Obvious Child played at Sundance and South by Southwest where it earned rave reviews for star Jenny Slate and first time feature writer/director Gillian Robespierre. Slate plays Donna Stern, a standup comedian who gets dumped, then gets pregnant from a one night stand, then decides to have an abortion. Slate is our favorite crazy ex-girlfriend from “Parks and Recreation” and playing memorable roles other comedies, so we were happy to see her get her own whole movie. Jenny and I had actually spoken before, albeit online, so it was nice to finally meet in person.
Related Article: SXSW Review: Obvious Child
CraveOnline: We connected on Twitter after I saw the movie at SXSW. You thanked me for my review.
Jenny Slate: Oh yes, yes.
I’m sure not everyone gets that from you.
[Laughs] Yeah, I don’t tweet back a lot actually. It was lovely.
I figured you were being attentive to this film.
I lose track of stuff and I try not to be obsessed with the internet. I’m starting to tweet a lot about this movie because I think it’s my responsibility to get the word out. It is a little film and it’s important that I think we all actively stand behind it, but I don’t tweet back at everyone.
Thank you, I did appreciate that you responded personally.
That’s nice.
I call Obvious Child “raunchy-whimsical.” How would you describe the tone?
Oh yeah. I think raunchy-whimsical is really right down the middle. I think that’s right. I would also add that it’s thoughtful, because it is.
Is Obvious Child a perfect vehicle for you, or were you able to turn it into a showcase for all of your strengths?
[Laughs] I don’t know how to answer that question but I think when I read the script it was a dream role. That’s how I felt. I don’t know if that means it’s a perfect vehicle but I can tell you that the script and the character were just so enticing to me and I really, really wanted them the second that I saw them. And that Gillian and Liz [Holm] are wonderful creative partners for me. So you had a lot of elements coming together for me to feel the most comfortable and supported, and I think also the film caught me at a time in my career where I was ready to do something new.
I noticed in the montage where you’re alone in your room, you clap your feet. I do that too!
You do?
Is that something you do, and you did on the day or was it scripted?
It wasn’t scripted. I’ve never done it before or since, but I did it in that scene and it hurt.
It did? You did it too hard.
I have bony little feet.
A lot of comedies always want to have serious moments in the end. Is Obvious Child always both?
I think so. I think Obvious Child is unique because it has many different moments with many different emotional levels and it feels like one coherent piece because it’s about the journey of the individual. So it’s not like, “Now you’re in the sad part” because even in the serious parts there’s laughter. I think that integration is a real strength of Gillian’s as a writer.
I think that’s when movies lose me, when you can feel “now we’re in the serious part.”
Yeah, when it feels like someone’s pushing it or it’s ham-fisted or anybody is saying, “This is what this is right now,” it can just be hard to take it.
Did you experience any guilt or taboo over making abortion jokes?
I don’t think we make any abortion jokes. We make jokes not about actual abortion. There’s one joke at the end where Gaby Hoffman’s character says, “You’re going to kill it out there” when they’re talking about standup, and Donna says, “I actually have an appointment to do that tomorrow.” But Donna then says, “Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding.” She doesn’t think that. That’s not what she thinks about abortion, but it’s her just putting a toe over the line for just a moment to say, “I know where the boundaries are, but I also know who I am. Life is changeable and these boundaries are flexible.” That’s a way to make them more bearable. She’s almost playing another character for a second, a character who thinks that the procedure means something that Donna doesn’t think that it means. She knows it’s irreverent.
I think we can tell. There’s a joke to be made there but that doesn’t mean she believes that.
Exactly, and I think you have to be very careful with that kind of stuff. The reason why it bums me out when people call our movie an “abortion comedy” is because we’re not making light of abortion and we’re not treating it with careless hands. We are very thoughtful and it’s a very modern story about a woman.
I hope I wasn’t saying that. I hope I was just discussing that it’s a factor in the story.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Is Donna sort of working material in every conversation she has?
I think she is and I think when she’s with people that she’s more comfortable around, that joke making can die down a bit. I think it’s self-protection a lot of times, Donna’s joking and her sarcasm. It’s her taking control of her situation or thinking that she’s taking control. Sometimes it’s not necessary and I think that’s why the more quiet moments for Donna in the script were so touching for me, because they’re moments where she really does just have to calm down for a second.
I thought I could see some of those jokes ending up in a standup set of hers later, after all this is over.
Which ones?
Well, I don’t remember specifically now, but that’s how I identified her sense of humor, how she’s being both funny and serious at the same time. I thought maybe she’s just working material and if it works, it’ll be in her act.
I don’t know if she’s testing to see if things will be funny, but I think that on or off stage, it’s always going to be her impulse a little bit to perform if she either feels too comfortable or uncomfortable.
Gillian said the film is free of sarcasm. Do you think Donna is sarcastic?
I think Donna can be a little bit sarcastic. Her father says that her ex-boyfriend wasn’t a gentleman and she says, “I’m going to call him up and tell him you said that right now.” Those sort of dry sarcastic bits but Donna is not a person with any guile. She does have an acerbic wit.
When you say Obvious Child came at a time you were looking to do something new, was it fun to play such an outrageous character on “Parks and Recreation,” and then kind of the only sympathetic one on “House of Lies?”
Oh, totally. Totally fun. I love all of my jobs honestly. I’m very lucky. I like working in general and I try to keep myself pretty busy. The first time I played Mona Lisa I was a little bit nervous because I was like, “This is a big character. I hope it’s not crazy.” But then when I realized they wanted me to do that, now it’s just a delight. I cannot wait to go back and see what new stupid thing they have me do. It’s so funny. I love it.
Was “Hello Ladies” before Obvious Child?
It was after.
So was that a way to decompress from this?
All of my jobs take the exact same amount from me. I just use different aspects in different ways.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
