The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Nasim Pedrad

Episode Date: February 6, 2024

Nasim Pedrad joins Andy Richter to discuss playing a teenage boy in her show "Chad," her path to "Saturday Night Live," turning her real-life father into a television star, the genius and decency of Tina Fey, and much more.

Hi everybody, welcome back to The Three Questions. I'm your host, Andy Richter. Today I'm talking to Nassim Pedrad. Nassim is an actress, comedian, and writer. You know her from SNL, New Girl, or her current show, Chad, which she also created, writes, and stars in. Season two of Chad is out now on the Roku channel. Nassim joined me live in the studio. We had a great conversation and she's really a lot of fun. Here she is, Nassim Pedrad. What was the genesis of the show? Like what? Well, I, so after I left,

so I did SNL like 2009 to 2014 did you not know nobody told me that um and i left uh i left here i left with melanie actually to oh right yeah his sitcom which um honestly was like such a great lesson early on in my career of you could just have the most incredible pedigree around a project and sometimes things just don't last and they don't come together and and at that point I'd already left SNL where you know I was just starting to have so much fun there and I was like well it doesn't make sense to go back. I think I'm really ready to create my own thing. So Chad has been in the work for many years of my life. I got a development deal after Mulaney ended.

And yeah, basically, they were like, well, what show do you want to write? And I'm pretty sure it was with 20th, with Fox. And I'm pretty sure they expected me to write a show where I'm a girl in my date, you know, 30s dating in a big city. And I was like, what about this totally weirder idea? I'm a boy in my teens. Yes. Not dating. Yes. And yeah, it's it sounded and probably was very scary. And yeah, and this is before Pen15, which, oh, oh my gosh another show that i really really love

um so they just kind of like they weren't sure about it and then i just got lucky this show has been like the little engine that could they let me shoot it and then ultimately they were like this feels like a cable show so then it went to tbs and now now it's at roku yeah i'm the king of having an idea that I never do anything with. And then I see something that's like similar and I'm like, well, shit. Now, when you saw Pen15, did you go like, oh, no. Well, yeah, it was funny because I had started Chad, but again, it was like held up going from 20th to tbs for a couple years most of the show has just been lawyers going back and forth deciding yeah where to put it um and pen 15 came out during that but

you know it's it's it's totally it's that show is so special and original and it felt different enough but i yeah i once i cracked the character of who chad was and i figured out what the you know the comedic engine of the show is and the comedic dynamic between the characters i i really believed in it and i was like all right well i'm just gonna bet on myself and obviously until i get to an absolute no the show the can't exist, then I'll pivot to something else. But as long as it looks like there's a light at the end of the tunnel, I'm just going to stick by my vision. And I was lucky that I got to. Did you get a lot of pushback for stealing a job from a male actor? By confused people.

There's so few jobs out there and you stole one. people there's so few jobs out there and you stole one it's so funny there was so much like people took umbrage with that before the show even came well they were people were so not sure of what it was like people were like is she making a show about trans people is it i'm like i'm just like earnestly playing this little boy like and honestly, I mean, I love writing about the awkwardness of adolescence, but I really felt like as an adult woman, I could disappear into looking like a 14 year old boy, maybe a little more than I personally could have with a girl because you have the wig and the eyebrows and his posture and everything. So I just felt like a very fun character to play. But we would do these like focus what are

they called like you know the test screenings and yeah yeah yeah you know test screenings yeah so i'd like hear some of the feedback and most people fully got it and and were into it but there would always be a couple people that were like no is this fair to young boys or like or some people that were just like is this mean to trans people it's like he's not trans he's just a boy but yeah you know yeah what was it that you think like that urged to be like i want to be a boy you know i want to play a boy in in a show you know because it is i mean i can see the the appeal of it just being fun, you know, because teenage boys are, I mean, people that are messes are funny. And there's not much bigger mess than a teenager, especially a teenage boy. Strong but wrong 14, 15 year old boy.

Yeah. I mean, honestly, like I, you know, the origin story of even wanting to make this show. I think I when I graduated from theater school, there was just so much negative representation of Middle Easterners. I really wanted to create a half hour comedy centered around a Middle Eastern family with a really fun character at the center of it that was written from a place of empathy and humanity and that was nuanced and had flaws but you know flaws that were relatable rather than this person's operating a terror cell which was most of the auditions i was getting after theater school and so when i started like thinking about the character yeah i don't i don't know why my truest essence as a child is resonant with that of a 14-year-old boy, but I was definitely a huge tomboy growing up. And I was much like Chad, a very late bloomer. I just was, all the other kids were lapping me in every regard when it came to like social aspects of being in high school.

And I desperately wanted to fit in. And so there's so many things within the character that were very true to my upbringing, obviously, aside from being an actual boy. But yeah, I kind of just wanted to tell this coming of age story of this awkward immigrant kid who's trying to navigate his freshman year of high school. I think teenagers are already struggling to find their identity and to fit in. And then as an immigrant kid, you're sort of caught between these two cultures and it becomes this extra obstacle to get through and assimilating. You're also assimilating at the same time that your parents are. They're learning about prom when you're learning about prom.

