Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Aidy Bryant

Episode Date: January 19, 2020

Aidy Bryant grew up in Arizona watching women like Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri and Ana Gasteyer on Saturday Night Live. Today, she is a member of that exclusive comedy club herself. In this week’s ��Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to the actress and comedian about her eight season run on SNL, as well as her latest role as executive producer, writer and star of the acclaimed Hulu series Shrill. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I am really excited to bring you our guests this week. It is SNL cast member now in her eighth season, the hilarious 80 Bryant. She has been funny since I think the moment she got on the show in 2012. She came in with a class that includes Kate McKinnon, longtime buddies now. They share an office together at 30 Rockefeller Center where we're sitting right now.

They write together in that tiny little office. They laugh together. They cry about their moms together, as you'll hear in this interview. 80 brings us some of the best characters on the show, for my money. Lil Baby 80 is perhaps her best known in those SNL digital shorts that star the superstar females of SNL. Tonker Bell is another favorite. She, of course, played Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former White House Press Secretary, and

Megan McCain on The View. So we get into all of it with SNL. She grew up in Phoenix watching the show, loving cast members like Sherry O'Terry and Molly Shannon. She got into theater camp. Then she did a little improv camp. Then she moved to Chicago for college. She got involved at Second City, the famed theater group that has produced so many SNL stars.

And she was often running and at 25 years old landed her job on SNL. So we'll talk through that audition and everything about SNL. but also getting into the second season of her show Shrill on Hulu, which is a deeply personal show for her. She is the executive producer. She's the writer and the star of Shrill. It's based on a best-selling memoir. And it deals a lot with body image, something, as you'll hear in our conversation, that 80 has dealt with for most of her life. And something she still deals with today, but you'll talk about the moment when she realized she didn't need to think about it the way she'd been thinking about it, her whole life.

life. It's a really funny show, but it's also a touching show. She's great in it. So, Adi and I got together a couple of weeks ago when Scarlett Johansson was hosting SNL. And Nile Horan, formerly of One Direction fame, was the musical guest. Scarlett obviously is engaged to Colin Jost, head writer of the show and also the host of Weekend Update. So Scarlett has done the show a bunch. She's a vet. She knows how it works inside and out. So 80 and I kind of talked about what that week was going to look like in the process. And we got together at a diner called Big Daddy's Diner here in New York City. We're sitting in a booth just to paint the picture for you. And it's not a classic New York diner. It's sort of a kitchy diner. Think bright colors, old 70s action figures, lunch boxes

from your youth, just a lot of crap around, if I'm being honest. Good, kitsy crap. So here now, from Big Daddy's Diner is Aidy Bryant. 80, thanks for doing this. My pleasure. Great to be in our usual spot. Yeah, this is our spots. I dressed for it. It's perfect.

You're very matchy, matchy with our wallpaper. We were just talking about SNL and this being a show week. Yeah. So I think a lot of people are curious about the process. And I know Monday is sort of the pitch day where the host comes in, everybody meets the host, although you guys kind of know the host, I think, this week, starts. We know Scarlett.

You know Scarlett. Yeah. And then what happens today? We're sitting here together on a Tuesday. What is the rest of the week look like? So Tuesday is like it's writing night. That's kind of all it is. So we'll basically, you'll kind of write different sketches all night long.

And each one could take a different amount of time, so it just really depends. But most people go home around four or five, most of the writers don't go home. Oh yeah, A.m. Okay. Yes, all night. And they, most of the writers don't go home. They sleep there and then work all day Wednesday. Wow. So it's like a 24-hour shift basically. It ends up being that way. Yeah. So like from your point of view today and this week, like what are you coming in with? Like what's your, you got new fresh ideas? You got nothing. I'm so stressed. I shouldn't be here. I should be thinking. No, I mean, it's different every week. I don't know. Sometimes I try. try to just have like a kernel of an idea that might even just be like a character's attitude

or like a location or a something. And then you kind of sit with a writer and talk through what do you think and what could the hosts do and, you know, just trying to like serve them and figure it out, you know. What is that balance of because I've heard different cast members say different things over the years of like a host who comes in with a lot of ideas? Yeah, yeah. And you have to be like, okay, that one's good and like focus on what you're one that you think you could pull off.

I mean, it's funny because I feel like that mostly falls to, like, the producers to kind of talk them through or the writing supervisors. And then sometimes people will get, like, an assigned someone, like the host's idea, because they might have an idea. And then it's like, I'm rarely going to be the one to, like, make that happen for them, you know? But so it kind of just depends. So on Wednesday, then, do you have a pretty good sense of basically what's going to be

in the show after you read through? through it at the table and you say that worked, that didn't work? I don't know. It's really hard to predict because we read like 40 sketches at the table read. And then when it's done, we have about an hour, hour and a half where we're just sitting, waiting while the producers and Lauren and the host are in a meeting like picking. And, you know, of course that time is all of us being like, I think this will get in and that'll get in or whatever.

