The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Anna Camp

Episode Date: June 23, 2020

Actress Anna Camp talks with Andy Richter about ‘consequence-free island,’ getting scouted by Mike Nichols for her first Broadway part, and turning the camera from an enemy into a friend. Plus, Anna shares stories from her latest projects The Lovebirds and Desperados.

well hello everyone uh you have tuned in to another edition of the three questions with andy richter coincidentally i am him uh and i am talking today with a very talented actress that you have seen in 1,000 things, which, I mean, that's saying something, you know, as a character. I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted. Yeah. Well, it means you're doing well, you know. Yeah. But I'm talking to Anna Camp, whose work I have really, really, really enjoyed, and I think because you and I have never met face to face, I don't think.

We did Conan. Oh, we did? We did a long, long, long, long, long time ago. Sorry. Hey, don't worry. It was story. I was just I was an up and comer. You know, all right.

Was that what was that for? That was for True Blood. Oh, OK. Yeah, that was a up and comer. You know what I mean? Was that, what was that for? That was for true blood. Oh, okay. Yeah. Jesus, that was a long time ago. That was over a decade.

I think it was over 10 years or something. Eight years. Yeah. That was like four medications ago. So I have excuses for why I don't remember anything. I do not hold anything against you. All right. Well,

thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I'm that way too. Whenever anybody like, if they don't remember meeting me or don't know who I am and they apologize, I'm like, why the fuck would you know who I am? You don't, you know, I'm shocked that people want to talk to me in the first place, to be honest.

Well, well, I had to be, I had to be heavily coerced into it. You do have a, an amazing publicity team that really twisted my arm i'm glad it worked out i'm glad that what i'm paying them is worth it no i'm kidding uh ibo i'd like to work and one one thing and i mean it was like emmy worthy what you the part you played in uh and i think i did reach out to you i think i talked to you on twitter about this the part you played on I think I talked to you on Twitter about this. The part you played on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was like one of the best, like multifaceted comic kind of brittle, brittle, awful people that I've seen in a long time. It was really, really great work.

And I don't know, you know, kind of things where I feel like somebody should be noticing those sorts of things for emmys but that's so nice that's so nice i like i loved playing that psychopath i did yeah yeah fun very fun role to do yeah like i love playing crazy people and she's one of the my favorite crazy people i've ever played well because there were so many different levels going on and like it's also always nice and i mean i understand you know it's comedy so there's always you're always sort of pressed for time and it's all about getting the jokes out you know but if they can squeeze in some like pathos and some because like that was that's a tragic woman that woman like you know right and i know so many women like that honestly i do so it was nice to draw from my own personal experience of growing up in I know she's not from the south she's from New York but I know a lot of

southern women who are about to snap all the time yeah yeah kind of yeah like they seem to have everything going for them except for uh any sort of happiness any Any small, small morsel of happiness. All the money in the world and, yeah, just wanting someone to put them out of their misery. And luckily, Jay Krakowski was there to help. That's good. Well, now, you are from the South, right? You're from South Carolina? Yeah, I sure am.

Very small town. Where about? I was born in a small town called Aiken. Yeah. No one ever, you know it? I know of it. I mean, I've heard of it. Is there a school there?

Is there a college there? I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think so. Very small town, but. It's famous for Clay Aiken, right? He's from South Carolina though. I know he is.

I know he is. But he's not from Aiken. He's not from Aiken. Maybe that's just, I mean, I know I've heard of Aiken, South Carolina though I know he is I know but he's not from Aiken he's not maybe maybe that's just I mean I know I've heard of Aiken South Carolina we used to my family and I years ago we used to go to Pauly's Island a lot uh beautiful yeah yeah so we you know and Myrtle Beach you know classy classy Myrtle Beach we I love Myrtle Beach my friend I literally it's just the tack. It's the Redneck Riviera. It is unbelievable.

It is really, truly an unbelievable place. And I mean, we, my son was pretty small the last time we were there. And we realized like, this is not the place to bring toddlers. Not unless they want to go to strip clubs or be a part of biker week. Yeah. Or do do shooters you know do shots yeah yeah little baby shots it smells like cigarettes and seafood yeah yeah but what's but a crazy beautiful beach like one of the best beaches in the world it's it's kind of amazing and i also love too that on tiger king that they not not, it's based in Oklahoma, but they managed to bring in Florida and Myrtle Beach.

Oh, yeah. You know, like the triumvirate of tacky white trash geography. That was the perfect storm of the tackiest places on earth. Yeah. I enjoy immensely, to be honest. Yeah. Well, you know, this podcast, I podcast i'm gonna you know we're gonna delve into your past that's okay with you i'm scared but yeah let's do it so uh was it did you come

from big family i came from a relatively small family um just me, my dad, and my sister. Okay. And we grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, mainly. Yeah. Um, and I, my relatives live in Camden, South Carolina. So my mom and dad met in high school. They met when they were super young, um, in Camden, South Carolina and fell in love and then got married really young. My mom got married when she was 21 years old. Had my sister when she was 22.

That's crazy. And then had me seven years later. Can you imagine being 22 and having a baby? God, no. No, no, no. I'm 37 and I can barely picture it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it is.

Well, the main thing is that that you're well i mean depending how you do it it's like your life is over like you really it is like you got it when you have kids you i mean your life isn't over over but you are like you have you have given yourself a new job a new like round the clock full-time job and And if you're not ready for that, not ready for that yet. I definitely, I feel like I need to be like, so in, in love with the person that I'm with,

or if, you know, I do it on my, I don't know if I do it on my own, whatever. I need to be very ready to just not want to leave my house. And I feel like maybe quarantine is helping prepare me for that. That's right.

It's all a scheme in order to make women have babies. This whole thing. Well, you know, a lot of people are probably getting pregnant right now to be honest. Absolutely. Well, I mean, I've heard, you know, every time I've said, I bet there's a lot of people getting pregnant. There are people who say like, yeah, and a lot of people are getting divorced. A lot of people are splitting and i you know and yeah i i can imagine i can imagine it's probably doing both to people yeah it's a weird time that's for sure yeah did your folks stay together i mean yeah there's the other now eat well as even as high school sweethearts wow that's really something they're gonna celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary. Congrats, mom and dad.

I can't even believe it. I mean, they are. I mean, I don't know. I think they're happy. Yeah, yeah. I can't tell. I think they are. They are.

