During the launch of Lip TV’s Talk Show with Harper Simon, comedian/actor/ musician Fred Armisen opens up about Saturday Night Live and working with his smoking-hot Portlandia co-star Carrie Brownstein.
When asked to comment on what it was like working on the SNL set, Fred playfully goes along with Harper’s attempt to get him to spill dirt on his experiences at the iconic late-night sketch comedy show.
“There was a lot of physical fighting. There was not a day that I didn’t go in where… people would mug you in the hall,” Fred replies, completely deadpan. “A lot of punching, the elevators didn’t work, so we had to climb up the elevator shaft, which was humiliating.
“The Today show… we shared the same writers rooms… a lot of arguing in there. There were a lot of floods – a lot of floods, just from the piping. It was weird, it was from the piping of some swimming pool show they tried to do up on the top floor.”
But then he let his true feelings flow about his many years at SNL. “No, I loved it. I knew when I got the job it was going to be the best thing ever and it was. And I loved it and I made some really close friends – lifelong friends. God I just loved every minute of it.
He notes that even once cast members left the show, they almost always find their way back to visit, sometimes again and again and again. “All the other ex-cast members, we always come back and do something else… we’re always there – no one ever really leaves.”
When asked whether he launched his popular comedy series Portlandia to “get into (co-star) Carrie Brownstein’s pants,” Fred responds, “Yeah, I mean if you think about it… you know you can overcomplicate it and go, we had this intellectual connection and all of that, but c’mon, look at her.” He added: “Did I succeed, no. But I got a show out of it.”
He also talks about his fascination with punk rock throughout his life, plus he talks about his frequent on-screen crossdressing and how writer/director John Waters inspired him to pursue a career in show business.
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