But it is, there's so many other factors at play like, does the host have to change out of something into something really quickly. How can that work? Well, then we probably can't do this sketch or even, like, locations in the studio. Like, you can't have four things in a row at home base, so one sketch might be out because there's so many factors. So at least that's what I tell myself when my sketches don't get paid.

I'm like, oh, the geography. Oh, the logistics again. Yes, oh, gosh. I don't think people realize at home, if you've ever been to CSNL live, the minute you guys go to commercial break, It is an all-out sprint. Donna and wardrobe is grabbing somebody's hand.

They're going into a curtain. The sets are changing. It's total chaos, even though you guys come back from break and look like you've been cool all the time. It's the only time I ever feel like an athlete. I'm like, who, ripping my shirt off and running. I'm like, I think this is what track people do.

It is what track people do. You're right. So this is your eighth season. Yeah. Do you still get that rush, that high at 1130? on Saturday night when the opening sketch starts and then you hear the famous music. Sometimes. No, I do.

I still really love it. And I would say I'm more going to rush, like, the band when I hear the music of, like, the opening credits. I still remember how I felt the first time I heard, like, my name in the credits, and that was insane. And I don't know. I also, like, I always feel overwhelmed when, like, there's a sketch that's really hard to execute and we mail it, you know?

Those are like especially invigorating now that I've been there so dang long. When you started eight seasons ago, would you have ever dreamed that you'd be sitting here with me talking about your eighth season on SNL and one of the stars of the show? No. And also, I mean, my whole first season, I was just convinced I was going to be fired the whole year and was crying all the time being like, this is it. It's over now. So it's so, so nice to.

be there and to feel really comfortable there, which I kind of never thought I would. Yes. You know, you guys put you and Kate and Cecily, they're a group of women in particular. I think on the show who are like really the heart of the show. Oh, that's nice. I think so. As a huge fan of the show forever and ever and ever, you have the thing where if you're in the sketch, and I would say this about like Kristen Wigg and Will Farrell and Chris Farley, it's going to be good.

Oh, that's because even if it's not, even if the sort of the idea, doesn't work. Yeah. You're going to react in some way, or you're going to deliver something to kind of save it. What do you think we hear people say, like, A.D. Bryant is one of the stars of S&L. Like, she's, she and Kate are the stars of S&L. Oh, God. I mean, that's super overwhelming and insane. And it, I also just, like, it doesn't feel true to me still. Like, right. I feel very, like, well, Keenan is the ultimate, like, you know, I don't know, or, like, Fred or the people I started with and felt really, like, in all. with. But I don't know, it's so overwhelming because again, I really, well, growing up, it just felt

incredibly far from me because I'm like from Arizona, not a Hollywood town. And I don't know. So now to be there and like have some normalcy to it is bizarre. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's true. I mean, you guys are, I think, the heart of the show. And you sort of made a point of doing like the girl group, the videos. Do you have that sense of sort of? of empowerment with your group of women on the show? Yeah, and I think like, at least for me, it was just like a survival tactic in the beginning where I was like, oh, I feel like I'd rather do something

with my friend than alone, you know, or my friends, or it just felt stronger together kind of thing. And so I feel like we kind of started writing from that place of like, well, I love doing bits with Kate and we share an office, let's write something, you know, those kinds of things. Like, it just kind of happens naturally, but it is like, It's so much, it's always easier to do something with a pal, you know, and to be able to look in their eyes and be like, I trust you. So that's kind of how it started, but then it was just like fun.

So you and Kate share an office. Yeah. That I think that comes across in the show, too, when it's just the two of you, like, doing the smokery at the update desk. Like, you guys have sort of an unspoken thing where, again, it's going to be good if the two of you are in there. Did you know her before the show? No, not at all. We were just hired the same year. You know?

But we really hit it off really quickly. And I think we both are kind of like quiet dorks who work really hard, you know, and are like, care a lot. And so we just bond it very quickly. So what's it like in that office when the two of you are bouncing ideas off each other? I mean, I think people probably imagine our office to be very fun, but it's actually a lot of us, like, quietly talking about how much we like. care about our mothers.

You know, or like us like quietly talking about our deep, deep worries. But that's very bonding too. So it's not just a big yuck fest? No, I mean, it is a lot of the time. And like we just did a sketch last week that was sort of us like trying to kill each other that fully just came out of us like joking around and kind of doing that on set. So you've got the sort of the big headline famous characters that you do, a little baby. Sure.

Right? Where little baby come from? I mean, really just we were writing those music videos all together, and we were like, oh, it'd be fun to do kind of like an intro for every person. And I think one of our writers who we write with Chris and Sarah, they put that in like Little Baby 80. Because I guess at the time, maybe I was the youngest cast member or something, but it's really stuck.