I think they love each other. You know, I definitely do. They've been together for so long. I don't know if there's like a choice at this point so like you just love it's kind of like stockholm central oh i bet they really you should give that do that as a speech at their 50th wedding they'll love it really well did they um did they ever date anybody else being once they were together have they been together straight on through they've been together straight on through i mean i did hear about you know how my my dad's ex-girlfriend my dad had like a very specific ex-girlfriend that he talked about a lot her name

was ann which was odd that they named me anna because i remember my mom telling me that my dad even offered up that name when they were naming me as one of the names i was going to be either ann sally was another one or savannah and i'm so glad that i i think i lucked out with anna because can you imagine someone being named savannah camp yeah savannah camp is too and sally camp sounds like an old folk song you know like so it's like you know some turn of the century like yeah like some you know pioneer woman sally camp with like a rifle and some yeah like yeah yeah i'll take care of you guys yeah no and i can't that's what they landed on i'm very happy about that and i know my mother my mother dated a lot she had a lot of gentleman callers you know yeah i sometimes feel as if i came from a tennessee williams play oh really yeah my mom my mom is you know and it's always

telling me about all of her suitors that she had and she grew up over a funeral home like that was their family business yeah so she moved out of the house and came to south carolina and she lived with her great aunt who lived over a funeral home. So like, there's always some weird, creepy things that I, you know, when we go back for Christmases and Thanksgivings, hear about weird ghost stories and, and how my mom is also a little OCD now, I think from living over a funeral home, like she'll walk into a restaurant when those used to be things and she'll see like a glass that has a chip on it and she's like don't drink out of that you know what i mean like you could die so it's like a weird i was expecting because it's haunted because she you know because the funeral home or she just it's both it's both

she's also just like a whole thing with like now cleanliness and like things that could possibly kill you oh wow that's exciting yeah that is a little that's you know it's like a version of a Tennessee Williams thing I guess yeah um well is the family still in the mortuary business her yeah my uncle my uncle is now the owner of the family business the funeral business you want to give him a plug the The Carnegie Funeral Home in Camden, South Carolina. Check it out, people. Check it out. Check it out. If you're going to die in Camden, do it there.

Die with class. Yeah. Make your mourners envious of your good taste. They really do a good job. Yeah, yeah. They really do. And I can't vouch for this it's um it's I always you know because I'm from a small town in the midwest and I'm I was always struck by how the funeral home is like the nicest house in town is that the case with is that the case with your family one it was I mean going over to it's like there was like a big

house right like that my grandma and grandpa lived in and they had like a beautiful backyard with like magnolia trees and spanish moss and they had this like big pool and then across the parking lot was the funeral home yeah so you know and and and it was this but my my grandpa who i never met on my mom's side uh he also drove the ambulances so he like owned the funeral home. But at the time in the 60s, I guess he was also picking up the this is turned not where I know, that's all right. That's all right. But he also drove the ambulances. But he my dad always said he was like the classiest guy he's ever met because he would get my dad's car washed at the funeral home when my dad was over like dating my mom, and like hanging out and then my

dad would come out and see that my granddad had gotten his car washed and he just said it was like the most fancy place to go ever wow i thought it was so cool you know that is pretty smooth especially usually yeah that's nice it's i mean it's better than the alternative of like a father being all you're you dating my daughter all that stuff i hate all that like when people are like that whole attitude i've always been like i don't know if my daughter likes him you know yeah if she's happy like why do you care so much why do you like scare away all these boys that could take her off your hands right exactly um so what kind of what kind of household did you grow up in i mean were your folks were they funny people were they out you know were they sort of dramatic and

my dad my dad's funny yeah really funny yeah he he's one of the funniest guys i think i've i've ever met i think that's where i got you know hopefully some of my sense of humor from um he is a he's a banker. He went to the Citadel. He went to like a military school, which is like the last place that I would ever see him. But he had a choice about whether to go to no, no college or to that college. So he went there. And I think that he got through a lot of his like life in college by making people laugh. through a lot of his like life in college by making people laugh um and i kind of picked up on that my mom was a ballerina for a while she was very talented um dancer and i think you know maybe i i got a little of my creative um abilities from both of them combined and my sister was also

an actor for a while she's seven years older than I am. And I grew up watching her and, um, she's now teaches acting in South Carolina. Oh, wow. But, um, yeah, but I, there's a lot, there's a lot of creativity in our family and I grew up with it. And, uh, were you, were you like a theater kid growing up? I mean, yeah, yeah. Pretty immersed in it. Very much so. I mean, my sister was taking acting classes before i did and we were watching like old movies together all the time and i was watching like you know gone with the wind and all of these black and white films and you know falling in love with these actors and just i remember being really little like watching these movies um and

wanting to do what she was doing. So my parents put me in acting class and I kind of like couldn't stop. It was something that I knew I wanted to do. I mean, if I could have done anything else, I think I would have because it's not the easiest job in the world. Yeah. But it's where I feel the most happy. When you felt that, like, do you know what that initial charge was when you were a little kid? Like what precisely it was about it? Was it the being someone else? Was it being in front of

an audience? Was it just living a fantasy kind of for a moment? I think, I mean, a lot of people have asked me this actually. And I remember specifically. God damn it. I knew I was trying to be clever. I love this question. I love this question. I was a really little kid about second grade and we were all asked to recite a poem to our class. I remember some little kids were like, no, I won't do that. You know, people were like, oh, little boys like hated it. Yeah.

Very nervous. But I remember I recited this poem about like somewhere in Africa. This is the weirdest thing for a little kid in South Carolina to be saying, but it's like a poem about a place in Africa and it wouldn't rain and all of these animals were dying. And it was this like very dramatic poem about how this place needed so much rain. And I remember standing in front of my entire class reciting this crazy poem and looking up and seeing my teacher cry oh wow and then i remember i felt like i was gonna cry for the first time and seeing other the other students kind of looking at me and i remember going what just happened yeah you know and saying wow i think

that i connected with these people and And then I think from then on, I realized that like that was this kind of high that I was always chasing and I'm still chasing to this day is to like, to be able to move and affect the people, whether it's your acting partner or whether it's an audience. I think that that's kind of this drug that, that drives me, you know,

I feel like you've moved someone and given them a cathartic experience. And I feel like I found that like super young, surprisingly. Oh, really? Yeah. And was there a lot of acting to be done as a kid around there? Well, I mean, I was, my first role ever was a dare to keep kids off drugs play. Do you remember the dare program? I do. I do. Nancy Reagan's thing. my first role ever was a dare to keep kids off drugs play. Uh-huh.

Do you remember the dare program? I do. I do. Nancy Reagan's thing. Yes, it sure was. And I was cast as a drug dealer. Nice. I was.

