Transcript
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (0:01)
Hi there, it's me, Julia Louis Dreyfus. We're back for season three of Wiser Than Me. We're ready to bring you even more wisdom from the magnificent old women I have had the pleasure of talking to this season. And get a load of this. We've added some fun new items to our Wiser Than Me merch collection. Along with our classic tote bag and kitchen tea towel. We're introducing a new Wiser Than Me branded hardcover notebook and an exclusive partnership with Lingua Franca, a New York City based luxury and sustainable clothing brand. You got to check out the gorgeous hand embroidered sweatshirts, cashmere sweaters for you and your dog with wiser than me phrases. Yeah, cashmere for your dog. I did say that. Browse the whole collection and start shopping today by visiting wiserthanmeeshop.com.
Catherine O'Hara (0:52)
Lemonade.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (0:57)
So in my career, I've done mostly comedy. And my fondest memories are working with other actors to perfect a bit to like mine a moment for the most comedy possible. Honestly, I don't think about kudos or awards or reviews or paychecks or anything like that. And it's actually, it's not even the laughs. It's rehearsing to get the laughs. There's a scene in Aveep episode, for example, when I'm telling Tony, Tony Hale, who plays Gary, that the president is resigning. So my character, Selina Meyer, the veep, is going to become president. And we're in a bathroom, a dingy bathroom, and in the scene we're kind of laughing and crying and then he gets a bloody nose and oh, my God. We worked on that scene forever. It was exhausting, but over and over and over, looking for, like, little things we could bring to the scene, you know, like things that I sort of, in fact, pull out of a bag within the scene. I'm pulling stuff out of a bag. And when I watch it now, that's what I remember. The work, the joyful teamwork that Tony and I did in rehearsal and while shooting, you know, not. Not the laughs per se, but. But when you don't get the laughs. Oh, my goodness. You certainly do remember that. When I was just getting started, I was part of the Practical Theater Company in Chicago. And our show, which was called the Practical theater company's golden 50th anniversary jubilee, which was a joke, of course, because the company was new, it hadn't been around very long. It was a giant hit, and I'd never been in a giant hit before. And it was incredibly exciting. We were the Toast of the Town. The show was selling out, and the laughs we were getting were incredible. It was the culmination of a huge amount of work and joy. Exactly what I was just talking about. So the producers of SNL came to see the show, and they loved it, and they hired all of us to come to New York and be a part of SNL Saturday Night Live. Of course, we go to New York. And the SNL producers really wanted the current cast and writers to see what they had seen in Chicago. So they rented this very cool Off Broadway house, and they brought in a big, enthusiastic audience, and they had us recreate the whole hit show. Oh, wait a minute. Sorry. No, they didn't do that at all. Uh, they had us, four complete and total unknowns perform the first act of the show. Oh, my God. In the SNL office under fluorescent lights in the middle of the day in front of 20 very cynical, unfriendly SNL cast members and writers who already hated us because a bunch of their best friends had just been fired to make room for us. Okay, we never had a chance. Sketches that had killed in Chicago died a terrible, terrible death that day. It was excruciating. And that's when I learned what a flop sweat really is. I mean, I can feel it now as I'm recounting this. And I think that humiliation influenced our whole SNL experience for the next couple of years, to tell you the truth. I mean, if I could do it all over again. Well, I can't do it all over again, can I? I mean, you live, you learn, and whatever. I've learned a lot since that cringy day in a carpeted office on the 17th floor of 30 Rock. But one of the most enduring lessons that I have learned on Wiser Than Me is that there are so many ways to move forward confidently and positively, even in the face of great challenges. And it reminds me of one of my favorite improv lessons yet. Yes. And that is the great Viola Spolin's first rule of improv. You always say yes. And in an improv. So, like, for example, if somebody comes into a scene and says, hi, I'm an astronaut, you don't say, no, you're not an astronaut. You say, yes. And I'm so looking forward to hearing your astronaut poetry tonight or whatever. Yes. And that is so applicable to life off the stage as well as on it. You know, really, honestly, all of life is really a great big improv in the end. You know, relationships and work situations and, I mean, it's all about Collaborating and paying attention and accepting what others bring to the party and building on that and of course, making big choices. It's just a great thing. And paradoxically, another great thing I've learned from the women on this show is that no is a complete sentence. Weird how that too is, in the end, a positive, empowering kind of truth. Two sides of a wiser than me coin. And I have to say, speaking of wiser than me, I really, really want you to know how happy I am to have you nice audience, people listening to and enjoying these conversations, saying yes, and to our show. I'm so grateful. I really am. So thank you, dear listeners. And yes, and right back at you for real. How apropos then that today we are talking to the inestimable improv queen, Katherine O'Hara. I'm Julia Louis Dreyfus, and this is Wiser Than Me, the podcast where I get schooled by women who are wiser than me. There's nothing like improvisation. I love it. In my experience, the best improvisers are pretty much always the best listeners. That's the key to any great performance, comedy or drama listening. Our guest today is one of the finest listeners in the business, and to me that means one of the finest actors. Catherine O'Hara and I share similar origin stories. She started on stage at Second City Toronto. I started on stage at Second City Chicago. Although it was a touring company. She went on to Second City TV. I went on to SNL. She's been with her husband 36 years, I've been married 37, and we both have two perfect boys. We've known each other for decades through mutual friends, but we've never actually gotten to work together, God damn it. And I vow to change that. Catherine's TV career took off alongside fellow SCTV comedy legends John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Harold Ramis. This was pretty much the exact same time that SNL was exploding here in the States. Sctv, frankly, was always sort of the cool Canadian stepsister to Saturday Night Live. It was weirder. It was deeper, hipper for sure, more daring. And for me, the heart of the show was always Catherine O'Hara. She's not just funny, she's fearless, and that's an absolute joy to watch. She followed up sctv, working on tons of TV shows, often with her SCTV pals, and even dabbled in fancy director land with Marty Scorsese in After Hours, and then came home alone. And just like that, she was the blockbuster mom, which I rewatched last night, by the way. It holds up completely. And then Christopher Guest started to make his improvised movies, starting with Waiting for Guffman and best in show. And she's basically stolen every scene in every one of them. And I haven't even mentioned her Emmy award winning turn on Schitt's Creek. And I'm not going to go through every credit and every award because Holy crap, Catherine O'Hara likes to work, but you get the idea. She's unbelievably funny. Truth is, if you're watching something and Catherine O'Hara comes onto the screen, you just know that every time, she's going to score every time. Fellow SCTV alum Marty Short said of Catherine, she is one of the most loyal, wise human beings I've ever known. Which of course makes her perfect for our little podcast here. I couldn't be more excited to welcome to the show an actor, mother, comedy legend and woman who is truly wiser than me, the exquisite Catherine O'Hara. Hi, Katherine.