Right, right, right. And so it's a shit show. And it's sort of, it felt like a good, you know, kind of foundation for a coming-of-age story. Do you know a lot of teenage boys? Well, I grew up with all boy cousins. And coming from a big Persian family, there's so much emphasis on the community and you're always with each other. And so that probably steered me into my tomboy phase for sure.

Like we would just watch Rocky Balboa and beat the shit out of each other afterwards for sport. for sport um but really yeah and obviously like i've once i started doing sketch comedy and the groundlings and then snl i've certainly trafficked and playing young boys before so it wasn't super outside of my house but every you know like slight comedy woman yes gotta be a boy every now and then at some point yes and that you know i mean throughout history i think that's probably the case you know yeah i mean yeah so when i i think once i started figuring out the character and leaning into like what his idiosyncrasies are it just really felt like i could really disappear into it more as an awkward boy than than as a girl and i was talking to this incredible writer producer my friend lee eisenberg who he was just like why don't you

just go for it like just make that show make the show that you're gonna have the most fun yeah doing and um yeah i'm really grateful to him That sort of set me on the path of being like, fuck it. I'm just going to, I'm going to pitch this and yeah. Cool. Now you were born in Tehran, but your family moved here when you were a baby. How old were you when they moved here? My parents actually met here studying abroad and then the revolution happened in Iran. And so they went back to basically. Have a baby.

Yeah. And then they went back to basically have a baby. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, to basically wrap up their life there. Obviously, they didn't want to stay in a country where church and state weren't separate. And yeah, so basically, they went back had me there. You know, this is like post revolution Iran. So my mom remembers like not that many people being at the hospital the day I was born because literally so many of her friends and family were in prison at the time. I was like truly horrifying chaos and unrest. And my dad's brothers were imprisoned at one point, so he had to get out of the country. So he was there when I was born, but he had to leave. So my mom with a newborn baby wrapped up their life. He was able to come back with his student visa, but like by the skin of his teeth. And then my mom and I ended up in Germany for six months. And then I kind of met my dad again when I was three years old at LAX. Oh my gosh. Wow. Yeah. This is obviously before FaceTime and before. So it was so he was kind of a stranger to me.

And then I remember when my younger sister was born, he was like so enamored with her as a baby. And I was like, God, why is he so obsessed with this kid? He just never had a one year old before. He had never experienced a two year old. So it was all very new for him. But do you remember there being a re-acclimation like oh now this guy's here you know was there that kind of i mean i'm saying that because i as we were talking before the we started recording i married somebody that had a

kid and there definitely was like who the fuck is this guy even though you know she was two yeah but there was like a lot of like wait i, I got to do what he says too? Yeah. I mean, we have actual pictures of it at LAX where my dad is like trying to hand me like a toy that he got. Right, right. I'm just pushing him away.

Like who is this stranger? And then apparently like on the flight from Germany, I'd befriended this Chinese family that had like two kids. So there's all these pictures of me at LAX with the Chinese family and then other ones of me just like shoving my dad away. Like, I want nothing to do with you. Let me get back to my people. Yeah. But then I got to know him and he's the best. Yeah. I don't think a lot of people Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. honestly, I credit a lot of where I'm at with, you know, the grit and resilience that I developed

as a result of seeing them struggle and seeing them, you know, have to start from scratch and their work ethic and all of that. It definitely lit a fire under me, I think, from a young age of like wanting to make it, wanting to be able to take care of them, wanting to be able to do what I love. And to their credit, my parents were not very traditional Persian parents. They were very progressive and supportive of me following my dreams. And they were like, listen, we moved to this country so that you can be sort of limitless. So they're more like on the secular side of.

Very, yeah, very much so. And much like many people in Iran right now that are fighting for their freedom and they're fighting to put an end to this oppressive regime. And so, yeah, my parents were like, we want you to have, you know, you can do anything you want here and go for it. You know, they didn't push me toward, you know, the more traditional paths of like law school or medical school. And so I'm so grateful for that. I never had to like combat that piece of it. And luckily it worked out. and luckily it worked out.

That is like, and I mean, not just an Iranian immigrant story, but it's such an immigrant story of like, you gotta be a doctor, lawyer, you know, like,

you've got- Yeah, we didn't come here, like, we didn't almost die and escape a revolution so you could do sketch comedy. Exactly.

Improv. Exactly. That's not improv. Please, not improv. When you got here at age three were you did you most did you speak farsi or that was my first language yeah yeah and i sort of learned english from school and i love lucy and tv really did you have like did you have a little accent when you

were little oh yeah i'm sure yeah i mean that's so cute now I'm so good I was full ESL English as a second language like yeah and that's sort of when the outsider otherness starts to like that seed gets planted which then ends up you know being such a part of my identity and and including the things that I make creatively, like tap into that, you know, sort of origin story, I guess. But, but yeah, I, I feel so grateful. It's crazy to think of the sliding doors of life. Like what would my life have been had they not left? And so, yeah, I'm incredibly grateful to them. Did they meet in California? Were they in school in Southern California? Yeah, they were at UC Berkeley and then really had every intention of raising a family in Iran.

