Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety This interview is part of Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors series. Watch the full video interview now at CNN.com/Watch (or on the CNN app) and on Variety’s YouTube channel starting at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott first met as young, eager, internet-savvy members of Brooklyn’s alternative stand-up scene, who didn’t fit into the boxes prescribed by Manhattan institutions like the Comedy Cellar. But less than a decade later, they’ve both accomplished more than most aspiring comedians ever dream of. Yang, 35, is now in a reflective period, getting vulnerable with Sennott about the emotional, triumphant end to his seven years as a “Saturday Night Live” member last December. He praises Sennott — the star of acclaimed films including “Shiva Baby,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and “Bottoms” — for her most recent achievement: “I Love L.A.,” the HBO comedy series she created, showruns, directs and stars in. Sennott, slightly younger and greener at 30, is still learning to take in all of her success. She credits Yang for helping her and several of her peers find their voices, as the two bond over their Brooklyn memories and share what they’ve learned since then.
Rachel Sennott: Do you know what I wanna talk about immediately?
Bowen Yang: Come on.
Sennott: When we announced the Oscar nominations. That was an insane experience.
Yang: We knew before everyone else.
Sennott: Well, this is what I wanted to ask you. Did you bring your phone in?
Yang: No.
Sennott: Just to explain: We’re getting a midnight call time, and we are doing glam from 12 to 3.
Yang: And then from 3 to 4, we’re getting coached on the pronunciation of names.
Sennott: That was so hard for me.
Yang: You had a hard time with “Emilia Pérez.”
Sennott: Once it got into my head that it was hard to say, it was over. And then I said it differently every time. I was like, “Emily in Paris.” But you didn’t bring your phone in? Because we weren’t allowed to.
Yang: Whatever Janet Yang says. Whatever the Academy decrees. I love institutions more than anything in this world. I love being a supplicant to this ritual. No, I didn’t bring my phone. But you did? [Sennott shrugs and gives a sly grin. Yang squeals.]
Sennott: I didn’t even do anything. I just was like, “What if something happens where I need it, like I have to take a picture of myself or my mom texts me at 4 in the morning?” But I didn’t reveal any information to anyone.
Yang: This is the beauty of Rachel Sennott, everybody. She will break the parameters but still be a professional. Legit.
Sennott: Legit. Break the rules a little, but also know where to draw the line.
Yang: Honestly, OK, we can get real, because you and I have had a special peek into the ritual processes of awards. And we’re part of that now — fair to say? This is part of what we do in our jobs. And I feel like that’s what “I Love L.A.” is about. It’s about these things that we are doing that are supposed to evaluate if you’re good or not. If you deserve a place at the Formé dinner, or if you deserve a place with the brand sponsor. We have to talk about — oh my God — I’m a Ritz spokesperson.
Sennott: When I saw that, it literally felt so meta [because “I Love L.A.” has an episode about a Ritz Crackers ad].
Yang: Y’all knew what you were doing, here at Variety, pairing us together. Because Ritz supports LGBTQ+ storytellers.
Sennott: They do. In fiction and in real life.
Yang: Tallulah [Odessa A’zion] and I are queer Ritz kids.
Sennott: You and Tallulah are the queer faces of Ritz. When did you film that commercial?
Yang: In the fall, for the Super Bowl. “The big game” — sorry. For some reason, they don’t let you call it the Super Bowl. They’re like, “Please call it the big game.”
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