-Our next guest is a talented
actress you know from the
hit show "Euphoria,"
as well as movies, such as
"The King of Staten Island" and "Other People."
She's currently starring as Audrey
in "Little Shop of Horrors," which is now playing
Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre.
Please welcome back to the show Maude Apatow, everybody.
[ Upbeat tune plays ] [ Cheering and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back, Maude.
-Thank you. -I don't know if you heard.
Taron is very jealous that you're
in "Little Shop of Horrors," and he's not.
Oh, my God. I didn't hear that.
-Yeah, he was just saying this is one of his dream roles.
Was this -- I know you're a huge musical theater fan.
Was this a dream for you? -Oh, my gosh, yeah.
This was one of the first shows I ever saw as a kid,
so I was so --
yeah, it was extra special for that reason, I think.
-Now, obviously, you're excited. Was it also --
Were there some nerves when you first started doing it?
I mean, I know you're up and running now
and probably very comfortable. -Oh, yeah.
-No, no, there were so, so many nerves.
Um, still are. -Okay.
-Yeah, I definitely have like a history of stage fright,
so this has been
very challenging for me. [ Laughter ]
-I mean, it seems interesting that you were like,
"I have a history of stage fright
and I have taken to the stage!"
[ Laughter ] -No, it's tricky.
It's always been that way, but I push through.
-So, like early, even as a young actor,
in school productions, you would have it?
-Yes. Like, oh, my gosh.
There was one time I was like in the improv group at my school
and I was always so nervous to do improv.
And my dad came to like our like final performance.
And every time I'd get like tapped in to go onstage,
I'd instantly run offstage
[ Laughter ] for whatever reason I'd make up.
So, I'd be like, "Oh, yeah, I'm getting a phone call.
[ Laughter ] I have to -- I have to go."
And he's like, "Maude, you have to stay onstage
for more than 30 seconds.
[ Laughter ] Like, it's weird."
So, yeah, it's always been that way.
-Now your dad, Judd Apatow, obviously, knows a lot
about comedy, about directing, and I've heard he's come
to see this show nine times.
-He has. -Now, that is both
very incredibly loving.
Is he only supportive or does he bring notes?
-Oh, he definitely brings notes. -Lotta notes?
[ Laughter ] -Lots of notes.
We --
I know. Everyone in the cast is like,
"Your dad's here again." I'm like, "Ugh.
Yeah, he is, huh?"
He sits in the same spot. Like I could see him.
We have monitors backstage, of the stage,
and I can see his bald spot
[ Laughter ] in the monitor when he's there.
But, yeah, he loves -- He's going to come like
I think like eight more times
before I finish. -Really?!
-Yeah, no, he's a super fan.
-That's really sweet. And then after each show,
like does he always say, "Good job," first, I hope?
-Um...
[ Laughter ] yes. Yeah, yeah, no.
But he does give me notes.
He's seen it so many times.
He knows like when I'm having a bummer show, for sure.
-Your mom, the wonderful actress Leslie Mann,
she's different.
It seems like, based on her Instagram comments we found,
[ Laughter ] she seemed to be very consistently positive.
We've tried to circle them for everybody to see.
Every single photo, she just puts a bunch of hearts.
[ Awws and laughter ]
Like the same hearts every single time.
I mean, this must be so --
Have you even noticed that she was doing this?
[ Laughter ]
-No. -No. That is the saddest thing
for a mom, is she's like -- [ Laughter ]
It's like, "I'm sorry. I didn't notice.
I was reading what strangers said." -Oh, my God.
-I didn't realize she was doing the same thing
on every single photo. -This one is the best one.
For the record, don't feel bad because I don't think
she notices, either. Here's a photo where she just
commented twice in a row.
[ Laughter ]
-She really loved that one. -She loved that one.
She was like she commented once, she was like, "You know what?
Once isn't enough." -No.
[ Laughter ] -You have a wonderful costar
in this -- Matt Doyle.
-Yeah. -He won a Tony last year.
-Yeah, he's amazing. -It's a very funny show.
It seems like a show in an intimate theater
where people are really enjoying being together
and laughing together. Do you guys ever have trouble
not laughing when you're onstage together?
-Oh, my God, so much.
We just --
At the end of "Suddenly Seymour,"
we like embrace and then kiss and then he like dips me down
and we stay kissing in that dip position
for as long as the audience claps,
[ Laughter ] but I think we don't get up,
so then they think we're still going,
so they keep clapping and it sort of just becomes
[ Laughter ] like really long, that we're holding this kiss.
And it's a stage kiss, so like
we're not actually like making out.
We're kind of just like still
[ Laughter ] in a kiss.
And sometimes we kind of talk through the kiss.
Like we'll be like, we'll be like,
"That was a pretty good one, yeah.
They seem like this." [ Laughter ]
It's always a little awkward, but I always think that's funny
and then I'll just start laughing.
-You mentioned, obviously, this history of stage fright
and getting over your nerves. You had an incident recently
in the show where you had to get over.
-Yeah. -Did it help or hurt the nerves?
-Well, I'm always really kind of in a panic the entire time
and I was running offstage
and I guess my eyes were kind of adjusting to the light
and I just ran full speed into the wall.
[ Ohhs ] -Yeah.
-And -- -Had they just moved it there
or was it there every night? [ Laughter ]
-Oh, it was definitely there every night.
-So, not like new wall situation.
-I know. Everyone was like, "Wait, the same?"
And I'm like, "Let's not get into it."
[ Laughter ] But yeah, and I got a concussion.
[ Ohhs ] -Middle of the show?
-Yeah. -And did you finish that show?
-I did. It was insane. -Wow.
-I don't know what I was doing. -And was your dad like,
"I feel like something was off"?
[ Laughter ]
-God, he would've been, if he was there.
I swear, I was just like
almost crying the rest of the show.
My eyes were just like -- I was like --
"Okay, but get through it, get through it, get through it!"
[ Laughter ] And then, yeah, after the show,
I think the adrenaline wore off and I was like,
"I need to go to the hospital."
[ Laughter ] But I'm all good now. It's fine.
-You're all good and it really shows
[ Cheering and applause ] your commitment to the craft.
They all say, all the reviews said,
"Maude Apatow would run through a wall for this part."
[ Laughter ]
-It's so humiliating. I posted on my Instagram like,
"I can't come to the show tonight. I'm so sorry,"
and everyone was like, "Screw you."
And then I had to post the next show I missed,
due to an injury. I felt like
an athlete. -Yeah, exactly.
[ Laughter ] They can't say, "Screw you," if you're like --
unless you're like, "The thing is I ran into a wall,"
and they're like, "Well, come on."
I didn't want to get into specifics.
-Yeah, don't get into specifics. -It's too embarrassing.
-It's so great to see you. Congrats on the show...
-Thank you. -...and thanks for being back.
[ Cheering and applause ] -You guys, that's Maude Apatow,
everybody. "Little Shop of Horrors"
is playing now at the Westside Theatre.
We'll be right back with Jessi Klein.