Molly Shannon: The Corner of Too Nice and Too Funny
You first got to know Molly Shannon for her great characters on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2001. She’s also given memorable performances in movies like “Superstar”, “Talladega Nights”, “Year of the Dog” and of course on the HBO series, “Enlightened”. This week she stopped by the SiriusXM studios to talk with Ron Bennington about Scary Movie 5. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
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Molly Shannon Talks About Appearing on “Enlightened”
Ron Bennington: I want to get something out of the way. You and Mike White this year, did the best TV episode – not only this year, but that I’ve seen in a long long time.
Molly Shannon: That’s so sweet.
Ron Bennington: It was so fantastic.
Molly Shannon: Thank you so much. Thank you. I really appreciate you saying that. And it is one of my favorite all time acting experiences ever.
Ron Bennington: Really?
Molly Shannon: Because Mike White is a friend of mine and he knows how to write for me. And I just love that’s it sweet and dramatic and touching. And I love…it’s a scene about 2 people trying to get close and kind of how hard that is. And I feel like in the movies, you always see the glossy version of that, but I like how awkward and kind of scary it is and fumbley. I love that.
Ron Bennington: And why even open yourself up? Because pain could happen. It’s such a risk for people to do.
Molly Shannon: Yeah, exactly. That’s how I feel.
Ron Bennington: But I was saying this to…Luke Wilson came in and I was like, before that, I was always like – oh, Mike White is this funny, clever guy. After that, I’m like – he’s a genius. That was just brilliant.
Molly Shannon: That is so sweet. Aw.
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Molly Shannon Talks About Choosing Projects
Ron Bennington: You’re always involved in all kinds of different stuff, aren’t you?
Molly Shannon: I am. I try to do all different stuff and just have fun. I mostly just think – does it seem like fun? That’s kind of how I approach things.
Ron Bennington: But has that always been like that way since the beginning?
Molly Shannon: No. Because I used to have to make money. I mean I still have to always make money and think about that and supporting my family, but…no, in the beginning, I really struggled. I worked in restaurants for a lot of years. And I was a hostess and I did telemarketing and I did all kinds of jobs. And I really kind of struggled for awhile and at a certain point, I was like – uhh. There’s was so much rejection with trying to break into TV, that at a certain point actually right before I got SNL, I was like – God, I don’t even know if I have the heart to do this anymore. Because it kind of hurt my feelings like when you get rejected, you keep trying. So then, I took like a year off and just focused on my stage show and developing my show and comedy. But I took year off where I didn’t audition at all. I just focused on my material and writing and then I got SNL shortly after that.
Ron Bennington: And then it just blew up for you.
Molly Shannon: It did. Yeah.
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Molly Shannon Talks About Being a Mom
Ron Bennington: And then, the difference, I think, with men and women, when you go into motherhood, that takes certain focus other places where I don’t think men do that as much.
Molly Shannon: Yeah.
Ron Bennington: I think men are like – yeah, I’ve got a kid at home and off they go. But for women, it’s a totally different experience.
Molly Shannon: It is. I love being a mother. For me, I’m so happy that I made it happen because I was career driven for so long, I actually thought – oh God, maybe this isn’t going to work out. Maybe I’m not going to meet somebody in time, but luckily it all fell into place. So, I feel so fulfilled being a mom.
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Molly Talks About Juggling Motherhood and Work
Ron Bennington: But then, did show business suddenly drop down for you in what you cared about?
Molly Shannon: It dropped down mostly. A little bit because I wanted it to. I did “Kath & Kim” after I left SNL which was a single camera show, but I have to say it’s harder if you’re a mom and you’re the star of one of those shows. Because it’s so many hours per week. So, I didn’t love it. I didn’t like it too much. I felt like too much work. Whereas now, I kind of feel in a better position where I can….I did “Enlightened” and I do guest spots on TV shows and I do a movie, but I can take months off or weeks off and so for me, that makes me happier. I would do a series again if it’s the right thing, but it would really have to be close to the right thing – like for me to work that hard and be away from the kids that long. I just don’t want to regret…I don’t think when they’re 18, I’m going to go – I wish I would have worked more. I don’t feel that way.
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Molly Shannon Talks About Being Recognized in Front of Her Kids
Ron Bennington: Is it weird for them that people know who you are? And throw out catchphrases at you and stuff?
