The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Poppy Liu

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Poppy Liu joins Andy Richter to discuss her new film “Space Cadet” with Emma Roberts, why Andy is a Spicy Horse and Poppy is a Spreadsheet Horse, working on “Hacks,” bringing a Midwestern accent to Shanghai, reclaiming the word “bimbo,” being obsessed with her baby, and the importance of a personal mission statement.Do you want to talk to Andy live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTER

Hello everyone, welcome back to The Three Questions. I'm your host Andy Richter. And this week I am talking to the amazing actress Poppy Liu. Poppy is an incredible actress and activist. You've seen her in Hacks, Sunnyside, iCarly and The After Party. You can see her now in the new prime video film Space Cadet. I spoke with Poppy in person at our Team Coco studio. But before my chat with Poppy, I just want to remind you that the Andy Richter Call-In Show is now airing every Wednesday on SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Radio. Episodes will be available on demand in the SiriusXM app. Just search Andy Richter or you can find them a week later in this same three questions

podcast feed. If you want to be a part of this new radio show, you can call 855-266-2604 or fill out the Google form in the description for this podcast episode. And now enjoy my conversation with the hilarious and wonderful Poppy Liu. I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like,

what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up, I'm gonna be like, what's up? I would say it's like in the genre of like legally blonde, double whore's pot, like you can watch it with the whole family and no one's gonna have an awkward sex scene if it's at the end.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, I don't know, like someone was saying it feels very 90s. Yes. You know, and I agree, I don't know if we've had like this genre and this tone, I haven't seen it in a while. Yeah, yeah. We had like an era where it was very much like, follow your dreams, you can do it.

And also sort of like, and it was, you know, cause I don't know if you, did you ever see Private Benjamin? Yes. That was, it's kind of that thing. Like regular gal gets thrown into extraordinary circumstances and excels. In space?

Yeah, yeah. Yes, it's like, I feel like the genre is the powerful bimbo. Yeah, it really is. Which I personally really identify with. It really is. I'm both a bimbo and I'm also very powerful. Right, right, exactly. Yeah.

And you know, and it's also good to reclaim bimbo. It really is. It doesn't just mean a soft wonder bread. It doesn't. No, it doesn't. It means, I totally agree. I think we have come full circle where like bimbowness is power. Yeah.

I can bimbo my way into anything. And I think too, like bitch has, all the sting has been taken out of bitch. Oh, bitch is great too. Completely. Like to say like, you're a bitch is like, oh, okay, thanks. I've been saying recently that I'm trying to rebrand as a bitch. Are you oh, okay, thanks. You know? I've been saying recently that I'm trying

to rebrand as a bitch. Are you? So spread the word. All right, all right. Yeah. But you have to be careful. You don't want to be like a real bitch. I know.

Well, I feel okay saying it because my default is so like kind of nice. I grew up in Minnesota. Yes. You know? So like it's in my bones. Right, right. So I feel like I can lean heavily into bitch

with like get to the middle. You know what I mean? Like my default isn't bitch. I need to like work into it to be like, no, I'm gonna speak my piece. I have my boundaries. No, don't mess with me. Do you feel like that there's a,

because you were born in China. I'm telling the people. Hi people. Yeah, hi everybody. By the way, what we were talking about, I feel like, cause we'll just, I don't know where we'll start this, but I'm talking to Poppy Liu.

Hi. And we are, hi. And we were talking about the movie Space Cadet, which I got to see some of today, which you are in, and Emma Roberts and Gabrielle Union are also the stars. A powerful female triumvirate. Powerful triumvirate.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, as with the trium, four syllable words. Yeah, that's right. Wow, in this house. I do crosswords. Ah! I had my crosswords days, but then I had a baby and then I have one brain cell working still.

So no more crosswords. How old's the baby? 18 months. 18 months, yeah. Yes. Yeah, so the other brain cells haven't returned yet. Right, right, you'll get them back. Maybe.

You'll get them back, yeah, yeah. That is a cute age. I mean, they're all cute in some way or another, but it really is. This is a really cute age. It's really nice when they start, like you can talk to them. Yes. You know what I mean? Like that was with my kids, especially my ex-wife with my first two kids,

she was always like, I just can't wait until they can talk. Like I want to talk to them. And that was a good when they started talking? Yeah, absolutely. They're great. Oh, yeah, yeah. They're all. My kids are all fantastic. I don't know, you know. How old are your kids now? I have a 23-year-old. I have an 18-year-old.

And then my wife and I have a four-year-old. Oh! So yeah, so I have a wide spread of ages. Oh my god, the circle of life. It really is, yes. That's gorgeous. I feel like the four-year-old is almost sort of... Wiser than everyone.

No. No, she's stupid. Took a stab in the dark. She's really dumb. She can't, you know. She can't do a thing. No, she's really great and she's very, very smart. But I was gonna say, I feel like it's so much easier now

and it isn't just because I've been through the baby thing already, it's because I've been through the whole thing.. It's because I've been through the whole thing. So I know that any one part of it isn't so deathly important. Yeah, the stakes feel really high. Like right now, it's like every day I'm like, my phone has 27,000 photos on it, which I think is way too many. Is it really 27,000? That is a lot.

Like, should I buy a physical hard drive at this point? I have. That makes me wonder. Do I need to buy Bitcoin? I don't know. How many photos do I have on my phone? Oh, I'm curious. Let me see.

And then my liked photos is 3,000, which at that point, it's not a niche folder anymore. OK, I have 22,000. OK, but you have a 23,000. That's over 23 years. Yeah, yeah. This is 18 months, and I got to 27,000. But see, one of 22,000. Okay, but you have a 20, that's over 23 years. This is 18 months and I got to 27,000. But see, one of them is this. It's Justin Timberlake's mug shot

that I just happened to see. I saw a TikTok that said that his mug shot also looks like all of his album covers. Well lit mug shot. Oh, it's fantastic. Does it have like a ring light? Yeah, well, it's the Hamptons. It's the Hamptons.

So it's like, it probably, you know, was a, I don't know, Terry Richardson or somebody taking that picture. I saw someone be like, you have to go to the DMV in Calabasas and they'll like literally give you like hot towels. Because the Kardashians are out there. Yeah, or something.

I was like, oh, that's so wise. Right, oh God. Meanwhile, like at my DMV, like, you know, there's like, like someone's pooping outside. Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, that's the DMV. Inside, yeah. It's not supposed to be.

Except it is in Calabasas. I know, but, you know. It's like Jasmine scented sometimes. I feel like, but I feel like that is, especially with like, when I think, like with children, like people have asked me when I, because I used to take my kids to Disneyland all the time and people would say, well, do you get that thing

where you get to cut the line? And I was like, no, that's not what Disneyland is about. Everyone has a kid there. And they gotta learn to wait in line. Yes, that's true. That's like part of it. Oh, that's true. I feel like, no, the DMV should suck.

You shouldn't make that cushy. I see. It's like, it's meant to humble you. Whoever you are, you have to wait in line at the DMV. Yeah, you have to, and your picture has to be kind of shitty. And you only get one take. But in the Kardashians, Kim gets, she gets to see her photo. Of course. And then gets to, and her makeup artist is there.

Yeah. So again. Even in Glendale, they give you a like, is this okay with you depending on who takes it? Really? Yeah, yeah. Having taken kids to get photos taken. I really prepared for my photo

and I think I ate, if you will, because I like watched all these makeup tutorials. That's I'm like pretty sure I know what you mean. Yeah. I really, I enunciated it for you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, I am old. I also gave you some eyebrows.

I understand, you ate. I ate. Yeah, yeah. If you're picking up my putting down. So I like watch all these makeup tutorials for how to take an amazing DMV photo. Specifically DMV. Oh, that's great.

