I love that. That’s what I consider the heart of a performer, someone who is in it for the right reasons. It’s like this passion, not like this, “I’m not too good for theater anymore.”
Oh my God. There is nothing like it. There is incredible content on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Content is art, art is content. Content is content. It’s all so wonderful. I love what Michaela Coel, who won the Emmy for “I May Destroy You,” … talked about [in her acceptance speech] about fitting in and success, and that these two things don’t necessarily need to meet. Success is for me like making. It’s likely to be on my bulletin board. I created the expression for myself, “Don’t wait, create.” Because when I was a young artist, my husband was a very, very, very successful white male. He would go to 10 auditions and I would wait, hoping for one. When I was unable to get an agent, he got lots of work. And I had to teach myself, and it was deeply uncomfortable to go, “Okay. I have to make my own stuff to feel joyful as an artist.”
And I had to really get into the cells of my body that no art is better than any other art. It is wonderful to be successful. I’m using my “Ted Lasso” mug because I love when art gets celebrated, especially art about kindness and art that is written by friends of mine, like Ashley Nicole Black [who writes for “Ted Lasso”]. It is a great way for artists to feel that their success is being recognized and praised. Because success is about making. In my view, success is simply doing. It’s the doing that brings me joy, and not the Emmys, that makes me feel peaceful at night. Like, don’t get me wrong — it’s all awesome! That stuff is my favorite, and I would love to have more.
However, in the end, you will spend much more time creating and on-set. And that has to be, for me, why I do it — the joy of creating, no matter what. The budget for this movie was very modest and they are hoping to make it into Sundance. I would love that. Because I was working alongside amazing people, I was sharing stories I’ve never heard before. It was so much fun. And that’s how I feel about “Dinette.” The joy is in the doing for me, the art of it, the play of it, of like, “Oh, I like you. I want to play with you. This is fun. I feel safe playing with you.” And we’re telling a story that I think needs to be told, where we’re talking about things I really want to put forth in the world to help heal us as a planet.
No! My mom was a New York City Ballet dancer as a child. So even though she left when she was about 10, there was always this… I think mothers and daughters are super complicated, as you can see from “Better Things” and “Orange Is the New Black”; any brilliant writer is always talking about mothers and daughters, right? … I can do it, but I didn’t want to be a dancer because I felt inferior. I was also fat and teased as a child, so I didn’t want to dance. However, behind closed doors, I would dance out, just like people sing in the bathroom. I was always Martha Graham-like. I wasn’t interested in tap, jazz, or ballet. If you give me some modern dance music (which could be anything), I will love it.
We took dance lessons together before we got married. Fred Astaire is a fan of the 5 pack for $9.99 or something. And we got into the biggest fight, because he was just like, “Stop, stop moving your hips. I can’t concentrate.” So at least Drae [Campbell, who portrays Mick in “Dinette”] did not feel that way.
