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[NYT] Greta Lee On Hollywood Stereotypes and Playing the ‘Lovable Weirdo’

December 22, 2015

(Courtesy of Greta Lee/Photo by Cameron Marshad)

[THE NEW YORK TIMES] — Greta Lee is a familiar face to fans of “Girls,” where she played an entitled gallerist; “High Maintenance,” where she was Heidi; and “Inside Amy Schumer,” a gig Ms. Lee landed after she and Ms. Schumer met in an elevator after their failed auditions for a Noah Baumbach film. Next up is Ms. Lee’s scene-stealing turn in Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s raucous new comedy, “Sisters,” where she plays Hae Won, a nail salon technician and devout partyer.

It is Ms. Lee’s biggest part yet, and one that might make audiences squirm.

Ms. Lee spoke by phone from her home in Brooklyn about resisting Hollywood stereotypes and about her gratitude to Ms. Poehler and Paula Pell (the film’s writer) for having “included this multidimensional, lovable weirdo, Hae Won.” These are excerpts from the conversation.

Q. As I was watching the movie, I thought: “She’s playing on every stereotype here. Is this O.K.?”

A. I definitely had conflicting feelings when I first saw the script. I saw the breakdown for the character, and I thought, “That whole nail salon technician and dragon lady opium den worker.” I usually don’t play those parts. [READ MORE]