Because they're like, the light's gonna be harsh. You're gonna wanna powder. You wanna really do your contour. You want all this stuff. And my photo looks, I'm proud of it. Oh, that's great. But I had to prepare. Mine looks terrible.

I look like I was found in a cargo hold and I'm going to be sent back to my homeland, whatever it was. That's kind of what it's supposed to look like. I guess, I don't know. I mean, I'm like, at this point, any concerns about my appearance, I feel are turd polishing, so I don't even worry about it that much.

I think you look gorgeous, Andy. Thank you, thank you. Stunning, if you will. That was me fishing for compliments. Yeah, you're like little old me. Come on. We keep brushing past things I wanna talk about. So I wanna get back to your Midwesternness

because that is a subject near and dear to my Illinois heart. Yeah, yeah. I had a feeling. I was born in Michigan, but raised, and lived in Indiana for a little bit and raised in Illinois. So the first, the formative mirrors of my life

are all Midwestern. I can feel that from you. And I do think it's a very particular thing. And because you lived here and it, well, you lived here in LA and China and Minnesota. Do you still consider yourself, like do you still feel Minnesota? You know, I think those formative years, you just can't get those back. Yeah. And such an important age two till two to 14 till 14. Yeah. Yeah. Those are pretty is forming in such a specific way that

only those years will those parts of my brain grow. Yeah. And they were grown in Minnesota. Right. So you know, that's what it is. You have a little, and when you do have a little Minnesota, like you do have a little, like you say, you know, you do have a little bit Minnesota. When I went back to, like when I moved to Shanghai when I was 14 and I went to an American school there, people were like, you speak English with an accent?

And I was like, no. I just thought that's like. Oh, I do not. Oh, no, I do not. Oh, yours is really good. Yeah, yeah. That's the one thing, I love the show Fargo, but sometimes I feel like they're regionalist. Like they just, sometimes they play it up a little bit.

The way that they have everybody talk like this. You know? But they're also like, they're like near brainer. Like they're all there. Yeah, I know, they're way up there. Yes. I was in like the Twin Cities, the cosmopolitan area of Minnesota, if you will, not to brag, but you know.

We were very cultured there. Of course. So my accent is slight. Yeah. But it's still there nevertheless. What was, did you, like, were your parents, were your dad was there finishing his PhD, right? He actually had to get a second PhD in Minnesota.

Isn't that the way? Isn't that the way? Minnesota's like, nope, sorry, buddy. Not to be a stereotypical immigrant. You better get yourself a second PhD, mister. You got back in that school and you get yourself another PhD right now. Are you my principal?

Are you my second grade principal? I get flashbacks. Well, you were too. Do you remember much about your early, your toddler life in China? No, not really. I think my first memories, my earliest memories are already in Minnesota. But I see a lot of photos of me, really cute baby, not really. I think my first memories, my earliest memories are already in Minnesota. In Minnesota.

But I see a lot of photos of me, really cute baby, not gonna brag, I was really chunky little baby, got little cheeks. Yeah, chonker. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't really remember China before that at all. But you know, our whole immigration story, my dad went to Minnesota to like get a second PhD because his first one in China wasn't recognized.

And I think what's it in? Mechanical engineering. Oh, really? I've honestly asked my dad a lot. My parents are both engineers. Yeah. I really still can't really tell you what it is that they studied. That's a very common thing. Yeah, they don't really, to not quite fully understand what your parents do for a living.

Once my dad told me, I was like, what was your Minnesota, like U of M PhD in? And he was like, boilers. I was like, I'm sorry, what? Yeah, boilers. Boilers. Yeah, yeah. I was like, okay, and that's kind of where. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's like, do you really wanna get in deep with him about boilers? Yeah, yeah. No, but my dad's really cool. Just to brag about my dad for a second, he got inducted into the National Academy of Engineering last year. Oh, wow.

Which is like the Oscars of Engineers. Wow. I know, I'm really proud of him. And what does he do? Like, does he work with boilers? Not anymore. Yeah, yeah. Now he, I still can't tell you what he does now.

It's something different. Oh, I thought you meant you can't tell me because it's a top secret. Oh, it's half secret. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. So were you, why Minnesota? What was that, you know, they just love winter?

No, I don't, I think there's like pockets. Minnesota actually has a really big Chinese community. Oh, really? I really can't tell you why, but like, I don't know, I think there's, there definitely is larger socio-political reasons for it. But yeah, there's a lot of Chinese people that live in Minnesota. There's a really big Hmong population in Minnesota.

It's the largest Hmong population outside of Southeast Asia is in Minnesota. I did know that, yeah. Yeah, so I think there's a significant Ethiopian community in the Twin Cities also. I did know that too, yeah, yeah. So I'm not totally sure why, but that's kind of the first place that he went

and he was like, well, let's just try it out here. And then it took a year and a half for my mom and I to get our papers in China to leave. And he was like, if you don't get your papers, I'll just come back. And so we went out there. And then, I don't know, I'm really proud of my parents. They're so awesome.

They both don't come from a lot of means, but they passed it into one of the top universities in China. And then, you know, they're the first in their family, both of them to go to college. And then in Minnesota, they just had to start from scratch again. It's like, you know, like, I think it's a pretty common immigrant story for a lot of people of, you know, you sort of make it to the top in your country of origin. You come here and then your, my mom was working at McDonald's and like cleaning hotels while also learning English. They were raising me. My dad had got a second PhD. They like really hustled. But yeah, we, by the time we like moved back to China, we had kind of like gotten like pretty solidly like middle class, you know, where like my dad, you know, was working in a company, got hired as an engineer, all of this.

And then because we became US citizens, when we moved back to China, all of a sudden we were like, I mean, we were expats, which was like night and day different. I don't know if you've seen the show XO Kitty. So fun. It's like an international school experience and it is kind of like that. It was like suddenly, you know, the company was, you have a personal driver. And like you have like, I went to a school with like a bunch of kids of diplomats and you know, I'm just like little old me from Minnesota. Were your parents like kind of wowed by that too, having come from humble means to like go back and... I kind of wondered that because we were the only at that time... It's gotta be fancy, you know, I mean, and they didn't have that in Minnesota, obviously. No, I mean, I think it was a little weird, honestly.

Yeah. You know, like, and I think I didn't really think about it in these terms at the time, but like, you know, even moving back, I was like, maybe it'll be interesting being in a country where everyone looks like me. But I still kind of felt like an outsider. I spoke Mandarin with an accent at that point too.

And yeah, I don't know. I was saying earlier in high school, because it was a lot of international kids or whatever, it was kind of like a diss not necessarily like a slur but it was a diss to say that someone sounded or like acted local you know like that would be a diss like like they're yeah like they were uncultured but basically just they just met any Chinese person outside of like the international community there and so I think it was a little bit dysphoric to move back to China and still feel like there's sort of this hierarchy of like race

and like social status in a way that's similar to this country. But of course I didn't have the words to describe it in high school, I was just like, no drinking age? Awesome! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! ["Shrinking Age"] Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Did you feel out of place there? I mean, or did you feel, you know, like was it, or was it just kind of a continuation

of kind of being of everywhere. A little bit of that. I also think when you're a kid, you just don't really have any reference points for anything else. I wasn't like, gosh, what if I was a teenager somewhere else? I was just like, you know?

And also, teens are so self-absorbed in their own worlds, too, that my entire world was just like my crush. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like house party. And was it, was it back in China when you started to kind of realize you wanted to perform and that? I actually, I started performing when I was really young. I started doing classical Chinese dance when I was five in Minnesota. Yes.

