The Hollywood Reporter brought together some of the biggest names from the small-screen for its Comedy Actress Roundtable. The six hilarious participants —Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie”), Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”), Allison Janney (“Mom”), Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), Ilana Glazer (“Broad City”), and Niecy Nash (“Getting On”) — spoke candidly about confidence, sexism, and standing up to catcallers.
Tomlin offered an amazing comeback to those who offered unsolicited, limiting advice. She recalled, “People would always tell me what I could be or I couldn’t be, and I’d say, ‘Who asked you?’”
Golden Globe winner Bloom acknowledged that she struggled with a lack of confidence in the past. She revealed, “[T]hat’s the kind of stuff that f — ed me over for so long: thinking I don’t deserve to be here. I’d walk into audition rooms and be like, ‘Hi, sorry, I know I shouldn’t be here. Oh, excuse me, I know I’m gonna suck at this.’ Bloom suggested that this issue is common for women, “apologizing for our presence.” She shared, “When I was in school, I was in a sketch comedy group, and there were these really funny girls I knew, and I’d say to them, ‘You should audition for my sketch group,’ and they’d be like, ‘No, I can’t, I can’t write, I can’t … I’m stupid.”’And then there would be really unfunny guys who’d come up to me and be like, ‘Oh, I’m thinking about trying out for your sketch group because I think I could really kill that.’”
When asked about the most “overly sexist thing” they’ve experienced in the industry, Bloom responded, “It’s the type of roles you’re auditioning for, and you see the difference between the way female characters and male characters are written.” Glazer explained, “Because Abbi [Jacobson] and I are women and we’re young, there’s some subtle sexism. Especially [from] crew guys. Recently, this guy was calling us ‘ladybugs’ and ‘love bugs.’ We’re like, ‘We have a show — you are helping run the promo for the show that we created!’”
Bloom credited Glazer with giving her great advice when the two lived together in Brooklyn: when catcallers harass you, yell “Suck my dick!” Rodriguez’s approach to dealing with catcallers was to “just turn and bark.”
The best advice Nash received came from an impressive source — Maya Angelou. “As actresses, we’re often asked to take pictures,” Nash began. “I remember getting ready to take one with the lovely Maya Angelou, and she couldn’t stand, so I leaned down into the picture. She turned her head to me and said: ‘Straighten your back. You bow to no one. They’ll get you.’ I’ve never to this day bent down to take a picture.”
Head over to The Hollywood Reporter for more highlights from the discussion and to watch video clips of the women swapping anecdotes and sharing laughs.