Typical. You're getting those same kind of roles today. Typecast. You know what I mean? All the time, over and over. That's immediately what you think of when you think of me um and I did a lot of community theater um and my mom drove me to every acting class waited in the parking lot like very dedicated I was never I never got a lot of

pushback from them like I got a lot of support for them to be an actor I was really upset though because I wanted to move to New York before I went to college like I wanted to move to New York when I was in high school because I knew this is what I wanted to do and they refused absolutely refused to let me go and I was pissed off for like a while that I couldn't go do what I wanted to do but I'm glad you know I got a degree and I got way better training and I think that I hopefully will have a lengthy career because of because of the training that I've gotten so well and I you know and also to just to be that to be that young and be dropped in New York City to study acting it's like basically you know covering you in honey and dropping you in a bear pen you know it just it's it's would been it's good it's good for them

that they made you wait. It is. I would have been hitting the bars a little too young and going a little crazy. So I'm happy they protected me from that. I did all of that in college while they were paying for it. Right, exactly. But you're doing it in a place that's a little safer and everyone's the same age. Everyone's the same age and you don't have, and also too, I mean, you imagine like the thing that I've, the, the thing about like young people acting is that you really, in my estimation, it's really important to be, to steel yourself against the constant judgment again like you're where every single second that you're alive in front of these people you're being judged and you're being judged on everything you know especially like you know like physicality and your voice and and it just it's really hard to not

let that be damaging if you haven't gotten the calluses built up or just the, you know, the ability to not give a shit what these people think about you. I finally feel like I'm getting to the point where I don't care, but I mean, that's really recent because I, I mean, I've seen so much people want to tear you,

tear you apart. You know what I mean? People want to judge you more than they want to support. I feel. And I had to really want to judge you more than they want to support, I feel. And I had to really fight to ignore that, especially growing up in the South when you're a little more concerned with the way, you know, you look to other people. And as a woman, I think in the South also, like you're trained to present this kind of perfect idea of who you are. And i really had to fight to have to to not care about that stuff yeah um

and i i feel like it's it's it's i have a long way to go still but it's like i'm 37 i feel like i care a lot less now than i used to that's for sure it's it's the it's like the the secret bonus prize of getting older is just all kinds of stuff that used to worry you used to stress you out just doesn't matter you just realize oh that why did i worry about that that's silly you know sometimes when i see like older older people in line at the grocery store and they're like mad about something i'm like i can't wait to be that person like i can't wait i can't wait to just let it all be like hang hang out and be like, yeah, I'm pissed about this. Yeah.

Like, give me that as a discount. I don't know. Whatever. What have I got to lose? Like, I think that's going to be fun. I think a lot of those people are just mad because they're old. There's a lot to be mad about once you get old. I mean, that old, you know.

Yeah. Now, I read somewhere, and, and you know i do a lot of research for this show anyway i read i mean i do a little bit of research but um i uh i read somewhere that you were kind of picked on like you know that like that you have i mean and you have and this isn't you know the problem and this is show business you're good at playing kind of various versions of the blonde if i if i i don't mean to be you know no that's that is so true i mean i i definitely yeah and i'm not complaining like it's gotten me a lot really far yeah yeah and you do you know and it's like you know i i play i either play kind do, you know, and it's like, you know, I, I play, I either play kind of the,

you know, I mean, I am sort of, you know, I just in, I don't do a lot of outside work these days, but when I did, I was like the idiot or the nice friend, you know, like kind of the simple, nice friend. And I couldn't get anything, you know, it was like hard to get anything else. So they tell you what you are and then you're like, well, all right. And if you do a good job at it, then they just keep you doing that. But that's not you said that's not who you were when you were little. Like, no, not at all. I was a big I mean, I had one friend.

I had one friend who's still my one friend from high school. I was I was definitely, you know, I think I know how to play these characters that, that pick on and, and bully, you know, like somebody like from Pitch Perfect, like Aubrey or whoever that I played. Like I, I was so picked on in school that I, in a way I'm getting some kind of revenge on all of those girls by playing parts like that. Yeah. Yeah. kind of revenge on all of those girls by playing parts like that yeah yeah and because that's not me inside i think it gives me you know hopefully it makes the character a well-rounded person that you you feel for her even though she is being so mean and crazy like in unbreakable kimmy schmidt

that the person underneath is incredibly vulnerable, you know, and does not, uh, who, who wants to so desperately be in control, but who, who can't, you know, I think that that gives me a layer that just,

if I was a complete, like you can't assume like a person who's not intelligent, cannot play a person that's not that intelligent very well. I've always said, right. I agree to be very smart. And also to be someone who's playing like the uptight bitch, I think to have a layer to that, you actually need to be, you know, a kind, well-rounded person because there's just, it's not interesting to see a bitch play a bitch, right? Like we get that. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I, some names came to mind immediately that sort of disproved that theory, but I'll tell you those later.

Okay. That'll be off record. Yeah. Cause there's, there's definitely, but I mean, you know, it's the same thing.

Like, you know, some people play what they are, you know, like some people play the same, the same person over and over. And I mean, and there are sometimes they're like a lot of actors that play assholes who

are, yeah. Cause they're kind of an asshole. You know, they just do what comes naturally. I hate hearing that people are assholes, though, man. They are. There's so many of them, though. And I've run into a lot of them, too, in this career.

I always find, and I don't say this to like pat myself on the back, but when I go work other places where people don't know me as well, on the back but when i go work other places where people don't know me as well the the amount of people telling me wow you are so nice and easy to work with and not an asshole i just think like wow there must be so many fucking assholes out there that people feel the nerd the need to like say you're a decent normal human being who's polite and considerate. Like it's like that you shouldn't get an award for that. No, you should be like it should be a normal thing to be cooperative and collaborative and not this crazy surprise that you're, you know, pleasant to work with. I get that all the time, too. And I'm always like, well, then hire me again.

Yeah, yeah. pleasant to work with oh i get that all the time too and i'm always like well then hire me again yeah yeah yeah i was just i just i just recorded one of these with the singer nico case and that was like one of her main points of the whole of everything was she just don't work with assholes don't work with assholes and it's true policy yeah yeah i mean as much as you can you can't you know yeah if you get hired on something and the director's an asshole, you know. Then you're kind of stuck working with an asshole. Yeah, exactly. There's going to be assholes everywhere. I think it's also how you deal with them. Yeah, yeah. That makes a difference. Because if you take it personally, like I've decided not to take anything personally in this business. When I'm on set and an actor is being like a jerk to me or whatever, and not giving me anything,

I just turn it around on them and be like, that has way more to do with them than it does with me. Yeah. You know, I like, they are probably afraid of failure. You know? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Most times assholes are afraid of looking. Yeah. Afraid of something. Yeah. Yeah. I think a lot of them,

well, I don't know. A lot of them are afraid. Yeah. i don't know for a lot of them are afraid yeah i don't know it's i'm not gonna sit here and hypothesize about it okay what's not i'm gonna we're gonna we're gonna talk about good things and good okay well now but i mean but what was what were you doing i mean what do you think what were kids what was their beef with you i mean i i know that you didn't do anything, but I mean, what was happening? Do you think that they just hurt mentality?

Is that what it is? Maybe. I was definitely a super quiet kid growing up. I mean, I had a girl pull my hair out once and floss her teeth with it, like in school. Like, I don't even know what i did that sounds like mental illness more than bullying my goodness isn't that that's the south that's the south and was she was she one of the like you know kind of debutante types no no she was just one of the like bigger girls i think she was like held back you you know, and definitely I was not, I was a smaller girl.

I see, I see. And she was really into oral hygiene. It was, you know, very pressing matter. She knew that I washed my hair with Pantene Pro-V. She knew it was like very clean. And so she didn't have gloss and that happened. I don't actually know what happened. I mean, I would have lollipops thrown to the back of my head.