And I, I danced from age five to 14. And then interestingly, when we moved back to China, I stopped doing Chinese dance. I think because- Well, because it wasn't special there. It wasn't special there. It's not Chinese dance, it's just dance. But I think also like in China,

like it's hard to just do something like that casually. It's like if I were to pursue dance in China, my entire life, like I better be training every day. Like, you know, so there wasn't this like, I just go on Sundays and dance a little. And we like, we- They didn't have like a dalliant class. They just-

No, it's just like whatever my high school had. But yeah, I did a lot of theater in high school. I have a friend who we remet in LA cause she works as an agent now. And we went to high school together. I think I was a year or two older than her. But everyone that she meets, she loves to be like, you know that Poppy was the president

of the thespian society? Which honestly, I should just own. Yeah, yeah, why not? I was. I was prom king. I was prom queen. Oh! Hey guys, you should just own. Yeah, yeah, why not? I was. I was prom king. I was prom queen. Oh. Oh! Hey, guys, you're around royalty.

Yeah. Take a hard look. Yeah. Midwestern royalty here. Literally. I mean, I was in Shanghai at the point, but I was still bringing, I was representing the Midwest. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

In the international school community. Representation matters. Right. What, exactly. In the international school community. Representation matters. Right. What was the makeup of the school? Was it like kids from all over the world, kind of? Kind of all over. Mostly, I'd say Chinese still. Oh, mostly Chinese, okay.

But like similar where their parents were sent as like expats. Because it's more likely if you are Mandarin-speaking to be sent as an expat of a company back to China. You know what I mean? So a lot of them worked for American or European companies and then were sent by those companies back to China to work. Yeah, because they could speak the language.

Yeah, but also there was a lot of people that were half French, half Indonesian, like Swiss and Japanese. And my high school boyfriend, by the time we started high school, he'd lived in five countries and was like, and so again, I really felt like a hick is what I'm trying to say. That's what I would imagine

because that sounds so classy that I can't even imagine. It was really classy and I'm just like, doop, doop, doop. Like, hee hee. Well, did you, I mean, but did it kind of spoil you then for the rest of the world? Like, I mean, when you came, when you left there, was it to come back here and go to school?

Yes. And to go to college? Forgive me, I forget, oh, Colgate, right? Yes, I went to like, which is very like finance centered. And in the middle of nowhere kind of, right? Middle of nowhere. Yeah, yeah. And incredibly like, I cannot think of a whiter place.

I think I actually did a, back in the day in the 90s, I used to do like college dates where I would go and kind of, you know, do a kind of a little presentation and a Q&A and talk about the show and stuff. And I did one at Colgate. And it was like 8.30 or nine.

And I had gotten to the town and then I kind of, you know, I met with people and stuff. And then I was like back at this old hotel with my room strangely full of flies. It very felt like an Amityville horror kind of thing. Oh my gosh, really, really haunted. It was like 7.45 and I was like, is there somewhere I can get dinner?

And they were like, nope. No. I was like, what? Like, nope, nope. 8 p.m. you can't get dinner at this point. Yeah, yeah. So that's Colgate University to me is always like, oh yeah, that place in the middle of nowhere.

Really middle of nowhere. But really beautiful, but also really white. And why there? You didn't get enough white people in your life? Right, I'm like, oh God, I miss Minnesota. Especially the white parts. Oh man, too much China. Right, right. I don't know, I think actually, I thought about

this a lot because it's like really weird that I went there. I definitely was like, you know, I but like I keep saying you can't run away from who you are still. So like even there I like interned at the Women's Studies Center all four years. I got like sort of taken under the wing by like the Russian and Romanian theater couple that ran the theater department. And we did a bunch of absurdist theater together. And that was really cool kind of training actually. But I think I still had in the back of my head,

maybe because of the immigrant narrative, maybe because I could see my parents work so hard that I was acting as fun, but I need to do something that can make money for my family. So I think maybe there was that subconscious I was like acting is fun, but I need to like do something that can make money for my family. So I think maybe there was that subconscious like feeling that obligation still. But then-

So what did you study? Women's studies in theater. Oh, women's studies in theater, okay. Yeah, that's not, there's not a lot to fall back on. Yeah, and then my parents kept being like, they're like, what kind of job can you get with that? I was gonna say, your engineer immigrant parents, like how are they about like, I don't know,

women's studies in theater? I don't think they loved it, but I really love my parents. They've always been really supportive of me, but I feel like the unspoken rule was that I could pursue my own interests if I consistently got straight A's. If I like excelled, if I was top of my class, which I like, like always was.

And so I think they were like, okay, like, and even after I graduated, I actually have lived in New York City much longer than LA. So I spent like the first eight to 10 years after college in New York. And even in the beginning, I was like, I still feel like there's a lot of self-discovery to do.

I like was so enamored and in love with New York City. And I think to appease my parents, like anxiety of like, what will you do to support yourself? I was like, I do want to be able to financially support myself right now so you don't feel anxious that I'm doing puppetry or like, you know, experimental like downtown theater. So I like, I bartended for like a couple of years when I first moved there. that I'm doing puppetry or experimental downtown theater.

So I bartended for a couple years when I first moved there and I think it gave me sort of the freedom to I think find myself a little bit. Colgate was special for certain reasons. It kind of radicalized me in some way because it was so homogenous. And I was like, what in the world? Oh my God.

But I liked, I don't think I really contended with myself as like a Chinese person, as a queer person. I didn't really have that environment around me. And I think the first couple of years in New York, just being able to like figure myself out a little bit, I'm really grateful for. Yeah. Yeah. And again, like my parents the whole time were like,

what do you mean your first job is drunk Shakespeare in which you're contractually obligated to drink? I'm like, just don't worry about it. My uncle came to visit me in like my apartment in New York and he apparently, my mom told me, he called her and scolded her and he was like, how can you let your daughter live in such conditions? What kind of mother are you?

And she's like, I swear to God she insisted. He's like, there are rats. Yeah, yeah, my mother didn't tell me until years later that when she dropped me off at the door of my New York apartment in Hell's Kitchen that she cried all the way to the airport. Because it was such a crappy apartment. Yeah, it was a shitty little studio apartment

that I was sharing with someone else, you know? And sleeping on a futon that had to roll away in the middle of the, you know, for the day. But it's like, yeah, I don't know. When you're young, you can... Definitely. Sleep on a, you know, on a golf ball. I slept on the train so often.

I'd always fall asleep on the subway until, and get to the last line and just have, like, the train person wake me up. Yeah, yeah. So much. Like, now I, like, don person wake me up. Yeah, yeah. So much. Like now I like, don't even like sitting down on like a public bench. Right.

Exactly. You know, I'm like. Exactly. Well, when you were going to school in the summer times, did you go back to China or did you go back to Minnesota or I don't know why I care. It just decided something that crossed my mind.

No, I think the first couple of summers when I went to high school in Shanghai, I went back to Minnesota. Oh, I see. And then the first couple of summers when I went to college, I went back home to Shanghai. I see. So that's kind of the- And are your folks still in Shanghai? No, they moved to Singapore for a couple years, and then they moved back to Minnesota briefly,

and then now they kind of are in San Diego. Oh, okay. But I think we just are really nomadic. By the time I was 18, I think we had lived in 13 different houses. Oh, wow. Even in Minnesota, we just kept moving. Yeah, yeah.

And I kind of envied the childhood thing where you grow up in the house that you were born in. And stuff, I was like, I had like maximum maybe two or three years of attachment. Are you a single child or? I have a younger sister who's much, much younger than me. She's 15 right now. Very Gen Z.

