They may just be playing sisters in their upcoming movie, but Amy Poehler and Tina Fey may as well be related in real life, too. The funny ladies, whose comedy Sisters hits theaters December 18, have been best friends and frequent collaborators for years. So who better to interview them than...themselves? Poehler and Fey sat down with each other and a hat full of fan questions for a new interview in Glamour.
In the magazine's January issue, they talk about their longtime friendship, hosting the Golden Globes together, not caring about looks — and a potential sequel to their famous "Mom Jeans" Saturday Night Live commercial. "Well, granny panties are back," Fey says. "Maybe [we could do] one called, like, 'Granny Panties for Him,' and it’s a man wearing really high granny panties? 'Granny Panties Pour Homme!'" Hey, we'd buy anything these women are selling.
On a more serious note, the actresses and authors discuss issues concerning the hyper-focus put on women's looks — and Poehler's brilliant exercise to practice fighting that."Wouldn’t it be amazing if you spent one day not mentioning how anybody looks, or how you look?" Poehler asks. "I think I tried it as an exercise one time. I was saying, 'Oh, she’s that really funny person.' Or, 'He’s that guy who has that great science mind,' so you don’t say, like, 'He’s the tall one'; 'She’s whatever,'" she continued. "And then, if you look in the mirror, you don’t say, 'How do I look?' It’s almost impossible." What an awesome idea — we might borrow that, Amy!
Below, some more of the most interesting tidbits from the stars' interview.
Fey on what happens behind the scenes when super-sexy women host SNL:
"As an SNL writer I have seen people who are famously sexy, women famous for being beautiful, come in as hosts. The male writers would be so excited; then a couple days in, they are over it. If you know you have 0.000 shot at the person, your body kind of shuts down—and it’s more about who you actually relate to." Poehler's favorite part about hosting the Golden Globes with Tina:
"[H]onestly, the best part was getting to hang out together, building the show together... Making out with Bono, sitting on Clooney’s lap, doing both after the show was over, it was great, stuff like that."
The advice Fey would give herself 15 years ago:
"I don’t know, maybe for a second I would maybe say, like, 'Start having babies earlier so that you could have maybe had one more,' because I do like how they come out. But at the same time, that would have probably made it hard for me to do some things that I wanted to do in that time."
Fey on playing a "woman-child" in Sisters:
"Woman-child, I think, is in reference to the fact that there are many male comedians who play man-childs — man-childs is a word. I do think it’s fun to be able to play a character that’s in no way aspirational and in no way a role model, and the more female characters there are on-screen, there’s less pressure on every character to represent everyone. I love playing people who are flawed."
"As an SNL writer I have seen people who are famously sexy, women famous for being beautiful, come in as hosts. The male writers would be so excited; then a couple days in, they are over it. If you know you have 0.000 shot at the person, your body kind of shuts down—and it’s more about who you actually relate to." Poehler's favorite part about hosting the Golden Globes with Tina:
"[H]onestly, the best part was getting to hang out together, building the show together... Making out with Bono, sitting on Clooney’s lap, doing both after the show was over, it was great, stuff like that."
The advice Fey would give herself 15 years ago:
"I don’t know, maybe for a second I would maybe say, like, 'Start having babies earlier so that you could have maybe had one more,' because I do like how they come out. But at the same time, that would have probably made it hard for me to do some things that I wanted to do in that time."
Fey on playing a "woman-child" in Sisters:
"Woman-child, I think, is in reference to the fact that there are many male comedians who play man-childs — man-childs is a word. I do think it’s fun to be able to play a character that’s in no way aspirational and in no way a role model, and the more female characters there are on-screen, there’s less pressure on every character to represent everyone. I love playing people who are flawed."