← All Of It with Alison Stewart
All Of It with Alison Stewart
Emmy-Nominated Star Jenny Slate and Showrunner Kim Rosenstock on 'Dying for Sex'
00:11:45
In the Emmy nominated series "Dying for Sex," a woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer decides to end her marriage to go on a journey of sexual self-discovery.
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- [00:05]
A
This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. The Emmys are this Sunday. We're celebrating Emmy nominated actors today on all of it with some of the conversations we've had about the projects that they've worked on for this year. One of them is a show that follows the true story of a woman's sexual awakening and pursuit of pleasure. It's titled Dying for Sex and it received nine nominations for a Primetime Emmy award, including outstanding limited or anthology series based on the podcast of the same name, Molly receives the news that her breast cancer has returned at a stage four and has spread to her bones. She has already undergone chemotherapy, a bilateral mastectomy, radiation therapy and a breast reconstruction. The first time around, knowing her diagnosis is terminal, she makes a decision to leave a passionless marriage with her husband of 15 years to explore her sexuality. She decides to live out her final days with her best friend Nikki, played by our next guest, Jenny Slate. A variety review said Dying for Sex is a show of big, messy, reflexively uncomfortable feelings. The kind that require a mastery of tone and a uniformly game cast. All episodes of Dying for Sex are streaming now on Hulu, but a few days after the show's premiere, I talked to its star, Emmy nominated actor Jenny Slate, who plays Molly's friend Nikki, and the show's co showrunner Kim Rosenstock, who is up for an Emmy for outstanding writing. I started out by asking Kim what drew her to the podcast.
- [01:46]
B
The podcast was shared with me by my co creator Liz Meriwether, who had optioned it for television. And she, you know, called me up and was like, will you listen to this podcast? Would you like to make this show with me to adapt it for television? And you know, I listened to it kind of probably like you just all in one sitting and it just completely bowled me over. I think it just, it seemed to be about one very small, specific story of this one woman's journey. But then by the end, I just feel like it was about literally everything and it was about all of life and like relationships and the body and love and just intimacy and bravery. And I just, I just was like, oh, this is exactly the kind of thing I want to be writing about and putting out into the world and how can we amplify this story and get it out to more people? So it was just a, it was a thrilling thing to listen to and very emotional journey, but also I was laughing the whole time also. So anything that can combine, I think, you know, comedy and real, a real human emotional journey is Always, you know, to me, like, the best. The best possible entertainment.
- [02:58]
A
Okay. It's in the name. Dying for sex, Jenny. Nikki is so supportive of Molly's need to have a, quote, orgasm with another person before she dies. How's Nikki gonna help her with this?
- [03:13]
C
Yeah, Nikki is not going to, you know, physically facilitate that, but she would. She would.
- [03:20]
A
She's a good friend.
- [03:20]
C
He would if Molly asked. But yeah, but that, that actually is not her assignment. She. Nikki has a lot of different tasks. One of them is to take on the burden of, like, the actual, you know, bureaucracy of, like, the, you know, medical system. Keep track of Molly's appointments, make sure that Molly is listened to in her appointments, help Molly make decisions. But then, of course, there is the, like, you know, being Molly's cheerleader, being the person that investigates what is going on with Molly and asks her questions and is open and is ready at any moment to get in the car to pick her up or bring her somewhere or run back to Molly's apartment to, you know, get her a vibrator that she needs. Nikki is really kind of like full service valet in a way. Like, she's like. She's like dressing, you know, she's kind of like dressing Molly for. For this life experience. She is confidant. She is, you know, a little bit of like a therapist, sometimes too much. And also because Nikki herself is, you know, is a really kind of scribbly creature. Like, she's not maybe the number one person that people would pick to. To head up this charge. She's not organized. She is really, really emotional, which is great. But, you know, at the beginning of the series especially, she really has never even thought of how to. How to filter, how to use the valves of her emotions in a more, like, nuanced way. But she is down for anything. And she kind of does have to do anything, whether that's, you know, like sitting in the hall while Molly has her sexual encounters and just giving her privacy, but also, like, not sleeping for 30 hours in the hospital because Molly doesn't want to be alone. She. She has to understand that it is right to say yes to everything that Molly wants because it's about helping Molly trust her own preferences and discover them.
- [05:36]
A
There's this scene where she empties her bag on the floor.
- [05:40]
B
Yes.
- [05:41]
C
And just.
- [05:41]
A
I think every woman has had that experience. You're trying to find something.
- [05:45]
C
It's so important.
- [05:47]
B
Yeah.
- [05:48]
A
Tell us a little more about that scene, Kim.
