-Our first guest tonight is a talented actress who you know
from movies such as "Lady Bird" and "Booksmart."
She stars as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl," which is playing
at the August Wilson Theater on Broadway.
Please welcome back to the show
our friend Beanie Feldstein, everybody.
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Hello, hello! I'm so happy you're back.
-I'm so happy to be back. And thank you so much
for that really beautiful, very important conversation.
-I think, uh, you know, um -- Thank you.
[ Laughter ]
-Thank you for giving your platform.
-That's very nice of you to say.
You look so well.
And I know that you also are recovering
or you had to recover from COVID.
-Yes. I just had COVID and I --
I truly don't know how I got it, Seth.
I don't. I am the most paran--
Ask anyone who even walks by me on the street.
They'd say, "That Beanie, she's paranoid."
[ Laughter ] The most paranoid person.
I'm in love with my mask.
I'm obsessed with my mask.
I'm obsessed with my boosters.
I don't know how it happened, but it happened. But then --
-Did you make them test you a second time
when it came back positive? You're like, "This can't be."
-Unfortunately, I knew. -You did? Oh, wow.
-It, like, hit me.
And then 10 days later, I was back doing "Funny Girl,"
which is a three-hour, like, marathon for me,
so it was a real, like, zero-to-100 experience.
But I'm so grateful to be back with my cast and my crew,
and we're just having such a good time.
-And this is really, I mean,
you know, there are some people who say,
"Oh, my God, 'Funny Girl' is a dream role" or like,
"I can't believe I'm playing this,"
but this really is a dream role for you.
You had your third birthday. -Third.
-Your third birthday was "Funny Girl"-themed.
-Mm-hmm. Yeah. [ Laughter and applause ]
It was. That's me. [ Applause ]
And it's -- For me, it's like I already had the po--
you know, the pose, too, was already happening.
-I would say, like, of all the girls who had
a "Funny Girl"-themed party,
it must be amazing to be the one that's doing it on Broadway.
But I'm pretty sure you're the only one.
-Yes, correct. [ Laughter ]
I mean, I don't know.
Let me know if they're out there.
But I think I'm prob-- At least the third birthday,
I'm probably the only one. -Yeah, it's really amazing.
And it just must be --
it just must be joyous to do it every night.
-It's a dream, you know. Finally now
we're getting to interact with people more at the stage door.
And we just have like mothers bringing their daughters,
daughters bringing their mothers, aunts.
It's such a warm room that we get to enter into every night
and to be a part of telling Fanny Brice's story as a --
as a Jewish comedian and performer myself,
it's like I would not be here if it wasn't for Fanny.
And so to get to embody her every night with this,
like, delicious group of people --
like, Seth, they're delicious.
They're delicious.
They're warm.
They're talented -- beyond talented.
The tap dancing in the show, the --
you know, just the costumes.
It's just a delectable little treat.
-I think that due to -- It's a weird thing.
Like, Fanny Brice almost seems like a fictional character.
And I think a lot of people don't know
she was a real person.
-So many people don't.
I mean, people think that -- some people --
Yeah, they don't know that Barbra was playing a real person
and that I'm now playing Fanny Brice.
And her legacy is for any Jewish woman that wants to be on stage.
We would not have been there if it wasn't for Fanny Brice
and the ceilings that she knocked down
and the rooms she pushed herself into.
She's like, "I'm a bagel on a plate full of onion rolls,
watch me work." [ Laughter ]
And it's very special to get to embody that.
-You mentioned families, you mentioned mothers
and daughters and daughters and mothers.
Your mother, obviously, came to opening night.
Has she come more than once?
-She's the queen of the August Wilson Theater.
I think she -- I mean, people are more excited
to see her than me when I walk in.
She's like, "Hello, it's me.
Yes, I'm Beanie's mother.
Hello."
I think she's seen it like eight -- eight times.
-That's amazing. -Maybe nine? I don't know.
-You can see the audience in this show pretty well.
-I can see you all.
-Wow. [ Laughter ]
-I can see everybody. -Do you like that?
-At first I was really scared.
-Yeah. -And I didn't take it in,
I think for like all of previews and opening.
But now I'm, you know -- we've been doing it
for a few months and --
and Fanny was so known for her relationship to the audience.
So when I'm in the numbers in the show
where she is performing, I can really like let myself go.
-Does it throw you when you have family in the audience,
when your mom's there? Do you know where she's sitting?
-Yes. And it used to -- Again, it used to throw me.
And now I'm like... [ Laughter ]
"Hi." Not during the emo--
In none of the emotional stuff, I can't.
-Right. -But when you know, uh --
-Well, it's about being in the -- Yeah.
-Yeah. When she's on stage I'm like, she's on stage.
