-if, you know, we can understand that this the is the way now we speak to one another?" "And then how we can transition that from our own personal characters as a human being to the characters that we get to play on screen, because I think the stronger" "I become in who I am, the stronger I become as an actor." "(Niecy)" "Because it's easy, it's easy to keep the mask on when you go out into the world." "I'm at work and" "I'm playing this character, and now I'm" "Now maybe I'm off set, and I'm in my feelings, and somebody comes up to me and says, "How you doing?"" "And I pull up." "Right, right." "And "I'm great," you know, because this is what we do." "We wear that mask so well." "But to really say, "This is the truth of who I am, girlfriend,"" "for me," "I'm going through it." "Hello, thank you." "You-you know what I'm saying?" "I'm not" "I'm not there." "But a lot of times where we wear the mask for a living, it's knowing that you can take it off and be comfortable in that skin." "Sure." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Welcome back to "Close Up With" "'The Hollywood Reporter'."" "We're talking with the women behind the year's funniest comedies." "What were the moments for you when you realized, it was the light bulb moment of "I'm gonna be an actress"?" "Not that I want to be an actress, but this is real." "This is going to happen and" "I'm going to do this." "I grew up in Southern" "California, but my family's all" "My grandpa was an amateur stand-up comic and involved in the community theater, and they took me to see "Guys and Dolls"" "at the local playhouse, and Adelaide was singing" ""Bushel and a Peck,"" "and she was, like, singing, and then she went, "I love you,"" "and she pointed right at me, and I was like," ""It's on, Adelaide."" "You're chosen." "It's on, Adelaide!" "(Gina)" "Uh, "Dirty Dancing."" "I was a salsa dancer for many years, starting at a really young age, and I always knew I wanted to be on stage," "I really enjoyed it, you know?" "I did it from the age of seven to 17, and I saw "Dirty Dancing,"" "and I was like," ""No." "No." "I gotta get" ""I gotta get inside that screen." ""And I gotta dance with Patrick" "Swayze," God rest his soul." "But I just always was like..." "Catch me!" "And nobody caught me." "Literal" "Like, literally?" "We're not talking figuratively." "Nobody caught you emotionally." "I'd jump off the" "You would just do that." "(all talking at once)" "No, no, no, no-- joking." "But it was" ""Dirty Dancing" that got me." "Ah, I loved it." "For me, I loved watching" "This is gonna totally date me-- but, "The Carol Burnett Show"" "and "Mary Tyler Moore Show"" "I just" "I watched them endlessly" "Well, not endlessly, the way we can nowadays, but, um, I thought that I would have my own" ""Carol Burnett Show" one day." "That's what I wanted to do," "I thought..." "I just thought nobody had more fun than that group of actors, and then my mother was roommates with Eileen Brennan." "Your mom was roommates with Eileen!" "Yeah, my mom was roommates with" "Eileen, and so, it was sort of" "I think Eileen was the person that I-I watched and I loved and knew that it sort of became, uh, a possibility for me that, knowing Eileen was, like, one step closer to the possibility of" "Of reality." "Yeah, it became real." "Maybe I can, I can," "I can do this." "My brother and I would make comedy videos growing up." "I mean, tons, hours and hours and hours of comedy videos, but it wasn't until, um, I got into NYU" "You have a better chance of getting in when you do early decisions, and I did that, and I didn't go for acting." "Like, nobody in my family was in-is in the industry." "Like, it wasn't..." "I had to, like, pretend I was gonna be a psychologist, or whatever." "But I knew about the UCB scene going on and the comedy group" "Stella, just these New York, whatever, um... alt comedy groups, and I remember" "I said to my dad," ""You know, I know I'm, like, getting into this school and we're gonna have the loans, cool loans that we're gonna have, but... (laughter)" "I do wanna, like," "I wanna have a go 'round" "I want to go there to, like, be around those people, and he was like, "No," "I totally get that."" "Just that little thing of, like, um, he got that, I was like," ""Okay, I'm gonna do it when I get there."" "(Niecy) For me, I was five years old," "I was watching television with my grandmother, and we were watching a soap opera," "I think "Young and the Restless."" "It got preempted by something, and I saw the most gorgeous black woman" "Mmm." "that I had ever seen in my little five years of living." "She had a long red dress on, her eyelashes looked like butterflies, and my eyes crossed, and I said," ""Grandma, who is that?"" "She said... (exhales)" ""Baby, that's Lola Falana!"" "And in that moment," "I felt like God stamped on the canvas of my imagination:" ""Destiny."" "Oh, wow." "I said, looked at my grandmother," "I said, "I wanna be black and fabulous and on TV."" "Ooh!" "I got goose bumps." "And at that point, I refused to answer to my name." ""Niecy, get in here!" "Niecy!" "Lola!"" "And I would go," ""Yes, ma'am."" "Ohh." "And I knew in that moment that that is what I was going to do for the rest of my life." "Mmm!" "So cool." "What's the best career advice you've received?" "(Allison) I got a fun piece of advice." "It was so cute," "Sanford Meisner, who could barely, he was talking out of his voice box." "He said, "Don't let anyone tell you you're too tall to act."" "I love that!" "Every time I see you on the red carpet," "I'm like, "Legs for days,"" "Allison, for days." "Legs for days." "This body's so banging, always, I swear to you." "Whenever I see this girl in a dress, I just die." "That is the truth!" "Aw, you're so sweet!" "(overlapping conversation)" "I want to say real quick, Allison, one of the best pieces of advice, I think, because as actresses, we're always called to take a picture, whether it's with a fan or on the red carpet," "at something like this, and I remember getting ready to take a picture with the lovely" "Maya Angelou..." "Ooh." "and she could not stand." "Oh." "And, so, I leaned, you know, down into the picture like this to take the picture, and she turned her head to me, and she said," ""Straighten your back."" "(all) Ohh!" "She said, "You bow to no one." "Stand up, and they'll get it." ""They'll get you." "You stand straight up."" "Oh, my God!" "And I have never to this day..." "Oh, my God!" "bent down to take a picture." "I took a picture with a girl yesterday, if y'all follow me on Insta, and she did, she did the exact same thing and bent down, and I said, "No, no, no, honey," "stand up straight." "You'll get--"" "So, I always feel when you get good advice, when you get something that speaks to you, you pay it forward." "Right." "You pass it along, so I-I don't want to see any of you all in a picture going like that." "No" " No, no." "Straighten your backs!" "I love it!" "Uh!" "You bow down to no one." "There you go!" "(Lacey) All right." "On that note, thank you guys, this is wonderful." "We appreciate you all being here." "It's an honor."