The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Gillian Jacobs

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

Actor, Producer and Director Gillian Jacobs joins Andy Richter to discuss growing up as an only child, Juilliard, learning on the job, and more.

hi everyone it's andy richter uh you're listening to the three questions and i am uh talking today to a just a joyous wonderful uh talented uh very funny actress. And I mean, your credits now are like producer, director, earth mover, you know, time changer. But it's Gillian Jacobs. Hi, how are you? Good. It's so good to see you. It's good to see you. It's been a long time. Yeah. you it's good to see you it's been a long time yeah um and you're there i you can't see it at out in podcasting world but you are surrounded by where you have a packing blanket hung behind you i do and a beach towel yes showbiz people welcome to hollywood and this is this is you probably had

this set up for all of COVID, right? Oh, yes. I've spent I don't want to calculate how many hours I have spent in this tiny space. Yeah. Is this in a closet or is it? Yeah. Yeah. Now, can you access clothes or is it like just an extra closet that has been given up to interviews. You know, it's to the point where when my mother came to visit, I told her she wasn't allowed to bring anything that needed to be hung because she couldn't get in there. So there's clothing behind these packing blankets, but it's pretty inaccessible at this point.

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's great. Well, congratulations. Thank you. You really adapted. You really adapted. Well, that's great. Well, congratulations. You've really adapted. You've really adapted. How has your COVID been? I mean, what have you done? I mean, were you trapped at home by yourself? I mean, you know. Well, I actually have my own podcast that I have been doing from home. So that's been a new thing in my life. And it's tech related, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I, you know, why make it easy on myself?

I chose to co-host a podcast in which I interview people who work in STEM. I have no background or education in anything related to STEM. And so I have to quickly try and cram some research before these interviews with these brilliant, accomplished people. But it's also a fun thing. You know, I get to learn a little about a lot of different areas in the world of STEM. I mean, why? How did that happen? Why did why did you know, were you tired of being on hold?

It's like, you know, tech support and decided I'm going to learn. It's so random. So six years ago, somewhere around then, I was asked to direct a short documentary about this woman named Grace Hopper, who was a very important person in the early days of computers starting during World War II. And previous to that, I knew nothing about computers. I'd never studied it at all. But I liked the challenge of it. And in doing the documentary, I learned a bit more about the world of STEM.

And then once people knew I'd done that, they would say to me, oh, you should know about this person or this Hedy Lamarr. Do you know about Hedy Lamarr and his frequency? should know about this person or this Hedy Lamarr. Do you know about Hedy Lamarr? And so then I started interviewing various people who worked in STEM for like print publications, like Glamour Magazine. And then I realized podcasting was actually a great way to talk to a lot of different people. It's quicker and easier to make than documentary. And it's been really fun. I don't know. I've just felt this need to keep going. I don't know exactly. But I still enjoy it. It's not like it's not like a thing that's been foisted upon you. And yeah, no. Yeah, I love it. And it

makes me much more excited and kind of curious about the world around me. I realize how much I didn't know about plate tectonics and all kinds of things that birds. Yeah, it's been really cool. What are those things? Well, you know, we had a paleontologist on who studies avian dinosaurs. And, you know, I'd heard, oh, birds are dinosaurs. But really hearing much more in depth about avian flying dinosaurs and how really all the birds around us did descend from dinosaurs,

it kind of gives you a sense of awe then when you look like a pigeon. You know? Right, right. This is a dinosaur right exactly well i feel the same way well i mean it's not the same way it but it's a similar thing when you look at dogs and you and not so much you know like a german shepherd like okay a german shepherd is like a formidable beast but when you look at like i don't know like a lasso opso or a shih tzu and you're like that was a wolf like that how is that a wolf and what what happened

like why would she you know wolves start hanging around the campfire for some meat and then you fast forward humans fuck around with it and now. And now you've got a useless creature. It's just like a throw pillow that you pet, you know. And I love them. But I mean, it's just weird how that happened like that. Yeah. It's so true. Yeah.

You just you find yourself more interested in everything around you, you know, when you're talking to super smart people that make it seem really exciting. Has this affected like your personal time, like reading and viewing? Like, are you finding yourself reading more scientific things or do you just keep it for the, you know? Basically, it's just still research for the podcast. Yeah, yeah. Jesus Christ. Enough is enough. Really? I mean, come on. I don't know enough to like read academic papers at any age. Right, right, right. I would get lost pretty quickly.

Yeah. I had Shannon Woodward on. Oh, she's the coolest. Yeah, she's great. And it was, you know, it was kind of earlier in COVID. And then, and it was after we were done recording, we talked for like a half an hour. And that woman has educated herself on immunology. Like the wish I was like, you should go on TV and talk about this stuff because she's like, so just, you know, way too smart to be an actor. You know, I'm in awe of Shannon's brain. Her her crossword solving ability. Yeah, she's so smart.

She's so smart. She should probably be hosting my podcast, not me. Well, don't say that. Don't say that. I mean, unless you're looking to get out of it and get back at your hanging clothes where you can access them. Now, you're from Pittsburgh. Is that correct? It is correct.

Pittsburgh? Yeah. And are you part of a big family? In the broad sense, yes. But my immediate family, no, I'm an only child. But my dad was one of 13 kids. So there is, but none of them are from Pittsburgh. So I'm sort of like, weirdly the only person in either side of my are from Pittsburgh. So I'm sort of like weirdly the only person in either side of my family from Pittsburgh. And where was everyone else? My dad is from Chicago. Oh, she had all the cousins were there.

Yeah. Midwest all around. But yeah, with like 13 siblings, pretty far flung. And my mom is from Pennsylvania as well, but just not Pittsburgh. So my parents both moved there as adults. But yeah, I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Where do you stand on the only child thing? Good, bad, indifferent, have no choice, it just happened to you? You know, it changes, I guess, as the years go on. I think I really liked not having to share when I was a kid.

