Q&A
Big Wiig
With her unhinged characters and uncanny timing, scene-stealing comic Kristen Wiig is this season's Saturday Night Live standout. But what's she like when she lets her hair down? In this extended interview from Radar's February issue, Andrew Goldberg finds out
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This article is from the February issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here
As one-third of the women on Saturday Night Live, Kristen Wiig has carved out an indispensable niche for herself: creating grating characters who are just as fun to see on TV as they would be awful to meet in public. From the way-too-curious-about-our-tube-socks lady at the Target checkout to the hair-twirling, one-upping frenemy Penelope, Wiig has birthed a battalion of keenly observed weirdos. Though she has been on the show for only three seasons, she's already demonstrated an ability to feed herself without Lorne Michaels's paychecks, delivering scene-stealing turns in Walk Hard: The Dewy Cox Story and Knocked Up. The 34-year-old, who dropped out of the University of Arizona and drove to L.A. to become an actress, found her way into the Groundlings after three years of styling displays at the Anthropologie store in Santa Monica. Following a stint in improv, she made a midseason leap to SNL in 2005, becoming the first woman accepted into the cast since Amy Poehler in 2001. Here, in this extended interview from the pages of Radar's February issue, the understated comedienne chats about dropping acid, naked late-night writing sessions, and why exactly she filled Santa's mouth with poop.
ANDREW GOLDBERG: If I interviewed your high school classmates, what do you think they'd remember about you?
KRISTEN WIIG: Well, high school I split up into two different schools. I went to private school my freshman and sophomore years, then public my junior and senior years.
Was the private school chichi?
For Rochester, I guess. It was called Allendale Columbia. I really liked it. I'm glad I got to experience it, but I specifically remember wanting that normal high school experience—homecoming and football games and all those things. Luckily for me, the public high school near where I lived was really great.
Supposedly when acid first came out it was much stronger. Otherwise, I'm in trouble
Were you popular in high school? How about hot?
I guess I sort of ran around with the popular crowd, yeah. I actually looked at my senior picture recently. It's weird to look back at your high school self and go, wow, that's what I looked like then. I don't feel like I've changed that much, but when I look at that picture, I feel like a totally different person. In my senior picture my hair is all frosty and curly.
I imagine that was a popular look around Rochester, where you grew up?
I was actually born in Canandaigua. It's one of the Finger Lakes. My dad owned the marina on the lake, and we lived there until I was about three. Then we moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we lived until I was in eighth grade—that's when my brother and I moved to Rochester with my mom so I could go to the same private school she and her siblings had gone to. I'd been getting into trouble in Lancaster.
Tell me!
I was just sort of running around with the wrong crowd, I think. Nothing too, too bad. Just, like, smoking and sneaking out and vandalizing.
What's your best vandalism story?
Well, I feel bad about it, so I don't know if I'd call it the best. We went around and smashed potted plants on people's front porches. It's so terrible.
Did you at least smash the plants of people who deserved it?
No, it was just like running around. A lot of my friends' parents were divorced, as were mine. So I think a lot of us naturally came together and formed this weird little family.
What was the closest you ever came to getting arrested?
When I was younger, we broke into a swimming pool and the cops came and took us to the station. And then, years later, I got caught underage drinking at a Grateful Dead show.
The Dead, huh? You know, they used to say that if you dropped acid seven times you were legally insane. Are you insane?
I think that was the old acid. Supposedly, when acid first came out it was much stronger. Otherwise, I'm in trouble.
So you can't reveal any horrible high school trauma that made you get into the comedy business?
I actually liked high school. I've talked to some people who hated those years, but I didn't.
I thought that youthful misery was a prerequisite for getting into comedy. There's really no trauma in your life that drove you into the business?
I'd have to say my parents divorcing when I was nine was pretty traumatic. It shakes you up a little bit when it's out of nowhere.
Were you parents good about sitting you down and explaining the divorce?
Yeah, they were, but I remember my brother being really upset and freaking out when my mom told us. I'm very close to both my parents, and they're still friends.
Did the experience change how you feel about marriage?
Well, I am divorced, and as of right now, I can't see myself getting married again. Not because it left a bad taste in my mouth. I just don't know if I believe in it. But who knows? People change their minds all the time. People get married who said they never would and vice versa. I tend not to make any grand statements.
Tell me about your mom. I imagined that she might be embedded in some of your characters.
Not really. My family, yes. So much of it for me has just been observing people in public. Sometimes someone will just say something that strikes me funny, or I'll overhear someone say a word in a funny way. I don't where it even comes from, but it brings an idea. A lot of the stuff from SNL just comes from hanging out with someone that you're going to write with.
You went to the University of Arizona for a year and then dropped out. At that time did you have any clue what you wanted to do?