Well, I guess. Yeah, yeah. And that is quite a spread too, because it's almost like you, you know. I could be the mother. Yeah, you had to it's almost like you, you know. I could be the mother. Yeah, you had to take care of a baby, you know. Or I mean, I don't know how much you were home. She was born my senior year of high school.

So I think it's more like my poor mom who like really didn't have any overlap at all. Yeah, but I just. Oh right, because you were out the door. I was out the door. And you're not helping with anything. I love my little sister, but you know, I just... Oh, right, because you were out the door. I was out the door. And you're not helping with anything. I love my little sister, but I just was like, oh, I only saw her summers, winters, holidays, vacations. Yeah, I have a younger brother and sister

who are twins who are nine years younger than me. And so it was, but it was like, that was the beginning of baby care. Because especially with twins, there was no was no you know like it was like mom I need this laundry done she'd be like you know where the machine is you know and and in you know and changing diapers it was just like here go change your own diaper yeah change this kid here you know um so yeah I think it's good for kids to take care of kids and take care of babies yeah yeah my sister her first I think part-time summer kids to take care of kids and take care of babies. Yeah, my sister, her first, I think,

part-time summer job this summer is to help me babysit. Oh really? Yeah. Is she here now? She wrote like a resume and everything, which I helped her, right, for me to then hire her. Right, right, exactly. But it was a good resume that I helped with. All right, you're like, well, what do I want to see?

What do I want to hear? And I was like, also, resumes, I was like, first of all, when was the last time someone used a resume? I know. I was like, is that still a thing? I haven't had a resume in 20 years. So they just scan your fingerprint now and just look up your government data that, you know,

they just are, I don't know, whatever. But I was like, yeah, she was like, oh, I don't really, I haven't had any experience. And I was like, yes, you have. Girl Scouts? That sounds like a sales manager to me. You ran the PR of that Girl Scout troop. Okay, user experience, customer liaising. Right, right.

Okay, selling cookies. Yep, yep, exactly. So, yeah. Product distribution. Exactly. You identify as non-binary and queer, and I'm wondering, was that a difficult thing for your parents to deal with?

A little bit. I mean, I think the harder thing for them was, they were like, are you never gonna give us grandkids? I realized because now that they have a grandkid, they really don't care. Oh, yeah, yeah. And that was like really the anxiety to be like, but when are you gonna reproduce?

Yeah, yeah. And I was like, that's not all I'm here for. Yeah, yeah. But then like, you know, now that I'm like obsessed with my baby too, and they're like, okay, yeah, like we really don't care who you date, or like how you identify, or like whatever and stuff. But yeah okay, yeah, like we really don't care who you date or like how you identify or like whatever and stuff. But yeah, I mean, like there was a season, especially when I was like

in queer relationships that we had some difficult conversations and like, I think the gender thing not so much because I'm like very femme presenting in the world and like it's not, I think it's just something more that I kind of feel internally and but like I think the queerness they definitely had a harder time with. But I think they definitely tried their best. My dad's at the sweetest thing, actually. I think it was like last summer, I hope they listen to this,

last summer my sister was in town and it was like, like, dike day or something. Which is just kind of a big picnic and a lot of friends are going, a lot of people bring their kids, et cetera. And I was like, oh, maybe we'll stop by. And my mom was like, but is Zoe too young? And I was like, mom, it's like literally a family event or whatever. And my dad, bless his soul, he was like, he was like, honey, we have to like, we have to like, be accepting of that. Now he's like, I've done a couple corporate trainings where they taught us about pronouns and like,

it's kind of a thing. And I was like, oh my God, like corporate trainings actually change people. Can't you tell my love's a girl? Yeah. So much of your work, you know, when I look at the research about it, that your feminism has played such a central role to a lot of the projects that you've done and a lot of

the work that you've done. And did that start in college? I mean, did you start to kind of really become politically, you know, like a politically feminist in college? I would say so, yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I can like really trace it back to sort of back to even a first Intro to Women's Studies course

or whatever, and I think it was just lifting the veil on things that you just assume are norms that you don't think about at all. And yeah, I would say my activism started then. A lot of it was around, while I was at Colgate, date rape culture on campus, I ended up writing a play that was kind of like based on like the vagina monologues.

It was like based on interviews with college students about like sex and intimacy and like, you know, dating, et cetera. And then after I graduated, Colgate licensed the rights from me to continue performing it every year, which is pretty cool. They like, I think- Colgate licensed the rights from me to continue performing it. Oh wow. Every year, which is pretty cool. They like, I think- That is really cool. Yeah. I think the next couple of years, they

made it part of like first year orientation. There was one year where I found out, I think they required all fraternity pledges to watch it. Oh wow. It was kind of cool. I don't know. And then I think actually this last year, because everything kind of like dropped off with the pandemic, but there's a current senior or rising senior at Colgate who was like bringing it back. And like the intention was always for people to like treat it like a living document

and add more monologues and stories. I think a lot of years people just ended up performing it as is, but she's really taking it upon herself to like do new interviews and everything. So that was really cool. We had like a whole call last year. Yeah. And it's gotta be meaningful, you know, that especially when you're, you know,

you're trying to combine art and politics and then you get this huge institutional seal of approval that like, yes, this is working, you know, like this is an actual sort of like effective piece to achieve a goal. Yeah. And that's, I mean, God, you know, not a lot of people get to experience that. You know what I mean? Like, it's like you can put things on, but then to have them go like, oh, no, no, this

is important. You know, this is a- Right. Well, I think a lot, like I feel like there's kind of like certain cultural zeitgeist moments where like, you know, even thinking about the microcosm of a college campus to be like, you know, as a community, we were ready for something like that. I think a lot of people had privately and internally been having conversations around sort of how toxic the hookup culture was and like kind of how much sort of the Greek system

run by the fraternities kind of drove the like social climate and therefore kind of how much sort of the Greek system run by the fraternities kind of drove the like social climate and therefore kind of like the sexual climate on campus. And like there was so much kind of just like silent violence going on and stuff. So anyways, I just, I think that they were also ready for something like that. And yeah, that was, I'd say that was sort of the beginning of it.

And then afterwards, it just always felt like the art or something like that. And yeah, that was, I'd say that was sort of the beginning of it. And then afterwards, it just always felt like the art and activism piece, there was like a while ago, I was speaking on a panel about Palestine and it was put on by writers against the war on Gaza and Palfast and one of the questions was like, what do you think about, like, do you think that and being an activist and being an artist, that it's important to be an activist as an

artist? And I was like, I honestly, at least in my own like view of the world, I can't imagine being an artist without being an activist, you know? If you think about activism really as just like, you know, or if you think about being an artist as the job of absorbing the world as you see it, really, really digesting it and like, and bringing it back out from a place of like empathy and like understanding and bravery. I can't imagine how to do that without the activism piece. You know, like I always think like, you know, like let the people in power, let the people on Wall Street, like let them be cowardly with their decisions.

But like us as artists shouldn't be. And I never want to lose that thread. You know, so like, yeah, even like, you know, recently, because I think there's a lot of repercussions for people that are speaking out about Palestine and Gaza right now, too, and I've faced some as well. Oh, really? Yeah, but I just keep thinking, there's no world in which I would want to sacrifice

being silent right now for a potential job. Yeah. That there's no way, and I remember again talking to my mom about it, and she was like, and she was like, she was like, I'm so proud of you. And she was like, it's okay. If you know, worst case scenario,

she's like, you can go be a teacher. And I was like, yeah, mom, totally. You know, but yeah. So I, or I was like, yeah, you know, I can just make indie art with my friends, whatever, and like maybe that's that. But I, there are parts of myself that I'm not willing to sacrifice for like, you know, a gig.