-Yeah.
You had a birthday. Was it Friday was your birthday?
-Yeah, it was, you know.
-Oh, well, happy birthday. [ Cheers and applause ]
-The day the world went away. -Yeah, right.
-Complicated day. -Yeah, nobody really talked
about your birthday on Friday, now that I think about it.
-No, um... -Yeah, I did not see a CNN
breaking news -- "Beanie's birthday."
-Beanie's 29, very important.
-You also announced some pretty cool news on Friday as well.
-I got engaged. -You got engaged!
Beanie got engaged! [ Cheers and applause ]
-Thank you.
You know, I think given what's going on
in our country right now,
me marrying soon to be my wife, Bon, Bonnie, but I call her Bon.
You know, I think it's really important for us
to tell our story and to live very proudly.
And I just love her so much, Seth.
She's just the best thing to ever happen to me.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ] -And I know...
I want to -- Because I know that you and Bon proposed --
you each proposed to each other.
But Bon put the work in to sort of surprise.
-Yes.
She said to me early on, she was like,
"I want to propose to you."
And I was like, "Okay." -Yeah.
-I kind of wanted to be proposed to.
So I was fine with it.
And so, I didn't know anything.
And this is when I was filming
"Impeachment: American Crime Story."
So that was, for me, it was like 1998, I was in the White House,
I had no idea what was going on in the real world.
I was so focused.
-Very easy to surprise you during that time.
-Like, I was like, I only exist with bangs on, like, you know.
It's only happening that way for me playing Monica Lewinsky.
So I was really just entrenched in my filming
and it made me completely oblivious to everything.
Turns out everyone in my life was lying to me.
Just literally every single person
in my life was lying to me.
-So Bon reached out to your family?
-Yes. And it was magical.
So she sent me, she was like, "I think you need a break.
Why don't you go to the beach for the day?"
So I went with my mom and my brother and my best friend,
Ana, to the beach.
And then she was like, "After, why don't we all meet up
at my parents' house and we'll do something outside,
and why don't we all get dressed up and it'll be really fun."
I was like, "Get dressed up?"
Like, "It's Saturday." [ Laughter ]
I work all day. I have to wear hair.
I'm like, "No." And they're like, "Let's get dressed up."
And I was like, "Okay, this is weird."
So we go to the beach, and my parents' house
is like about 50 minutes,
an hour from where we were at the beach.
And my mom -- I keep trying to get her in the car
because we're going to be late.
And she's like, "I-I-I think something's wrong with me."
[ Laughter ]
"I think something's wrong with me."
And I was like, "What's wrong with you?"
And she's like, "Oh, my stomach, something's wrong with me!
Something's wrong with me." And I was like, "Oh, okay."
We get in the car and she's like,
literally like this behind the wheel,
like this going five miles an hour
on the Pacific Coast Highway.
And I'm like, "What is wro-- Do you want me to drive?"
Like, "I'll get you home faster."
She's like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm gonna drive, I'm gonna drive,
I'm gonna drive." Then she's, literally --
I was like, "Is she gonna Maya Rudolph in 'Bridesmaids'
the situation and just, like, cross PCH
and poop in the middle of the street?"
Like, I was like, "What is happening right now?"
Because she just kept screaming that it was going to happen.
And she pulls over on the side.
We finally get off the highway.
She pulls over in West L.A.,
runs into a random restaurant, just takes off running.
I'm like, "What is happening?" She gets back in the car.
Finally, we pull up to my parents' house
and my nephews are standing in the driveway
and they're teenagers
and they're wearing little matching shirts.
And I get out of the car.
I'm like, "What are you guys doing here?"
They weren't supposed to be at the gathering
and they're like, "Hi, Aunt Beanie."
And they, like, won't look me in the eye.
And I'm like, "What?
What are you -- What's happening?"
My youngest nephew, Charlie, reaches into his pocket.
This is when I start to cry. And he pulls out my ring for Bon
that I had gotten months ago.
Because I wanted to be prepared in case --
-Yeah.
-And he goes, "I think you're gonna need this."
-Aw! [ Audience aws ]
-Can you just -- I can't handle it.
And I start screaming.
I'm like, "Am I getting engaged?!"
[ Laughter ]
And Bon said she could hear it from the backyard.
And I walk out. -There we go.
Look at that. Bon, well done, Bon!
[ Cheers and applause ] Very well done.
-So the first thing -- so sweet.
So, we literally --
She proposes to me then she doesn't know I have the ring.
I propos-- I get down on one knee, I propose back.
She's so shocked, she goes, "Uh, okay?"
[ Laughter ] That was her response.
Very loving. And we kiss, we hug.
And the first thing as an engaged person
that I whisper in Bon's ear is,
"My mom -- My mom almost pooped on the side of the road."