And now when I'm on airplanes and people are like, excuse me, little baby 80? I'm like, well, I'm a 32-year-old woman, but yes, hello. You know, I'm constantly being called little baby everywhere I go. Oh, that's incredible. Yeah, 32-year-old, and you'll be known as a little baby forever, perhaps. It's very creepy. Do you have a favorite character to play of your own? If it comes up that week and you go, okay, good.

It's good to see her again. I don't really have a favorite. Like, I don't know. I always like, I would say more so, there are like styles of sketches that I look forward to. I always look forward to like commercial parodies where we're like straight live commercial parodies where we're straight to camera because there's not a lot. There's so much technical stuff with S&L about like hitting your marker, look to this camera, then look to that one.

You know, that stuff, it's like you're so aware of that, especially for things that are really complicated. So those like straight to camera commercials, you're just performing without really having. having to worry about much technical stuff. And those are just so fun. You're also good at a sort of overconfident, I wanna use the right word, like a blow heart, or somebody who's confident but shouldn't be,

I guess is the fair way to. That's the whole thing. You appear to enjoy that kind of a character. Absolutely. And there's, I was watching one this morning where you and Kate were the choir fashion. Oh yeah, yeah. You're singing to each other about the choir.

And then there's one where you guys are doing the apple picking, there's the smokery. It feels like if you put the two of you together in one place, something good is going to happen. I think so. Either that or something very bad. Oh, my goodness. I know, no, but it's true. We really like doing those together.

And I also like that you sort of said the show's gotten political, you know, for obvious reasons. And you're like, you know what? I'll let other people do that for the most part. I'm going to focus on the thing I think I'm good at. But you did, of course, do Sarah Huckabee Sanders. How did you approach that character? I mean, I'm not, I love politics, and I am like big on keeping up with the news, but I just am not an impressionist.

It's like not what I studied doing in Chicago, and it's not like my first love. And so I try to like approach impressions by looking at them as like charactery elements. And so for her, like Sarah Huck v. Sanders, I just tried to think about like what elements of her reminded me of things, if that makes sense. So I always thought like the way she approached press conferences was kind of like a, like a Southern football coach doing like a pep talk where it's like, okay, guys, here we're go, like that kind of energy. And so that was like kind of, I could wrap my head around that more than being like trying to like nail her exact physical. Right. I don't know. Right. And just be confrontational right out of the gate. That's one of the keys to it, I think.

Pretty much. Am I right that you love a Southern accent? I've never. I picked that up from you. You do. I knew it. So much. Yeah, I mean, I think I'm like from the southwest. And so there is kind of like a, I don't know, my grandparents are very twangy. And it just is very comfortable to me.

It shows. I was watching a sketch this morning where you were in the arm cast at dinner with Seth Rogen. And you just dropped her into a southern accent. Because why not, right? Why not? Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sitdown podcast. Stick around to hear more from 80 Bryant. after the break.

Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Now more of my conversation with Adi Bryant. So born out of this show is your own project, which is an amazing show. Congratulations on the success. Season two is here. How was that project born for you? So you're on a great run on SNL. Were you looking for, okay, now I need my own thing?

No. You weren't. Not really. No. I mean, I was like, I'm just. still very content at SNL. And, but I kind of, I had read this book, Shrill, and loved it. And then I like saw a headline that was like, Elizabeth Banks' option, this book.

And I was like, whoa, that book is the only thing that I've ever read where I've been like, that's so much like my experience, you know, and really felt like, this is exactly how I felt as like a young woman trying to find out who she was, you know? And so I kind of asked my agents. I was like, do you know what she's making with that? And they were like, well, it's very weird that you called because she just called us and they're very interested in you. Oh, really?

And I was like, oh, well, okay. And so then we met and, you know, just in a very cool way, I was like, I'm super interested in this, but I would really want to be a part of like writing it and producing it because that's what I do at us now. And it would be hard to just roll up as like a beautiful, Right. It's called from your trailer.

Yes, exactly. And not like also be involved in making it. And they were totally down. And so we made it. And now, season two. Here we are. So what did you see in Annie that you thought, oh man, this, if I were going to go do something on my own, this is it. I just, you know, I really liked that, like, Lindy's book is about someone who feels like, I'm good. I'm interesting. I'm smart. I'm a good friend. And why does my body make me inherently not right? What's wrong with me?

I don't think anything, but society is telling me otherwise, and how do I, like, overcome every magazine, every commercial, every whatever telling me that, like, I'm bad. Yes. And that is, it's just, like, inherently a tough thing to face, you know? And I was like, I think I know this experience and how, like, approaching it with good intentions, how you can sort of like make yourself small and sweet. And when someone tells you, like, you would be so beautiful if you lost 50 pounds, you're like,

thank you. But why am I thanking you? And just what a trap it is. And so that's kind of where I was like, I know how to do that, you know? And that's the trainer in the very first episode that conveys that message to you. Yeah. And that's something that actually happened to me, which was someone grabbed my wrist and was like, you're small under there.

