Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer’s TRAINWRECK is loaded with a murderer’s row of comedic talent recruited from the stand-up, improv and, strangely, professional sports scenes. From the audience’s perspective, it’s a windfall of laughs, with some of the funniest people on the planet jockeying for screen time. For the performers, it could be something of a nightmare; there are so many amazingly talented people bringing their A-game that one’s best work might land on the cutting room floor.
Fortunately, Apatow and Schumer know how to divvy up the laughs, leaving it to the viewer to decide whose material best jibes with their own sense of humor. For me, it’s a no-brainer. As Schumer’s co-worker/friend Nikki, Vanessa Bayer is an uproarious mixture of insincere compassion and clueless opportunism. She’s obliviously awful; I’d call her a backstabber if I thought Nikki had any idea that’s what she’s actually doing.
It’s just another wonderfully off-kilter creation from Bayer, whose been contributing some of my favorite characters to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE since she joined the cast in 2010. Though best-known for her spot-on Miley Cyrus impersonation and, of course, frequent “Weekend Update” guest Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah Boy, it was Bayer’s relentlessly cheery portrayal of child actor Laura Parsons that truly blew my mind. It was a perfectly absurd depiction of young actors taking on adult material well beyond their experience (e.g. A FEW GOOD MEN, ON THE WATERFRONT and, the capper, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). A couple of years later, Bayer and the equally brilliant Cecily Strong introduced their former-porn-stars-shilling-luxury-items sketch, and I knew I’d be a fan for life.
In preparing to interview Bayer at the TRAINWRECK press day, I realized she hailed from Shaker Heights, the same part of Cleveland, Ohio where my dad grew up. After blowing a few minutes attempting to figure out if our dads went to Shaker Heights High School at the same time*, we delved into topics that might be of interest to more than a handful of people.
Jeremy Smith: I was surprised to look at your filmography and find that this is your feature debut. I feel like they would’ve gotten to you by now. Were there other offers, or were you waiting for something that felt right?
Vanessa Bayer: I’ve auditioned for other stuff, and maybe had a couple of offers, but this was honestly one of the first things that came my way. I auditioned for it, and it was the first time I’d ever met Amy Schumer. We instantly got along. We read lines and improvised together, and it was great.
Jeremy: I always envision the comedy community being so tight-knit, so I’m surprised that you two hadn’t met before.
Bayer: Yeah! I mean, we had friends in common, but I guess part of it is even though I do stand-up, there’s a stand-up community I’m less familiar with. I’m sort more from the improv world, and I think that’s why we’d never crossed paths. But once we met, we were instantly friends.
Jeremy: One of the things I love about Nikki is that her smile is her defense mechanism. That’s such a great character quirk. How much of that was on the page, and what did you bring to the role yourself?
Bayer: Judd let us improvise quite a bit, and he would throw out suggestions. And Amy, even though she wrote this amazing script, she was really open to us improvising. We’d usually run the scene as it was written, and then improvise off of it. One of the things that’s amazing about Amy is that she’s an incredible improviser, but also very supportive and generous with screen time. She would allow other people to shine. Even though it was her script, she was never like, “This is my scene.” She would let other people play around with the script. It never felt like work, and I think it has truly ruined every movie I’ll ever do in the future.
Jeremy: I’m thinking specifically of that scene with Tilda in the editorial meeting, where she’s just going at you, and you can’t stop smiling. How intimidating was that, and how deep into the character did Tilda go? Did she ever get method with it?
Bayer: She’s such a sweet, warm person, so when we weren’t shooting, she was the nicest person – even though when she had that outfit on she still looked super intimidating. But when we were in those scenes, it was scary for her to be disciplining you. But also just having the other people who work at the magazine in that scene, they’re all so funny that you felt a little comfort with them just being there.
Jeremy: Since you’ve come on SNL, you’ve created some of my favorite recurring characters. I think the first one I saw you do was the child actor, which was hilarious but also eerily accurate. I love the whole idea of young actors doing material that is way too mature for them. Where did you find this character?