But then when I see people who have really close sibling relationships, I get kind of envious of that. But, you know, it's all I've known. I think it did lead to me developing a really good imagination because I played by myself a lot of the time, like it was sort of before playdates. So was it like my mom was scheduling for me to hang out with other kids a lot? So a lot of me just like making up stories by myself, which probably has served me well. I don't know. Do you have a lot of siblings? I have an older brother and then a younger, they're my half brother and sister, but I, you know, they're not really half, you know what I mean? It's like we have a different dad, but they're not really half, you know what I mean? It's like, we have a different dad, but they're

still my brother and sister. So yeah, there's four of us, which is a, you know, a fair amount. And it's enough to make, uh, when everybody and their kids go out to dinner to be a, just a hassle and a pain in the ass. Like, that's the one thing you forget about. And I, I go home to visit my family in illinois and it's like oh yeah dinners with 12 to 15 people yeah like i forgot about those and oh my god they're a pain in the ass like where do we go like first of all figure out where do we go just the struggle of that and you know it's uh I do. I mean, I. I've come to appreciate. Them more now, later in my life, because I don't know, I think it was just because I was like kind of anxious to just kind of get out and get started and start my life and then move into New York City and live in a New York city life and and kind of feeling i mean not like i was leaving it behind but uh it wasn't it wasn't like what was first and foremost on my mind in terms of of pursuing

uh you know like like oh i really gotta spend more time with my mom you know um but now it's like you know and as i get older and i and i go back and visit them like i also i'm you know i'm kind of sick of la so it's like it's nice to go back to illinois where basically all you do is go to um softball games and soccer games like all your all the sports that kids play it just seems like that's what everyone does around the clock is just traveling to go watch their kids play sports somewhere. But I like it. I mean, I kind of like the – just that there's people around. You know, I mean, it can be nice that way.

Yeah. Outside of Chicago? Where in Illinois? Straight west. it's it can be nice that way so yeah outside of chicago where we're in illinois uh straight west they're all they've all they're like in the geneva batavia kind of area now uh my brother lives in in uh brookfield but they're all sort of out in those kind of further western suburbs um i grew up in a town called yorkville well you obviously you know, Chicago a little bit because I do. Yeah. Yeah. I voluntarily chose when I was in college to go take summer classes at different colleges because I wasn't getting an academic education.

So one of them was the University of Chicago. So I spent a summer there. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's a smarty school. It was. I mean, but I was doing the thing where if you paid the money, you could sign up for the class. It wasn't like I had to apply to be admitted to the University of Chicago.

But it was really cool. Yeah. Well, that's cool. Yeah, because you, well, I don't want to get there just yet. Yes, okay. Because you started, I mean, you started acting when you were barely dry from being born. Like four, right? I don't think quite four, but yeah, let's go.

Well, if it makes a better podcast interview, we'll say four. Yes, I was four years old. No, well, when did you start acting? I think my first acting class, I would say maybe third grade. So a couple of years after four. Okay, so we're talking about seven yeah seven or eight seven or eight that crazy no no i mean in the grand scheme of time it's pretty close yeah yeah yeah and what and why is it something you expressed an interest in or

so my mom got a call from the school that during recess i wasn't playing with any of the kids. I didn't appear to have any friends. And the teachers had observed me talking to myself on the playground. So they thought perhaps an extracurricular activity might help me out socially. And so my mom said I was always very dramatic in my responses to everything. And she thought I might enjoy acting. And she was very correct. Yes. And also, too, she seems to be in a dream world. Let's have her get into theater.

Like not like let's get her into something concrete. Yeah, let's get her into something even faker than what she's doing. Well, as I said, I guess that's what I was doing a lot of being an only child playing by myself at home. I guess I was that was kind of like how I would play is talk to myself. And were you like, was it like stories? Were you, you know, like making up stories or talking, you know? I remember walking around going like Stardate and like, I think I was imitating Star Trek.

Maybe I had a journal, an out loud journal I was keeping. I would make up a lot of stories, a lot of stories for all of my toys and dolls. I even drew a whole family tree for my Playmobiles. I created a very elaborate soap opera-esque dramatic family storyline for all of them. Wonderful. That's fantastic. Yeah, that kind of imagination, my God, I'd pay some money for just to have a little leaps that they go on or the way they look at the world it is inspiring to remember like oh yeah i guess we all still have that capability we just get farther

away from it yeah well uh so did you take the acting right away you immediately and not even just because i liked acting i think it was also because socially for me, that was a place where I fit in much better than at my school. And so I really kind of would get through the week so I could go to acting class on Saturday where all my friends were because none of them went to my school. And were they all about your age? I mean, oh, that's great. I'm not even aware of like little kid acting classes, much less in Pittsburgh or wherever. You know, it's so sad because the place where I took classes as a kid, it was this old theater called the Pittsburgh Playhouse. And they tore it down. It's a parking lot now, but it was so

magical to me as a kid. And we would, yeah, we would do performances on the stages there and take classes. I remember it had been like a hotel, I think. And there was a bar, an old bar in the basement with a, I don't know if it was a real Al Hirschfeld mural or an imitation of an Al Hirschfeld mural but I got very into like stars of an earlier era you know and we would look for the Nina um in the drawings so um to me it was like the coolest place in the world sadly it's a parking lot now oh that's too bad. I know. Yeah. And then you started working, right? Didn't you start like doing some plays? Yeah, I was very lucky. And in the paper, when I was growing up on Fridays, they would list auditions for local theater. And so my mom and I

just started looking in the paper and seeing anytime there was something that needed a kid. in the paper and seeing anytime there was something that needed a kid. And so, yeah, not too long after I started taking acting classes, we saw this audition and it was primarily a ballet with one acting part. And so when I went to the audition, they assumed that I was there for a dance role because that was 99 percent of it. And I just kind of somehow found myself in a dance audition. And I was so bad that the director pulled me aside at the end and said, you're not here to dance, are you? And I was like, no, I'm here to be an actor. But I just vividly remember like I couldn't do a turn. Too shy to say, yeah. Yeah. And I got that part, which I think is a really bad precedent to set for a career as an actor to get the first part you auditioned for.

Yeah, yeah. Right. Exactly. Yeah. So every rejection from there on out is an equity theater. And I got to do three plays there and be with professional actors and really get to like experience what it was like, you know, to be in a professional production of a play. So I was just in heaven. It was I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. What do you I mean, what does a little kid do when they're not on stage? Do you just go sit in your dressing room or you know, I mean, oh oh i would i remember one play i did a lot of the cast had a running poker game when they went on stage and i would just watch them yeah most actors they're like smoking cigarettes or

you know like doing things that a child wouldn't shouldn't be around you So that's what I just wonder, like, what's a kid doing hanging out? They were really generous and kind and very sweet to me. So I was I think, yeah, though, when I was 12, I was an as you like it. And I think I essentially memorized the entire play from just sitting in the wings watching the show. So I just loved being around them. I can't remember. Yeah, I vividly remember the poker game that was in like the costume room. Did they know you were watching them?

