After seven seasons of dressing up as everyone from Donatella Versace to Oprah, Maya Rudolph moves on to dramedy with Away We Go ... and tells The Advocate why her SNL experience was such a drag.
After seven seasons of dressing up for her impressive repertoire of outrageous characters, including her infamous portrayal of fashion icon Donatella Versace, on Saturday Night Live , Maya Rudolph dressed down for Sam Mendes's summer dramedy Away We Go , in which she and John Krasinski star as a couple searching for the perfect place to raise a family. Now ready to reanimate her ruthless Rapunzel in next year's Shrek Goes Fourth , the 36-year-old fashion fanatic details her devotion to divas and why her SNL experience was such a drag.
There are many similarities between you and your character Verona in Away We Go . Though pregnant, Verona rebuffs her boyfriend's proposals because she doesn't want to get married. You and your partner, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, have also stayed unmarried even though you're expecting your second child together. Do you not believe in marriage?
Well, I don't really talk about that stuff. I never have and I never will, because I feel like it's one thing to make movies and another thing to unbutton your personal life until you're naked. There are similarities, but I'm certainly not Verona, and I don't feel like my beliefs are in the movie.
You do believe in gay marriage, though, as indicated by your participation in Prop. 8: The Musical for FunnyOrDie.com.
That was probably the most joyous thing that came out of the Prop. 8 vote for me. Filming that was an amazing experience because we got to put our anger into something fun and have this really beautiful day. I grew up in California, and I'm a proud Californian, but I was really offended and surprised at how many people feel differently [about marriage equality] than I do just in California alone. I was ashamed of my state.
What does the support of the gay audience mean to you?
That was the fan base I always planned on having and always expected to have, because I'm sort of a part of that fan base too. Growing up of mixed race and never really having a mom, I always felt like an outsider. Then I went to a super-duper hippie college, University of California, Santa Cruz, and most of my friends there were either gay or mixed. We were all "others" together. I feel most at home with people who need each other as a family and understand what it's like to be different. So I wasn't that surprised to find out that I have a good gay fan base, but I'm really proud of it.
When did you first become aware of that following?
My impression of Donatella Versace really brought out the excitement in gay people. People were grateful, in some weird way, that this bizarre woman was being represented.
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