- Hi, I'm Lauren Lapkus,
and I'm in studio with "The Hollywood Reporter."
(upbeat percussion music)
- Thanks for much for dropping by.
- Welcome to the Earliest Show.
(laughs)
See?
- Okay yeah, you told me you had a joke.
- It landed, it landed.
- It worked, yeah.
- Good.
"Between Two Ferns: The Movie" is out.
- Yes.
- How does it feel?
- So good!
I'm so excited for people to see this movie.
It's like, it was one of the most fun jobs
I've ever had.
- Oh, that's so good to hear.
- Yeah.
- When you first hear of them making a movie
kind of out of the series,
what was your initial reaction to kind of
how they were going to do this?
- Oh wow, I mean my initial reaction was,
I really want to be in it.
(laughs)
- Sold
- I don't need anymore information.
But yeah, I was curious what the storyline would be
because the web series is such a simple concept.
And you don't know much about Zach, the character's life.
So I was curious how that would go.
- [Brian] Now from the original series,
what were some of your favorite interviews
and moments throughout?
- Oh God, Justin Bieber, that a classic one.
(laughs)
Um, I love they Jerry Seinfeld stuff.
There have been a lot of good ones.
I mean Obama.
- Yeah
- So there's amazing interviews.
- Throughout the film I guess,
how would you say how much of it was improv?
That was another thing I was wondering.
- Yeah, a good amount of it was improvised.
Scott Aukerman, who directed the film
and wrote it with Zach, they kind of made
the story up entirely themselves.
And they had all the scenes with all the beats
that needed to happen, but we improvised
a lot of the dialogues.
So that was fun for me, because that's my whole life.
- Harold's looking into that and as soon
as we're done with this.
- She doesn't even know what we're doing here.
She's not looking into anything.
- I'll start now.
- She's fully aware of what's going on.
- In terms of kind of the celebrity cameos
and the interviews, did Zach and Scott
kind of have them in mind before writing the script?
Or did they kind of come along as you guys went?
- Yeah, I think they had some of them in mind.
And some people were available and able to do it.
And some weren't and so they moved with it,
whoever was able to do it.
But yeah we got some people that were really cool.
I can't say any of them.
- You can say no, it's out now!
- Oh we can say, oh it's out now!
Yeah, well he's in it.
(laughs)
- The Jon Hamm bit was really funny
- Yes.
- David Letterman.
Calling him Santa Clause with an eating disorder.
(laughs)
- I know, I was so sad because we weren't there
for the day with David Letterman.
I really wanted to meet him.
- And the David, not David, Peter Dinklage bit
of you guys robbing his house,
was that in the original script?
- Oh god, I mean it was in my script.
I don't know what they had in mind when they first wrote,
but that was one of the best days.
He is so, such an amazing actor.
You just watch him and you just want to watch him
the whole time.
I mean I truly was like, he is incredible.
And he's really fun to play around with.
Because in that whole scene where I'm stealing from him.
He's really angry.
- In the Walhalla la Croix bit?
- (laughs) I think it was la Croix.
- Are you a big Game of Thrones fan?
- Well no I'm not.
- Neither am I.
- Okay, I feel like I'm in the minority for sure,
but I recently watched the first episode
and the last episode for my podcast, Raised By TV.
Where we sometimes do episodes where we
watch shows we've never seen.
And just see the beginning and the end.
And that was actually a great way to watch
(laughs)
I was like, I think I caught on.
- Yeah, I caught on a little bit.
(laughs)
- Everyone will hate that.
- Was there any celebrity cameos that
Scott and Zach weren't able to get.
Were there any dream guests?
- Wow, I don't know, I really don't know.
I think they left us out of that conversation
so we wouldn't be disappointed by like
hoping for somebody who couldn't show up or something.
- How was working with Will Ferrell?
- Oh, it was great!
We did a movie together before and he was,
he's so nice and so funny.
And this was really great.
We really got to mess around and improvise together.
And that's like a dream come true.
- That's really like probably the dream.
- Yeah.
- One thing I was wondering too is
in the after credits, you kind of see
more from these interviews a little bit.
And it kind of leads me thinking that
"Between Two Fern" is going to come back.