Yeah, yeah. I don't think I tried to get in the way or anything. I just liked to be around. I just liked being, I just loved, you know, when like actors are telling stories. Yeah. Like, liked being, I just loved, you know, when like actors are telling stories. Yeah. Like, you know,

at Largo, like those are some of like the most fun times and especially as a little kid. And I loved being around adults probably because I'm an only child. So to me,

it was like heaven just getting to listen to adult actors tell like theater stories. Yeah. adult actors tell like theater stories. When we were at Largo finishing up the Conan show, Flanagan told me that he thinks it may have been the last place Joan Rivers was on stage. And she was there for, I think maybe Jen Kirkman's show, somebody's show.

And she said, as they were hanging around backstage, she said, this is the best part. She said, this will always be the best part, is the sitting. And I can absolutely understand that because it is. It's just like, when I first got the conan show and i would uh and i was newly married too in fact i wasn't even married when i got it i was engaged and then we got married but i would come home and i would just be spent like i couldn't even i would have nothing left for my you know my then uh you know newlywed bride because i just was like i'm with literally some of the funniest people

on earth like they're paid to be funny and i'm there all day being funny with them and when when we went back to doing the show and i got to go to largo and again it was like oh my god finally I get to go be with these funny people and I and it really does spoil you for you know just like regular funny people just to be around like like to go where it's like you know like a family thing and it's like there's like oh these people are pretty funny and you don't want to be a dick but sometimes it's like there's like, oh, these people are pretty funny and you don't want to be a dick. But sometimes it's like, you're not that funny. But how could they compete? I mean, I know. I know.

It's totally unfair. And I know it's unfair. And I'm not like I say, I'm not a dick about it, but it is kind of like. You know, it's just there's just people that i get to hang out with yeah you know is there like a really funny person in your family was there someone growing up you remember yes definitely there was uh uh my aunt pat uh who actually i thought of her earlier or earlier when you were saying how you fell into doing these STEM things, because when I was in college at University of Illinois, she had gotten divorced and went back to grad school to get her master's in social work. She wanted to be a therapist and a social worker.

So she was in grad school at University of Illinois at the same time that I was an undergrad. And so, you know, I had my which was just like a weird coincidence that like my sophomore year, I had my aunt there at the same time that I was an undergrad. And so, you know, I had my, which was just like a weird coincidence that like my sophomore year, I had my aunt there at the same time. And she started doing therapy, like, you know, counseling with the kids. Like you, when you go, you know, like when you go to the college counseling center, you get somebody that's studying counseling. So she was doing that. And she she started to get she had a couple of clients with eating disorders like that, you know, like patients with eating disorders. And so she really studied up on like, what's the current thing to help eating disorder people? And she was doing very well and she was having a lot of success with them. So other eating disorder people would

come in to, you know, people with eating disorders would come in and they'd say, well, have Pat talked to her. So she ended up with like a full stable of eating disorder patients. And she hated it. She like did not want it. She's like, she was like, I, she came home one day, she goes like, oh, if I see one more person with eating disorder, I'm going to puke. And she went, Oh, you know, like, Oh, that didn't even mean she was, you know, realize she was making a joke, but she was just like, I mean, she was happy, you know, happy to be helping people, but it was just like, Oh shit, I got worked into this kind of niche, you know? Um, but yeah, she was hilarious. She was a very funny person my dad's really really funny um and uh and just like a very quick wit but sometimes he uses his powers for evil like makes clerks cry and things like that yeah yeah yeah

you know yeah my dad if my dad feels that he has uh not received proper service or has been slighted in some way. It's like, get ready because there's an episode of a drama is starting right now. Oh, no. Yeah, it could be pretty embarrassing. And you have funny people in your family too, right? Didn't you have like... My grandpa was really funny, my mom's dad. And I don't know if always intentionally, but, like, yeah,

I just have such memories of just laughing until you can't breathe. You know, those, like, family. That is, like, when you have, like, that inside running, long-running family joke that can just make you laugh so hard and in a different way. Yeah, my grandpa was really funny, and he loved to have a good time and people loved him. And he was just the best. So he and I just were such good friends,

which is always the lucky, happy thing in life, you know, when you're friends with your family. Definitely, definitely, yeah. So you were going to be in, now when you got like into your family. Definitely, definitely, yeah. So you were going to be in, now when you got like into high school and stuff, did you have any actual friends your age or were you still just hanging out with the adults? I mean, I did have a few friends my age.

Yes, yes. You know, it was an amazing experience that I had in high school was there used to be this program called the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts. And it was this free program that was a five week, five week long summer study program, and they would have it at a college campus. And for the arts, it was, you know, visual arts, music, dance, writing, acting, all the all the different art areas. And we'd all live in the

dorms and take classes. And and every night there would be a different type of performance, whether it was like a poetry reading or a dance performance or we'd go to an art gallery show. And that was amazing because it was 200 kids from around the state of Pennsylvania. And I made amazing friends there, two of whom are still like very close friends of mine to this day. So that was so cool to be with a bunch of other kids that love theater and then getting to know dancers and musicians and visual artists, everything. So that I think that was like probably the high point of my social life in high school no i yeah i i went to uh there wasn't a lot of performing outlets uh in yorkville

illinois uh but there was speech team so i oh yes speech team so which i don't know if people don't know what that is it's like different little performances on Saturdays where you go to school. And some people do basically like, you know, they'll be given a topic and they argue pro and con and something. And then other people just perform monologues. And mine was prose. I read short stories. But I went to speech camp or speech team camp a couple of years.

And that definitely was like, all right, here we go. Now I'm now finally some weirdos. It's like where all the weird, the goth kids are and all the gay kids are. And it was like, oh, God, this is so nice to finally be with the weirdo camp. You know, did you call it forensics at your high school? That was that. No, they just called it speech team. But forensics was what they called the one where the kids that came in with a bunch of books to research because they'd be given a pro or anti-NAFTA kind of those kind of things.