And I was like, thank you. Who would be like a stranger to that? Yeah. Wow. But it's, I also think people feel like they're helping you and it's well-intentioned. And so it's a complicated thing that I think a lot of women of all kinds of sizes experience. Yeah. And there's the, in the very first episode of the first season where you sort of lay out the premise,

there's a scene where she's sitting talking to her friend and saying, I've spent my life basically trying to please people and thinking that would be my thing to make people happy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. At the expense of all these other things in my life. Was that something that felt familiar to you in your real life as well? One thousand percent.

Yeah. And I mean, some of that was improvised in that particular scene because I was just like, I know this zone. Yeah. You know, I can, because I think like, especially if you feel like you might not be. the right perfect mold for something, you find ways to give yourselves legs up or edges in the other places by being the nicest one or the hardest working one, even if you're not the perfect bodied one. And I think those things can really take a lot of your time and energy by trying to be the nicest one rather than focusing on what you're there to do. And those kind of things.

And she has the epiphany in the show where she's like, I'm not doing this anymore. And that's into her adult life in her 20s. Did you have that moment yourself? 1,000%. Yeah. I basically like in college was like, I'm really tired of like hating myself and spending so much time and money and energy on dieting or strategically finding ways to dress myself to minimize or whatever. And the second I kind of let go of that stuff, which wasn't easy, but I really worked to just like, be like, that's not my focus or my purpose in life. and all of a sudden I was like hired by Second City. And then two years later, I was hired by S&L.

And I do think some of it was just like a confidence, you know, that like I felt comfortable standing up in front of people and being like, what? Yeah, yeah. So what does that mean to just to not care about that stuff anymore? Like what is it as a practical matter day to day, how do you stop caring about that stuff? Because it is in your face constantly on TV and everywhere else. Oh, yeah. And I mean, it's not like I flipped a switch and I did it.

and I'm a perfect thing. You know, like, it is, it's something that is ongoing forever. But I think for me, what I often can do is just think about, like, why do I find myself valuable? And it's not the width of my thigh. It's usually what a good friend I am or what a good writer I am or how I am to my family and those types of things. And so then it's easy to be like, no, I have a lot that's of a lot of value

that's not just about like how tight my jeans are, you know? Right, right. Yeah. So where do we find Annie then in season two for people who love season one? Yeah. Where is she right now? So I think the cool thing about season two is she's like post epiphany, you know? And if the first season is her like realizing that she maybe doesn't have to give all her time to this, the second season is her like trying to put it into practice. And what I love about this is and I think a lot of people will relate to is that it's like she's found comfort. and self-value in her work and in her friendships,

but it's sort of like that last place where it's hard to find it is in your romantic relationships, because you have to be extremely vulnerable with this person. You might have to be naked with this person, and those are all things that it can be hard to let go of what feels like it's working even if it's not the best thing. Right. So that's kind of what this season circles around,

like those last areas where it's hard to have confidence. And one of the things I love about the show is you don't sure the experience for her, you know, which is probably the same for you, which is like, you show the bedroom scene, you show the things that are real for you in your experience. Did you want to just sort of like peel everything away and really tell the truth about what it's like? Yeah, I mean, I thought it was really important to keep the show really grounded. So even though there are, like, silly and funny, like, wacky elements, it, we really make

an effort to, like, just keep it pretty human and just try to make it very real because it's important to see like a fat woman feel herself in a sexual way and then see how people respond to her because that's something that like isn't often in media you know and so that's that is like a new thing for people to experience I think it's also really touching you know because you see the humanity of like 80s funny and she's smiling she's happy and we see her for an hour and a half every Saturday on SNL but like you've been through some stuff sure and it wasn't easy getting where it wasn't always easy and you've talked about your childhood even um that you were generally a popular and happy kid and you were the prom queen and all those things but you were kind of

putting on a show sometimes for people is that fair to say sure yeah i mean i think for as much as i was maybe like loved by my friends or family i still really didn't like myself and that's so sad You know, but I think it was a lot of like sort of self-inflicted pain that that I worked really hard to step out of, you know. Self-inflicted, but totally understandable. Yeah, completely. I mean, it is like I was sort of taking everyone's word that that's how it has to be. And there's one way to be beautiful.

There's one way to be valuable. There's one way to be an actress. There's one way, you know, and pretty quickly I was like, oh, this is all made up by someone who I very likely don't respect. Right. So why I try to chase that? And is that where you found comedy and humor and decided like, this can help define me and this is why people will know me?

Yeah, and I think, I don't know, I started as like a kid doing plays and stuff. And I was like, oh, I like doing plays. And even in college, I was like, oh, I like doing plays. But then when I found improv, I was like, oh, I like to be in the driver's seat. Like, I like to, I like this so much better than just like, I don't know, wearing a skirt and walking around and being like, Mama or whatever in some play. I was like, I deeply prefer to like be the one making the decisions. So was that high school then? You were a teenager, like improv camp and all that?