Bayer: There was this afterschool program called “Stagecrafters” at my school, and that’s how the girls who performed with me would talk. Then I was a drama instructor at a kids’ overnight camp, and I saw kids like that. I think when you’re a kid, everything you do you overact. The other thing that’s so funny, which I don’t really do as that character, is that child actors, when they sing, they sing with a British accent. I haven’t gotten to do that with the character, but there are so many gestures and sing-songy voices, and then when they go into song, it’s British! I don’t know why!
Jeremy: Maybe it’s because they watch a lot of MARY POPPINS?
Bayer: I remember when we did PETER PAN, the girls were singing “Tender Shepherd” like, “Tend-ah Shep-ahd.” And I’m like, “That’s not your voice! That’s not your real accent!”
Jeremy: That’s some weird learned behavior.
Bayer: Yeah. Kids who sing with British accents.
Jeremy: Another character of yours that I absolutely love is Brecky, the former porn star character you do with Cecily Strong. What was the origin of those characters?
Bayer: It was around the holidays at 30 Rock, and there’s always a pop-up Swarovski shop right outside in the plaza. We saw it, and immediately started saying it in those voices. It was just this organic thing of us talking like that. We always write those sketches with Colin Jost, and we were just thinking, “That is a really hard thing to say, and how would these girls say it?” And then it became this thing of “What other luxury brands would be hard for them to say?” Then we tried to figure out these girls’ end goal, and we decided it was to get free stuff. The more we do it, the more specific it gets; you can see into their lives a little more.
Jeremy: That’s always an end-of-the-night sketch. What determines that a sketch is best performed in that slot?
Bayer: If it’s either very bizarre or very dirty, they wouldn’t want it to be at the beginning of the show. They like to warm up to those things. I also think you want to have that crazy fun thing right before goodnights. I think it’s just the way that they do it, but we always know we’re going to be in that slot. The only bummer about that is if the show’s running long, ten minutes before we go on we sometimes have to cut out a whole run of jokes. I would love it if we one day got to do one the full way, because there’s always more stuff in there.
Jeremy: Does that sketch depend on having a guest host who’s up for doing it?
Bayer: I will say that the last few times we’ve done it, the host has asked to do it. The fact that they know something you do, and they really want to do it, that’s the biggest compliment. Whenever they come on the show, you never know if they even watch the show; they’re busy, and who knows what they’re watching. So whenever someone requests to do one of your sketches, that’s the greatest compliment.
Jeremy: It feels like SNL goes through cycles where they get an ensemble that clicks for a few years. And when they move on, it feels like there’s a transitional period before the next ensemble clicks. It feels like this current ensemble is really clicking right now. How long do you think that could last?
Bayer: It does feel like a great ensemble, and it always feels like such a loss when anyone leaves. I don’t know, but we’ll see. I’m having such a great time there, and it’s such a fun cast right now because everyone is bringing something different; there are endless combinations of people and sketches. But I have a big problem with change, so… (Laughs)
Jeremy: So maybe you’ll just keep holding on.
Bayer: (Laughs) Yeah. For as long as possible.
Jeremy: You’ve also been branching out with “Sound Advice”. Are you thinking about developing any of these characters for a movie?
Bayer: We’ve talked about maybe doing a longer version of “Sound Advice”, but I don’t know what form it would take. It’s really a fun thing to do. I write the web series with my brother. Pete Schultz, who works on “Weekend Update”, is our director, and he will write ideas, too. I don’t know what form it will eventually take, but I hope we can keep doing them.
Jeremy: It reminds me in a way of Martin Short’s Jiminy Glick, but it also calls to mind people I see at these junkets. Was there a specific experience that inspired this character?
Bayer: I don’t know. My brother really is a music journalist, and he’s done these interviews. He’s so good at writing the questions, because they’re questions that he would never use. I feel like I’ve had interviews where people have asked me things where I’m like, “Are you serious?” Not you obviously.
Jeremy: (Laughs) Thank god.
Bayer: People often say stuff to you where you’re like, “Was that a joke? Are you trying to be funny?”
There isn’t much effort as far as Vanessa Bayer is concerned. See for yourself in TRAINWRECK, which is currently in theaters. And check back in when SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE returns for its 41st season this fall.
*Postscript to the Shaker Heights discussion: I learned that my dad actually went to the neighboring Orange High School, which Ms. Bayer also attended. That’s something they both have in common with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos!