I would have people write awful things on bathroom stalls about me. And I was kind of the nicest person. I never was mean. I don't recall being mean to anyone when I was growing up, ever. Do you have, I mean, did you you were your folks aware of this or was the school aware of this or did you just kind of I never told my folks I never told my folks I was a little embarrassed of it I always felt like it made me seem like I was like that I had done something wrong and that I was kind of a loser or whatever so I was embarrassed I never told my

parents but I did tell some teachers once that something really awful had been written about me on the bathroom wall. And I remember at the end of class, Mrs. Egan, Mrs. Egan, who smelled like cigarettes and Werther's candies, handed me a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels. And I remember going, what's this for? And she was like to clean clean it off and so I had to go into the bathroom stall after school and clean off what they had written about me by myself on the stall

and I had done nothing wrong and I'll never forget sitting there scrubbing going what in the world did I do to piss these girls off so much I have no idea what age was this? That was sixth grade. Wow.

Yeah. I think sixth grade, too, is a particularly rough. I have an eighth grader, and I have a college freshman and an eighth grader children. And sixth grade was really rough. Sixth grade, it would go from triumph to tragedy in the span of three hours. Oh, I know. I know. It's hard, especially for girls.

I don't know. Is your eighth grader a boy or a girl? Girl. My daughter's 14 and my son's 19. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

It just turns into a little bit like survival of the fittest when you get to sixth grade and the group mentality. If you exhibit any kind of form of weakness or even being kind, I think at that stage is a form of weakness and they smell it on you. Do you get to talk to anybody while this is happening? Do you confide in your sister about it? I mean, because it's a lot for a kid to carry, you know? I think I confided in my best friend, my one friend named Bonnie, who was also kind of going through the same thing. And I think that I delved into acting.

Like, I just, like, would go to my acting classes that were outside of my high school, and it became my support group when we were a bunch of, like like theater nerds, you know, who kind of found each other, who all felt different. And it's like when you're considered weird at your high school to be able to like find a group of all of the weird people that you don't feel so weird. And I think that was theater was like my saving grace, I think, while I was growing up, for sure. If I didn't have that, I don't know. Do you think that also kind of informed a let me get the hell out of here kind of feeling? A hundred percent. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. So, you know, even if it wasn't New York, it would have been somewhere. If it wasn't acting in New York, do you think it would have been something somewhere? Yeah. I never fit in. I never felt like never fit in. I never felt like I fit in. I didn't like going to the football games.

I didn't like doing the homecoming thing, which is so odd because I play those types of roles all the time, like the popular girl. But I hated all that stuff. I just felt like nobody got me. I was nervous, had anxiety around all the popular kids. So that's, I was ready to hit the road, Jack. Yeah, yeah. Really, really, really early on. Yeah. Yeah, but I wish that I had somebody could have told me back then that the feeling I was feeling was not permanent.

You know, I didn't know that. And nobody, I didn't have anybody to tell me that that was going to change. I mean, I think maybe my mom and dad tried to, but you can't listen to your mom and dad that much, you know, at that age. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah. Well, yeah, because, you know, it's also, there's so much going on emotionally, mentally, physically that you don't want your parents in there.

You know, I mean. No. Yeah. I mean, and even because you're also you're resisting the notion of yourself as a child when you are still very much a child i say that as a parent of teenagers like they are way even my 19 year old son is still there's still so much of a child in him and i don't and i he's not a childish person he's not an immature person he's a very responsible capable person but he's 19 you know five minutes ago he was you know learning to ride

a bike it seems so it's just yeah you don't want you don't lean on your parents you need to go out and find your own way on this stuff and there's also like um there's also this always just trying to force yourself to be more of an adult than you really are. Like I found myself like not being present when I was a kid. I found myself always wanting to be older, always wanting to be somewhere else. When is the clock going to go when I'm sitting in my like eighth grade science class? Like when will this be over? When will that be over? When can I drive a car? When can I da da da da da? And I wish that I had been more present, but I think that

might just be inherently the human condition of being a teenager. It can't. Yeah. I mean, it all depends on the, it all depends on the person, but I, I mean, I relate to that. I was like, I didn't, I didn't know why I need, need and i just want to i do want to note though what was interesting is while you're saying that people may be able to hear the ice cream truck drove by my house right when you were saying of all that but wanting to grow up oh weird i like that that's cool turkey in the straw was playing out by the ice cream truck oh man um but uh yeah i i think i was that you know it's especially when you grow up in a small place i think the south i'm i'm hypothesizing here is probably even a little adds a little layer onto that um and you can't wait to get out of there you just like this feeling and like i because i

had it i didn't even know what it was i didn't even know what it was it was like and I don't think I'm gay but you know I who knows and uh you know but I do know that I and I wasn't like unpopular and I but I just was like I am miserable here nothing appeals to me like this all all of this is not enough and then know, you go to the city and you figure out, oh, okay. This is it. Yeah. This is nice. Yeah. You went to school in North Carolina, right?

It was always going to be theater. There was no sort of fallback, no nothing. No way. No way. I mean, I didn't have, I went straight into conservatory college. I went there my senior year of high school even, because I was so stoked to get out of that town. So you graduated early or just was there some overlap program? They have an overlap program for seniors in high school. So I went my senior year of high school to my eventual college

in North Carolina and was, you know, immersed in with college students. You know what I mean? Like we're living on campus. It's over the hill. So there's like the high school kids are over the hill. And then there's like the college life. But I definitely was more free than I had ever been. I was not living under my parents' roof. And they were pretty protective.

Great, great, great parents. I love that. But they definitely kept an eye on me and my sister at tight eye. You know, my dad was in military and went to this in the air force and there was that kind of vibe at home. So I was very excited to get out and spread my wings a little bit and go a year early. And then I fell in love with that, that school and auditioned to go to the four-year program. And, and I got in and, like, I don't think I could have done anything else, which is a little terrifying because, like, right now with everything that's going on with the industry and the entertainment industry,

I'm like, what am I going to do if I can't get onto a set? You know what I mean? Like, that's all I've done since I was a little kid. Yeah. So I don't know. I can't get onto a set, you know what I mean? Like that's all I've done since I was a little kid. Yeah. So I don't know. I can't crochet. I don't think anyone's going to buy my socks. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know. Well, it's, I don't, you know, I don't, it's, I mean, I, I get it. It's like you kind of, this time does, but I just feel like you can't make any decisions or any plans or worry too much about anything that's going on right now because it just kind of is like hitting pause i mean if you you know of course if you keep you know it's easy to say i you know like i have a job that's paying me and i'm really lucky to have that so it's easy for me to say, yeah, it's just on pause. If I didn't have any money coming in, it wouldn't be on pause. It'd be holy shit.