But when the Shah was overthrown and Khomeini took over, that was a non-starter for them. I mean, they didn't want to be somewhere where militant Islamic extremists are running the show. And how did they end up in Orange County? They moved to Irvine because of how great the public schools are there. Oh, really? Yeah. And so, again, great decisions on their part, like wall-to-wall good decisions on mom and dad's part.

We got a great education and went to great schools. And then I was able to go from my high school in irvine to ucla where i studied theater yeah and i really at that point i i knew how much i loved to perform and ucla was sort of where i honed in on my skills as a writer more which ended up really launching my career. I feel like, again, like once I graduated from theater school, there just weren't like, no one really knew what to do with me. I was like ethnically vague. There weren't that many parts for people that, you know, might have this weird name. And so I sort of figured out if I, if to get the parts I want to get, I'm probably going to have to create them myself. And so,

yeah, I started writing. I did The Groundlings and then wrote a one-woman show that Tina Fey saw that sort of led to everything. She told Lorne Michaels about me and that sort of, you know, started my career. But before SNL, I was getting small parts on things, you know, and I remember I was always like really going at it, but I also was really lucky in the jobs that I had and the people I worked for. One of my last jobs, I was like a tutor, I was a personal assistant. And one of my last jobs before I was able to support myself full time as an actor was with a family, this guy, Sam Gores, and his wife at the time, Jensen, who Sam owns Paradigm Agency. And so they were in the industry. They knew I was pursuing this thing. And I'm just so lucky to

have worked with such great people. They were always like, keep your eye on the prize. This is your job, not your career. They would let me leave for auditions. They were so wonderful. So, yeah, I was really lucky in the things that you know in those formative years of figuring out how i was going to make it as a performer i had great people around me that that made it more possible yeah can't you tell my loves you know so much of uh of chad of the show is about assimilation but i mean you know the kids persianness chad's persianness is a is a big part of it but it doesn't even need like chad doesn't even need to be persian right to be the awkward mess that he is that just wants to fit in, you know?

And, and it is like, you know, the other kids seem cooler and more at ease, but that's always like, like I always watch things that are about teens and, and, and they're, you know, that like, you have to look at it through as, as if it's like a teenager lens. Right. So it's like everyone else seems cool, but that's not. You're just seeing it like you're seeing Chad's eyes and everyone else seems cooler than Chad. Yeah. But, you know, but assimilation is such a big part of it fitting in like, you know, fitting in rocks or what, you know, something that he says.

But did you like that does not jibe with being a performer. You know what I mean? So you're a young kid that's wanting to fit in, but yet you also have the, hey, everybody, look at me gene. And I mean, was there a tension between that? Reconcile those two parts. Yeah, when you were a kid, when you started to realize, I want to do this for a living, and I want to do this this and maybe not even for a living, just for fun. I want to get on stage, you know? Yeah, I mean, for sure. I mean, and there are definitely parts of me that are quite shy and you wouldn't think that I'm that comfortable performing. But for me, it's not it's a little easier to hide behind a character, you know, like I that's why I love doing improv and sketch comedy.

that's why I love doing improv and sketch comedy. I think early on, I felt like comedy was a bit of an escape, you know, with like the typical traumas of childhood, but also it kind of served as a social currency at school. You know, like I was pretty dorky, but I also felt like, oh, if I could make people laugh, like I have something to offer, I could connect with people that way. And that was something that developed early on, even earlier than when I knew I wanted to study theater and pursue it professionally. Like junior high-ish kids, you start to be like the funny kid. Totally, yeah. The funny girl, yeah. Yeah, and then in high school, you know, there were places where I could sort of put that, you know, to test. Like I had the improv team and doing the plays and, you know.

Improv team. That's crazy to me that there's a high school improv team. Oh, yeah, we competed regionally. It was a whole thing, yeah. I blame UCB. I blame UCB for the proliferation. It's spreading everywhere. Yes.

This virus. And then, yeah. And then at UCLA, we had this really fun thing, this like school-wide talent show that was in the tennis stadium. talent show that was in the tennis stadium. And in between the talent acts, there was something called Spring Sing you could audition for, which was basically sketch sketches, like sketch comedy in between the different acts. And we felt like rock stars, like to get on the team, then to write, you know, that it was like some of the most fun life memories I have are from that time. And like once you get that bug, you're like, oh, no, I don't want to go to law school now. I think law school is just all it.

Was law school in there? Was it like, I'm going to go study theater, but law school, mom and dad, don't worry, it's there. It was only there as a backup plan in the very back of my mind, I think because litigation just reminded me of performing. Sure. Like, you know, so I was like, this might be the closest I could get to performing. Law and the clergy are both show business. There you go. They're both a different kind of show business.