But everyone else was just kind of performing weird, like basically like auditions. It was like kind of a good audition practice. My mom tried to make me join that team at my high school. And I really didn't want to because it was Saturdays and that's what my acting class was. And I didn't want anything to get in the way of that. But I think my mom was thinking I needed more things for my, you know, college application resume. And so finally she forced me. I go, I get on the school bus. I've got my poem prepared that I'm going to recite, begrudgingly going. coach gets on the bus and I have no idea what led up to this moment because I was barely involved in the team, but she had had enough. And I remember her getting on the bus and being like, that's it. I quit. I'm out of here. And it all sort of exploded. And I so giddily ran and called my mom was like, come get me. Forensics just exploded. Go into my acting class. I can still make it. Come get me right now. Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. There you go. There's another early exposure to the high,

strong world of performing. It was also so, yeah, because I had never gone to any practice or anything. It was one of those moments in life where you're like, I have no idea what just led to this, but she has had enough. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Well, and you didn't even need all that extracurriculars because you went to Juilliard, right? Yeah. That was the joke of it all was that I did SAT prep and I, you know, was that I did SAT prep and, you know, really was concerned about getting good grades. And then I go to a college that never asked for my SAT scores and only asked for my grades after I'd been accepted. And it was all for naught. Once I found out I was going there, I was like, I'm not taking in my AP test now. Like, this is all meaningless. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

So none of it meant anything there. But then weirdly, I missed academics. So like I told you, I went to like the University of Chicago voluntarily and took academic classes. Did you just like it? Was that something? Did you just miss learning about, you know, regular stuff? Or were you afraid? Like, I might need some outside skills?

I think that I had a vision of college, which was a campus with a quad and a lot of different buildings and hanging out under the tree. And Juilliard was within Lincoln Center. It was one building. Our dorm was immediately next door. And all we had was like an overpass over 66th Street. And so I think part of it was wanting to be on a college campus, which was like what I envisioned. And then I also, I wasn't, I didn't have a great time at Juilliard. I really kind of struggled there. And then I also, I wasn't, I didn't have a great time at Juilliard. I really kind of struggled there.

And so I think I also kind of was getting sick of just acting related classes all the time. And I wanted to be, I also had a fantasy of like what a lecture hall would be like. And, you know, so I think for me, it was a way to, like, have that experience, too, and get a break from acting and acting classes. Yeah. Yeah. I want to go to college. You know, like he wasn't like I think I think he was taking design because he wanted to do something that seemed more sensible than just, you know, painting. But he also, too, he also, too, did not want to do studio art. Like he was accepted a couple of places where he could have gone and gotten a BFA, but it just would have meant. where he could have gone and gotten a BFA, but it just would have meant, and you go on tours to these colleges, and the kids that take you around, and that are showing you the art school, like, oh yeah, when you're here, you just paint all the time, or you know, if you're a sculptor, you just, you're in here sculpting all the time, just, and I mean, you just, one thing after the

other, one assignment after the other, and my son was just like you i don't i don't want that i was like i don't want that for you either i mean because eventually you know your art has got to be about something other than art you know what i mean and that's like acting needs to be about something like you know i remember once robert duvall somebody saying like what advice do you give actors? He said, watch cops. He said, because that's, he said, because if you're supposed to be doing approximations of extreme real life behavior, that's where you'll see it. You'll see the way that people react to different high stress situations and it'll give you interesting choices to make as

an actor. And I, you know, I thought that was kind of interesting. So that's why I didn't go to Juilliard. I just watched Cops instead. Now, you said you had difficulty at Juilliard. What, I mean, was it just isolating? Because you're just going in an, you know, like from one pod to another that's all theater based. I mean, that was one aspect of it is that,

you know, we were a class of 15 and you really only taking classes with those 15 people for all four years or only acting with those 15 people. And then so when somebody is a pain in the ass freshman year, they're going to be a pain in the ass for four goddamn years, aren't they? That also. But I will say being an only child, I learned a tremendous amount. Yeah. From that experience. I can see that. I can see that. So that I think was, has proved invaluable to me in life because I think there are so many skills you gain from having siblings that I didn't have. Um, and so I think that that was really helpful for me. But also it was difficult for me because the faculty didn't think I was doing very well and they didn't think I was really that creative an actor. Oh my God, really? rid of this, but for a long time, right before the winter break sophomore year, they would put

these yellow envelopes up on the bulletin board and you knew if your name was on one of them, that meant you were on probation. And then you had your second semester of your sophomore year to show enough progress or turn it around. And or otherwise, you could be kicked out of the school at the end of your sophomore year. And they didn't have a quota system. I know some acting programs are like we cut this number of people at Juilliard. It wasn't fixed like that. But every year I was there, they cut at least one person at the end of the sophomore year.

So and then because it was a BFA program, none of the credits transferred anywhere else. So I was thinking, oh, God, if I get kicked out of here, I'm going to have to start all over again two years into college. And so it was a very stressful second semester of trying to do whatever it was they were wanting me to do so that they didn't kick me out. it was they were wanting me to do so that they didn't kick me out. I like that kind of thing just infuriates me just because it's like, who the fuck do you people think you are? You know, just and, you know, acting is I mean, they weren't wrong looking back and what they were saying to me, they weren't wrong. But there is a degree to subjectivity about acting.

Yes. to me they weren't wrong but there is a degree to subjectivity about acting yes um and also not everyone responds to that kind of stress and stress and pressure positively some people really thrive with that or it's like you've given me a challenge i'm gonna show you i'm gonna rise to meet it and some people it really kind of it's very difficult for them. And so it was sort of like this one size fits all approach to like motivating people. I guess they would have thought of it like that. And I don't think that it really helped people. So thankfully, they don't do that anymore. But yeah, I mean, you know, it was a long second semester. I mean, you know, it was a long second semester.

It also, to me, I mean, I'm sure that there are people that start out with an interest drive say, you know what I really love about acting is the learning of acting and the teaching of acting. So that's what I'm going to focus on is the learning and teaching of acting. I think there's far more people who have a drive in theater and they get into theater and it doesn't work out so good for them. And they discover a drive for teaching acting because it's something to do and the fact that these people then become the curators of who has it when they don't fucking have it themselves that infuriates me who the fuck are you to tell me? Well, I also had such an amazing experience in high school because my acting teacher, her name is Ingrid Sonicson, and she taught at Carnegie Mellon. So she was, you know, an acting teacher. And that's a great theater school.