So, yeah, it's, you know, but yeah, I don't think. You know, and you'll figure something, you know, I don't think you're going to work. It'll happen. Listen, it's all going to shift and change. There's just those days, you know, this whole, it seems like a crazy social experiment also that one day you're at peace and happy for the day and then the next day

you're like in full panic mode. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, and it's very it's just like there's nothing else like it. Like, you know, there's nothing, nothing in anyone's lifetimes. Like, oh yeah, everyone's going to stay home for a number of

months. It's really, it's really wild. Yeah. Yeah. And also too. And like I say, like for me to sit here and go like, ah, you'll work. I always find that as a showbiz thing where people have told me you know if i ever worried about my viability in an ongoing way people would be like oh you'll work forever but it's like other people can feel that but you cannot like there's just you never believe that you never like like yeah i don't have to worry like you're always like no i'm the one person on earth I don't have to worry. Like you're always like, no,

I'm the one person on earth. It's got to worry about Andy Richter, you know? Yeah. And like, I think when you get like, if I've ever met someone who's like, Oh no,

I've got it all figured out. Oh no, I'm going to work forever. I'm like, asshole. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like,

yeah. Right. Right. Right. Exactly. Enjoy your real estate license. One of the meanest things I've ever said. No, because there's people out there right now who are like, fuck you. That hurts.

Yeah, I know. You're right. I know. I know. You're right. You're right. So sorry. Sorry, realtors. Oh, God. So that was a very happy place then. I mean, did it then turn out to when you were done with college, it was hard to go to New York? Or was that always such a foregone conclusion that you didn't? It was not hard at all.

I mean, I was like a cannon. I was a racehorse ready for the dang gates to open. And I was running full speed. But it was wild because I, like, ran. And then I, like, I moved to 189th and St. Nick's. So I was in Washington Heights. Oh, wow. Yeah.

And I was sharing a very small apartment with, like, five, like, wait, like, four other people. We turned a two-bedroom into a three-bedroom. And one of my roommates' name is Tom Sawyer. Shout out to Tom Sawyer. I love him and his family that name is Tom Sawyer. Shout out to Tom Sawyer. I love him and his family that named him Tom Sawyer. I love, that's amazing. And I,

you know, was getting, taking the one nine was a one nine train. And I would go up there and like go every stop and have to go to auditions. And, you know, I, I didn't book anything for a minute and I was freaking out.

I was freaking out that like, Oh oh god this is the real world like i'm not in my college bubble of north carolina school of the arts anymore i'm literally living in washington heights i'm like the only blonde chick for miles i'm wearing a polka dot dress trying to get to the train to go audition for like thoroughly modern millie you know what i mean? And going in and like tanking it and being terrible and feeling like I'm never going to work. And then walking to the bodega near my apartment where I spoke no Spanish and getting like a six pack of Corona. And I remember going up, that was my first audition that I had that I bombed.

It was so bad. I remember just like drinking beer in this apartment, like in the middle of Washington Heights, being a little bit like, oh, God, what have I done? Yeah. How am I going to make it? Am I going to make it? Is this a huge mistake? But having the friends that I graduated school with to have that support system was huge.

Is that who was living with you? Were friends from school or? Yeah. We drove up in a U-Haul. Like we all rented a U-Haul, packed everything that we could into the back of the U-Haul and drove up to Washington Heights and got this little apartment and hustled, you know? Yeah. And it was exciting. It was like, I can't believe like I'm sitting here talking to you today about that time when like in my mind, I feel like it was just yesterday when I was like 22, you know, doing that. And now I'm sitting here talking about it.

And it's like over a decade ago. It's just like blows my mind that I've been trying to act for this long. Yeah. Get used to it. It's wild. Get used to it. Oh, man. it get used to it oh yeah it's when it's when it's when grown adults start telling you like when i was a little kid i watched you that's when you really start to feel like oh fuck i've been

doing this a long time i've had that a little bit with pitch perfect fans that are like now 16 and they're like i remember when i was so little my mom wouldn't let me watch that and i'm like oh god now were your parent you say you kind of you know your parents are a little bit strict and and also the life i know from firsthand the life of a young actor performer can be pretty libertine i mean you know you're because you're just you know it's yeah you're not you're with you're with a you're with a crowd that's prone to experimentation let's just say 100 know what you're talking about yeah and and would you i mean were your folks worried about that aspect of it did you were they even aware of that if that i mean i don't know if that was

going on or yeah i mean i don't i don't think that they were fully aware to the extent of how liberated I was. Yeah, yeah. At the time, I think I kept a pretty good facade. I think that I grew up and I learned how to keep things a little undercover growing up in that household. And I think that it definitely translated to when I was living my best life in New York city and having the most fun, uh, ever. Um, I, I, I definitely had a blast. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely feel like I've lived like 10 different lives even today, like sitting here, you know, talking with you about it, but they didn't know they didn't know for sure how i know i don't i don't think most just from my experience most people don't know like when you're trying to be

an actor comedian whatever like and you start doing it in your 20s like people do not realize like what debauchery goes on and how it's just like, you know, that's just how it is. And I, you know, I, it's just,

it's just, there's lots of like, okay, yeah, sure. Yeah. There's a lot of people all saying, okay, yeah,

sure. So when you have people all saying, yes, you are all free. Like the possibilities are endless. I mean, I will say, I will say this is kind of, Oh no, I don't even know if i should say this oh lord my dad's gonna kill me um i i was lucky enough to have like a

single dorm room in college yeah where i would have like lots of parties like i would have people over all the time and it was on the first floor so people could come in and out of the window of course you know yeah yeah you know you know but like apparently like my friends nicknamed my It was on the first floor so people could come in and out of the window. Of course. Nice. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, you know. But, like, apparently, like, my friends nicknamed my dorm room. And what, yeah? And the nickname for my dorm room my freshman year was Consequence Free Island. Real catchy.

Rolls right off the tongue. Rolls right off the tongue, you know. I i'm actually gonna make a reality show about that and use that title and do a spin-off consequence free island yeah yeah i would feel very proud about that to providing people that's a very valuable service at consequence free island yeah you're welcome you're welcome north carolina yeah um can't you tell my loves are growing when do things start happening for you in new york i mean you how do you how soon is it until you feel like i belong here you know like whether you're you know have relationships that sort of like where you feel like you're a part of it um my first job that i got was a regional theater play the importance

of being earnest in dallas i had to leave new york to go to dallas um and how long after you a ride was this two or three months oh okay that's not that's pretty damn good. It felt like forever. It did. But I know looking back on it now, people are like, wow, you didn't really have to struggle. And I was like, yeah, but that one audition with the like thing, you know. Yes. So, you know, I was lucky enough to book that. And then kind of every job that I got from that was from that one job.