Yeah, they're cousins. Yeah, of that same. Different kind of show business. Yeah, they're cousins of that same. Yeah, so I don't think I was taking into consideration the amount of paperwork and other aspects of law school that make it what it is. But I knew at that point, and then actually a friend of mine from high school recently mentioned that I had forgotten this, but in my senior yearbook, we had these things called senior wills where you like write some inside jokes to your friends and you just get like a few characters to say something and mine had said see you on snl which wow in retrospect is so delusional it's so but it's a nice reminder that i i knew even that early on like what what I loved. Yeah. And it was a matter of figuring out

how to do it professionally, really. Yeah, that's great. That's great. And your folks were, when you said theater school, there was, they didn't, there was no sort of like gulp. There was just, okay. I mean, I'm sure there was, but they didn't show that side to me.

They really, to their credit, they were like go for it if that's what you love yeah and you've got it i mean your your mom and dad must be funny because your sister's a comedy writer too yeah and was that is she or was she just a copycat no no no she's truly i mean she was a prodigy she was like living in the dorms at columbia still when she started writing for 30 Rock. Like Nina's amazing. Wow. Yeah.

Tina had a lot to do with our ascension to being able to do this professionally. Well, there's worse mentors to have. Yeah. Because at least she got like a real. She's, I mean, brilliantly funny and also just one of the most decent, kind, wonderful people. You know? Yeah. Because there's a lot of shits in this industry. Oh, my gosh. A total pro and a total wonderful. She's just one of the most decent, kind, wonderful people. You know? Yeah. Because there's a lot of shits in this industry.

Oh, my gosh. A total pro and a total wonderful human. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, my parents were often funny. Not always intentionally. Yeah, yeah.

But they are hilarious. And my dad, incidentally, is now, like, he's he's become like a reoccurring character on season two. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, yeah. He fully had. Your dad is acting in the show. Yeah.

He like had to join SAG. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Yeah. Did you create a monster? I know. I'm like scared he's going to get a publicist. Not that far from now.

I'm in the new Scorsese movie. Yeah, like screening my calls to like take meetings in general. Yeah, yeah. Wow. No, he's amazing. He's so funny in season two. Yeah, it was a real labor of love. Yeah.

As you started in like, you know, because this industry can in many ways chew you up and spit you out you know and i mean were you did you start to feel that right away and was there was there like daunting prospects of like you know like maybe this is too much you know specifically around the time of the or anytime anytime just at some point you know like just feeling like oh I don't know if you know maybe law school might be the thing you know yeah I mean I guess most of that level of doubt would have been before I moved to New York to do SNL I think what saved me from dipping back into that feeling all the time was that I was writing, you know, and I feel like if you can, if you can write and create opportunities for yourself, you definitely, you just feel like you have so much more agency in your career than when I was only acting,

you know, early, early on in my career. I, I just felt like I'm waiting for someone else to give me a job and that can feel scary and stagnant for sure but yeah once I fell in love with writing even just the process of going from having just a kernel of an idea to you're hiring now you know these incredibly talented production designers and dps and and all these amazing people that are bringing your little vision to life. I still, like when, I mean, I haven't, you know, it's been a while since there's been like something like, hey, what if we did this? And then, you know, people are then scouting locations for it. It's been a while since where it's like, oh, my God, they're really going to make this, you know. The best.

It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous and I don't know if you ever I mean I imagine you ultimately you get over you know Hitchcock probably got over it but uh you know it's like I still it's it's in it's amazing oh my gosh no that'll I don't think that joy will ever yeah yeah go I mean and you when you create a show like you know you know, you get to experience it as three different creative entities. It's like its own little living thing in the writing phase. And then it takes on a new shape once it's up on its feet in your production. And then, again, in the edit, it finds all this newness there.

And you have these, like, three little armies you get to, like, work with of these crazy talented people that are that are helping make your vision come to life and there's just no greater joy i mean it's just so fun yeah although it also takes a lot of time to make a show so i'm excited now now that you know season two is coming out it's also fun to dip into a project that you're not responsible for every aspect of and to be a guest in someone else's home oh absolutely yeah definitely yeah it's it's all yeah it's yeah if you could yeah being a guest star can be the oh oh the greatest number four on the call sheet what a dream you have days off yeah yep yep it's i love this that you would you were playing dora the explorer at kids birthday parties the note is, and assembled the costume herself, which is like, oh, you mean shorts and a t-shirt?

Yeah, costume is a very generous description for what was my baggy sleep shirt and a very shitty wig. And how did that, like, you know, do you place an ad in Craigslist? Anybody looking for Adora? I worked for a really weird company that would place, you know, children's performers at birthday parties. Wow. How do you get that job? I mean, is it like an answer a newspaper ad? A friend of mine was doing it, and it made no sense economically i'd always like

break even with the the gas i'd spend going to the party so um i tried to lean more on personal assisting and tutoring than the birthday the birthday gig but it definitely i mean talk about giving you grit that was a humbling job to do because sometimes you'd show up and the four-year-olds did not care for you. Right, right. You'd have to like, well, buckle up. We have another hour and a half of this. Or also in between booking you and the actual birthday party, they moved on to a different show. Yeah, exactly.

You know, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Was it just Dora? Did you do other like? No, I think I like, I did some princesses that were also received not as well as I think I would have liked. No, having a four year old now, there's been we just. My costumes were better. I just had the shittiest costumes.