It's a great theater school. It's a great theater school. It's a great theater school. She was teaching at an acting conservatory. And I had such an amazing, supportive relationship with her where I really feel like she did push me as an actor. She made me much better as an actor. But I always felt very loved and supported by her. And so then to go from that experience and knowing that she was, like we said,

teaching at Carnegie Mellon, very respected, like training amazing actors, to then have nothing resembling that, you know, it was jarring to me too. So I also do think that I liked pleasing adults. And so I do think there was some aspect of like you know oh it's not working with these adults in the yard there was another good lesson for me of like am I doing this to be told good job or am I doing this to to like be a good actor and to have some

kind of like um internal compass of what's good and bad? Or do I only have a sense of it from external validation? So I think it was like good for me in those ways as well. But it was also like, what is going on? Yeah. Well, I mean, you could you could make the case that like it's a rough business. So maybe if they're kind of rough while you're in training, you'll get a sense of the roughness of the business. But there's also there's better ways to do that. And also you don't need like the roughness of the business. You'll find that out.

You don't need to be tempered against it because you either you either can handle that part of it or you can't. But then I'm also of the opinion that like as far as acting goes, you can either do it or you can't um but then i'm also of the opinion that like as far as acting goes you can either do it or you can't you know like i just think i think that you could take someone who's not very good at acting and put them to a bunch of classes and they could get better but i don't think that somebody who's a great actor was unable to act before they went to some classes. You know what I mean? You just have a knack for, for fake, you know,

for being a fake person, you know, you know, you're just, you have a knack for it. I was, you know, and I've said this before in this podcast, to me,

it's all, it's lying. It's like, are you a good liar? And it's like, yeah, you're it, which just means,

can you sell a story that isn't true? And, you know, some people can do that. Like you can, you know, some people can do that. Like you can, you know, like you can fuck with your friends and act sad when you're not sad at all. And they're like, oh, my God, what's wrong? You're like, ah, kidding. You know, whereas other people, you know, it's amazing to me to like see some sometimes like reality hosts have to do kind of some acting for a promo.

And they just can't even they're on tv and they can't even pull off like you know like hey what are you doing over there you know um but yeah no it's i i theaters i'm so glad that like i went to improv and then i just kind of got jobs and i worked and i that's where i learned like I learned I learned so much more from working oh absolutely if I went to film school for two years I mean I went to you know just regular liberal arts and science at University of Illinois for the first two years and then I went to Columbia College in film school and I learned more being a PA on a commercial in like a week than I did in two years of film school, just in terms of like usable film industry knowledge. Totally. And, uh, and I mean, and that also was a great

film acting education, just in terms of being on set, understanding how the set works, understanding how long and boring it can be, but also how fun it can be, you know? And also just to learn your place. Like, you know, you're another member of a large crew and everybody's got a lot of work to do. So keep it in your pants. Don't be a baby.

And don't slow the day down. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You don't mention your dad much in all of this. Was your dad very supportive of all of this? My dad was very supportive of my acting career. Yes. I think that my dad really wanted me to do theater and acting because I don't think that he felt like he had a lot of choices growing up in terms of what he went to college for or what he did professionally, at least initially. And so I think it was important to him that he be supportive of me. And I think he was thrilled. Yeah, I don't I don't have that story of parents who like tried to talk me out of becoming an actor. Yeah, they were both they were both supportive of it. And they never were like, what happens if you don't make it?

My mom had a little bit more of that. I mean, it's understandable. Right, right. But it was more like when I got into Juilliard, I think she had a moment of like, oh, no, you're foregoing a liberal arts education. What if that doesn't work out? Also fear about me moving to New York City at 17. And she thought that I was going to have a curfew at the dorm. And so I guess when she went to, I don't know, it was like some college in the 60s, she had a curfew. And she just assumed I would as well. And because I, you know, I wasn't allowed to stay out past midnight, even as a senior in high school, after I'd gotten into college and everything. And I was pushing back against it and saying like,

well, why can't I start to stay out later? I mean, I'm going to be going to college soon. And then I can do whatever I want. She's like, Oh, no, no, because you're going to have a curfew. And I was like, what are you talking about? I just don't have curfews. And she just went, what? What do you what do you mean? You mean you're going to be able to go anywhere in New York City and no one is going to know where you are? And I was like, uh-huh. And then because I I mean, we were in class till 11 p.m. and I don't drink. I never ended up going anywhere anyway. So she had nothing to worry about. I mean, like a big night for me was going to Barnes and Noble and sitting in the magazine. But, yeah, she was like very afraid of me in New York City and no liberal arts education. But she got over it pretty quickly.

Yeah. Were you raised strictly? You know, she she she kept a close eye on me. But I mean, was that necessary? Were you in any way a wild child? No. You don't strike me as one. No, I was not a wild child at all. But I also think that we've talked about this a lot since I've been an adult.

She and I, her notion of what a wild child is would probably surprise people. probably surprise people. So I think she probably thought I was veering on wild child, even though I was like, I, I, I never, I don't even think I was ever invited to a party in high school. Um,

I didn't go to, I didn't like, I didn't do anything really. Um, I was a lot of Friday nights at home with my mom watching like Poirot mysteries. Um, so, but any, any kind of like pushback I started to do later in high school, I think really scared her.

Well, when you say you'd be surprised what her idea, her idea of a wild child would be tame or is like crazy. Tame, tame, scared, having two beers and, you know, kissing a boy. Yeah, kissing a boy, very like, ooh! But yeah, I didn't drink, so she didn't have to worry about that. Like, I wasn't going to parties. I wasn't really doing anything. But I think she was just still very afraid that I was going to was gonna like do something bad as you got through college and into

adulthood was she able to sort of like can she let you live your life now I mean now I would hope but I mean but you know did she start to let you live your life and not always I pushed away pretty hard I think I individuated in a pretty um firm. I remember she moved me into my college dorm and I said, you can go now. And she told me later that she cried the entire drive back to Pittsburgh. And I mean, that probably wasn't like my most empathetic moment as a person, but I also think it was a healthy impulse of like, and now I'm going to be my own person. So I think we've had a process in my adulthood of me kind of really pushing away to like finding a way to be close again.

And that doesn't feel like invasive. Yeah. That's, that's been our journey, I would say. Yeah. Well, that's good.