Yeah, fully. I was doing like teen improv in Arizona, which, ooh, what I wouldn't give to watch the tape. Is that some of the genesis of that great sketch you guys do of the, that improv? Rob group trying to tackle the issues of the day. Yes. Absolutely. So what was that feeling like to be on a stage and have people laugh and love you and say, oh, who's that because of something you thought of or something you said?

Extremely addictive. Yeah. I'm sure. Totally. And I think, like, for me, just very quickly, I was like, oh, I think I can do this, you know, like, I like this. And then as I went to Chicago and, like, took classes and actually learned how to do it. It was like, oh, this is, when it's the best, it's the very best, you know? And when it's the worst, it's the very worst.

It can be terrible. Oh, my God, yes. So how did you end up going to college in Chicago from Arizona? I really was like hunting to do more improv. And I had taken classes in Phoenix with a guy who had gone through all the training programs in Chicago. And so he had kind of told me about this magical place where everybody loves and cares about improv a lot. And it was real. So when I went to school, I basically kind of did school by day and improv by night. And then you end up at Second City after school, which, as anyone who's come up in improv, that's sort of the Holy Grail, right, to get to Second City?

Yeah, it was a cartoonishly wonderful scenario where I, like, graduated college and was hired by Second City, like right after it was the best. And why do you think that was? Why did it happen so quickly for you? I mean, I feel like part of it was I was very lucky in that, like, I moved to Chicago when I was 18, and I right away started performing around the city, and I didn't wait until I graduated.

I was doing it. So, I mean, even by the time I graduated, I was six, seven years deep in doing, like, some serious improv kind of, you know, or writing or that kind of thing. What is the second city experience like, to walk in and look at all those pictures? on the wall of Tina and Amy and all these people I'm sure you looked up to. Oh, it's so overwhelming and really, and like we watch, when you're at Second City,

you watch all these like archival scenes to either perform them or to write something or, you know, and see what other people have done. And it is like Stephen Colbert and all these amazing performers who I really admire. So it was, but it was really motivating too because you're like, I want to, I want to make a good show for these audiences. Yes. And did you have at that point in the back of your mind, SNL, like this has been a launch pad for a lot of people who've gone to Studio 8H? Maybe I was naive, but I was just like, that doesn't happen.

How could that ever happen? And I really just loved performing so much and I really wanted to get better. But then once I was at Second City, I was doing a show at this theater called The Annoyance, which Vanessa Baer was in. And so we were doing these scenes together and Vanessa was my friend and then she got hired to S&L. And I was like, oh my God, someone I know who I love is now on S&L. I was like, oh, this is much closer than I thought.

And I think that like kind of woke me up and made me like, okay, I got to work a little harder and like I want to be ready for me if they ever come to see my show or audition or whatever. And they did. And they dang did. They dang did. Lauren Michaels himself dang did, right? Yes.

sat and watched you. Did you know he was in the audience that night? They told us he was in the audience, which I was glad. Oh, you were? Because we do a lot of, like, at Second City, you do a lot of audience participation, and it would be a nightmare to, like, be like, sir, do you have a, no, you know, like, I would not be able to handle it. I guess that's probably smart. Yeah, you don't want to get surprised.

We don't want to ask him for a suggestion. Right. The guy who holds your future in his hands, doing a little improv with you. So what was that first phone call like just for the audition even? Why don't you come to New York and audition for SNL? full panic and fear and I mean so excited couldn't believe it and I was sort of relieved because they had seen a two-hour second city show that I had worked really hard on and I had really fun pieces in and so I was like okay they've seen what I like to do so if that's what they

liked and they want me to do that I can do more of that you know in New York so that's I kind of took stuff from that show and made a five-minute audition to do most people who I've talked to have been on SNL said they barely remember it because first of all it was like I can't believe I'm here totally second of all I only five minutes so it flies by yeah I don't even know if it was good or anything I'm just happy I got a chance to audition for SNL yeah pure stress I couldn't eat or sleep I could only rehearse my audition over and over again so stressed how did you feel like it went when you walked out of there well I remember people had said like no one will laugh Do not expect to laugh.

And then I got some little laughs. And so I was like, ooh, baby, I'm on top of the world. Where's my dressing room? 100%. No. But I was also like, it's over now. And wow, what a joy that was. Like, I got to audition at SNL.

And then I got called to come back and do a second audition. And they were like, can you do all new stuff? And I was like, uh-huh, yeah, absolutely. Yes. And I have that ready and just like full panic. Yeah. And obviously that one went well. So what's that final phone call like 80?

would like to join the cast? Well, I was actually in Lauren's office, and he sort of said, like, well, you're very young and you have a lot to learn, but I think you'll do very well here. And I was like, does that mean I'm coming here now, or what's going to happen? And then I hugged him, left the office, hugged a producer, still was like, am I hired? I have no idea. and then I got a phone call from the producer that was like, did you know you're hired?