And she goes, "It was all a lie to make sure
you didn't get here early."
And I was like, "My mom deserves an Oscar."
I was like, "This is literally the best."
And I've worked with some amazing people, Seth.
It was the best performance I'd ever seen in my life.
-So, wait, even pulling over at a restaurant and running in?
-Fake. -Wow!
-She's so committed.
-Are you -- -And she's also, I guess,
afraid of Bon, because she knew she couldn't be here early.
-Now, are you moving forward?
Are you ever going to be able to trust your mother again
knowing that she's that good a liar?
-No. -Yeah.
-It's gone for me now. -That's very --
-I didn't know she had it in her, Seth, let me tell you.
-That is shocking. -And it was extraordinary work.
Extraordinary work.
I was like, "I need to take some notes."
-You mentioned Maya Rudolph.
You were recently a bridesmaid as well.
And you would argue the harder job.
-Yes. Now that I'm engaged, I'm going to be a bride --
Being maid of honor is like this weird superpower.
Like, that you're like, "I'm the maid of honor."
And they're like, "Right this way."
You're like, "This is incredible."
So I was the maid of honor in my best friend Melanie's wedding.
And it was at this beautiful hotel right outside of L.A.
And my parents were also invited,
and my mom calls me.
I'm with Melanie, getting ready, and she's like,
"You won't guess who I ran into at the breakfast.
Kristen Wiig and her family are here.
And I was like, she's my -- You know.
-Yes, I know. -No offense, Seth.
-No, I'll take it. -She is my everything.
And I was like, "Oh, my God, I can't believe this.
That's insane." But I was with the bride all day.
So I, you know, focused on that, like,
you know, "Tell her I said hi."
-You're not allowed even as a --
As a maid of honor, you're not allowed to be like,
"I gotta bounce."
-You can't leave to go see Kristen Wiig.
-"Kristen Wiig's here. I gotta go."
-You have to focus on the bride, it's imperative.
So we're lining up, and the wedding is in the middle
of the beautiful hotel, and we're lining up.
And I'm last before Melanie,
the gorgeous bride and my best friend.
And I'm stepping out to go literally walk down the aisle
and I see Kristen and her family and they're waiting
because they don't want to run in the middle of the ceremony.
And I'm wearing my mask and I'm like -- pull it down,
I'm like [Whispering] "Kristen!
It's Beanie!"
And I was like, "I'm a bridesmaid!"
And she starts laughing.
I'm in a pink dress.
I was like, "This is the best moment of my life!"
[ Laughter ] "Oh, my God!"
I don't think you understand, like,
we grew up on that.
Like, that movie came out my senior year of high school.
It is like the reason I wanted to be an actor.
It is like my everything.
And so to be wearing a pink bridesmaid's dress,
in front of Kristen Wiig, I was like, "I'm done.
I see ya.
This will be better than my wedding.
Sorry, Bon."
-I just want to say something.
This keeps happening to you.
-Am I, like, amazing? I'm amazing at manifesting.
-Whatever outfit you wear, you like, summon the fortune.
You have a deep-cut favorite Kristen Wiig sketch.
And I have a lot of respect for it.
And your brother Jonah Hill was in the sketch.
-But it's not about him.
Let's just be clear. -No, he's a prop.
-He's a literal prop.
He's being objectified, as he should be.
Kristen Wiig as Liza Minnelli. -Yeah.
-You know, I love a diva. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Yeah, you love a diva. -I love a diva.
-I'm pretty sure there's maybe no dialogue.
There's very little dialogue in the sketch.
-Maybe three lines? -And it's great.
It's called "Liza Minnelli turns on a lamp"?
-Turns off -- Turns off a lamp? -Turns off a lamp,
you're right, yeah. -Turns off a lamp, I think.
Like, your generation of "Saturday Night Live" was my --
-They were A-listers. That cast, they were A-listers.
-And it was when I was a teenager.
So for me, it was just like my comedy handbook.
-Yeah. -And you all --
-I was very lucky to sort of just be nearby
while that was all happening. -No, that's not --
Take more credit. -I was just sitting there,
just like the first act of our show.
I just sit here. [ Laughter ]
-It's important for you to listen.
-I'm a good listener. -You are a good listener.
-That's what they say, out of everybody
in show business, I'm the best listener.
-You are a good listener. [ Laughter ]
-But there's, I mean, like the second place is so far --
Nobody's a good listener in show business.
It's very easy.
I'm so happy you were here tonight of all nights
and congratulations again on your engagement.
-Thank you so much. -You guys,
that's Beanie Feldstein. [ Cheers and applause ]
"Funny Girl" is playing at the August Wilson Theatre.
We'll be right back with Matthew Modine.