- Yeah.
- Maybe for the 2020 Presidential election.
I know maybe you don't know.
- I don't know.
- Would you like to see what happens?
- I would love to see Bernie Sanders do it.
(laughs)
I mean any of those people would be great.
- What were some of your other favorite moments
from throughout shooting?
- Oh God, I have to think of things that,
oh well I really just loved some of the simple moments
of improvising with Zach and Ryan and Giovanni.
We got spend a lot of time together.
And there was one scene where we're in a restaurant
at one of our pit stops.
And Paul Rust was waiter and he's so funny.
They had to cut out so much good stuff.
We just had a great time together just goofing around.
- So again, from the top.
- You want to do this conversation again from the top?
- Yeah, this is my life story.
You ruined that scene of my life story.
So did you by the way, let's take it from the top!
Where are you going?
- I'm going home.
- That's bad acting.
- I didn't buy it.
- Zach plays himself, obviously
and he's kind of like a bit of an insane boss,
do you have any insane boss crazy stories?
- Oh God, well I think I'm really lucky
because I always quit every job that I had.
(laughs)
where I didn't like what was happening there.
I would quit really fast.
I tried to be a barista for like a day.
And I tried to work at a pier in Chicago
like calling out for boat tours and stuff.
- How did that go?
- Horribly!
I had no confidence so it was my fault probably
that I was bad at all these jobs.
But I started babysitting for my living
and that was like, everyone's just really nice.
All the parents are great and I can't really complain.
So I haven't really had that kind of thing.
And in this job, I just feel happy just to get to act.
- And you did a sketch on babysitting right?
- Yes!
- My terrible babysitter.
- You do your research, that's pretty impressive.
- Was that like an older sketch that you did?
- Yeah, that was probably like 10 years ago.
But yeah, with D'Arcy Carden, who's on "The Good Place"
and I'm trying to think of who else, but yeah.
Michael Caine, yeah.
- Looking at your career, you really
seem at least, from what I kind of read about you,
that you had a plan.
And this is kind of the route you wanted to go.
Can you kind of talk about breaking into the comedy world
and how you were able to do it?
- Yeah, I mean it definitely was my goal
and my dream from a young age.
And I was kind of guided by a teacher of mine.
I was in high school and really didn't have any luck
getting in to any plays at school.
And my teacher, Erin Carny, shout out,
suggested that I take improv classes.
And it really changed the whole path for me
because I didn't really know about those classes.
And I was 18 and kind of nervous about the whole thing.
I didn't even know what the endgame was.
I didn't at that time.
I think improv was less known about, less talked about.
It was kind of a direct shot to SNL or something like that,
but you didn't really hear that, oh you can end up being on
TV and movies just by doing this
and as a way to train as an actor.
And so I was really doing it for fun
and as a thing to express myself
and kind of hone my sense of humor.
And it really led me on a great path.
I mean I feel very thankful for it.
- How would you advise other people
wanting to break into the comedy world?
What would be your best advice?
Is it the improv route?
- I mean it's really what works best for you.
I think that standup was not the thing I was drawn to.
Even though I have always loved watching it,
it never really felt like the path I was going to go on.
- [Brian] Why not?
- I love doing characters.
And especially when I was first starting,
I felt more myself when I was doing characters.
So it was kind of the natural path for me.
But I think just if you're interested in doing comedy,
the main thing is just to get out there and try it.
I mean it's nerve-racking and embarrassing at first.
And you will suck, and that's okay.
Everyone sucks when they start.
So you just have to try.
Anywhere you can take classes,
listening to podcasts I think is great.
Now there are so many improv podcasts.
- Like yours.
- I mean I'm not even trying to plug mine,
but with special guest, Lauren Lapkus.
(laughs)
There are so many podcasts, which I wish I had
when I was younger where I could like listen to people
doing improv and learn how they're doing it.
- When I was first introduced to you
it was on "Orange Is the New Black"
and you actually made kind of a cameo this final season
for Caputo's take down, how was it returning?
And had you kept up with the show?
- Yeah, I've been watching.
And I love the show.
And it was so cool to get to come back.
I had no expectation to return.
My character was fired from the prison.