I don't think you knew. And I was like, yeah, I don't know. I'm so scared and I didn't even want to ask. I'm laughing again because I've heard that story from other people too. They don't know what happened. Did I just get hired? And then someone else calls them and tells them. Maybe that's Lauren's little.

Yeah, maybe that's his thing. He's leaving it on the fence or something. Leaving all the fence. But you were like, you were 25, right? When you started, very young. Was that a daunting thing to walk in there at 25 years old? into this institution? Or were you just like ready for it?

I mean, I was really scared. But I came to find out that I was really lucky that I had had like solid years in Chicago doing shows every night of the week for all different kinds of audiences. So I really knew myself as a performer. And that was like something to hold on to where I was like, I know what I'm good at and I know how to get an audience on my side or if I'm losing them, where to push. And I just felt strong in that area, even if I'm, If I didn't always feel like I was doing a good job or writing things that would fit on the show, I was like, I do think I am good.

Yeah. You are, by the way. I can confirm that, for you. I didn't want to leave you hanging on that one. What if I was like, hmm? So when did you feel like, okay, I'm here? Because I know that first year is always like, they're going to fire me at the end of the year. This didn't work.

When did you feel like, I've got a job here. This is going pretty well. You're like, not yet. No, no, I definitely, I would say my third or fourth season. Yeah. My second season, I was starting to feel like, okay, we started writing those all-girl music videos. I was like, okay, this feels like something. Right.

These are working. But then I feel like my third or fourth season, I was like, okay, I'm not getting fired. And now what do I want to do now that I'm here, you know, which was fun. You're doing a lot of shrill, obviously, you've got your own clothing line. Yeah. Pauline. Yeah. What was the genesis of that?

Because that's so cool. It really was sort of like out of necessity at first, which was I was having to do appearances or press or red carpet or whatever and wasn't exactly finding like options in the plus size world that were formal or like high quality like what my co-stars were getting to wear and so my stylist and a friend of mine kind of just started like making our own stuff just for me to wear and then I would get so much response from girls online being like I love that where can I get it and I always felt like you can't I made it with my friends and this is like not fair And then I sort of saw this path of like, oh, well, there's a factory here and maybe we could just kind of take our same pattern and make a couple of these and see if anybody wants them.

And it was very nice. They did. Yeah. And the response has been great. Yeah. It's been so cool. And really, like, so special to be tagged in pictures of ladies wearing these dresses and them feeling good and, like, hitting the streets, you know? Right.

Right. Yeah. Is that a cool thing for you? I mean, I think it kind of happened by accident, but I would put shrill in this bucket. too of like becoming sort of an icon for people who have gone through what you've gone through in your life and share an experience with you or someone they can look to in the popular culture and say yeah that's me that's so nice um i i don't know i don't think of myself that way but if i am helping anyone that is the dream you know and and it's weird i got into doing this because i love

comedy and I love writing and I love performing and pretty quickly I realized that people were seeing me for more than that, which was like what my body represented to them or or how it made them feel good to see someone who looked like them like doing this thing. And I just always have sort of felt like rather than pushing against that, I should just let that be part of me. Embrace it. Yeah, totally. Because it is a part of me. And it and it did take some work on myself to be like, yeah, I do deserve to be here. Yeah, but isn't that sort of the point of shrill? Totally.

Like, that's the show, right? Yeah, I mean, that is the show, and it is so much drawn from, like, my own feelings of feeling like, I'm nice to everyone and I work really hard. Is that enough? Or what matters here, you know? Is it liberating to have shrill out there and be like, this is how I've been feeling my whole life? You should know how I've been feeling all these years.

Yeah, it is. It is. And what's overwhelming to me is how many women have said they felt exactly the same way. And not all plus-size women, all kinds of women. And that has been, like, extremely satisfying and so touching to feel like they feel seen by this thing. You said her a little bit earlier, you're happy at SNL. You weren't really looking even for shrill or anything else. Do you think, I mean, you were still young.

You started so young on SNL. Do you think about other things over the horizon? Like, okay, now I'm going to do movies. I'm going to do all these other things and make that my next step, or you're not even there? I'm, like, not a good schemer or something. I, like, really kind of take things as it comes, and that's been working for me so far, you know, where, like, things pop up. But I love to write, and I wrote a movie with my friend, and, of course, I'd love to make that.

But I've got a very bad schedule where I'm, like, you know, doing SNL and show. shooting shrill in the summers and riding shrill. But, you know, I'm, of course, I'm excited to do more forever. I think for now you're doing pretty well. Star of S&L, star of shrill, got your own clothing line. Let's just be happy right here, right? Okay, great. Take a nap.

