Features

Photo Credit: Jory Cordy

by jonathan soroff

Comedian and actor Jenny Slate, 29, was raised in Milton before moving to New York. After graduating from Columbia, she worked as a stand-up and eventually landed the dream job of being a cast member on Saturday Night Live during the 2009–2010 season. She has appeared in the HBO series Bored to Death and can be seen in the upcoming series Girls, premiering in April. In movies, she plays the mother of the character voiced by Zac Efron in the animated film The Lorax. In 2010, Slate cowrote and voiced the award-winning animated short film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On with her fiancé, Dean Fleischer-Camp (who directed and animated). The pair published their first book, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me in 2011, and it became a New York Times best seller. She lives in Los Angeles.

Jonathan Soroff: First of all, are Lucky Charms magically delicious?
Jenny Slate: Yes, they are. Definitely. But you’re not supposed to eat anything but the marshmallows.

What else are they besides marshmallows?
I just eat the marshmallows. They’re like aliens. They’re so crunchy and good.

Mascot you’d most like to kill?
This is bad, but I really don’t like McGruff. I think he’s gross. I don’t like what he wears. I don’t like how big he is compared to real dogs, and the fact that he’s supposed to be a dog means he doesn’t even know how to do drugs. He can shut up.

Most depraved thing you’ve ever done?
I hate to say it, because I’m sure my grandmother will be reading this, but one time in college when I was really drunk, I definitely used the bathroom in ways it wasn’t meant for. I’ll leave it at that.

Biggest length you’ve ever gone to for a laugh?
One time at camp, I thought it would be really funny to just take all my clothes off and hide in a closet, then jump out when my friends came in. But only one of my friends came in, so it was awkward because we were alone.

Is laughter the best medicine?
No. If you have herpes, a giggle is not gonna kick that. Maybe if you had psoriasis and were grumpy and then all of a sudden you laughed really hard, it might clear it up. But laughter is definitely not the best medicine if there’s something wrong with your genitals. Then, the best medicine is Valtrex.

Why does Boston produce so many funny people?
Good question. I think Boston is filled with characters. It’s a combination of being very old and proper, very parochial. I think there’s the temptation to be a little outrageous and make some noise. Just look at the South Shore Plaza. It’s like a one-woman show.

How close are you to the stoner character you play on Bored to Death?
Fairly close, in that I think there’s nothing wrong with smoking pot in a responsible way. And I think she’s a very dreamy person, and I’m that way. But I don’t dress like her, nor would I ever want to have a threesome. I’m too scatterbrained. I need to focus on one person, and the idea of more than one sexual act going on at the same time confuses me.

Your biggest idiosyncrasy?
I’m incredibly timid in cars and afraid of the dark. I’m pretty timid in general, physically. I’m afraid of getting hurt. Those people who are like, “Oh, it’ll be so fun to hike up this mountain!” I’m immediately freaking out and want to kill myself.

You dropped the F-bomb on Saturday Night Live. How much do you think that cost?
I think it was past a certain time in the evening, so it didn’t cost anything. But no one ever discussed it with me.

Was SNL like working in a pressure cooker?
Not for me. I really enjoyed it. It was a lot like freshman year in college. Very fun and free.

Whose idea was Marcel the Shell With Shoes On?
Both Dean and mine together. I started doing the voice, and then he just started asking the questions.

What kind of shell is she?
Well, Marcel is a boy, first of all…

What? I’ve always assumed he was a she!
Nope. Marcel is a boy. A lot of people think that, but I’m not sure how gender-specific we really have to get, especially since there’s a lot of pink going on in the wardrobe department.

What’s one thing you’d never joke about?
Eating disorders. It’s just not funny. There are so many women with eating disorders, and I don’t have a way to make that funny. If someone does, go ahead, but I can’t find a way to do that, and the idea of a woman in the audience feeling shame when she probably already feels that makes me want to shut up forever.

Favorite comedian of all time?
I really love Bill Murray. But I was also always obsessed with Madeline Kahn and Carol Burnett.

What did your parents say when you told them you wanted to become a comedian?
They always knew it was coming. I never had a backup plan. No plan B. And not because I’m so confident. I just always knew this was what I’d do.

Is stand-up dead?
No! It’s very alive and changing and growing.

Don’t you have to watch everything you say?
No. You have to watch what you say in interviews. I once did an interview where I mentioned Lactaid pills, and he wrote it as lactate pills, like I was taking something to make milk come out of my breasts. It was so embarrassing.

Three adjectives to describe you?
Bubbly…

You said ugly?
[Laughs.] Bubbly! And kind. And spazzy.

What’s your favorite knock-knock joke?
I’ve always loved the interrupting cow because when I was younger, I had a crazy, horny crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and I read an interview with him where he told that joke. I was in love with him.

So was The Lorax the easiest payday of your career?
Probably, because it was so much fun. Plus, despite the fact that I’m a lady and I don’t like showing up in like, stretch pants and a sweatshirt, it doesn’t really matter what you look like.

Are you a good mimic?
I think so, but there are accents I can’t do at all. I can’t do a British accent. I’m not Anne Hathaway. But I am good at doing people I know.

Can you explain the pie-in-the-face gag and why it’s supposed to be funny?
I have no idea who invented it, but it’s super old-fashioned, so I’m guessing someone like the Three Stooges. I have no idea why food in the face is funny, but it is.

Photographed by Jory Cordy; wardrobe styling: Natalie Toren; hair: Ramsell Martinez using Oribe/Therexagency.com; makeup: Eleanor Sabaduquia; wardrobe: Equipment shirt, J Brand jeans and Emily Factor scarf