Well, when you get out Juilliard, what do you do? Got a job babysitting, started auditioning, and a lot of unsuccessful auditions. And then I started to get cast in tiny little indie movies in New York. And I would come out to LA for pilot season and maybe get a part in a pilot, but wouldn't get picked up or there was one that the one that got picked up i got fired from uh which is another great uh life lesson of like

sometimes that happens too you'll be okay at what point in the process and what was you want to talk about what the show oh i can talk about sure, it was this pilot called Traveler. And they shot the pilot. And then probably, I knew that it wasn't, you know, have those experiences when you're like shooting the thing. And you're like, I don't know. You might not have had these experiences. Oh, no, I've had, yeah. Or just to be making a movie and go like, this movie is going to be awful. Yeah.

This movie is going to be terrible. It was more me. I was was like this isn't a fit like uh too many takes too many like looking back now i can see it all so clearly of everybody at the monitor you know the the network executive the studio executive the director or the writer going like i don't know tell her this see if like i can just i could see it all now at the time time, I was just like, another take. Okay, I guess. And so I wasn't entirely shocked when they replaced me. And I also think it didn't go on to be like, the biggest hit in the world. You know, that would have been probably tougher to take, but the show didn't really last. But yeah, that was, but so, you know, more indie movies. Yeah, that would. But so, you know, more indie movies. And then everything really changed when I got community. That's why I say like that's when I felt like I had like a career, the beginning of a career.

How long out of college was that? That was like five years out of college, four or five years out of college. Yeah. And were you living in New York when that happened or had you come to? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'd come. I was the beginning of that pilot season. I was doing this movie that was in New York State, but in a really rural area. And all the actors in the movie, we were all trying to still participate in pilot season and put ourselves on tape and help each other. And then of course, it was like take 10 hours to upload the file with the terrible Wi Fi at the hotel. But it was like, Corey Stoll and Melanie Linsky and myself, all these great actors were in the movie. And we were all we were all like, just trying to be in it. And so I said to myself, as soon as this wraps, I'm going to LA for the last couple weeks of pilot season. It was pretty much over, but I was like, I'm going to go anyway. And I remember while I

was there, a friend of mine called me and said, I just went in for this pilot. I really feel like this part is you. And I was like, well, I'm in the woods. I don't know what I could do about it. It feels like that one's going to go away. And so I got out to LA. It was kind of winding down. There weren't that many auditions, but I got an audition for this pilot community and I read it and it really made me laugh. And I thought it was really funny. And I woke up the morning of the audition and I felt really sick, but I was like, I'm going to go anyway. And maybe I was too like preoccupied with being sick to get nervous and did well and got it. And then I remember telling my friend, oh, I got this pilot community, this part.

And she goes, that's the part I was telling you about. That's the part that was you. So it all kind of worked out in an amazing way. And then, yeah, after that show got picked up, I moved to L.A. Did you I mean, did you feel. After that show got picked up, I moved to L.A. Did you I mean, did you feel. Was there any kind of I mean, because having that Juilliard experience and then finding most of your success in film and television, did you feel that was like in any way a validation or did you feel.

Oh, good, good. OK, yes. No, and it was like I didn't feel like, oh, I'm not succeeding in the theater. No, not at all. I mean, there was no kid more into theater than me. I loved theater. And when I was a kid, if you had asked me what I thought I was going to do with my life, I would have said be a theater actor. But I think by the end of my time at Juilliard, I felt so criticized as a theater actor.

And we didn't really do any film and tv acting there yeah that i felt like well they've convinced me i can't act on stage but they don't seem to know anything about film and tv so i think i'll go after that um and so despite the fact that it didn't feel like the school really thought you know is certainly not worth pursuing. I was like, forget it. I'm going to go for that. So, yeah, no, it was great. It was great. I didn't feel as nervous. I remember, yeah, I auditioned for a play at Lincoln Center and, you know, Juilliard's right in the same campus. And just looking at the school made me so nervous. This was like not long after I graduated that my knees literally started shaking. So I got far more nervous I think for theater auditions than I did for movie and tv yeah yeah I I yeah I would think I wouldn't even know I like to get into a play now

I would I would be terrified you know I did one a couple years ago and it was really fun. It was? Yeah, it was great. It was really fun. But I did have that moment of like, can I still learn and tire play? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I retain this? Yeah, I said yes to this. I've signed myself up for it. The character talked a lot too.

So I was like, oh boy. But yeah, it was it was really great. I also, too, would have the thing of doing the same thing every night, like for a month or whatever, you know, that I think I would have difficulty with now. I mean, I've done it in the past. I've been in plays in the past, but I think that now, like when I go see theater a lot, I think about like they've got to say this every single night you know but you know what I don't know if you ever have this experience of like driving home from set at the end of the day and you're like oh I should uh oh my god now I know how to do that scene if oh god so you do get like another shot at it that's the great thing about doing a play is that you feel like you get so many chances to

figure it out and when you have when you have that kind of moment where something new clicks um it is really exhilarating and i've never done such a long run of a play like i've never done a year of a play that i would imagine would be really hard so everything i've done has been short enough that it still felt like i was learning things and discovering things. And then things are always going wrong because it's live. You know, like the last play I did, it had these like turntables on the stage. And, you know, there was a scene where as another actress and I sitting at a table talking and you don't realize that you've kind of your memory works with like, I'm at this part of the rotation. When I say this line, I'm at this part. So the table, the turntable stopped working. And the two of us were like, can we still remember the scene if the room's not spinning? So there's always something that also keeps you interested.

Yeah. So you get into community and you've made it now you got a job you got a regular gig no more babysitting and all that stuff but talk a little bit about that next step of hanging on every can't you know every renewal and all of that kind of shit and what and also just what it was like to work on that show in particular. Yeah, so that show, it's kind of amazing that it lasted five seasons on NBC because... It was amazingly contentious. Oh, yes. The first season was less so, but every other moment after that, yes.

And we truly didn't know. I remember it felt like at a certain point like the ratings were so bad that we didn't know week to week if we were gonna keep going so like should i start packing up my trailer um so it was very stressful um i remember we were on the paramount lot and glee was shooting on the lot at the same time. And they were like a huge success and they were getting all these Emmy nominations. And I think there was like a banner at their base camp that said, Glee, congratulations on your like, I don't know, like 20 Emmy nominations. So I think Dan Harmon had a banner made and strung outside of our stage that said, congratulations, community, on your zero Emmy nominations. And I also remember the Paramount tour.

