- Hi, Drew, how's it going?
- I'm freaking out, I'm freaking out.
I love you so much.
- I'm freaking out!
Hey, how's it going?
- I would,
I'm so curious,
was there a light bulb moment, an aha moment?
When and where and how
did you know you had the funny gene?
Did you enjoy like the smiles on people's faces?
What was it?
Because we're now addicted to you and I, I mean, seriously,
was there a time and a place?
Was there something that you hooked into
where you're like, "I like this feeling,"
or, "I like giving it to people,"
how did you stumble upon your comedic amazingness?
- Well, I mean, firstly, I never thought
I would be an actor.
I was a youth ambassador for Australia
living in Southern Africa, and I got malaria really badly
and had this hallucination that I was an actress
and that I won an Academy Award.
So I was like, that just made me go into acting.
And then I thought, well,
I've gotta be like a serious actress,
like Dame Judi Dench.
And I was in my very first play in Sydney, Australia,
and I was being really serious
and people just started laughing at me,
and it made me like really angry.
And I was just sort of saying the lines really angry,
'cause I was like, "I'm a serious actress."
And people just started laughing,
and I think, so ever since that very first play that I did,
I found that I had something that people liked
laughing at me about.
But really like no one in my family thought I was funny.
They all think like they're funnier than me.
So yeah, so no,
no one thought, oh, she's hilarious as a kid,
I just kind of fell into it I think.
- Did you like binge on comedy?
Was it a big thing for you, or just not?
- Oh, I remember,
I mean, 'cause I love watching TV and movies,
but I think the first woman I ever saw on screen
writing and performing her own material
was Jennifer Saunders in that show "Absolutely Fabulous",
the British show.
And I remember just going,
"Whoa, like a woman can be just so outrageous on screen,"
and really enjoying that.
And also, I will say, oh, I've gotta tell you this.
Your movie "Never Been Kissed",
oh my God, is like the cutest, funniest movie.
I love that movie so much.
- You literally turned me into Josie Grossie.
I mean, Josie Grossie is,
she's the enthusiasm that's unbridled.
And we're sometimes taught along the way that,
you know, that might not be cool.
And I think things have changed a lot,
like now nerds are hot.
They used to be nerds, and now nerd is like sexy.
So definitely the script gets flipped.
But I, you know, I went through a really big awkward phase
of my life and-
- Oh, I went through a really awkward phase.
I had a snaggletooth. (Drew laughs)
It was this tooth here.
I actually had like a legit snaggletooth
for like five years as a teenager.
It was not pretty.
I was, yeah, super, super dorky.
Also, I was very into math. - Oh!
- I was in the Math Olympiad team,
stuff like that. - Really?
- Yeah, I was super academic.
That's why nobody thought I would become an actress,
like my mom cried when I told her,
because she thought I would have been a great lawyer
or a doctor.
- Gosh, that's so interesting.
When I was homeschooling my kids this year,
I was so relieved because, you know,
they're like at first grade level.
And I was like, "Oh, I can do this,"
because I didn't really go to school.
I was raised on movie sets, and they send you
for like three hours of tutoring and you know.
So math intimidates me so much.
I see numbers and they haunt me.
But I've always admired the love of math,
because in math is the answers to the universe.
- Well, I used to love it and I guess,
and I went to an all girls school and it was cool
to like be really good at math.
So I always like encourage young ladies out there
to like really don't be afraid of your skills, guys.
Like really, you know?
Big up yourself and like be proud
if you're really smart at school.
And if you're not so smart, just try your best
and you know, you could become an actor
where it doesn't matter if you study or not.
(audience laughing) - It's true.
It's really true, I love hearing that.
My girls go to an all girls school, by the way.
- Yeah, shoutout to all the girl school, it's great.
I mean, I know a lotta people see me
like on Instagram or like just being crazy
and having like this fun actress life,
but what they didn't see is like that I went to university
and I've got two degrees and a law degree and an arts degree
and really did study hard as well.
So girls, you know, keep up with your schoolwork.
- That message is so important.
I love hearing from you that like how smart you are
and to go the distance and to stick with it
and keep all your options open.
- Yeah, 'cause you never know,
international movie stardom may not happen for you,
so you always gotta have backup options.
So I could be a lawyer at any moment
if something happened and, yeah, the movies didn't work out.
I could just go back and, you know,
help prosecute criminals.
- I was gonna say what type of law do you do?
- I actually specialize in space law,
which is this new frontier, because at some point,
space tourism will become a big thing
and like people might colonize the Moon,
and what do you do if that happens?
So I thought that would be a fun elective to take,
and I knew at that point, maybe I wouldn't be a real lawyer,
so it was a fun elective.
- It's so interesting.
I'm always like fascinated, you know,
with the Mars thing,
'cause I'm like, "God, we've got some real problems here.
Are you just ditching Earth and wanna colonize Mars?
What's the deal here?
Why so much about Mars?
We have bridges to fix, why Mars?"
But I understand at the same time a plan B
or the interest in space, and I love the Moon.
I love her so much. - Yeah.
- Well, I mean, it is just such an inspiration
to talk to you. - It's so cool.
(upbeat music)