So when SNL happens, I mean, is that is it a pretty standard like you go in and, you know, you meet with Lauren and he makes you wait six hours, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah. It's, it's, I mean, yeah. There's a template. There's a template for that experience. But I think part of what's useful about sort of the ringer they put you through is by the time you get the job, you're like, well, how can it be scarier than the last seven things

they made me, you know, you like audition a couple times and then the audition itself is on the soundstage. So that's sort of, yeah, they sort of do that to see if you can withstand the pressure of that. And by the time... And also they're deeply cruel people. That's the other thing too. Maybe they're having some fun with it yeah and then I think you know the meeting with Lauren is sort of can probably make sure

you're someone that people can be around you end up spending I mean you spend so much time with each other in those halls

and you're in this washing machine together where you're just like coming up for air on Sundays just enough to like eat and crash

and go back at it on Monday. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, SNL is like the best game of survival and it really prepares you for everything to come. I remember Polar, when I started in 2009, Amy Polar was like, enjoy it while you're here because everything after will be boring in comparison. I can't remember. Was she still on the show?

She wasn't. No, but she would pop in. And so I met her when she would come in and visit and do some spots. But yeah, it really, going from that to making my own show, I feel like everything is easier after SNL. Because even when things go wrong in production like you're rained out or you know unexpected things come up and while the money is being spent you're just you've seen it those problems be fixed in such a short amount of time because of SNL that like everything feels easier because you're not live in an hour you know what I mean so in that respect

it just makes you kind of leave the show feeling like okay like if you can survive that you can survive that's one of the best things about learning to be an improviser and being an improviser is that you know what you just said it starts when you're doing a show and you don't know what you're going to say you know you're going to you're going to do an hour of comedy for people and you don't know what you're going to say, you know, you're going to you're going to do an hour of comedy for people and you don't know what you're going to say that. I think that there is not. I mean, I definitely felt that that it gave me just like level like feet that were flat on the floor when I went into kind of new situations that were very exciting and very intimidating. But I was always like, well, I mean, shit, at least I know what I'm going to say. Right. You know, they gave me the lines, you know, I mean, you know, so.

You just build a tolerance for withstanding uncertainty and staying comfortable in that uncertainty and trusting that it'll come together. trusting that it'll come together. SNL is famously, can be a difficult place to sort of, you know, elbow your way up to the table in terms of screen time. And what was your experience like in the beginning of that? Yeah, I mean, there's only so much real estate on the show. And yeah, I mean. And yet the writers like you or they don't like you and they, you know, you get a writer

inspired to write for you. I mean. Right. And you, you know, the writers are the ones that are producing the sketch from the control room so obviously all the cast members are right but you need someone who's just a writer to have their name on the sketch as well because they're the ones producing it so you do kind of need to find who your teammate is when you start out and And, you know, there was for sure times where I was like, I think I might be too weird for this show, like my sensibilities specifically. But then, you know, I was also like, I auditioned with all those weirdos, you know,

and I told them who I was, you know. So, I can't remember. I definitely heard either on another podcast, like it was either Jay Pharoah or Sudeikis, Jason Sudeikis. Not sure those two have ever been confused for each other. But one of them said that, yeah, like obviously the show sometimes wants to put you in a specific box and you're itching to do these things that are kind of outside of that box. do these things that are kind of outside of that box. But that's why I'm so lucky I was able to be there long enough to, I remember like my fifth season, I was starting to like really have fun getting to do some of the characters I had auditioned with. But then also, you know, playing sort of the, like the Kim Kardashians and the Top of Show pieces that were also topical and useful to the show. So, yeah. Again, I feel so grateful to have had that. And at the same time, you're a little bit chasing that high the rest of your career because there's just nothing like it, that adrenaline. And I think a lot of people go on to at least even if it's like doing shows at colleges or you're just getting that live fix in some way.

Because, you know, you have instant gratification at a place like SNL versus on a television show. You can, you know. Yeah, it goes out into the ether and you hope that people are watching. You can start and stop and, you know, do reshoots and all that. Yeah. Did you enjoy, you know, like I think Kim Kardashian, if I'm not mistaken, was probably the character that people, you know, that popped the most with consciousness. Did you enjoy the impersonation kind of part of that, you know? I mean.

Or would you have just rather played arbitrary weirdos that came out of your own brain? Yeah, I mean, it's obviously fun to do a mix of things. I think I auditioned with Kim, and then she just became more and more famous right around the time that I was on the show. So it made sense to do her. But yeah, I mean, i liked wearing different hats i mean i really liked playing different characters and it sort of just becomes boring if you feel pigeonholed into one specific thing over and over again but is that something that would happen periodically like when you go through your you know a month or two where you feel like oh i have to be kim kardashian i mean again it was always fun i mean i you, it wasn't like there were people on the show that were true impressionists.

Yes. And for a lot of us, when we were doing impression, it was like a take on them, you know, or like, you know, and. Yeah, I can't do impressions. I can do impressions of impressions. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't even know that, like, it was possible to do Christopher Walken. Until you saw the impression. Yeah, Jay Moore did Christopher Walken.