Sorry, I pushed you to do more. I'm like, yeah, but what else? No, no, it's fine. Stick around to hear more from 80 Bryant on the Sunday Sit Down podcast, including what it's like to grow up watching SNL, and then to end up as one of its stars. Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Now more of my conversation with 80 Bryant as we take a walk outside in New York's Madison Square Park.

Wow. This is what we do after a big meal, right? Always. We always go for a walk for the park. We were talking about your high school before in Arizona. Yes. And I didn't realize it because you also play her, but you and Megan McCain look at the same high school. Isn't that so weird, wild?

Same age-ish or? She was, I think, maybe like a senior when I was a freshman, so we didn't know each other. You know, her dad had a computer lab named after him. Mine did not, unfortunately. But yeah, it was Arizona gals. So will you hear from her when you fly here on the view or no? She very sweetly sent me flowers once,

which was, I thought, very classy. Do you feel like they're trying to disarm you when they do that? Probably. I'm a person, you know. 100%. 100%. But again, I'm not an impressionist, so, you know, she's getting an approximation big time. She should feel quite safe.

It's kind of your thing, big time approximation. Absolutely. You're also married to a comedy writer. That's right. Got married last year, eh? Almost two years ago now. Oh, it's been two years? Yeah.

What is it like to be like two comedians in a marriage? You guys like pitching each other at the dinner table, bouncing ideas? I mean, I definitely run all my pitches by him and ask for punch up. But he's very, very funny, and I rely on him deeply. Yeah. Yeah. And you met him in Chicago? Yeah, yeah.

We both performed a theater called The Annoyance, which is also where I met Vanessa Bayer. Right. And, yeah. And the rest is history. The rest is history. So will he give you notes after a show? No. Sunday morning, let's review the tape.

No, he knows better than to do that. He usually just tells me I was funny and gorgeous. Smart man. Yes. Smart man. Yeah. So this week you have Scarlett Johansson and Nile, I think I'm saying that right, from Wendy.

Or he was from Wendy. You probably know better than me. Yes, yes. Some young guy that I'm too old to know. Yes. With a host like Scarlett, who's done it a bunch and is really good at it. Is that a fun week to walk into? It is fun.

And also like, I feel like sometimes with new, new hosts you spend a lot of the week being like, it's gonna be great, you're gonna be great. She knows she's gonna be great. So it's like we just get the hang and it's really fun. Also, we all know her because of Colin. I know. Like she's our friend, you know?

I wonder if she's gotta sneak into update, I'm just guessing. I hope. Don't you think? Yeah, too sweet. We'll stage a wedding. Right, right. Do you think you're gonna have Sarah Sanders is gone,

but this is gonna be a huge political year? Yeah. Do you think you're gonna have a part in that? I don't know. I mean, maybe. Yeah. It depends. But it is, it's just sort of like who you end up looking like or, you know, vibe like.

I feel like I often end up playing more than political figures. I end up playing like, what was that woman like Kim Davis, the insane woman who would refuse like marriage life? I get more like those kind of folk in the political realm who refused a marriage license, I think, or something. Yes, in Kentucky. Hick women who are cuckoo. Because there I am. There it is. It's my roots.

You got it. Is there anybody out there in the political scene? You got your eye on? Any character? You're like, ooh, nice. Gosh. I gotta get in the 2020 thing. No.

No. You're just, you are out. It's just like not. I so prefer doing like the insane sketch that's the last sketch before Good Nights, you know? Or like I so prefer just like the dumb, dumb, silly, cuckoo stuff where I play like a woman who who's wearing sweatpants in a ball gown and is like asking for change or something, you know? I don't know. You guys must have so much fun you and Kate sitting in that office.

Like I'm thinking of the apple picking one if you would just go. Just coming up with the details of like, my hair's been in this break for 40 years. Oh, 100%. It just grows this way. And we write those with Allison Gates and Anna Dresen, who are like two of the funniest people of all time. And it is just the four of us sitting and like laughing hysterically, which. Doesn't always translate to laughs for the audience, but it's very fun for us.

Enough for you. Yeah. I mean, this has got to be dream job stuff. It is. Make jokes and go tell them on TV and get paid for it. Completely, yeah. And we get to like stay up all night like it's a sleepover. It's the best.

You could not have imagined when you were a kid growing up in Arizona. I wouldn't think that you'd be standing here. No way. And I don't think I even knew what it could have even looked like, you know? Like I didn't know the shape to dream it in. Because I just was like, what? Where do the cameras go? How does any of it work or something?

Yeah. And that probably just seemed to world away from where you were sitting in Arizona. A thousand percent. I was sunburned, eating chicken tenders, didn't know what to do to make anything happen. Who were your favorites on SNL growing up? Oh my gosh. I loved Molly Shannon so much. I fully rip her off, I'm sure.