Right, right. What was it that brought you from New York to LA? The pandemic. Oh, really? Yes. I actually, I was speaking on a panel. And were you primarily doing theater in New York? Just to back, you know.

I was primarily doing theater, but again, it was like very, very like downtown experimental. Yeah. I cannot emphasize enough the experimental. Aspect of it. Yes, there's one where we're all naked, which thinking about now. It's so funny because that is like, for experimental theater, like,

what if we were naked? It's like... Oh, God. It's like... What if you turn on the lights? It's almost like the stereotype of experimental theater. It's like, oh, they're naked again. Like in film school, I went to film school,

and it was just so funny to see it as I went on in film school. I went to film school and it was like, and it was just so funny to see it as I went on in film school. Films about suicide was like, you know, you'd do your first semester of like, Film Tech One is what they called it, and then it'd be time to show your projects and there'd be like four, like to the point where everyone was laughing about like,

there's four suicide movies, you know? And it's just when you're a kid and there's so much melodrama, you know? Yes, you're like, where can I go to be dark and edgy? And then I took photography classes and it was the same thing. Everyone's just naked. Yeah, like, oh, there's that guy's dick.

You know? And it was always like, oh, there's his dick again. He really likes to put his dick in the pictures. Maybe there's a universal coming of age experience where we all have to be like nudity. Yeah, well, I mean, it is kind of hilarious what a fuss is made over it. Just, it's pretty silly.

Definitely, yeah. Yeah, and I think that was the point of that play of being like, we're all different kinds of bodies. It was actually ultimately a really beautiful story about trauma and kind of trauma being stored in the body and this whole thing. But to answer your question, that was the kind of theater I was doing in New York. I did puppetry for a while.

I was hosting basement, cutie-pock, poetry storytelling events. It was a lot of that. And then the only film things I had done were, the first thing was a short film about my abortion story, and the second thing was a series about my friend's life story of being a Chinese American professional dominatrix, which we spent two years

crowdfunding, making with each other. I shadowed her and other femme dames in New York for a while, I was a very studious baby dom. This was what it was like in New York before, here. And then I came out here to do a, like, I think I was speaking on a panel at Outfest Fusion when that was still, I think, I don't think it's happening anymore.

And I was supposed to visit my mom in San Diego for three days. And during the three days, lockdown happened. Oh, wow. Yeah, and it was- Pretty convenient, though. I mean, convenient for my mom, because she was like,

thank you, your sister's 11 years old, I need a co-parent, please stay. Oh, wow. Yeah. Pretty convenient though. I mean, convenient for my mom, because she was like, "'Thank you, your sister's 11 years old. "'I need a co-parent, please stay.'" So I stayed with her for seven months. Wow. And like was co-parenting my sister kind of with her. But it was also a lot, to like be back in my mom's house,

just for the three of us. It was like early pandemic where you didn't see anyone either. And then- Is your dad and mom not together anymore? They're still together, but my dad continues to travel a lot for work. I see. Did he get stuck somewhere when the lockdown happened?

I think he was in Minnesota. Oh, okay. Yeah. So we were in San Diego in Minnesota. I think like eight months later he like bought an RV and drove out. Oh, really? Because my mom's like, you can't ride a plane. And he's like, well, what if I got an RV? She's like, fine.

Well, now you have an RV. Yeah. Yeah. I lived in the RV for a little bit. Like, I think when we were shooting the first season of Hacks, it was still pandemic. Like, you know, they, we started shooting it or I think my first day on set was December, 2020. So it was like, pretty much everything

was covered in Saran wrap. You know, like, it was still that thing. And I was like, okay, well, I guess I'll just live in this RV then. So I lived in an RV park for like two months. What, in Las Vegas, like you drove it up there to shoot? We actually shot most of it in LA. Oh, okay.

Yeah, especially the first season. They only did a week in Las Vegas for exteriors. Yeah. But everything else, like... Did you drive it to the set and then drive it back to the RV park? No, I had like a... Oh, that would have been awesome. I don't need a trailer.

I'm coming with my own trailer. Yeah, I literally like transpose eye rolling at me as I'm like hitting everyone's fan. That's a union violation. Yeah, they're like, you don't know how to drive actually. Yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, but yeah, then I had a baby out here, so now that like my baby's here, I'm like, well.

You're an LA person. I'm in LA, yeah. Did you just, you had an agent, did you just get the hacks job through an agent here? I mean, because you're in San Diego, locked down, and then you get a job on like, and I mean, it's such an enviable job. Like it's such a good show.

And those really good shows are so few and far between. It's amazing, you know what I mean? And you're fantastic in it, I don't mean to diminish you at all, but when I see a show like that, there is a part of me that's just like, oh fuck. No, totally, and that's so real.

There's some really incredible performances and shows that just didn't take off in a specific way and you're like, oh my God, that's just buried. It's a whole kind of machine. And it's like. Well, and this, I mean, it hacks too. As it goes on, it just deepens and just like, I mean, it's a really, it's a really good,

it's what, you know, it's like what really good TV, like when you find really good TV, it's like, oh yeah, this is what it's supposed to be. Yeah, it's like so thoughtful and heart centered, but also like quick and like smart. And you know, it's, yeah, I was really lucky that that was a thing I booked that year, but also like, I really worked for it.

I did 88 tapes that year. Oh wow. Which like, by the end, I was like, and I think everyone had their version of an existential crisis. And my reps kept trying to tell me, they were like, Poppy, like, and I think everyone had their version of an existential crisis. And my reps kept trying to tell me, they were like, Poppy, no one's working, the industry stalled.

Like if anything, it's amazing that people are interested in asking you for tapes right now still, and just trusted a little bit right now. And I did, but I think after the 88th tape that just kind of goes into the ether, and you're like, is anyone even watching this? Are we ever gonna work again is the industry still a thing yeah you know like should I should I go and become a midwife instead I think it was like all of this by the end of the year the thing that I booked was hacks and then after the first season came out I've pretty much been like working non-stop yeah which is like which is so which is so amazing. But I like, I think about that a lot, especially I think when young actors are like, advice, like whatever, like,

I'm like, you just, you kind of have to, not even grow thick skin, but just like, I think you have to like know yourself and like know your own worth to like deal with how many things are just not gonna work out. Yes, yes. And you don't see the things that don't work out for people

because you just don't see them. But you know, I'm a Capricorn, and I have a lot of spreadsheets, and like early on. Is that a Capricorn thing? They're very good at Excel, I mean. Yeah. Is it okay? When's your birthday?

I'm a Scorpio, October 28th. You are, spicy. Yeah, I guess, I guess. Oh. I don't, yeah. Spicy. Yeah, I guess. I guess. Oh. I don't know. I mean, I think astrology is fun and I will, you know, I'll read things and I will go like, wow, that really is me.

And then I just think like, yeah, but like, so, and that's true for everybody that was born on October 28th. Like, I don't, you know, Julia Roberts. It's true for everybody that was born on October 28th. You know, Julia Roberts. It's not for everyone. But I do think, and not to compare it to religion, but I feel like in some ways it's like another way of people trying to make sense of like, just where we're situated in all things and being like,

gosh, there's so much out there that we don't. Gosh. Well, and I also, to me, it seems like we're just, the kind of ape that we are is just story driven. Like we gotta have, we gotta make stories out of stuff. And meaning. Constantly.

And like purpose. Yeah. And it is a little like- Which is kind of endearing, like, oh, little humans. I mean, it's endearing, although there is the other side of it, which is like, boy, oh boy, yep, the stars were focused on me when I was born. They sure were, Andy.

It's like, oh, come on. They sure were. Yeah, you know? Like, it isn't just chaos and randomness. That, a Scorpio would say that. Yeah. You know? See, you're diminishing me. I'm my own person. That a Scorpio would say that. Yeah. You know? See?