So I got a play, my first play in New York because of that job at a Rattlestick Playwrights Theater called God Hates the Irish. It was this really like, like lowbrow comic, crazy musical play. And then Mike Nichols came to see me in that show out of nowhere and cast me in my first Broadway play. So I remember meeting Mike Nichols after the show being like, holy crap, you know, he directed, who's afraid of Virginia Wolf,

the graduate, obviously Mike Nichols. And then he offered me a very small role in my first Broadway play. And then that led me to getting Equus. And then Alan Ball saw me in Equus and then called me to come out and audition for True Blood, which then led me to be in True Blood and move to Los Angeles and continue to work in film and TV. So everything kind of happened because of that one first job in Dallas, which is pretty crazy. Yeah. Do you, if, if theater paid the same would you be would you prefer to

work on the live theater um i think if you had asked me that question three years ago i would have said yes yeah um but i think the more i've gotten more film and tv i've gotten more comfortable being in front of the camera at first it's the most nerve-wracking awful i don't know if you you know experienced that feeling i felt very self-conscious being in front of the camera even more so than in front of a live like a live audience they're in the dark you can kind of trick yourself to be like right um you know my phone i'm sorry we can try to trick yourself and to be like i'm alone here in the audience but when you're on set and like the cameras in here, you know, your face and like,

there's a crew guy with a mic here and there's like a, a sound person just like, they might be exhausted and they kind of had a bad day at work, but they're staring at you. Like they want to like kill you. And you're like, ah, I suck.

You know what I mean? Like you can see everyone and it's wild, but I've, I've learned over the past projects that there is a way to zone out, not zone out, but to focus on the other person and what you're doing and kind of have the camera be your friend instead of your enemy. For a while, it felt like it was my enemy more. Yeah. So. Yeah, no, focus is a big deal.

is a big deal and i've i from having to do show business acting and especially a lot of things uh a lot of things with recording like whether it's dialogue replacement adr uh you know being precise and making sure things are right on time or you know for that matter reading the announcement of something of a live show you know like the the top of the show and you got to get it right um you do learn a kind of focus and i have a terrible focus issues but i have learned the ability to be able to like just you know the point where like i actually can do things probably a little better when somebody's watching me than when they're not watching me. Yes.

Just not, not because, not because I enjoy it, but just because like, Oh shit, now I'm being watched. Yeah. And so I gotta,

I gotta really, I gotta like get making my own little cone of silence, you know? Yeah. The pressure, the heat gets turned up a little bit. I kind of learned to love that. And now like,

you know, my heart will beat a little faster. Like, and I, my, my body does its own chemical thing when they now like, you know, my heart will beat a little faster. Like, and I, my, my body does its own chemical thing when they're like, all right, lock it up, go back to one and action. Like there's something that kind of physically happens to my body now when I hear those words, like chemically, like my, I get into a zone, like each phrase. And I used to be like, what are these people saying? And like, I'm so distracted by it, but now i've incorporated it into my process of getting ready to speak you know or

get ready to act it's pretty wild how that all has become a part of the process now instead of like a fight or like an agitation it's now like i like it like i like when i yeah yeah everything's getting locked up on a set you know it's cool yeah yeah cool yeah um did uh do you still like do you what you know because of the different kinds of acting and they're a different kind you know it is a different kind of acting when you're on you know it, it's just smaller and quieter basically. Yeah. I mean, do you, does going back and forth cause any, you know, like now that you're so like you do so much film and TV,

when you go back to stage, do you feel like, oh shit, I'm doing too much movie acting here on stage? It's, um, it, it,

it is a little, it's definitely different. I mean, you can get away with just having the thoughts when you're on camera you know and you do get comfortable i feel like on a film set of not having to be totally in your body because they're not shooting you you know head to toe usually right it's like it's all right here so there is something that you have to toe usually. It's like, it's all right here. So there is something that you have to, I think it's actually helped me in my theater life

because I think that I grew up being actually a little too big. So I think that it's actually had the opposite effect and actually made me more grounded. I remember seeing Liev Schreiber in a play a while ago where he was so quiet that I was, for the first 15 minutes of the play I was like I can't hear this what is happening with him and then I realized like he made the theater quieter and he made us all lean in and that was something that I was like oh man like you don't have to give give

give you can kind of take your own personal space and have people lean into you. So I think that's something that I've, I've taken from the film world. Um, I've never been having a problem being too small. I'm usually a little too like over the top. So people have to reign me in sometimes. Now you've been in, so you've been in LA for a long time then I mean do you feel like an Angeleno now do you well you know what I mean you know I mean but you got because you came out here at a pretty young age I did I did I've been out here now for eight or nine years yeah yeah um does it feel like home now 100 i love it here yeah i really do i love california as a state in general i think it's just beautiful um and the people are i mean a lot of people i've hang out with at least are really lovely you know liberal

minded wonderful people that we all you know know, get along really, really well. And I, I like it better than New York. I was getting really sick of riding the subway and cramped spaces and spending so much money for like, not a great quality of life. And, and, you know, I'm not, I'm not like living a big fancy life over here, but I definitely have like more space and I have like a dog who has a backyard. And to me, just the quality of life is way better. So I love it. I love, I love Los Angeles a lot.

I love it. I love it. I love it. Yeah, no, it takes, it takes a while, but it is,

it's a nice place to live. I mean, I, you know, I, it took a long time for me to, to start thinking of it as home and then also but then I also kind of had to start feeling like who am I kidding I I live here this is where this is where it's all

happening you know yeah yeah so the years do kind of bleed together though I mean that's what everybody says you know because of the season stuff but it's true I mean but it doesn't feel like I've been here for eight years it only feels like I've been here for about three or four, to be honest. It kind of freaks me out when I think about how long I've been here and how many different lives I feel like I've led here. I mean, like I've. Yeah. Yeah. Been through some stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, it's, it's cool. It's cool. Now do you, do you, you can, we can also, we can cut this out if you want to, but I know you just kind of recently got divorced. Yeah. And how, I mean, you don't have to talk specifically about it, but I just went through a divorce. And I just like, it's like, is there something that you feel like you could tell people about it that, I mean, obviously not me, because I completely have my shit together. I've got it down. Well, me too. Oh, man.

I was like, I was sad for like two days. And then I was like, all right, life's back on. Get ready for the Richter show. No, but I mean, it's a huge, huge thing. I mean, mine was after 27 years of being together. And I mean, was it a difficult thing to switch back into single life? I mean, mine was after 27 years of being together. And I mean, was it, was it a difficult thing to switch back into single life? I mean, it was, it was to be honest. I mean, um, I'll, I'll, I'm like kind of an open book, you know, I, that was my second divorce.

So I had been married before. Uh, also I had met my first husband when I was 22, um, and moved to LA with him. And then things got all shaken up. He was also an actor. And then we were never in the same town together and like completely grew apart. So I basically did seven years and then seven years with my second husband. And it's definitely an odd feeling living alone for the first time in 15 years. Yeah. You know, I was definitely terrified of that for a while. I mean, just being like, it's so quiet.

So quiet. And I have my dog who's been with me through so much. But it was a little bit like, am I just going to be sitting at home, like in a rocking chair? You know what I mean? Like staring at the wall, drinking a martini for the next like, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen, but I did know. And we both knew as a couple that things weren't working, that we both were not happy. So the risk of going, I don't know what's on the other side of this, but I know that it's got to be better than what's happening now was worth it. I think for both of us to say we had to separate. But man, I tell you what, like living alone and sitting here going in the middle of the night being like, oh God, I'm all alone.