I was like, and then it's like, oh, you see the distillation of the, you know, like. Right, the cadence. The markers. Yeah, yeah. I mean, some people with mimicking, that's like just so their wheelhouse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it was fun. Like, it was fun.

I mean, there's only so much real estate on the show. Like I was saying. So, you end up writing things that kill at the table read and then don't get in the show. You're also like, you know, oftentimes you're coming from a comedy club or a school like the Groundlings where you're just really writing for yourself. But then at SNL, there's also this component of catering to a host that also has to score and shine it's really their episode and their show so I think like early on I maybe wasn't the best about finding a way to like play my weirdo in tandem with giving them something really fun to do so yeah so there's just like all these different components that go go into it um but I remember I kind of went into it with a really pretty positive attitude of like I knew so many friends that had gotten hired and I had worked with that I knew were some of those brilliant women I've ever worked that ended up for whatever reason getting let go that it just felt like there's so much of it that's not in your control. And, you know, I. Yeah. And there again, the quality of the work sometimes it doesn't really factor in that much. You know, it's the same thing as like the quality of a show might not be that, you know,

might but not be it. There's all kinds of different reasons that things can turn around. Totally. Yeah. But I really, you know, I think I was having so much fun by the end of it at the same time, I felt like, okay, what's the next, you know, what's the next phase? And I, for me that, you know, the next stage was really creating my own vehicle. And I hope to keep doing that. I just love writing something out of nothing and then seeing where it goes. Can't you tell my love's a crow?

What was the transition between SNL and Mulaney like like did it was John yeah did John say like hey I want you to come over here and do this and yeah did you hesitate you know did you think like maybe I should stay here you know yeah especially because I was like oh this season's so fun and I'm getting to do these recurring characters and like i but i also knew that i'd be itching to come back to la like be on a sitcom have like get back to my friends and family and to like not be in that grind forever um so i was a little torn i mean john but obviously i loved working with John so much. And he's so funny. It was like, if it's short, I was like such a no brainer in so many ways. It's hard to say no to John Malin.

Yeah. And like we had, you know, and we got to do a full season, but we had so much, we had so much fun and it, and it just made, it also was like another Lauren show. So it felt like a nice transition out of SNL, like still kind of in the family. But when we started, I was doing both. So I was like flying back and forth to LA and New York twice a week. I didn't realize that.

Wow. Yeah, I would like, I would shoot the taping from Mulaney on Friday. Like I would, and then just like first flight to New york land and like be thrown into wigs and go to the live show for snl and then come right back and you sketches that you get you know that like you know are you on the plane like trying to figure out oh totally yeah or i'd be like in hair and makeup as kim like about to go on i haven't even rehearsed the sketch and lauren's

like talking to me about how the taping for Mulaney went. It was so chaotic, but it was so fun. It was so fun. And I learned so much from that and Mulaney really built a really fun family. And so when that came to an end, I was like, all right, time to do my own thing. I've learned a lot from working on other people's shows and I did feel ready at that point when when Mulaney ended where was it was there a like a new season of SNL was there a possibility of you going back to us I mean you mentioned a little bit at the beginning but we didn't really get into it was there the possibility of you going back to SNL and you just opted not not to well what happened was i during mulaney um 20th offered me a development deal so they're like if this doesn't continue uh we will

pay you for your next for the next thing you want to make yeah so i was sort of already in that marriage and it's it felt like the right move. Like it felt like. That's the natural progression. That's the natural progression. Now I'm ready to create my own thing. So it was kind of a seamless transition from Malini to, you know, doing the development deal where I ultimately created Chad. Yeah. Because, yeah, because there is that feeling.

I mean, and it always seems to be. I mean, there are a few, you know, Kenan Thompson being an obvious exception, but it does seem like, oh, yeah. I mean, and it is like you never feel like, oh, Kenan, you should move up because he does do other that, you know, there's a point where you jump off the train and, you know, and get onto another train. And it seems like it kind of presented itself to you in a way. Yeah. being a little more normal and low-key while going through that show whereas like for most of it's just like so intense and crazy that it feels kind of impossible physically and mentally to do forever but yeah but he's he's found a good groove with it where i think he can you know like it's it's not that disruptive to like his um he's but he is just as a performer, he's like, he just has such charm, you know, just such tremendous charm that it's like, you never feel like, you know. Totally.

And the show, like, really knows how to utilize him to, you know, like, other people know exactly how to write for him. It's really. And how to put him in to just save a bit by charm. Just cutting to him. You go in and be charming. Just cutting to him. You go in and be charming. Literally just cutting to him. And that'll maybe make an ending.

I don't know. Right. Yeah. So it's been, I feel really lucky. I think the opportunities I've had, you know, coming out of that show, I've been properly, you know, prepared for. I've been, I've, I've worked enough, um, to know how I want to run a show and how, like the culture of the show I want to create, um, and how important morale is, you know, for a few, cause you end up spending so much more time with each other than you do sometimes with your own families. I love hearing you say that because it is something that I don't,

in my experience, there's a lot of people that don't understand, especially there is, whether you want to accept the responsibility or not, if you are, as you said, if you're number one on the call sheet, if this is your show, you are in charge of morale,

whether you want to be or not. And if you absolve yourself of that responsibility, you do it at the show's peril and therefore your own peril. Yeah. And so I've seen it a hundred times. For sure. Of just like, it's the Terry Johnson show and Terry Johnson's going to be an asshole. Right.