You're diminishing me. I'm my own person. I'm not contained by... Classic Scorpio. Yeah, yeah. Do you fuck with the Chinese zodiac at all? I do. I don't know as much about it.

See, with that one, I feel not even more skeptical about it. It's more like, because that one's by year. So I'm like, okay, so everyone- Right, that's the other thing. Everybody in that year is- Like my class year, I'd be like, okay, you're saying that we're all literally like, no. Yeah, yeah, we're all horses?

No, wait, I actually have a horse. Oh, I am too. Really? Yeah, yeah. Handy. Oh, classic. I'm a spicy horse. You are, you really give spicy horse.

And I give spreadsheet horse. Oh! Yeah. It's hard to hit the keys with the hooves. I know. That's why a voice dictation is great. So glad they invented that for us. Did you, I do want to ask because, you know,

how did a baby fit into all of this? Was it, were you trying to have a baby? I mean, and it is, cause it is, you know, it's one of the ways that it is the burden of a woman is like, if you want to make people, it's like, it's your body that has to carry it. And especially like when you say you've been working all this time,

do you plan that or you just kind of like, all right, I'm gonna have a baby and let's see what happens? I both planned having this baby and also it was a bit spontaneous, if you will too. And I did work until I was like seven or eight months pregnant, which in Space Cadet, that was the final stretch. Is that really you? I'm seven months pregnant. I was gonna say you're really pregnant in that. Yeah, that was the final stretch. I'm seven months pregnant. I was gonna say, you're really pregnant in that.

Yeah, that's great. Plus Liz Garcia, who is our wonderful writer-director. When I was cast for it, I wasn't pregnant. It was like a year prior. Production kept getting pushed back and by the time they locked the dates in, I was like, sorry, I'm pregnant and by the time we shoot, I will be seven months.

And you know, as the industry is, I was like, they might recast and like, that's that. But she was like, no way. Like, I love you, you are this character. I wanna work with you. She's like, I'm just gonna rewrite her. She's pregnant now. I was like, that's so cool of you, Liz.

You can't do that with every character. Like there's some things that you can't just rewrite to be pregnant. But I just, I was like so body affirming, you know? It's like, sometimes like you change in the slightest way and people are like, no, that's, nope, nope, you're different, nope. And I'm like, literally, you know,

my feet are a full size larger. I don't have, I have one brain cell. And she's like, I think I want you. It'll be fine. Yeah. But I was so like, by the end, by the time I had my baby, I was so burned out because like, like I was working on stuff, which was amazing,

but I had never worked in the industry before and kind of my first couple of years were so busy and it was really exciting, but I don't think I knew what my own capacity was. And so I was like, oh yeah, I'm free then, I can do that. I think my agent and I counted once, in the year and a half before I gave birth, I'd done 12 different jobs.

And they were varying, some were series regular, some were recurring gas, whatever. But it was just back to back to back to back. And by the end, I was like, oh, I kind of dread being on set right now. I was like, I don't wanna have that feeling. And my job is so cool, I feel so lucky to be here. I was like, I need't want to have that feeling. And my job is so cool. I feel so lucky to be here. Like, I was like, I need to really like, I need to take a minute.

So I took a really long maternity break, which actually coincided with the strike. Oh really? Yeah. I was like, I was like, oh, I'm not working anyways. So you were responsible for the strike and you did it just because you had a baby. Just because I had a baby.

I'm so selfish. Mm. Yeah, no, that's, I mean, when you're, yeah, when you're starting out in it, there's a lot of went in success in this industry that you do, you're like, it's like, I've been hoping for this and dreaming this, so yes, yes, yes, and then after a while it's like, ah.

Like I'm a shell of a person. Yeah, maybe this is a little too much. And also, cause this industry will use you up. Yeah. Like, and not even, it's not even like evil or anything. It's just, it's just kind of how it goes, you know? It's true, and I feel really grateful. Like, I have a team that I really, really, really love.

I know that's not the case for a lot of my friends. Like, they'll talk about their reps being like, I don't even know if I can say, if I can be candid with them about XYZ, whatever. I feel really, really cared for about my team. Yeah. Like even most recently, like I even said to them around the time I talked to my mom being like,

maybe I'm gonna become a teacher if I'm, you know, blacklisted from Hollywood forever. But like I had called my team up too, like back in the fall, I think around the time that like Susan Sarandon got dropped from UTA, Melissa Barrera got like dropped from scream and stuff and the strike wasn't over yet. And so I was like, I can't really tell what it's going to be like when we get back, you know, um, and I was quite outspoken already by then until I, like,

I just literally called up my team. Um, I was like, yeah, they're just, they don't have names, they're just elusive. They're in their jumpsuits. Yeah. And I was just like, hey, FYI, like, I don't think I'm gonna, I'm gonna continue being outspoken,

I don't think that's gonna change. And like, if we get back to work, and it turns out I'm blacklisted, like, I'm so sorry, it's been cool, it's been real, but like, you know, like that's that. And they were just like, we love and support you so much. Like, we're proud of you. Like, we have your back.

Like, if someone doesn't want to work with you because of that, they were like, excuse our language, but F them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was like, that's so cool. Like, that's like, I really haven't heard anything comparable to that. So like, you know, I definitely have a lot of like

angels around me that are like really, really behind the scenes. Like I feel like protecting me and like looking out for me, which you do really need in the industry because like in so many different ways, it'll like, you know, it'll just kind of eat away at you or something. Um, and maybe part of it too is, is, is that I

didn't get into the industry until a little bit later. I had my like New York time where I was like, doopa doopa, puppetry, doopa doopa, naked. And you were more of a grownup too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I think I was a little less like kind of thirsty for external approval and more like I know who I am and I wanna be clear what I wanna get out of an experience.

But yeah, I mean, credit to my team. I love them if they're listening. Did having the baby and having that sort of extended time off and giving yourself that, did it change your sort of relationship with your career and how you looked at it? Definitely. In what ways? Well, I think having my baby combined with the burnout, I was just like, I like my, like, I don't know if everyone feels this, having a baby, but like, for me, I feel like it just made everything

in my life crystal clear. Yeah. It gave me just the most profound clarity of just what my priorities are, what things I can let go of. Yeah. Even- It's, babies are great for that.

Yeah, I was like, I just physically don't have the energy to deal with some of this and therefore it's just, it's gone now. Yeah. And then I think also thinking about the kind of parent I wanna be to my child also made a lot of things clear. Like it's really clear who I want my child to watch maybe as they're growing up.

Yeah. And so, yeah, I don't know. like it's really clear who I want my child to watch me be as they're growing up. And so, yeah, I don't know. I think it just, it put a lot of things into focus. I feel very much like I'm not with my child's father anymore. And like, I like just feel like I was meant to have this baby. Some people like my friends are like, oh yeah, you've been wanting to have a baby for so long or like, oh, we're so happy. And I was like, yeah, but now that I've had have this baby. Some people, like my friends are like, oh yeah, you've been wanting to have a baby for so long, or like, oh, we're so happy.

And I was like, yeah, but now that I've had this baby, I realized I've always wanted to have this particular baby. It's this person. Well, that's convenient. I love them so much. What if you had a baby and you're like, not this one. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

But yeah, I think it definitely has just like cut out a lot of like the bullshit. Yeah. And back to me rebranding as a bitch, that's kind of part of it. Oh yeah. You know, it's like, I don't have, like I think I- You don't have time for people's bullshit. I don't.

You got a kid at home. I have kid, you know, I don't have time for like petty drama. Yep. I don't have time for like, you know, I, just things are so clear. My ex-wife's sister said something great right after she had her first baby.

