My mom is an avid musical theatergoer. My dad would always get a subscription to the Syracuse Stage. I was always exposed to theater. So I went to a theater conservatory at Boston University.
Michaela Watkins
I went on a road trip and ended up in Portland, Oregon, and from there, I did non-stop theater. I had just graduated, and I had all these ideas about what good acting was, but I hadn't put any of it into action. I spent five years honing my acting chops. And then I had this epiphany one day that I need to go to L.A.; I need to be on a sitcom.
The wardrobe department isn't a bunch of elves there to serve you; they're artists with vision. Honor them.
My dad is a mathematician; I think we both have that problem-solving, looking-for-patterns way of thinking.
What's fun now is that I have a show at USA that I co-wrote called 'Benched.' I'm completely behind the scenes and not the actor at all.
I am just scared to death of online dating.
I love comedies, both broad and subtle.
'SNL' was a dream come true for me. It was a fantastic year. I don't have any regrets.
I just want to make people laugh, and I want to do that the best way possible.
I get to do physical comedy! When do women get to do physical comedy? Very rarely.
Maybe women get to a certain age and they no longer have a filter; they're considered crazy people or something.
I realize I love crazy ladies. Of course I don't like to think of myself as one, but maybe I am, too. I dunno. I'm always drawn to them; I think it's because I'm attracted to people who aren't in the business of people-pleasing: saying what they really think, not passive-aggressive at all.
When I got 'Trophy Wife', the first fear is, 'This could go away;' the second is, 'It's here and I love it; I hope it gets a second season.'
As far as celebrity, people don't stop me on the street and know who I am. It's more like, 'Doesn't she remind you of so-and-so's ex-girlfriend?' It's always somebody's ex-girlfriend. Somebody ex-girlfriend who's 'crazy.'
I do like to play people I wouldn't want to spend five minutes in a room with.
You know how when you're alone with your cat, your cat is kind of silly and goofy and kind of crazy? And as soon as people come over, your cat is like someone you've never met before? You know, poised. That's sort of what it's like working with Jennifer Lopez.
I do think non-linearly. So I think that comes off as nervousness or anxiety in a person.
I actually have huge respect for Lorne Michaels. I think that guy is really something.
It was weird that most people knew me as someone let go from 'SNL.' I had the best time there, and in retrospect, it was the perfect amount of time. The only thing that matters is what you do with yourself in that moment after. If you decide, 'I'm the girl who was fired from 'SNL,' you're just that.
Because I do mostly comedy, I'm usually working with friends, and it's usually a ball.
I don't come from a Hollywood family. I don't have Hollywood friends. I didn't have any connections.
I'm happy because I was proud of what I did at 'SNL.' It's the only time probably in my life that I didn't have any regrets. I worked really hard. I played really nice. I threw myself into it. I committed. Beyond that, what else could I have done?
I'd love to do a Marvel movie.
I loved the movie 'Dangerous Liasons' with John Malkovich.
Evvverrrrybody wants to know what it's like working with Jennifer Lopez.
When my parents were divorced in the late '70s, early '80s, the climate was that you should screw over your ex as much as possible - get the worst lawyer in the world, all that. That's not what people are out to do anymore. It feels cruddy to try and destroy each other just because you're breaking up.
I love working so much. For me, working equals happiness.
A great time in my life was being totally single and actively not dating. Just saying, 'I'm gonna not be in a relationship. I'm gonna not date.' That was a super fun, awesome time.
Rejection and I are old friends.
I have this weird optimism that when things are not good - like, really, genuinely not good - that we shall persevere.
I know friends who have this sort of incredibly intimate relationship with their sibling. And I don't get it: it wasn't like that in my family. In some ways, I'm envious, because they have someone that's so completely in their corner. And at the same time, I imagine it may at times feel like it's stunting.
When you're casting a show, you have your idea of who you want it to be, and of course, those are going to be very well-known names.
As much as I would have loved to look like Jennifer Aniston in 'Friends,' that didn't happen. And I really tried! I hit that gym! I got a flatiron. But it didn't happen.
My rule of thumb is to always do what's on the page first. Then you can talk to your director about playing with it. Improv frees me up in a character, but I would be mortified if the writers who agonized over their words assumed I thought my improv was more valuable.
Everyone's job is invaluable. Film and TV production is collaboration.
I made a pact with myself when I was 12 that I would only work with people who make me happy. I choose happy.
I say yes to everything if I like the overall thing that's being put out there. I'll do anything with David Wain.
I'm definitely an observer of human behavior. I always have been.