Like, Terry, what the fuck are you doing? It starts with you, Terry. Yeah, Terry. It's really in your best interest to be nice we've all been on those sets yeah yeah yeah it's crazy to me yeah and it doesn't really inspire comedy that's for sure it doesn't yeah yeah and also just like i don't i don't understand how you can live like that life is too short oh my, my God. So much. I would like the just spiritual exhaustion of being an asshole. Completely. I can't even like I would just be a wreck, you know. Not to mention in an industry where we're so fucking lucky.

Fuck yes. Like we already won the lottery to be doing this. And especially within even like the thing that I, you know, having gone to film school, been a PA on commercials in Chicago, you know, and, you know, then doing props and all different kinds of jobs, second AD, different things. It's like in a, in a way that I feel like is very sort of like on purpose, keeping myself humble is I am a member of the crew. Like I am just, I'm, you know, like to say like, I'm not as important, you know, I'm no more important than the guy pulling cable. It's like, well, you know, the guy pulling cable gets the flu.

He can stay home and they get someone else. But it is like you're a member of the crew, yes, but you also like you get your own toilet. Yes. When they don't need you, you can take a nap. That's right. You know, they feed you so well. You're coddled constantly. Yes, you're like a baby.

So yeah, to look that gift horse in the mouth is ridiculous. Yeah, no. I luckily haven't lost sight of that. And it's still so exciting for me to see. I mean, anytime I see a billboard, I'm like, well, that's another miracle. It's so hard to get things made. It's so hard to like get a pilot picked up, let alone a season of television, let alone a second season. Oh, tell me about it. It's so impossible that if you lose sight of like how special that is when it does happen.

Yeah. Well, now there was your sort of like snl into a network sitcom into your own production deal like that was fairly slam bang you know like like it was on top of each other and then you kind of you know the brakes are somebody pumps the brakes yes for you in a way and how do you deal with that like how do you go from oh the breaks i mean we were in production then covet happened and the merger happened then i think i just again i i feel like i'm really maybe again it was maybe maybe my upbringing of being in a household that felt full of chaos at times where I'm pretty comfortable in

chaos and uncertainty. I think that's part of why I was able to survive SNL. And then I've really just done a lot of work on saying, listen, in life, you control the controllables and then you let go of the wheel. There's things that are not in my control I think I'll fight for things to the end and do what I can to honor my work and if I really believe in something to make sure it sees the light of day but that's what gives me peace in my heart and then if it doesn't continue then i can live with that knowing i did everything i could so um yeah there are stalls there are things that slow you down there are there are periods where when my show was going from one network to another i had to turn down work because had i taken a new show i'd sort of be betting against myself in a lot of ways so there are lulls even though you're contractually able to you just

decided not to because there are periods of time where i wasn't even under contract anymore i was just taking the president of the network's word for it that we'd be able to get the show um and it always ended up working out but yeah you have to take risks and you have to be willing to not have everything have a tidy bow on it at the end of it, you know, like to be like, well, I'm not totally sure what the next seven months looks like. But again, I think because I knew I could always come back to writing.

I was like, the money will come, the opportunities will come. Like I just have to, all I'm responsible for is being true to myself and making things I believe in. And that's what lets me sleep at night. And, you know, the other stuff, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

But, yeah, I'm so grateful I got to make these two seasons and I can't wait to start playing women again and reminding people. Are there specific things in the future that you want to do? I mean, you know, work and otherwise, you know, I mean, yeah, I mean, like I, you know, making a TV show kind of takes up your whole calendar year because like, you know, you're in the writer's room 16 weeks and you're in production a couple months in the edit. But then because of that and this show in particular spilled into so many years of my life, I haven't really been available to collaborate that much in other projects and work with other people. So I'm I'm looking forward to getting to do more of that. I got to work with Eddie Murphy on the new Beverly Hills Cop movie that's coming out later this year. And yeah, it's really fun.

It's really fun, like I said, to just be in someone else's sandbox. Are you actively pursuing that kind of stuff now? Yeah, like for projects that make sense. Yeah, I really just want to work with kind, talented people and make things that I love. Are you thinking of a season three of Chad or are you kind of in a wait and see kind of mode? Again, it took so long to go from TBS to Roku because of the logistics that, like, it might start to look creepy at how much older all the other kids have become than Chad himself. Like, he's in this weird cryo dream. Oh, that is true. I didn't even think about that.