Like it just is kind of scary like actually um and having to be and sit alone with your own thoughts for the first time like that really in 15 years was wild but then it became just like very fun yeah well i i for me a huge a huge thing to overcome and and i was, you know, I had kids and we'd been married for 25 years. So I was like, really, for me, there was part of it, I'd have flashes of like,

holy shit, I get my own place. Like, wow, this is amazing. I can watch whatever I want on TV and no one's going to bitch at me. I mean, I still could watch what I wanted to watch when I lived with my family, but I would get bitched at. I would have to, you know, like I'd have to defend my viewing choices. Yeah. and I would have I would have days where I wouldn't have anything to do and I would feel like oh I don't have anything to do or anyone to do it with and poor me and then I started to realize no don't you mean I can do whatever I want yes like don't you mean like like the the day the

world is my oyster and this day is mine and you, you know, it took some convincing to convince myself out of like, no, it's not, it's not pathetic. It's actually kind of great. You know, it's a process though, isn't it? But, but those days that you do feel that freedom, I mean, aren't they just great? Like, isn't it? If I could go to the grocery store without a mask on, it would be awesome. Yeah, I know. I mean, now it's a little different. Yeah, yeah. That's true.

Now it's a little different. Like, when you could go to a bar or whatever and just, like, sit there, you know, and, like, stay out as long as you want to. Like, those are good days, weren't they? Those were just good old days. Oh, they sure were. Yeah, when you could stay out as long as you want to, and about 1030, I'd be like, I'm going home. Now, you have a couple things uh to plug you have uh there's a there's a movie that's out right now that's on uh video on demand correct on netflix and that's and that's called lovebirds the lovebirds lovebirds

oh lovebirds yeah yeah that's the with uh kumail Nanjiani and, yeah. Yes, love them. Issa Rae. Issa Rae, right. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And was that not in the theaters or did that, was it, did it get- It was supposed to. Interrupted by pandemic. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, we were actually, we were going to premiere at South by Southwest. So we were all gearing up and then that's when the whole thing got got pulled um and then it was going to be you know in wide release all over in movie theaters and obviously that's not happening so we went straight to netflix and lo and behold we went to number one which is pretty awesome so cool yeah very cool yeah i need to i need to check that one out because it looks really fun and they look like like they look like a really fun on-screen couple and yeah have heaven knows uh the the first pakistani man african-american woman on-screen couple that i can think of yeah and they never really any american mentioned that in, which is what I love. It's great. It's not a thing.

And I just play the white woman who tortures them. So, isn't that exciting? Well, they don't mention their race, but they do have a white woman who tortures them. They do. Because it's got to still, yeah, yeah. Played by yours truly. But yeah, no, it was a wild ride.

We shot that in New Orleans all night shoot. So, the scene that I'm in that you'll see is, we shot that at 4 a.m. and I have to be completely crazy. And I definitely am a little bit like my unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt character. And I tell you what, playing crazy at 4 a.m. is a lot easier than playing crazy at like 2 p.m.

So I was glad to be in the middle of the night, totally losing it. It was great. What's your call time when you start shooting at 4 a.m.? 6 p.m. You sleep all day. And we were there during Mardi Gras, which was great. What's your call time when you start shooting at 4 a.m.? 6 p.m. You sleep all day. And we were there during Mardi Gras, which was crazy. So we were sleeping during Mardi Gras.

And then everybody was getting up to go party in the middle of the night. And we were going to work. It was pretty crazy. Yeah. That's a fun movie, though. They're great. They're great together. Yeah.

Were you there a long time? I was there for about two weeks. Oh, okay. Only, yeah. I'm kind of in and out. I'm also at the end of the movie. Like, there's this weird, like, kind of sex orgy party where we're- Oh, sex orgy party.

Sure. Just like college. One of those sex orgy parties. Yeah. You know. one of those sex orgy parties yeah you know uh and then and then you also have another netflix uh movie that is starring nassim padrad uh called desperados is that correct i am i am that is coming out july 3rd on netflix and it's a fun girls trip crazy hijinks movie where we go. We shot half of that in Mexico City and half in Cabo San Lucas.

And it's just a wild, crazy ride with a bunch of girls doing crazy things. You know, I actually saw they sent me a preview thing and I watched like the I watched some of it. I did. Yeah, I did think it like it's so like it's such a good scam to write yourself a romantic comedy I mean I know you didn't write it no but to write yourself a romantic comedy that takes place at a resort yes you know what I mean like like if're going to have to do this romantic comedy, you might as well make it on the beach in Mexico. I tell you what, when they offered me the role, I did not think twice.

I was like, let's go. Yep. Let's go to Mexico. Let's do it. But it was crazy because it was a lot different. We were in some weird locations in Mexico City, and everybody got sick. Like, everyone got so sick.

So by the time we got to Cabo everyone was like oh we were like you're trudging you know what I mean into the thing yeah yeah it was uh we survived we all survived that shoot for sure so was all the stuff that wasn't the resort was that shot in Mexico City like her apartment and all the interiors and everything. All Mexico city. Um, and, uh, it was,

it was, it was, it was different. It was a different kind of experience shooting that movie there. I will say just like there was, the crew was huge. Like, it's going to be so weird to go from being on a set like that,

but there's like just so many people and so many crew to now going to, when we do reopen everything, having like a very limited amount of people being on set with you. Like I had never seen a crew that big ever. Yeah. Like it was just like people to do things, but I mean, it was,

it was, it was just, I don't know, Mexico city. Do you know, know Mexico city at all? Have you spent time there? I have,

I, I, I went there once and, uh, it was to do, we did the Conan show from there. We taped a was to do we did the conan show from there we taped a few a few episodes of the conan show and yes it is a very it's a much more structured kind of like it almost feels like there's government involved it does yeah yeah like that that somehow

this is that you're not just making a movie with a production company you're also making it with like officials in the mexican government yeah yeah you would have people escorting us around like from place to place in some sections of mexico city and they're like you cannot get out of the car or you can't leave your trailer the same thing yeah you know it's like it's an it's a it's fascinating to go and be doing something that you would normally be doing like in LA or, and having it be just a different energy,

you know, while you were shooting. Yeah. Yeah. I hope people like that movie though. Yeah. No, look, I mean, from what I saw it was really fun. Yeah. And you guys and Sarah, what's her? Sarah Burns sarah burns yeah the three of you are really funny together really great and um and i've always and this seems great she's

always i've always like yeah i i you know i am glad to see her at the lead of something like me too me too i was happy we all got along really well and just you know laughed our butts off when we weren't shooting and when we were which is great and Lamorne Morris who I love from New Girl plays her love interest and he's great there's just a lot of funny people in the film and I feel like it's just a great time like you can't leave your house you can't travel

right now but if you want to pretend like you're in Mexico you know what I mean you can you can watch little desperados when that comes up you can yeah watch people making terrible mistakes getting wasted and doing everything you should not be doing yeah well um the second question of these three questions that was the first one that we just covered where you're from is where are you going?

