Kristen Schaal is quite simple a fantastic human being. This is the great thing about entertainment writing; in what other field of journalism could I write that a person is a fantastic human being. On the conference call she was terribly charming and just a delight to listen to. Just to set the mood, this was Kristen’s opening statement.
I want to know what everybody’s wearing. -Kristen Schaal
And we’re off!
On her favorite aspect of playing Louise…
I think it’s getting to yell a lot and being encouraged to continue yelling. That’s unusual for a job so that’s one of my favorite aspects. And also getting to work with my friends and peers that I’ve sort of come up with through the common scenes over the last ten years and getting to meet new friends. It’s just the yelling and the being social.
On how she became involved with Bob’s Burgers…
Well, I kind of lucked out. Loren Bouchard was creating it and he was working with – he always works with
Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman and this woman named Holly Schlesinger and they happen to be friends with mine as well. And so, Holly suggested that he come to this, like, hole in the wall bar that we started turning into a comedy room on the lower east side, like three years ago or four years ago. And Loren came down and saw me before and then he wrote a character for me.
On not having to go through hair and makeup…
Well, I come in full hair and makeup. I just pay for it, just $400 every recording session. No, I don’t miss it at all. I love having hair and makeup done. It is one of my favorite things of behind the camera work. But, I still try to spruce up a little bit just because even though nobody can see you, there is something about looking professional that will help, at least helps me perform better. So I will put some mascara on. If anyone swings by the recording studio and wonders what that vision is behind the glass, it’s me with some mascara and gloss. Then I also try to find an outfit, usually a dress that has pockets in it just to sort of jam my hands in the pockets instead of like flailing them around because you can make lots of noise if you fidget. That’s my wardrobe.
A brief interlude….
Henry Hanks with CNN.com: Hi, Kristen. Thanks for joining us today.
K. Schaal: What did you say, Henry?
H. Hanks: I’m sorry. Thanks for talking to us today.
K. Schaal: Henry, are you kidding. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.
Did I mention that I love this woman?
On what convinced her to do Bob’ s Burgers….
Yes, I was a really slow burn. I wasn’t sure if the show was real or not for a while because there was lots of workshop spots to test it out. So when it did get picked up, I was really surprised. I was like …surprised. And then as Louise started developing overtime, I started to just love her more and more and definitely became – there was a real feeling of nervousness about whether or not we were going to get picked up. I know there’s no control in show business. There’s nothing you can do about it. But I was like, “Oh, I really hope I get to play her at least for a little bit longer because she’s so much fun.”
And from the Bunker…
J. Becker: Hi, Kristen. I’ve been cracking up over here. You’ve been hilarious so far.
K. Schaal: Thanks.
J. Becker: I love your standup. I’m just wondering how much have you able to pitch your own ideas in Bob’s Burgers?
K. Schaal: Oh, a lot. Like, not with the ideas of what the show’s going to be, that’s all the writers genius. But I do get to look in the dialogue in the way that Louise reacts to what’s going on and stuff. I’m allowed to improvise also, here and there. I don’t want to take too much away from the writers though because they do write lots of incredibly funny jokes in the dialogues. But I also get the freedom of piping up as well.
J. Becker: And I remember reading that you were working on a U.K. project. Is that still happening?
K. Schaal: Oh, that was a few years ago. That was a pilot that I co-created and wrote and starred in that is not coming into fruition. Do you believe it? No, but Penelope Princess was … So, I’ll keep fighting. I’ll just make something else.
J. Becker: Well thank you very much.
K. Schaal: Cool. Thank you.