I didn't at all. But before that, I did take my first acting class at a community college in Rochester. It was a requirement for my art degree. I was terrified because I hate talking in front of other people and am shy in my own way. My teacher was very encouraging, though. Then, when I was at Arizona, I had one those days where I wondered, what am I doing? I don't want to be going to this school. So I decided I would try acting and move to L.A. I packed up my car the next day and drove there. I didn't even tell my parents.
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You must have had some conviction to just pick up and go.
It just felt right. One of my roommates at the time lived in L.A. and said I could stay with her. But when I got there, I freaked out a little bit. I had absolutely no acting experience, and I was in Los Angeles, a city brimming with people who'll do anything to act. I was just a normal-looking twentysomething-year-old girl.
We just had the Pez dispenser, and I had some almonds, and I think having the two of those things together just naturally equaled Santa eating poop.
When you finally told your parents, what did they say?
They were supportive, but let me know they were scared for me. I understand that reaction. When I got to L.A., I was just so intimidated by all the beautiful people and aspiring actresses, so I got a job at Anthropologie in Santa Monica at the Promenade. I worked there for three years. And no acting jobs—nothing.
So you were a professional shirt-folder?
In the beginning I was, but then I got into the displays and the visual part of it. After that, these two friends of mine had an interior painting business and I went to work for them. I was doing that when Richard, one of the design guys, asked me if I'd ever been to the Groundlings.
Moving on to more serious matters, will you explain this video attributed to you that I saw on YouTube, which portrays a little girl making a Santa Claus Pez dispenser eat her poop?
Oh God. That was Jason Sudeikis and me in our first season on SNL, totally bored at a rehearsal day at Christmastime. I don't even know how to explain it.
Which one of you said, "Wouldn't it be funny if a little girl made Santa eat her poop?"
I don't know if we had even planned it out before we recorded it on Jason's phone. We just had the Pez dispenser, and I had some almonds, and I think having the two of those things together just naturally equaled Santa eating poop.
Speaking of surprises, where did your first big paycheck come from?
The Joe Schmo Show.
That was the Spike TV series where a bunch of actors pretended to be on a reality show with a normal guy who didn't know it was all faked and that everyone around him was an actor. Were you concerned that it was going to be mean?
When I first started, no. But during the show, when we realized that he was such a nice guy and getting emotionally invested in some of those characters, I felt horrible. But I don't regret doing it, because it worked out okay. I think it would have been cruel if the show's intention was to make fun of him. But he was so good-hearted that the show made him look amazing. He won a bunch of money and stayed friends with all of us. But, no, I would never do something like that now.
In 2005, after being in the Groundlings in L.A., you were made a featured player on SNL. What do you remember about your audition?
I was terrified. To this day, that's the most nervous I've ever been about anything in my life. I remember walking into the studio and it was dark. I remember Tina [Fey] was there and [producer] Marci [Klein] and Lorne [Michaels]. You meet Lorne before you go up onstage. I literally went in, shook Lorne's hand, and went up. I felt good about it, but not great. Then I went back to L.A. and never heard anything. When the season started, I just assumed I didn't get it. I was really bummed.
Obviously things worked out, however.
Yeah. After the third episode, my agent got the call. They asked, "Can she be here Saturday to watch the show?" I was like, "Uh, yeah." So I got there and watched the taping. It was an out-of-body experience seeing the show and how it works and the actors and the music and the crowd. I was like, my God, I have to do this next week.
Lorne Michaels is famous for withholding praise from cast members. What's the nicest thing he's said to you?
I guess, "Great show." But he's really supportive. I love Lorne. He's very good at what he does. He's a nice friend as well.
A friend?
Yeah. I would consider him a friend.
Could you call him up?
Yeah.
I mean, would you call him while I sit here?
Right now?
Yes. Do it.
No, I'm not going to call him. I don't know what I'd say.
Tell me about Penelope, the nervous girl who likes to one-up everyone. Who was she based on?
Someone nobody would ever know. She's obviously not as bad as Penelope, but she had a tendency to one-up me all the time, and whenever I would talk about it to other people, I would end up using that voice and really exaggerating it.
Have you ever created a character that totally bombed?
There was this one character that I did at the Groundlings who I kept trying to bring to life in rehearsals called Joan Hawaii, P.I. She was this Hawaiian detective and everything she did was related to Hawaii. She always drank pineapple juice, and had macadamia nut bullets in her gun. I don't know why, but I just thought it was funny. I tried it once in a show, but it never worked.
For a long time, SNL had a fabled tradition of debauchery—coke-fueled all-night writing sessions. Are there any remnants of the past with this cast?
It might have been that way a long time ago, and that may have been how the tradition started of staying up all night Tuesday and writing. But no, it's not like that anymore. Now, it's, like, green tea.
Anybody get naked in the offices?
Oh, yeah. Sometimes, you know, people take their shirts off and run around.
By people, do you mean you?
No comment.
You have?
There was one time where me and Will Forte and John Solomon were all writing in my office. As a joke, we took off our shirts and opened up the door, so people would just walk by and see us writing very seriously with no shirts on. But, I mean, I was wearing my bra.