And I really thought that was the end of the road.
So it was really cool that they wrote me back
for a little moment to get to have my revenge
on Caputo for a second which was cool.
- Another show you were on is obviously "Big Bang Theory"
but when you start getting on a show
like "Orange Is the New Black" where it is
kind of this ensemble, but you're kind of
in the initial cast, how was it kind of
going into it as kind of already established?
The ensemble on "Big Bang"
What were the challenges of that?
- It was really cool.
I mean that show has been on for so long
and I had obviously never been on until
the 11th and 12th season.
And so I think in my head, there was no way
I'd ever would be on it.
That's like a well-oiled machine
that I'm not going to squeeze my way into.
So I was really thankful for the opportunity.
But it was so cool because they know each other so well.
They've been doing the show for so long.
And the writers are just like on point.
It was the best, easiest, funnest,
that's not a word, but yeah.
- No you've really taken the podcast realm by storm.
- Thank you.
- Not one podcast but you have four, correct?
- Yes (laughs) that's a lot.
- How do you have the time?
- I don't, I don't
(laughs) some of them are winding down a little bit.
So even by the time this comes out,
I think some of them will be done for a second.
At least for the season.
But I love doing it.
It's been so cool because as an improvisor,
there isn't really a way to share
what you do on a national stage like that
or international stage.
Standup is so much more like translatable in that way.
Like people can access it more.
So it's been really cool to have these shows
that I can express myself and my style comedy
and there's no filter and nobody can edit it
except me, so it's great.
- So you edit all of them?
- Yeah, and usually I don't even cut anything out.
I mean I like to keep it really natural.
And even when there are bumps in the road
in the improv I like to leave it.
Because I think it shows, like it pays off
better when you see like,
of they kind of faltered there,
but then they really brought it together at the end.
- Now "With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus",
I listened to Sex and the City,
which was hilarious.
The old McDonald's bit of yours was really funny.
And also The Force Awakens.
So you're surprised by what character
you're about to play, right?
Is that how it works?
- Yeah, so the premise of the show is that
the guest is the host.
So they come in with the idea for the show.
They come in with a character they're going to play.
They tell me what my character is
once we start recording.
So we don't talk about anything before we start.
And I love it because I don't have to plan anything.
So it's really great for me.
Because it's like an easy (laughs).
I don't have to do any prep.
But it's really to see what people come in with
and what they end up wanting to do the show about
because it's all up to them.
- What have you been most surprised by
in terms of like a character you had to play?
- There was one.
- Were you not able to catch on to what was going on at all?
- I feel like in those moments I just
double down on whatever I feel like doing
and hope that it works out.
But there was an episode where I was made to play Jesus.
And that was really a shock for me
because I was like, okay I guess I'm Jesus for an hour.
And you know, that was fun.
- What else can you tease about the new episodes
that you have going on?
- I did a live one at UCB in L.A.
And it's going to be coming out,
in September it will already be out.
- That's awesome.
Would you want to do more kind of the live podcast format?
- I love it.
I think it's really fun doing it live
because you get that audience feedback.
I mean, when you're in a podcast studio,
you're trusting your instincts and playing off each other.
And you feel like it's funny,
but you know it's hard to know for sure.
And then when you get the audience in front of you,
I mean you can really go much crazier
because once they feel that.
- Because that's interesting too.
Because of when you're doing the podcast,
you don't have a live audience,
you don't really know whats' working or what's not.
- Yeah, I think it's helped me trust my instincts more.
Because when you're in like a silent room
and you just have to hope that it's going well.
- Like this.
- Yeah, we think it's fun, right?
(laughs)
- Next up, you also have a film with Adam Sandler, correct?
- Yeah, with David Spade.
It's a Happy Madison movie.
- That's awesome.
What can you tease about that one?
- Oh my God, it's crazy.
It's called "The Wrong Missy"
and I play Missy.
Basically, David Spade goes on a corporate retreat
and he texts the wrong person to invite them
on the corporate retreat and it's me and I'm crazy.
- And you just show up?
- Yeah.
- Thank you so much for being here.
- Yeah, thank you!
- Make sure to catch "Between Two Ferns: The Movie"
streaming now on Netflix.