Molly Shannon: That is weird. I think they’re like…I just try to talk about it with them. My son’s really easy going about it. I feel more sensitive with my daughter, so I’ll just ask her – does that seem weird? Or does that bother you if we get interrupted? And she’ll go – no, it’s okay. I kind of include her in it because it can be weird because strangers talk to you a lot. And it can take up our time. So, I’m a little shorter with people. If I’m with my kids, I’m probably not…whereas if I’m alone, I’m very outgoing and I’ll spend time talking to people. But if I’m with them, I’m like – oh, thank you so much. I keep it quick. Because I don’t want to….yeah, it’s a little weird.
Ron Bennington: Yeah, because especially when they’re really little, you just feel like any attention away from you is horrific.
Molly Shannon: Yeah, exactly. But what was I going to say? But they’re pretty sweet about it though. They seem to understand. And I tell them that I want to be nice because those people are fans and they understand.
Ron Bennington: Because a lot of that stuff happened before they were born, right? A lot of the catchphrase stuff that you’re known for.
Molly Shannon: Yeah. They don’t understand any of that. (laughs) They’re like – what?? Yeah, they don’t understand. Well, actually I have a funny story about that. I took my kids, Stella and Nolan with their 2 friends, Chella and Sophia, these twin girls to the Grove to see a movie. And people come up to me and do “Superstar” and they do stuff. And none of the kids knew what that was about, but Chella went home and told her mom, she was like – I feel for so bad for Molly because all these people come up to her and they smell their armpits. I don’t know why they do that. It’s makes me feel bad for Molly. (laughs) Isn’t that funny?
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Molly Shannon Talks About Scary Movie 5
Ron Bennington: You’ve got “Scary Movie 5”.
Molly Shannon: Yeah, that comes out Friday.
Ron Bennington: And that’s something that you can just work on and get back to your life?
Molly Shannon: Exactly. I shot it in like 2 weeks in Atlanta and it was so easy and so fun. And working with David Zucker was so fantastic. It was just like fun. Yeah, 2 weeks. It was like a vacation. Because you work, but then you’re staying at a fancy hotel. I love it.
Ron Bennington: Did everybody go along with you? Or was it something that you go off?
Molly Shannon: That particular one, they didn’t go along with me. I think I did it in 2 separate…like 4 days here and then I went back to L.A. and then maybe 4 more days. So, I went by myself for that particular chip. I didn’t bring them.
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Molly Shannon Talks About Getting Her Start
Ron Bennington: You started in improv?
Molly Shannon: I did. I did my own show. I took classes at Second City, but I wasn’t like one of those super professional improvisers with space work. I could never get that, like Mike Myers, like some of those people that are from a real technical improvisational school. I just met people in improv class and I developed my own comedy show called “The Rob and Molly Show” with this guy, Rob Muir. And we just did a bunch of characters, like I would do a character, he would do a character. And in that show, I did Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley and we put together a 50 minute stage show. And we would do it every 2 months in L.A. and I would invite everybody and pay for the piano player and that’s how I got “Saturday Night Live”. From that comedy show.
Ron Bennington: And there was always like a vulnerability to characters.
Molly Shannon: Yeah.
Ron Bennington: Was that something you felt yourself?
Molly Shannon: It was something I felt myself. Like I never want to make fun of the characters. I don’t like when people make fun of a character – like I care about those characters and they come from inside me. So, I like when they have heart and they’re more human. And then, you know what they want and you can relate to what they want. Yeah, it’s from inside of me, so I feel like… yeah, it’s serious to me.
Ron Bennington: Yeah, it is serious to you.
Molly Shannon: Even though it’s comedy. (laughs)
Ron Bennington: Yeah, but you feel like you want to take care of that character.
Molly Shannon: Yeah, I’m not making fun of it. I have a love for them.
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Ron Bennington: Thank you so much for stopping by.
Molly Shannon: It’s so nice to be here. You’re so sweet.
Ron Bennington: Alright, we’ll see you next time coming through. Bye.
Molly Shannon: Okay, good. Okay, bye. Thank you.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMDZ8M47j0I]==============================================================
Find out more about Scary Movie 5 at ScaryMovie5.com.
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You can hear this interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio. Not yet a subscriber? Click here for a free trial subscription.
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You can learn more about Ron Bennington’s two interview shows, Unmasked and Ron Bennington Interviews atRonBenningtonInterviews.com.