And she said, having a kid really lets you know who the baby is. Like, you're not the baby anymore. That's a real baby there. So you're not the baby. You know, like, And it really does, it just makes so much, so many things silly that were so important and seemed so, and you're just like,

oh no, they're silly. Yeah. And it's just, I mean, that's why I, it's like a lot of people don't, they're not into kids and they don't like having kids. And I, it's just, it's, you know, it's like if you really love chocolate ice cream, you just eat, like, how could you not like

chocolate ice cream? And I feel like that about, it's like, oh my God, they're just the best. And I don't mean because, oh, they're cute and everything. I mean, it's just because they make you, they completely rearrange the architecture of your life and how you fit into the world. Yeah, like the center of gravity changes.

In a way that's super important. You know, like, yeah. I mean, and like I'm so grateful to, because I do feel like, I'm seeing this, you know, I can't say that this is a universal, but I feel like my life is so much more important now. And I know how people that don't have kids will say like, oh, but I'm sorry.

That's what I feel, you know. Right, because this being depends entirely on you. Yeah, yeah. It gives so much responsibility. And there is, you know, like, animals make other animals. That's kind of like their basic job. Sorry. That's what my parents would say.

Back when they were like, why are you in a queer relationship? You aren't animal, Gabriel. Yeah, there's a component missing here. And you're supposed to procreate. Yes, you're supposed to be having a baby. You're a breeder. Do you think you'll have more? I mean, I know that's a component missing here. And you're supposed to procreate. Yes, you're supposed to be having a baby. You're a breeder. Do you think you'll have more? I mean, I know that's a fairly personal question,

but you already had one, so you know. I think so. But I just, I feel so like completely head over heels obsessed with this baby too, that I feel so like- You got plenty of time. Yeah, I feel so complete with it. And even thinking about another kid, I'm like, oh, it'd be so cute if my baby

had a little sibling and he'd be so cute for them, you know? But yeah, I have been saying, I've been thinking about this a lot, especially the first year of my pregnancy. It was very dramatic. I went through the breakup, had a lot of, I think having a kid also shows you who, what people really have your back.

Oh, absolutely. 100%. Yeah, it kind of trims the fat in a lot of ways, you know, of kind of who, like who's around you, who is like a real one. Well, and who's ready to, your life is changing. Who's ready to go along with the change with you. Very much that, yeah.

And kind of by the end, I was like, I was like, you know, I feel like motherhood, as much as it has softened me, it's actually turned me into a knife. Yeah. You know, maybe it's back to the bitch thing too. I was like, I really feel, I was like, this child, there is nothing I would not do for this child. Like, you think you can mess with me?

I would kill for this child. You can't mess with me. Like, I'm really like, on the, they're gonna use this in the future to like, tell me what to say. As I'm like, I'm ready for murder. You know what I mean? Like- She said she's a knife, your honor.

Yeah. We have tape. Yeah. Well, where do you wanna go from here? What do you wanna, what do you see as your future? Are there things left undone that you? Yeah, I mean, like career-wise or life-wise? I don't know. Anything? What do you see as your future? Are there things left undone that you? Yeah, I mean, like career-wise or life-wise?

I don't know. You start a Christmas tree farm, like your own line of cookware. I don't know, whatever. Definitely. I mean- Academy Award. I really kind of missed producing stuff with my friends,

you know, like just on the indie level of- Yeah, just making stuff is fun. Yeah. As an actor, you know, like just on the indie level of when you're in. Yeah, just making stuff is fun, yeah. As an actor, you kind of come in at the final stage of a project. And it's really exciting, but I also love the like dreaming of a world together and like storytelling.

I'm really a nerd in that way, where like even with a script, I like, I'm like, now I can do my little script work and on my little character research. And I have eight different colors of post-its. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You You know, I love that. So yeah, I'm like working with some friends on like writing something together.

Another friend and I were like, should we start a production company? Like, you know, so like just, I feel like that always keeps me feeling like I have some like creative agency and stuff. But I mean, right after the strike was, or again, I feel lucky that I got a job right after. I think this will be coming out later in the year.

It's Liz Feldman's new show on Netflix called No Good Deed, which is really awesome. Space Good Out is finally coming out now, which is really cool. I'm really excited for people to see it. I think it's a good- Yeah, No Good Deeds, amazing. Ray Romano, Lisa Kudrow, Linda Cardellini,

Luke Wilson, Abby Jacobson, and Dennis Leary. The cast is- Ooh la la. Bananas. That's amazing, that's great. And it's all shot? It's all shot. Wow.

There's few people that I feel like I have felt starstruck meeting, but when I first met Lisa Kudrow, I like really could not be cool. I was just like, I'm the only thing I'm, I was just like, I just want to say thank you. And she was like, you're welcome. I was like, mm-hmm. She's like the nicest person.

Oh, absolutely. Yes, Conan and she were friends, like before either one of them got big or whatever. And so I had met her like in the very early days of late night, you know, it was like, and I knew she was an actress, but then it was like, oh, look Conan's friends on a new show, you know?

And then it's just takes off. Yeah, yeah. No, she's amazing it just takes up. Yeah, yeah. No, she's amazing. She's great. She's really great, but Abby Jacobson and I play wives, which is funny because we also did, like, just kind of a for fun live reading of Wayne's World last week or two weeks ago that Zoe Lister-Jones put on, and I think the whole cast was all, like, queer,

and, like, you know, it was sort of just like, maybe this, like, I don't even know what it was for. I think it was just really for fun. They had like a live band. A weirdo charity. A charity for weirdos. It was cute. Like, I actually had not watched

Wayne's World before that, but then I did. And I was like, oh, I see why this is like, people really nerd out about it. But Abby was reading for Wayne and I was Cassandra. And we were like, here we are again. Cause we're married on like Liz's show. We're like, dang, I guess we both just have in our contracts now

that we can only, if we ever have a love interest in the project, it has to be each other. Like that's that. But the special guest was Tia Carrere, who played the original Cassandra and then she sang the final song. Like, that's that. But a special guest was Tia Carrere, who- Oh, wow. Yeah, who played the original Cassandra, and then she sang the final song. Oh, wow.

The final crucial taunt song, and we were all like, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah I think so. I think now that my child is here, like, I really think about, like, yeah. I think it's just changed everything. I'm like, oh, I want stability for this baby. Yeah, so I think I'm gonna probably be here for a while. Yeah, and you know, it's like, sometimes I get nostalgic for New York

because in my heart, I feel a lot more, I think I identify with New York more. I feel like it's easier being there than LA. And I think it's taken a while. Oh really? Yeah. You mean just like subway kind of thing? No, I mean, just why do you think it's easier?

I think just vibe wise. Oh, I see. Like the people that I met, like who my friends were. You feel more comfortable. Yeah. I feel really comfortable there. Whereas here, I think it took me a minute to like find my friends were. You feel more comfortable. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I feel really comfortable there. Whereas here, I think it took me a minute to like find my people here.

Like this town is so Hollywood-centered too. Spread out, absolutely. And it's really spread out, and everyone works in the industry. And you know what, there's a lot of phony assholes. Really, yeah, definitely. I don't know if you've encountered them, but they're out there.