They would come by, and you'd hear them talking about other stages, and people would be like, oh, oh, can we stop and take a picture? And they would be like, and here's the set of Community. Silence, just like keep going. But it, I don't know, it kind of mirrored the show in such a strange way.

You know, the characters on the show were kind of having that experience of life that we were having as a cast on the show. And I do think it really bonded all of us together. We're all still in touch and close. And, you know, and maybe that would have happened anyway. But there there was something about that type of experience that also did make us really good friends. Did it was it. Like, did the cast have. Different ideas of like what should be the like the direction the show should be going in order to preserve it or were you kind of there was a solidarity among the cast and the producers yeah yeah we all loved the show i mean that was the thing too is we were like this is really good isn't it oh my god you know and it was weird and funny and yeah yeah and the cast was so talented too that was like an amazing thing to discover as we shot the pilot in the first season of just how funny everybody was and so we all loved the show and we're sort of like why isn't anyone watching i think it's really good yeah um so no we all we would like on you know thursday night 8 p.m we'd still be there shooting

because of our hours and they would have to pry us out of our trailers because we'd be trying to watch the show live on tv uh when it's airing so no i think we all we all loved the show yeah and when it when it goes away are you i mean are you committed to being here and living here then or do you go back to new york or it you know it was such a big deal to move here that I sort of felt I'm here now. Yeah. But I like I said, I've had the ability to go back and still work in New York and do a play or shoot a movie or do something. So I don't feel like. I haven't spent any time in New York in the last 10 years. It's just for chunks of time.

But do you miss it? Are you do you like living here or would you prefer to be there? I like L.A. I I'm not I don't feel in conflict about living in L.A., but then I also really enjoy it when I'm in New York. So I don't know. I haven't I haven't really had that like I got to move back. And maybe that's because like every year, every two years I've gotten to work there. And so I've I've felt like I've still been around.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I I mean, you know, I'll get those opportunities to hopefully more now. I mean, but because like when we're doing the conan show there wasn't like a lot of time to be doing outside gigs um but yeah but i would definitely get like i you know i could did an episode of uh jim gaffigan show and i was there for about a week and a half and i had you know i had transitioned from living in L.A., but always feeling like, oh, no, New York is really feels more like home to then, you know, being here and having kids here and being like, well, listen, I live here. But then going back and staying for a week and a half, two weeks and within a couple of days feeling like, oh, yeah, I could do this again. Like I could because you wonder, like, could I handle New York life again? And then it's a couple of, like, yeah, I could.

Absolutely. It's like a gear that's in you that you just drop back into. I can still walk that fast down the sidewalk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's way more crowded, though. I mean, it is, like, crazy how many more people are in Manhattan just because it's, air quotes, nicer. You know, there aren't as many sort of sketchy areas but um i still love it there i still uh you know i think it would be fun to have an excuse to go stay there for a while

if not you know live there yeah since then i mean you've directed you've produced some things. I mean, and was that just kind of, did you start directing things out of just a desire to try something different? Or is it something that you really kind of have your heart set on? Are you Ida Lupino is what I'm saying. I could only hope I'm Ida Lupino is what I'm saying. I could only hope I'm Ida Lupino. I think, you know, like a lot of actors, you spend a lot of time on set and you go from feeling like what is happening to eventually being like, OK, I think I have a general sense of what everyone is doing on this set. And then getting more interested in how the whole thing is put together. And so I think that the desire to direct kind of was an outgrowth of that. And I think wanting to challenge myself, do things that intimidate me or scare me. And so I really do love it. I'd like to do more of it.

And like I said, yeah, I've had this sort of interesting STEM documentary way into directing. And then I did an episode of this documentary series called 616 that's on Disney Plus that was all about Marvel Comics. And so I did an episode that was all about women who've worked at Marvel Comics as writers and editors and artists. And that kind of similarly for me was a dive into a world I knew almost nothing about. And I enjoyed the research and learning about comics and how they're put together and the history of Marvel.

So I really liked that a lot. and the history of Marvel. So I really like that a lot. So I'm kind of open to all of it. You know, I've written like personal essays. I've done interviews for print publications. I keep kind of putting myself in these positions where it's challenging a new skill, which I think is probably good for my brain, too.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. No, why not? It's, you know, and if you have the opportunity to do it, why not dabble? Yeah. Well, where do you want to go from here? I mean, is there, well, first of all, what's going on now?

You've got, you know, you've got some different projects coming out. There's a I don't I don't have the list handy. I can I can rattle everything. Go ahead. Rattle them off. Yeah. Periodic Talks is my podcast that's available now. I'm in these Fear Street movies that are on Netflix.

Oh, yeah. I saw the first one with my daughter, but we have to watch them together. So we haven't. Are you in the second one? I'm in the second and third one. Yeah. So, yeah, we'll we'll be seeing you soon. All right. Excellent. Yeah. And I'm in this movie with Chris Pine called The Violence of Action that's coming out in the fall. And I'm doing a part on the HBO show about the Lakers.

Oh, right. Are you playing like the coach's wife? Yes. Chris Riley, Pat Riley's wife. And have you met the actual person? Is she still alive? Yes, but I have not met her. But I've only worked like two days on the press.

Oh, I see. It's a very large cast. Yes, yes, yes but um that's and you know i get to work with adrian brody who's playing pat riley so oh wow kind of pinch me cool that is experience yeah he's incredible did you work much during covid or was there i mean not on set so i i did a scripted i do a scripted podcast called Blood Ties. So we recorded the second season of that from home. And I've done a lot of like voices for animated things. Oh, I'm also on this show, this animated series, Invincible, that's on Amazon.

That's based on a comic, the same creator as The Walking Dead. And Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh. A lot of amazing people on this animated series. Wow. It's really cool. So it's like a grown-up anime. Oh, yes. Very. Very grown-up. Not for little kids. Sounds dirty. I'm there. It's really cool.

I love that show. So that's been really great to be a part of that. Yeah, I had this really sweet movie that came out last year called i used to go here that was supposed to premiere at south by in 2020 and then south guy got south by got canceled but you can you can purchase it um online it's called i used to go here i love that movie um so you know getting back to acting on set, but really for most of 2020, it was mainly like in this closet doing voiceover jobs. Did you handle that better? I mean, because, you know, yeah, I'm not a big socializing person. That's silly.