- [05:50]
B
Oh, my God, I'm so glad you mentioned that. I have never seen that on screen, that's every day of my life. And I was like, I feel a real kinship with Nikki and the character and with Jenny. Honestly, like, I feel like, I feel like Jenny's beautiful portrayal of this character. And like, I just feel like as somebody who, you know, has, has ADHD and is, you know, kind of a mess sometimes, like this assumption that I, that we can't show up for people or that like, we aren't the people that you're gonna like, call on to like, be. Be your rock, you know, like, and that. And I feel like I really wanted to show someone on screen have that messiness, have that scatteredness, but also be the person who is fully able to rise to the occasion at the same time able to rise to the occasion and be someone's complete support system. While not. It's not that she changes, she doesn't stop carrying that bag or stop. It's just that she is in the same way that Molly wants to see the version of herself that she sees reflected in Nikki. Nikki becomes the version of herself that is like, reflected in Molly, who knows that she is capable of showing up and taking care and having so much love in her own way. But yeah, she's going to have a giant messy bag of garbage that she carries around at the same time. And to me also, we're making a comedy, so it was like, how do we make things funny? So that to me is also like a very real comedic scene and Jenny is so brilliant in it. But I, I was like, I, I would like to see this on screen. I, I feel like I have not, I have not seen this represented. And Jenny did such an amazing job with it.
- [07:36]
A
Jenny, what was in that bag that tells us who Nikki is?
- [07:40]
C
Oh my gosh, that bag. I mean, there's lots of changes of clothes, but you know, like, they're, they're. Some of them I, you know, I imagine are, are movement clothes. She's an actor, you know, lots of like different bras and, and like every supply for menstruation. But there's also like two unwrapped crumb cakes in there. There is, there is like a stack of post its that one might imagine. I always imagine she just like swiped it because it was free. You know, like she was just like waiting somewhere and kind of just sort of like sucked it into her, into her purse and. And then there's also like a trophy which I, I like did a little bit of like, this is what this is for, for, you know, for everything in that bag. But I Imagine, you know, Nikki was at. At like a drunken, you know, game night or something and like, you know, didn't win and just like drunkenly was like, actually, I will take this or whatever. And she's just had this stupid trophy in her bag for forever. I.
- [08:47]
B
It's funny because when I was writing the stage directions for that, I literally was looking through my bag and I had a tr. And I was like, I'm just gonna write down what's in my. And it was like a Halloween decoration award trophy. It was totally ridiculous. Like. But sorry. It's so funny like that that you had a whole other superhero trophy. I love it.
- [09:06]
C
Jenny. You gotta know what that stuff is in your mind, I guess.
- [09:10]
B
Yeah.
- [09:11]
A
Michelle Williams, the actor Michelle Williams plays Molly. Did you know Michelle before Jenny?
- [09:17]
C
I didn't. I mean, I had met her a couple times. Yeah. No, I. I met her in passing. Like, we were. We had been in a movie together. We had no scenes together. So, like, you know, met her briefly at a stressful junket, like, you know, whatever. I don't know, seven, eight years ago. And had met her at a. At a party really briefly. But I am a very big Michelle Williams fan, so that party was me just like, basically blurting out, you're so incredible, and then, like, walking away and being embarrassed. And I was very, very nervous to meet her, but I also really wanted to do this. Like, sometimes opportunities come and it's just like, oh, that just seems so huge. I'm almost afraid. I definitely felt that way about giving birth, and I remember feeling that way about auditioning for snl. It sort of made me feel sick to think about it and scared this. I had a private belief that it would be a great pleasure, not just an honor, but a great pleasure to act alongside Michelle and to be able to perform these beautiful scripts that Kim and Liz wrote. And I tried to focus more on that going into the work. And Michelle as a scene partner made it very easy for me to focus on the positive and why I wanted to be there and why I should be there. Because she herself is open and sensitive and questioning and really wants it to be good, really wants it to be good in the specific way that only that actor can make it good. And that is a very. It's like both professional and incredibly warm and generous combination to encounter. And she really offers that. And I. I hope I offered that, you know, to her also.
- [11:19]
A
That was my conversation with actor Jenny Slate and co showrunner Kim Rosenstock about the Emmy nominated dramatic comedy series Dying for Sex. Which is streaming on Hulu. Coming up, we'll talk about Brian Tyree Henry's role posing as a fake DEA agent to rob low level dealers and dope thief Julianne Nicholson playing a billionaire in paradise and Michael Urie in the show Shrinking. That's all on the way. This is all of it.
- [11:46]
D
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- [12:16]
E
This is Ira Flato, host of Science Friday. For over 30 years, the science Friday team has been reporting high quality science and technology news, making science fun for curious people by covering everything from the outer reaches of space to the rapidly changing world of AI to the tiniest microbes in our bodies. Audiences trust our show because they know we're driven by a mission to inform and serve listeners first and foremost with important news they won't get anywhere else. And our sponsors benefit from that halo effect. For more information on becoming a sponsor, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org.