Yeah, so I really kind of, I feel like I had a hard time kind of feeling like I felt like, I don't know, at home here, but I'm feeling kind of better like situated here now. I feel like I found my little niche. But in terms of like raising a kid, whenever I am nostalgic about New York, I'm like, but in New York, I wouldn't be able to have a yard

with chickens, which I do in LA, I wouldn't be able to have a yard with chickens, which I do in LA, and my chickens give me four eggs a day. So take that, New York. Also, take a stroller up and down subway steps. That's the other thing. No, what I think about it practically now, I'm like, no, there's not really a scenario where I would want to move back,

but I definitely still, I'm very nostalgic for it. It took me, when I moved out here in 2000, it was probably three or four years. From where? From New York. I'd lived in New York for eight years at that point, I mean, in one stretch at that point. And it took me about three or four years,

I would go back to New York and I would land and I'd get in a taxi or a car and it'd be driving and you get into Manhattan and I would feel like, oh, I'm home, like I'm back. I have that feeling. And then after about three or four years, there was like one very definite time where coming off onto the- You saw Griffith Observatory. No, it was just like onto the East River and just feeling like, oh, it's not home. Like, this is not home anymore.

Oh, nice. Yeah. And I mean, I had kids or kid, a kid here that was like older and it was just, and it just, you know, it sort of did slowly. And now I go back and it does, within a few days, I'm kind of back into the groove of it. Yeah. Whenever I've been back there for more than a day or two, I do feel like, oh, I'm back like in a New York mode. Yeah.

Or back in the New York groove, as Ace Frehley would say. But yeah, you'll get over it. You'll get over New York. Yeah, I long for coming back to LA and seeing the LA River and being like, ah. Ah, my cement trench. Oh, I missed you. Isn't the LA River insane?

It's crazy. I know, I know. It is. It doesn't, it shouldn't be called a river, you know? And I wonder about the parts that have trees and now in them, like, did those just happen? It's kind of cool. You know, it's like nature prevails. It's great, but I do wonder, like, how did those trees get growing out there in the middle of that cement trench?

Well, it's about time to end. And the final question of these three questions is, what have you learned? Like, what do you feel like is the biggest, most important lesson that you've learned? In my life? Yeah. Andy, that question is crazy.

I know. Oh my God, that's so bad. Well, just, you know, I mean, give it a second thought. We could pull up the tape if you want to come back in a week. You're like, you need to have a one-sentence answer for what you've learned. Well, it could be, you know, like- What's yours?

Oh, does yours change? Pageant Brewsters was, if you have dull scissors, cut aluminum foil and it sharpens them. Aha! And I was like, that's a pretty good one, you know? Wait, that is- It's as useful as like, find your tribe. You know?

I'd say more useful. Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, I heart all of the TikToks that I see where there are like 10 home hacks. Oh, I love them. Okay, use olive oil and lemon to blablabla. I've never done any of it, but I'm like, oh, one day. Someday I'll remember this and I'll go through all my faves, all my likes.

Well, I don't know, you don't have to answer it, but I mean, you know, like you said, people ask you for advice and it can be that form, you know? Oh, true. Yeah. Ah, okay. Okay, I'd say my greatest advice is I love a spreadsheet. Listen, a spreadsheet can help you really achieve

all of your dreams. Yeah. And I, when I started my career in TV, I had so many trackers, you know, like nothing that has happened in my life has happened by accident. Yeah. I like to say I've really like- What do you mean by tracker?

I don't know what the, is that a spreadsheet thing? Yeah, like I have- Because I don't know spreadsheets. I, um- Like whenever I have to deal with one, I'm like, I don't quite understand how this works. I barely do either, but I use a lot of colors and I think that makes me fancy,

but like I've seen, again, videos of people who actually know how to use spreadsheets being like, and then you can do this, and then this does, comp, this does calculus for you. And I can't do any of that, but I can like freeze two rows and bold stuff and, you know, color code. But like, that, but I can freeze two rows and bold stuff and color code. But yeah, I think the year of 88 auditions, I tracked every single audition,

who it was, who the casting directors were with, what the thing was, my own thoughts about it, my own thoughts about my own tape, et cetera, like blah, blah, blah. I tracked, when I first signed with everyone on my team, I wrote out a PDF of a personal identity statement, a personal mission statement, a 10-point bullet point underneath the personal mission statement

of like what this means for my career, like what I'm interested in doing, what I'm not interested in doing, like et cetera, et cetera. And you distributed it to them? Yes. Oh, wow. Wow. Which actually they said that it was really helpful

because they were like, ultimately like, this is your career. We're here to like shepherd that for you to be so clear about that. And I think like- And also for you to know, for you to have the presence of mind to go. Cause if you said to me like,

sit down and write 10 bullet points of what you want out of life. I'm 57 fucking years old. And I'd be like, I don't know. I mean, a nice dinner, you know, a good cookware. Yeah. I feel like it's, for me, it's harder to say what those things are for my personal life. It's easier for me to name them.

For a work life. For a work, you know, like, and I think that's the thing. Like even, even at my worst, like at the end of my pregnancy and like being burnt out and being pregnant, like I was, I had such bad mental health, you know, like there is a world in which I loved being pregnant and I had like a home birth and a bath and I had the crystals and I really like journaled every day.

It really was not my experience. Like I really like my brain was broken is what it felt like. But like even at my very worst, like I never, my career never dropped. And like it's, I think it's like a blessing and a curse. Like I can, I can always get it done no matter what. I think it's been like, like maybe my learning is building in time for myself during it because like I really will like, I can just do the most. But yeah, when I like, so yeah, my career, I've always been like so focused about that. But I think when like, especially young actors ask for advice

and stuff, I think I always share that because when I wrote all that stuff out, I hadn't booked a single TV job yet. I didn't have any credits under my bill to have the audacity to be like, this is what I don't want to do. This is like, take note of my mission statement. But I think it's so important to advocate for yourself because no one else is going to do that. Yeah. There's also a separate fork in the road in which I also didn't become an actor

and I became like a midwife doula because after doing my abortion short film, I kind of accidentally became an abortion doula. People just started reaching out to me about their abortions, their partner's abortions, and then I trained to be a full spectrum doula. So it's abortion, birth, labor, and postpartum. Oh, wow.

Yeah. So you're certified and whatever that you could do that now, or would you take a little brush up? I'd probably take a brush up. Yeah, yeah. But I trained with this amazing Brooklyn-based organization called Ancient Song,

which they have a birth justice focus, and they mainly serve like underserved communities. All of our doula services are like free or like very, very low cost. And I think a lot of being a doula to put that into, I think industry speak, is kind of being like a producer for someone's birth. And like also like writing out what they want for their birth. There's like no right way to have a baby. And I think people give up their agency a lot

because of like fear and because like, when you're at a hospital, why would you not just listen to what the doctor says and whatever. But like, I think reminding people that they have a voice and to be able to advocate for themselves or to help them advocate for themselves. You know, like in many ways, like I think it's similar.

I didn't have to have started my career yet to know how I want to advocate for myself. Like you don't have to have had a baby before to be able to speak up and like ask what's going on or this is the kind of birth I want or whatever. So I think that's like maybe a common thread throughout is to like- Have spreadsheets, but leave a column for yourself.

Exactly. At the very end and maybe like column J. Wow, that's really down the list. Well, Poppy, thank you so much for spending some time with us. It's been great talking to you. Thanks Andy, this is so lovely. And I'm a big fan and I hope, you know,

good luck with everything. Thank you. Yeah. You're just the sweetest. This was, thanks for having me here. I'm a spicy horse. What an honor. You are a spicy horse.

I'm a spicy horse. Andy, never forget that. I am a spicy horse. You are a spicy horse. I'm a spicy horse. Andy, you never forget that. I am a spicy horse, people. And you tell people that, so. Come back next week for more spicy horse. Bye. The Three Questions with Andy Richter

is a Team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Nick Leow, Adam Sacks, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Battista, with assistance from Maddy Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grahl.

Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Can't you feel it ain't a-showin'? Oh, you must be a-knowin'.

I've got a big, big love. This has been a Team Coco production.