I mean, what do you, I, do you have any sort of like concrete secret, you know, Anna camp plans, any world domination? I definitely know where I don't want to go.

Okay. I I'm the Marines. Yeah. marines exactly um no i i definitely want to make sure that i'm playing roles that i haven't before like i i'm at a point now where i'm creatively tapped out when it's about these type a blonde blonde, quote unquote, seemingly perfect women. Like I can't actually creatively do that anymore. And I'm very thankful for all of the roles that I've done. But I'd rather say no and work less and have it be on projects that are actually going to make me a better actor. Yeah.

So I know that I want to continue to seek out roles like that and have people see me in a different light. Like I'm going to fight for that too. And I will constantly fight for getting that, those types of roles. So that's where I want to go, I guess. Yeah. that those types of roles so that's where i want to go i guess um there's a more dramatic um route in my career and i'm lucky that i do have a movie that i i worked on that i love so so much called here a while that's coming out next month where i actually got to embrace that side of myself and i haven't you know for a while so I'm excited for people to see that.

And where is that? Where's that one going to be? That's going to be on Amazon and Video On Demand and iTunes. So all streaming services. I don't think it's coming to Netflix, but it's coming to almost every other streaming service available. And what's that one about? That one is about the Death Dignity Act.

Oh, okay. So my character is diagnosed with terminal cancer but she's decided to end her own life on her own terms by using um this medication so it's it's not legal yet and in all 50 states um and it's something that like i would hope to get the word out about by by people watching this film um because it's about you know having freedom of choice to to do with your life what you want to do um and so and i i just i i i've never had a harder acting challenge ever than this role also yeah um we'll see i hope people watch that one for sure. I will. Thank you.

I will. I'm going to just sit here until it's on. Okay. Just going to wait. I believe you, Andy. I do. I believe you. It is.

Do you find it frustrating? Because sometimes I do, and I don't know what to do about it because I have a I'm not like a great self-starter and I do find sometimes the life of an actor is frustrating because there's a certain amount of passivity to it and that you're waiting for a job to come along as opposed to really making things happen for yourself which a lot of people you, have the ambition and the drive and the, the, whatever it is to do that. And do you get frustrated by that? By just kind of feeling like I'm just sitting here looking at the phone, waiting for it to ring? A hundred percent. No, a hundred percent. Oh, you do. Oh, you do. Oh yeah. No, no, no. A hundred percent. I mean, that's why I have decided to start producing some stuff, you know,

recently I've like created a show that, um, actually Michael show Walter who directed lovebirds. Um, we're, you're producing together and we just pitched that last week and we are waiting to hear if people are going to buy that one, which is cool.

And I optioned a book, um, and I'm hiring a writer to, uh, adapt it to a screenplay. I'm trying to not just be an actor because if you do just sit by the phone, you lose your damn mind. You feel like a slave to this business,

and I don't want to feel like a slave to anything ever. I love acting, and it is what I do, and it's how I make my money, but I don't associate it with like my identity as a person or I would be, I would be miserable. Yeah. Yeah. And it is true when you, when you just, when you just take jobs, you take the jobs that they see you as. So they're going to keep casting you as that person over and over and over, which, you know, it's, it's hard sometimes to say that in public, like I'm tired of playing the same it's it's hard sometimes to say that in public like i'm tired of playing the same thing because there's a lot of people that will be like oh what do you

shut up just take the check and do it and it's like yeah yeah but you know it's so easy for people to say that when it's not their life exactly i'm not this is your life that's the thing i'm not complaining about any job that i've ever done or ever, you know, been given the opportunity to do, I'm saying that like, aren't you guys sick of seeing me play the same part? Like, wouldn't it be nice to see an actor that you like know for a certain thing and like, you're so used to them doing kind of shake it up and surprise you in a way. Um, I know that like, I'm desperate to do something like that so no complaints but like man am i ready to to branch it out a little bit yeah i have to like shave my head i

don't know what i gotta do but like i'll i'll try my damnedest you know right don't shave your head until somebody pays you okay that's my advice okay Okay, I agree with that. Well, what have you learned? That's the third question. You know, like, what do you think, you know, I mean, it can take the form of, well, it doesn't even have to be work-related. Is it advice? Do people say, what's your advice to your younger self or to young people? advice do people say what's your advice to your younger self or to young people or i mean or do you have you sort of landed just on some sort of philosophy that helps you i think i've learned that it's always gonna get messed up that things are always gonna be crazy it's it's never gonna

go as you planned nothing like if you get dead set on your marriage being the end-all, be-all of your life, that's not going to happen. This job is going to be the perfect thing that leads to the next thing. It's always going to shift and change no matter what. what like, like, like to embrace this kind of idea of impermanence, I think is something that I've really tried to do over the last few years and know that nothing will stay as you think it will. Like, I think that allows for experience and opportunity to just be what it is. You know, like, if you hold on to something too tight like it's it's you can't you can't you just absolutely can't so embrace the fact that things are inevitably gonna change and get messy and weird and you know piss you off or whatever just expect that

so therefore when things don't you're pleasantly surprised and delighted you know i think that's the main thing i've learned um yeah and yeah that's good that's a good one yeah because no but i mean it's it is it's true it's if you you know it's good to have a plan but it's also good to be able to improvise you know it's and and you can't let one you know you also don't want to be a doomsayer you don't want to be like everything's gonna get fucked up but to spin that in a positive way and to be like this is it's beautiful like we do only get like one shot at this life that we know of you know know what I mean? So don't sweat the small stuff either. I know that's like a pillow case cover and like a bumper sticker or whatever,

but it's really true because if you care so much also about what everybody thinks about you or whatever, like you're going to go your whole life, not being authentic to yourself. And then you're going to wake up one day and it's going to be like, poof. So enjoy, enjoy and embrace, embrace the fact that it's gonna be like poof so enjoy enjoy and embrace

embrace the fact that it's all gonna be changing anyway anna camp says fuck them that's what anna camp says you know fuck them all do what you want do what you want make make your life the way you want your life to be you know what i mean yeah? Yeah. Screw it, just do it. Screw it, just do it. Well, thank you for coming on this thing. Thank you for spending some time in your day. That was delightful. Well, thank you, thank you. And thank you all for, you know, check out what,

well, first of all, check out Anna's upcoming things. We've got Desperados. We've got, tell me the name. Here Awhile is the project that's about the death of dignity act. It's called Here Awhile. And I'm really excited about that. And The Lovebirds is out now on Netflix. The Lovebirds.

I couldn't think of the name of it. I got brain issues. No worries. All right, Anna. Thank you for, you know, zooming in. Of course. And all of you out there, thank you for listening. And we will get back at you next time on The Three Questions. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco and Earwolf production. It's produced by me, Kevin Bartelt, executive produced by Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Chris Bannon and Colin Anderson at Earwolf.

Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, associate produced by Jen Samples and Galit Sahayek, and engineered by Will Beckton. And if you haven't already, make sure to rate and review The Three Questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. This has been a Team Coco production in association with earwolf