What guest host has surprised you most?
We just had Brian Williams on the show. I knew him before and knew that he was funny, so it wasn't a surprise that he did so well, but, man, he had such a great show. He was the perfect combination of being humble and nervous, but then going out and kicking ass.
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Any guest hosts make you scared?
I've been in awe of many people. Meeting Steve Martin, I was like, oh my God. He was super nice, though. You're doing a sketch with him, and he'd say, "Do you want me to do it like this?" and you're like, "You're Steve Martin, and you're asking me?"
Now that you're getting popular, people are writing tons of stuff about you on the Internet. I read this one creepy piece—
Creepy is scaring me.
It was on this men's website called doubleviking.com. They recently included you in a list of the hottest women in comedy. The author, a guy named Frank Movsesian, wrote this about you: "Aside from being the hottest woman ever on SNL, she is actually even hotter in real life. I know this because we almost banged. Sorry, babe, couldn't keep that a secret forever." Do you know this character?
No! Frank? I would remember a Frank. That's weird. I'm wondering if that's recent. Is this a guy I knew in college? It could be. And if his name really is Frank, and we did almost bang, I would say, "Sorry I don't remember, but you just wrote that, so now it's really never going to happen."
Have any guys tried to pick you up on the street?
No, but I get some weird e-mails sometimes. On my website you can e-mail things to me. I wouldn't even say they're weird e-mails. I get a lot of lunch date requests. Dinner things. Not a lot.
Do you respond to them?
No. No. I don't want to open any weird doors there. It's very flattering and nice, but I can't see how safe that would be to go out.
What kind of man e-mails a woman he's seen on TV and actually expects her to respond?
I don't know. That's the thing—they actually sound pretty normal. They say, "I don't normally do this, I know it probably won't happen ... but here's my phone number." There's a bit of normalcy mixed in with the weirdness. It's not like, "I know where you live, we're meant to be together." It's just date requests.
Any photographs enclosed?
Some of them have. But very sort of portraity, or a business card. Nothing like on a beach or ... on a couch.
What would you be doing if this show business thing hadn't worked out?
I think I'd be writing. Some form of art. Maybe I'd go back to drawing.
Did you take any figure drawing classes in college?
A lot. That was my favorite.
Tell me about your first nude model.
It was a much older man who was a bit on the, uh, large side. And he had a lazy eye.
Just how large was his penis, exactly?
No! His body was large. I don't think I ever saw that, because he was sitting in a chair. But I actually did model once for a painting class at the University of Arizona.
Hot. That's not the only time you've shown some skin—you and Lindsay Lohan did the Neutrogena "Coin Slot" cream ad on SNL. There was some intense speculation afterward as to whether you used butt-crack doubles. Care to settle that controversy once and for all?
We did.
Why did you choose not to reveal your God-given coin slots?
Having the option of having someone else show their butt crack was better than showing our own, I guess.
Is there anything the matter with your butt crack?
Well, it's horizontal. And I actually have three of them.
You were a recipient of the dick in a box.
Yes, I was.
How did Justin Timberlake's dick look in that box?
There was nothing in there. There was actually a sandwich. I'm kidding. There was nothing there.
Who's the funniest person on earth?
There's a lot of people who are funny to me for different reasons. Will Forte is one of the funniest people. He always makes me laugh. I'm also a huge Joan Cusack fan. She just makes me happy.
You do have a fan site, you know. Something about Wiggy About Wiig or something.
Are you serious?
Totally. You haven't Googled yourself?
Oh my gosh. I have Googled myself. In the second season, I did it only once because the curiosity got the best of me. For the most part it was okay, but there was a tone thing that wasn't super nice, and, of course, that's what you remember.
What was it?
I don't even want to say. It wasn't even that bad. I don't want to say it because it makes fun of something else. I don't want to say it.
How did your role in Knocked Up come about?
I auditioned for it. Originally, it was just one scene, and they didn't know if they wanted a guy or a girl.
You played the underminer so well. Where did that character come from? Was she written that way?
When we did the audition we played it different ways. They went, okay, you're her boss, play it where you're overly nice. Play it where you're jealous of her. We did it like five different ways, and that passive-aggressive "I want to be where you are" woman in the business. It just sort of happened that way.
People are always writing about how Saturday Night Live has to be put out of its misery. What do you think?
It's really weird how people view the show. In the public's eye, it's always in either an upswing or a downswing. When some people say it's good, other people say it's not. It's so personal, and the so-called bad years will probably later be considered the good years. It's so subjective.
With the strike on, what do you intend to do with your free time?
Picket. And do things that I can't do during the season, like go to the doctor.
Have you bought anything since you started making money? I have to imagine these movies pay well.
Probably less than what you're thinking. But the first thing I'll do when the money comes is buy a diamond tiara ... and then diamond shoes.
This article is from the February issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here
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