Molly Shannon interview: ‘The Other Two’
While Molly Shannon’s favorite scene for season two of “The Other Two” is in the episode where her character, Pat, has a nervous breakdown, it’s the part after that she loves. “I’m in the hospital bed and Streeter is like, I want to be there for you and do everything, and I’m like, yeah, I don’t like that. I don’t need that kind of energy,” she tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). She elaborates that she loved how it combined her favorite kind of comedy with the most ideal scenario for shooting. “I love the combination of really funny and then touching. And it’s really fun to do a scene in bed all day, not having to stand up. If you’re going to be on the set for 14 hours, you might as well be in a bed acting.”
“The Other Two,” which is currently streaming on HBO Max, centers on two siblings, Brooke (Heléne Yorke) and Cary (Drew Tarver), who are forced to re-evaluate the direction of their lives when their teenage brother Chase (Case Walker), becomes an internet celebrity. In addition to Shannon playing the family matriarch, Ken Marino also stars as Chase’s agent, Streeter. She has been nominated for two Critics’ Choice TV Awards for Comedy Supporting Actress for her work on the show. She’s also earned three Emmy nominations over her career for “Saturday Night Live” (Variety Performance, 2000), “Enlightened” and “Will & Grace” (Comedy Guest Actress, 2013 and 2017) and claimed the Independent Spirit Award in 2016 for “Other People.”
Walking around the streets of New York in her character’s costume and wig during filming has led to some interesting interactions. “I saw a gentleman in a deli and he was like, ‘Nice hair,’ meaning my Pat hair and he kind of flirted with me and I thought it was so funny.” She made sure to let the person behind the hair know of how well it was working. “I told Jodi Mancuso, our hair designer, I was like, ‘See, the hair looks good!’”
Shannon got her big break in the mid-1990s when she became a cast member on SNL. While the original characters she created included Mary Catherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley, her favorite was a little different. “I love Helen Madden, the licensed joyologist. She’s like, ‘I love it. I love it! I LOVE IT!’ It feels really good to kick your leg up in your chair like that.” Of her celebrity impressions that she did on the show, she was very fond of playing musician, Courtney Love. “She’s the total opposite of me. She just doesn’t care and reckless and the most fun to play since she’s physical and wild and spontaneous.”