Like, Peter probably looks like a young man, his best friend at this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although we do leave him in Europe. So possibly, I guess, ostensibly, he could start at a new school in Paris. I don't know. But yeah, I'm definitely, you know, I guess never say never. Who knows? But yeah, the current cast that populates the show is significantly older, those those kids than when we started um but yeah i mean i didn't even think about that but yeah sure because those goddamn kids they just keep aging exactly they're like in their early 20s now yeah there's some sort of

hormone therapy that can keep them you know sealed in lucite yeah chad would be so frustrated everyone's gone through puberty but uh well what do you uh what's what is you know from your journey what is the uh you're opening a book here do you have a prep you have a prep for the final question right now yeah what is what what have you learned uh you know like what do, what do you feel like is the biggest lessons you've taken away from your journey? Honestly. I just love that word, journey. Journey. I really, like, when I talk to, like, when I go to colleges or talk to aspiring performers,

they're honestly just young people that are trying to figure out what they love. What to do in this world. Yeah, I mean, it's not that original, but it is very true of not, you know, being afraid of failure and adversity and that things that might seem so life or death in the moment, especially when you're younger, can really build the strongest parts of your character that end up getting you through tough times once you're an adult. You know, like I really do think that the, you know, the things I experienced in my childhood did give me grit. They made me be able to, you know, withstand some of the challenges you feel both as a performer, but also just as a person later in life, you know. And so, I think even failure, like you're so hell-bent on something turning out a certain way with your career, and it can often lead you down

a path you didn't anticipate. And other opportunities can come from having not gotten that one gig or not gotten that one thing and to just remain open just enjoy the ride itself you know um that's been that's been great and and for me i'm i'm really like gotten really great at being less outcome-oriented and more process-oriented and just appreciating that I get to do what I love. And I don't know if you've read, have you read Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act, A Way of It? I can't recommend it enough.

Okay, I'll try. It's so good. I might listen to it. Listen to it. I have a real attention span problem. Oh my God, listen to it. He reads it himself. He wrote this in, I mean, it's as much kind of about spirituality as it is about being a creative but it really

resonated with me and i um yeah i feel like i want to just continue to ask myself what do i want to say about where i'm at in the world or the state of the world? Like what is resonating with me that is my specific perspective on, you know, obviously for someone like me, I write from such a personal place and from such a character-driven place that I feel like I can always come back to that. And, you know, who knows what that next character will be, but it's really fun and I'm lucky to to do something I really enjoy do you think that a lot of that comes from just because I can imagine being the child of your parents people that like had to leave everything and start fresh and start new that it's like there's not a lot of room for like complaining.

You know what I mean? It's like you have a whole lifetime of like it's, you know, it's not as bad as it could be. Oh, my God. I mean, like going from seeing what they had to put up with to where we are as a family now and the fact that I can support myself as an artist. I'm like playing with the house's money at this point, I feel like, you know, like it's just so it's all icing. And, you know, to be able to give back to them has been a dream of mine that I got to see fulfilled. And we got to see that dream fulfilled in one generation. Like, that's so cool.

That's so cool. And yeah, in the last like year and a half, I also, given everything that was going on in Iran, sort of threw myself into activism. And that kind of work has been incredibly fulfilling. I mean, obviously it's so personal to me. When the mass uprisings happened in Iran, I think everyone in the diaspora that had some reach or some platform kind of banded together to say, how can we amplify the voices of our people back home? And that work has

continued. I'm lucky enough to have been put in touch with all these different human rights lawyers and to sort of continue to shine a light on what the people of Iran are hoping for, which is democracy and freedom and an end to state-sanctioned violence and gender apartheid and all of these things. So having my professional career has been amazing, but it's also been really cool to use that to be able to get myself involved in other things I really am passionate about and believe in, like advocacy work. And you have a little bit more access to that when, you know, you happen to be a performer.

Right, right. Yeah. And it feels like you will be heard. Yeah. You know, yeah. That it's like, yeah, you know, you're playing a teenage boy, but also you can, you know, you're playing a teenage boy but also you can you know you're being heard so you can then say like okay you know i'm funny and i'm you know and i and i've been in lots of comedies but also

well listen to me i you know if you like me and those things listen to me on this very serious thing you know yeah and sometimes it honestly i mean it's a little weird that this is the case but it's the world we live in sometimes it just being on television helps you get into those doors, like political doors. Like, you know, like I couldn't believe it when we went to the UN in Geneva. Like the ambassador of Venezuela was like, oh, my God, SNL. Like I'm like, you watch like that's on your radar even, you know. And suddenly it gives you a little like a little opening to then have a conversation with them about things you really care open, like all the opposition leaders are in prison. It's so important for Iranians outside of the country to do what they can. Obviously,

democratic change has to come from within, but that's kind of been a lot of what I've been doing this last year. And I hope to continue to do it until something changes. Yeah. Well, good for you. Thank you, Andy. I wanted a cookie for that and you gave it to me. You know, I never know what to say when somebody's doing something amazing and, you know, virtuous. It's like, well, good for you.

Oh, my gosh. Well, season two of Chad is out January 19th on the Roku channel. That's right. Yeah. And Nassim Batra, thank you so much for coming in. You're so wonderful. Thanks for having me. It was my pleasure.

And I will be back next week with more of the three questions. Thank you. Goodbye. Bye-bye. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Daugherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Nick Liao, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross.

Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddie Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grahl. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Yeah, my love's a-growing. Can't you feel it? Ain't it showing? Oh, you must be a-knowing. I've got a big, big love. This has been a Team Coco production.