I have friends and I like seeing my friends, but I'm like a person who has to kind of like talk myself into going to a party and not just try and leave instantly when I get there. Because someone might want to talk to you. and not just try and leave instantly when I get there. Um, so, uh, like, someone might want to talk to you. Maybe my assumptions know that they won't want to talk to me. So I have to allow for the possibility that someone may want to talk to me. Um, so I really had to work at,

you know, not leaving a party almost instantaneously. Um, but I, you. But I'm really grateful that I was able to do these voice jobs from home. Yeah. Yeah, voice acting is fun. It's so fun. We were on something together for a minute.

Before I got fired. Before you got fired, yes. Which I thought I didn't understand that at all but at any i you know i don't want to you know insult the person that got the job after you but i didn't understand but whatever i you know a lot of decisions are made and i don't understand them but yeah voice acting voice acting is fun. It's so fun. One of the things that I can't, like the two things I do that I can't believe are cartoon voices and game show host. I've gotten paid to do both of those things and never like just that seems like a racket, like I'm tricking someone, you know? I love doing voices for animated shows so much and yeah someone asked me

recently why and i was like i don't know why i just love it it's fun yeah um and so yeah the you know i'm very lucky with like invincible and these other jobs i i hope i keep to get getting to do more and more of it because I really love it. Yeah. Well, what do you, I mean, what's your dream, you know, arc from here going on? Well, you know, I directed a short film which was scripted, but I think I'd like to direct a film, a scripted film. And acting-wise, I think it's been fun to do a bunch of different genres in the last couple of years. Things that seem to surprise people like being in these Fear Street horror movies. You know, people have really associated me with comedy and it wasn't what I started out doing.

So anytime I get to do something that feels like different or unexpected as an actor, I think I'm enjoying that. But then again, I love comedy. So it's like, who would want to not do comedy every given opportunity? So I think it's kind of worked out well for me that I've gotten to do

so many different types of things between writing things, directing things, acting and different sorts of things. So if I can sustain that, it feels like I'm always sort of being challenged in some way. That's good. And what about outside of work? I mean, is there anything, you know, house by the beach, you know, learned, learned a hot air balloon, something like that? You know, learned a hot air balloon, something like that. You know, I actually, we did an episode of my podcast with this woman named Margaret Wertheim. She and her twin sister have this place called the Institute for Figuring, which is based here in L.A.

And the project they're most known for is the hyperbolic crocheted coral reef um and so there uh there's these hyperbolic shapes and geometry that this woman whose name i now can't remember realized that you could best um demonstrate visualize by crocheting them um even better than like computer imagery and so it started this whole thing of of crocheting hyperbolic geometric shapes. And then someone realized, oh, you know, these also kind of resemble coral reef creatures. And so Margaret and her twin sister created this project where they were crocheting coral reefs. And then people around the world also started crocheting people who are into crochet started doing it. So when they would exhibit this in a city, local people who crocheted would

contribute to it. So we had this idea that Margaret was going to teach my co-host Deanna and I how to crochet a hyperbolic figure. But I was like, oh, wait, I've never crocheted anything. So then I was like teaching, trying to teach myself how to crochet with YouTube videos. So that was fun to challenge myself in a different way. I haven't, I haven't picked up my crochet needle in a while, but I, I'd be open to doing more of that. That was fun. That's all, that's all outside of work. Just want to learn to crochet. Hyperbolic geometric shapes. That's it. It's challenging. Not a sweater.

Not a sweater. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. Fuck that. No, no, no, no, no. Well, that's good. You know, that's doable. It's doable. It's very doable.

Well, the last of these three questions of the three questions of this is what have you learned? So what do you think you've learned? Not in this podcast, not in this last hour, but I mean, just over the span of your life. Let's see. What's the Gilean, the moral of the Gian story? I think the moral, I mean, the thing that I'm trying to learn actively right now is how to be present in this moment right here and now. So that's the thing that I am most aware that I need to work on and I think will benefit me greatly if I can be more successful at it. So what were you doing? In what way do you

think you weren't doing that or that you haven't been doing that? I think I have a hard time enjoying myself in the moment. And I sort of like look back and go, that was a good time. Yeah. Are you thinking like it could be better? Are you thinking like that of something else happening or? A lot of like dread of like things in the future that could happen or not appreciating the small good moments too. So I think I'm trying to have more appreciation for the nice moments in life as they're happening. Yeah. Rather, instead of only being able to look back and go, oh, that was a good time. Mm-hmm.

And you're becoming more, is there any specific sort of, is it just a matter of focusing on it or, you know? You know, when I'm on- Are there exercises, weights you can lift? I don't have any exercises yet. I'm open to suggestions. I have found myself on set being because, you know, we were talking about the number of the downtime and the hours. And it can be easy to get like, I'm still sitting here.

This is taking so long. But then I tried to shift my thinking to like, I just had a really fun, nice conversation with that person. Or like, going back into my head of like, when I was a kid, and I loved watching the adults play a poker game, like, oh, my God, that was really fun in the hair and makeup trailer this morning. Like, we all had a great time. Or, yeah, we were sitting there in between takes. And I, you know, started talking to the camera operator. And we got into a conversation about both. You're just trying to like enjoy the moments of being with people and rather than feeling like, oh, how long am I going to be here today?

When do I get to go home? Like, you know, like this is the thing I wanted to do as a kid. So how can I like appreciate it, enjoy it while I'm doing it? Well, that's yeah, that's a great thing to do, because, yeah, it's. It's certainly if you can master it, you're sort of like set. You know what I mean? It's like basically saying, like, if you can figure out how to be happy with what you got. I'm not there, but that's my goal. That's what I'm trying to learn.

So that's, I don't know if you ever get there with things like that. Cause then it's like, well, then what do you do? You know what I mean? Like when you just dissolve into a happy puddle, you know, I'm open to that. Well, Gillian, thank you so much for spending this time. It's good to see you again. And I hope to see you out on campus in the real world one of these days. I know.

It'll be fun if we find ourselves backstage at Largo, right? Yes, exactly. Hanging out with the Dressers. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much. And thank all of you for listening. And we will be back next time.

I've got a big, big love for you. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco and Earwolf production. It is produced by Lane Gerbig, engineered by Marina Pice, and talent produced by Galitza Hayek. The associate producer is Jen Samples, supervising producer Aaron Blair, and executive producers Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf. Make sure to rate and review the three questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts. Can't you tell my loves are growing? This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.