Jenny Slate kills it in the new comedy Obvious Child. It's the story about a stand-up comedian name Donna Stern, played by Slate, whose one-night stand with Max ( Jake Lacy of The Office ) makes a baby.
Hilarity ensues with the film that was a hit at Sundance, winning the Red Crown Producer's Award, making it one of the best romantic comedies in a long time.
Slate appeared on Saturday Night Live for a year, and contributed to the Kroll Show and Parks and Recreation. She authored Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and is set to star in Married on FX in July.
Windy City Times talked to her and the director of Obvious Child, Gillian Robespierre, at a coffee shop while in town about Crocs, abortion and gay besties.
Windy City Times: How was the screening in Chicago?
Gillian Robespierre: Everyone was laughing.
Jenny Slate: The laughs were big so that is always nice to hear.
WCT: This movie started as a small short?
Gillian Robespierre:Yes, my friends Anna Bean and Karen Maine got together in the winter of 2009. We came up with this idea and we were looking for the perfect lady who is both funny and charming. We found that in Jenny after we saw her stand-up act.
WCT: Was the stand-up act added in?
Gillian Robespierre:It wasn't in the original short. In the short Donna did not have a job. It was 20 minutes so we had to get the story in. She got dumped, had one night stand then she had the abortion. She had a great date in an unlikely location.
When we expanded it into a feature I sat down to write it for Jenny. I was looking for a profession because we wanted to make her world bigger so we gave her more friends and a family. We had that moment where she should be a stand-up comedian. She is very confident and able to expose herself onstage. It was a fun place to take Donna to with her story. That was where the comedy started.
WCT: What an honor to have the piece tailored to you, Jenny. Not many actresses have the opportunity to showcase their acting and comedy together like this.
Jenny Slate: It was a full plate. I felt like I was ready for it in my career. What Gillian wrote was so perfect. I couldn't have imagined something like that. It was really dreamy for me. Usually the character is not as equally sensitive as they are funny especially for women.
WCT: Why do you think abortion is still so controversial today?
Gillian Robespierre:I think our legislation is part of that and our government is part of it. Women's rights are under attack. While we have come a long way it is still a really scary terrain for our culture. We didn't set out to make this movie a game changer but we wanted to tell a story that hadn't been told before in movies, especially mainstream movies. We tried to make it very entertaining and funny.
We put it in the romantic comedy genre because that is a very palatable to watch. I love watching those kinds of movies all the time. I just watched When Harry Met Sally last night. They are great movies that make you feel warm and loved and not so alone. I think taking that and infusing it with a topic that is under attack and depicted in sometimes scary ways was interesting for us to explore.
Jenny Slate: It is taking those subjects back and treating them in a way that is more normal and more authentic. Of course there is a place for this in a setting that is more playful and thoughtful. There is a place for it in any woman's life and there is a place for our movie in the world. I don't think we are pushing anything on anyone.
Gillian Robespierre:It is one woman's story. We were really passionate to tell it in this way.
WCT: Which one of you has a gay best friend like Joey in the story?
Jenny Slate: Gabe Liedman is my gay best friend. He is my comedy partner. You should look up our Web series it's called Bestie X Bestie.
WCT: He's very funny in the movie.
Jenny Slate: He's the best! He has a great half hour Comedy Central special and he writes for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We met when we were 18. We have been stand-up partners since we were 22. We do separate stand-up too but that is how Gillian and I met was at our show that we started in Williamsburg.
Gillian Robespierre:It wasn't in the short but when we decided to make Donna's world bigger we immediately wanted Gabe to be in it because he's so funny and a wonderful actor. I wrote it for him as well.
WCT: Do you hate Crocs since they were mentioned in the film?
Gillian Robespierre:No; I am the proud owner of those orange Crocs now.
Jenny Slate: That is the one thing we disagree on. I can't stand them!
Gillian Robespierre:I don't wear them outside but in my own home, lovely.
WCT: What do you think of the shoes with toes? I call them frog shoes.
Jenny Slate: I hate them. I don't think people should be allowed to go to the supermarket in them. I think it's rude and gross and weird. That's on you if you wear that shit, okay? I saw this dude in Whole Foods wearing them, ugh. It's like camel toe!
WCT: How were you different than Donna?
Jenny Slate: The things I found most exciting were those differences. Donna is really smart-alecky. That is not the way my humor is. I whip it out quickly.
Gillian Robespierre:Donna is more passive.
Jenny Slate: I would never do what she does. She gets drunk and bombs onstage. I wouldn't put myself in that position.
Gillian Robespierre:Donna is more wild and out of control. Her stand-up is more confessional.
Jenny Slate: It is more sex based where mine is about my family and formative years. Donna is a bit more brassy than I am.
WCT: Tell me about your new FX series.
Jenny Slate: It is called Married, and is created by Andrew Gurland, who is smart and funny. It stars me, Judy Greer, Nat Faxon, Brett Gelman [and] Paul Reiser, who plays my husband. I play a not very much reformed party girl who marries someone her father's age because she has some daddy issues. It is about constantly dysfunctioning marriages with a bunch of people living in the Valley. It's dark but very funny. It's very different than anything I have done before.
WCT: FX is a great network.
Jenny Slate: Yes, the executives give us a lot of freedom.
WCT: Your character in Obvious Child reminded me of several of my friends.
Jenny Slate: I think it is special because it is one woman's story and you watch it because you connect to her. The difference is we are not saying that all women do this.
Gillian Robespierre:Things that I think are universal are getting dumped and having complex relationships.
Jenny Slate: Having to get your shit together and not having a perfect way to do it.
WCT: How do you feel about the ending?
Gillian Robespierre:Well, I wrote it...
WCT: I wanted it to keep going.
Gillian Robespierre:That's a good sign! It was always going to end that way. We leave Max and Donna how we met them. I never wanted to wrap it up perfectly. I hate movies like that. I think it is a big homage to The Graduate and Say Anything, two of my favorite endings.
When the seat belt light goes on at the end of Say Anything I was thinking, "Ione Skye is going to dump John Cusack's ass or they might be really good together and live happily ever after."
Obvious Child is currently playing at a theater now.