(continued)

GINGER KID Wiig goes red
(Photo: R. Jermone Ferraro)

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.