And I mean, that was like my prime era, like Sherry, like. O'Terry and Anagastair and all those folks, you know. It's funny, you're right, everyone has, there's a snapshot of your life. Totally. Mine was sort of like the Sandler, into Will Ferrell, like those years. We all have our ears that we think are the best. Absolutely best. Right?

Totally. And now there's some young comedian somewhere in Arizona watching you. They'll be like, that was the best. That would be very nice. Thanks, A. My big thanks to 80 Bryant for a great conversation. Season two of her show, Shrill, premieres January 24th on Hulu. And I'm joined now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast by the producer of the Sunday Sitdown

podcast, Maggie Law. Hey, Maggie. Hi, Maggie. Hi, Willie. And the producer of the interview with 80 Bryant for Sunday today, Brittany Mania. Hi, Britt. Hi. I think it's fair to say all three of us came into this as 80 Bryant fans.

Definitely. I like most people I know grew up loving SNL, and so I still have that soft spot in my heart. And there's something about her Brit that I think is especially great. I think she's just such a funny, natural comedian. She's like, Kate McKinnon's this way too, and there's a reason they're so good together. But that if 80's in the sketch, even if the sketch isn't working, she will bring something out and be funny. Yeah, she's definitely like a character comedian. Yeah.

I don't know. She just heightens the skit. Yeah. So I think it's only fair to go around the table. Sure. Okay. And let's all say our favorite 80 Bryant character, Maggie, you first. I would say my favorite 80 Bryant sketch is the Halloween, Girls Night Out Halloween.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with it. Yes. Oh, I'm here. Girls dressed up as the mice and then flash to 4 a.m. And as a young woman in New York City, I would say I've experienced Halloween's like that. Now, what happens at 4 a.m. Quite accurate. For people who don't know.

Your shoes are missing? No shoes. The running makeup. The whiskers are currently falling down the face. Your ears are a little askew. You're yelling at your friends because you just wanted to go home. Yeah. No more cute selfies.

4 a.m. just hungry and looking for some pizza. So what you're saying is it's an accurately captured. Accurate representation of what happens. Okay, that's good to know. Brittany, what about yours? I love the 80, little 80 baby 80 skits. But I also implore you to watch the Cardi be an 80B skit if you have not already. She basically is inspired by Cardi's confidence and sort of takes that on and becomes Cardi for a week.

It was the week that Cardi was hosting or was musical guests. And she's just really funny to see her have all that unchecked confidence. Yes, and she's so good at that. Anything with 80 and Kate McKinnon works for me. I do mean anything. Again, the sketch, the script could be not great, but the two of them together always makes me laugh. The recent one last fall where they run the apple orchard where they say for just $10, no, sorry,

for only $45, you can go home with $10 worth of apples. I love that one. But my favorite is smokery farms where it's the two of them and they come on a weekend update and they run a farm and they have the actual meat in a basket. The premise of it is like don't feel bad for animals. There's this movement like animals. We fall in love with them on social media videos and they're so cute and the pig who saved the kid and all that. She said, we assure you that these are dumb, bad animals and they deserve their fate.

But they also have like real meat out there. So part of the gag as it goes is that they just reeks on set. And Colin is like moving his chair farther away. It's fantastic. But she gets me with anything she does. What I found most moving, though, Brittany, was the way she talked about shrill as not just that character, but as a way to tell her own story. Yeah. Yeah, she was very candid, which was touching, I thought.

But yeah, she was drawn to the project because she saw herself in the main character. And she related to a lot of the struggles she was going through. It's a gem of the show, too. It's like one of those, I think, where first season, maybe not everybody saw it, but people hear. about it and they're like, oh, Eddie Bryant from S&L, I think she's going to get a big pickup. That's my prediction. I thought it was interesting, too, how she was saying that, you know, she was inspired by it and she was interested in it.

So she was like, told her agent, you know, can you call Elizabeth Banks? And they were like, actually, she just called looking for you. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, well, that was serendipitous, you know. Serendipity. I love it. Yeah, she's awesome.

She can do it all. And this is a great breakout for her. She's also, you know, I was like, what's your next big move? She's like, I don't know. I'm on SNL, the show I always wanted to be on. That's a pretty good move. And now I have this other show that I love and have a hand on in executive producing and writing. She's got a clothing line.

Yeah. That's one way to talk about. Yeah. So I feel like she's doing all the things she wants to do and sort of accepting new challenges as they come. She's not like strategizing. I need to be in a blockbuster. And I also love how they all root for each other, whether it's her, Kate, Cecily. All the women in particular on SNL genuinely are psyched for each other.

Yeah. And Lauren, too. She was saying that Lauren was very encouraging of this project, which was good to know. She's the best. E.D. Brian. Brittany, thank you. Maggie, thank you. Thank you.

And thank all of you as well. As always, for tuning in this week to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. If you want to hear more of the full-length conversations with all my guests every week, be sure to click to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday, Sit Down Podcast.