What’s your process to prepare for directing, and how does this compare with your past films? fionasack
Well, Lucy and Desi is the first documentary I’ve directed. There’s tons of prep and research before you can even start shaping the story. It was great to work on during a pandemic because, rather than being on set, I was out interviewing people. My editor – who worked on the Bee Gees and Pavarotti documentaries – and I kept carving away to get a point of view. It really started to take shape as we got to understand the subject more. So it was a very different animal.
How big an influence has Lucille Ball been on your own comedy? DeJongandtherestless
As all good art comes in and out of your life, you see it in different ways. I Love Lucy felt like a show that came with my TV, but it wasn’t until I was older that I really started to notice Lucille Ball’s performance. Then I started rewatching it for the writing, production and nostalgia. She’s a huge influence because she took very surreal and crazy situations and played them so grounded.
As Lucille Ball seems to be such a big influence, who would you have as guests at your dream dinner table? isislloyd
I think I’ll just make the dinner table Lucy and Desi related, so Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Carol Burnett, Bette Midler, Norman Lear and Sammy Davis Jr would be a pretty boisterous table. I feel like with that gang, there’d be a lot of cigarettes and not a lot of eating, so maybe we’d just order in a pizza.
If you were in your 20s, how would you try to get into comedy? Would you still go down the improv/Second City route, or would you be blowing up on TikTok? EmilyM
The business has changed so much, yet talent still seems to find its way. I didn’t have any connections when I first started my improv sketch group and doing live performances. So: it’s a great question. Please don’t make me go back to my 20s, I guess is my answer. Don’t make me go back. You can’t make me go back.
Kathryn Hahn refers to you as a real “woman’s woman” – supportive and dedicated to the empowerment and growth of women. What else can we expect from Paper Kite Productions and how do you keep finding the energy to inspire the next generation of young women into becoming future leaders of comedy? HannaJames
Paper Kite is my production company. We produce film, TV and animation. Russian Doll season two is coming out next month, and Harlem season two has just got picked up on Amazon. It’s such a joy to run that company with these genius women. Producing and directing gives me great satisfaction. How do I find the energy? I don’t know. Maybe if I do have to go back to my 20s, I’ll bottle up a backpack’s worth of my 20s energy and take it in capsule form.
You seem equally at home writing, directing and producing as you do in front of the camera. But which makes you feel the most vulnerable? HannaJames
I think if you’re doing your job right, you should be feeling unsure and vulnerable because it means you’re pushing yourself to try new things. Doesn’t vulnerability find its way into everything? I’ll answer the opposite, which is I certainly don’t feel invulnerable in any way at all.
My husband and I just finished watching Parks and Rec for the third time, this time with our kids (nine, 13 and 15), who howled with laughter; it’s so joyous and hopeful. What’s the secret to its rewatchability? MillHouseMo
I think – to get a little existential – when times are scary and unsure, we like to go back to things that we’ve seen before. Comedy especially is a way to medicate. A lot of people went back to shows that they knew would keep them happy, that they could watch with their family, and they knew how would end. And I think Parks and Rec was lucky to be one of those.
Leslie Knope was often labelled a “steamroller” for how she conducted herself in her relationships. How does a woman give herself the agency of respect without being misinterpreted as domineering or overbearing? HannaJames
I don’t know if it’s even a woman’s job to try to figure out the balance. We should take the burden off women in general. Women are constantly being asked to walk the fine line of likable, aggressive, speaking their mind and being pleasant. We should shift the burden from figuring out the right way to express how women feel and be more receptive to the idea of creating a little more space.
I very often find myself thinking: “What would Leslie Knope do?” Do you? Jonesie38
Oh, yes. I mean, talk about energy. That character is such an engine, so action oriented and always trying to figure out a way up and out. She has a strong sense of justice and is a loyal guardian to her friends. She sees things in people that they don’t see in themselves and believes in people before they do. She doesn’t always think or act correctly, but her heart is always in the right place. So, yes, I do sometimes think about what Leslie would do.
Since Leslie is such a lover of breakfast foods, what is your favourite breakfast item? Newbarbarian
Oh boy, this is where we differ. I don’t want to cause a problem – I like waffles, but I don’t love them. I’m more of a savoury breakfast person … and that’s the kind of acting you’re going to get from me. My character might love a waffle; I just like it. Those are the kind of stretches you get when I act.
What British comedy do you like? Thatonethere
I’m a child of the 80s, so our British comedy came smuggled on a VHS tape from the cousin of a friend who had heard about a show called Brass Eye. So we had to get a lot of our British comedy bootleg style, unless it was something more mainstream like Monty Python that was shown on PBS. We didn’t have access in the way we do now, so it took so long for us to discover your beautiful shining jewels.
What is your opinion on dark comedy and would you ever play a character like Fleabag? NourMyth
I haven’t heard a word you said because I’m still furiously trying to think of the best British comedies to seem cool. I’m too scared to even start naming because I have such deep reverence for British comedy. Americans my age felt very special when we got to discover it, like we were the only ones who knew who Garth Marenghi was. Gimme a minute.
What is your advice to young aspiring film-makers and writers? ellapascua
Hmm. Get your list of the best British comedies ready for the Guardian, for fuck’s sake. For comedy writers – and this advice is not new in any way – just write constantly, all the time, as much as you can, as much as you can stand. Because, like any muscle, you have to keep working it. It’s the same with acting, improvising … you just have to keep trying.
You’ve written, produced, and directed so many phenomenal pieces of TV and film over the years, what kinds of stories do you gravitate towards now, and how do they differ from what interested you 10 years ago? bvckle
I have no fun answer for this, but I’m just always trying to find new interesting ways to figure out characters and people. Sorry. I’m in a total spiral about my list of British comedies. I can’t stop thinking about it. You name some British comedies and I’ll rate them from one to five biscuits. Alan Partridge? Five biscuits! The Office UK? Five biscuits! Peep Show? Five biscuits! Fawlty Towers? Four biscuits.
If you were to direct another documentary, what or who would you do it on? lauren8101
Oh, I don’t know. Who would you like to see a documentary on? French and Saunders? Twenty-five biscuits! I have such high respect for British comedy that I was paralysed at the thought of talking about my favourite types of it. Now there’s just this incredible cross-pollination of casting, writers and actors working together in ways that I don’t think they ever did before, which is frankly very exciting, like Catastrophe with the great Rob Delaney and the great Sharon Horgan. Catastrophe! Five biscuits and one cookie, because Rob Delaney is American.
Lucy and Desi is on Prime Video now