Cecily Strong at Chicago's UP Comedy Club as a part of TBS's Just For Laughs Festival in 2013. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) First, she said something bad to get his gander. It was at the 2019 Christmas party, that Cecily's agent made her meet him. Make him watch it. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Oh, I think they want us to take a verse. And it's - more than anything, it's like, watching my brother deal with his own depression, and it's like how I feel about mine. STRONG: Well, thank you so much. I'm really glad we came. GROSS: So let's talk a little bit about your work on "Saturday Night Live." It's brought me such pleasure at a time when I think we all need some pleasure. STRONG: I said no, actually, at first to going to Vancouver and shooting because I was - I really was afraid, you know? So here's another scene from "Schmigadoon!". UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) I got us corn puddin'. And then my uncle is also a Broadway producer. KEY: (As Josh Skinner) And you're not sick? And it was like, now let's read our sketches and see - and then, like, have to film them all by Saturday. He co-created and co-wrote the series with Ken Daurio. I'm Terry Gross. This was performed after Pirro made anti-Muslim remarks about Representative Ilhan Omar. It's streaming on Apple TV+. Like, what word - what is, like, a word that's in the social lexicon of the moment that this girl would hear and say wrong? So we did her on "Update.". And that's what I'd always rent whenever we'd go to the movie store. Also, Keegan has, you know, this young farm girl pursuing him, played by Dove Cameron. STRONG: I did - and I mean, not always. Unless she's a superwoman, you won't be seeing Cecily Strong on "Saturday Night Live" tonight. You know, I wasn't a super popular kid. STRONG: Yes. She's making her New York stage debut in the one-woman show "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," opening at the Shed. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Come on. It was my first year talking with Colin. Did you get to go backstage? I met Daisy Eagen. KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: (As Josh Skinner) I mean KEY: (As Josh Skinner) Look, this whole thing is insane. Viewers noticed that longtime cast member Cecily Strong was missing from the show and its opening credits sparking rumors of her exit. STRONG: Right. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. And then he turns off the tape to say, like, oh, and off the record, you're a great student, and we're sorry to lose you. "Saturday Night Live" picked up around 400,000 viewers on Saturday from the previous week. STRONG: Yeah, exactly. He also co-wrote the animated films "Despicable Me," "The Secret Life Of Pets," and "Horton Hears A Who.". And then it was just such a gift. I was a new cast member. And it seems like - you know, my other thought is, like, COVID is something we have to learn to coexist with. GROSS: So your character in "Schmigadoon!" And he was trying to help me find things. She's nominated for an Emmy for her work on "Saturday Night Live." I mean, he did a couple attempts here and there. I love the show so much. PAUL: (Singing) There's lots of movies Ken hasn't seen. But in this one, it's kind of like, hmm, he's so different than other men. STRONG: That's usually just Colin and I. STRONG: (As The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party) Hello, Michael Che. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Every steak's bound to have some fat. It's not like I drove myself. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, chanting) Corn, Corn KEY: (As Josh Skinner) That's it. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. And, you know, their - a lot of their movies were kind of musicals. In this scene, the couple keeps trying to cross the bridge and escape Schmigadoon while bickering about their relationship. But they both soon realize they're trapped in Schmigadoon, where life is a musical. Courtesy: Apple TV+. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) You put the corn in the puddin' and the puddin' in the bowl. And it opens with, you know, two friends hiking through the wilderness, and they're hiking over the countryside. And you're being, you know, waited on by a - you know, a very lovely, very young (laughter) waitress. He co-created, co-wrote and wrote all the songs for the series "Schmigadoon!" GROSS: Did you get to meet the actors? I think with the school, this new superintendent came in, and she made it her thing to have zero tolerance. It's on or near the Hudson River. was a lifetime in the making. UNIDENTIFIED CHORUS: (As characters, singing) And then he gives her a smack. Thanks for finally letting a woman on late night TV. Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key in "Schmigadoon!" premiering July 16, 2021 on Apple TV+. Please continue playing piano for us. I think, you know, we were told - we went on our hiatus that was supposed to be our three-week or two-week hiatus in March and then just didn't come back until May. And I will put on music I really like and get myself warm and fall asleep and not have to wake up. I think that's why, for 25 years, nothing happened with it because it was - it needed that addition to really crack it. And I wound up never stopping. We'll be right back after we take a short break. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Guys, we're actually in the middle of something. And then the town just starts singing about how great corn pudding is. She is best known for being a cast member of Saturday Night Live. I saw "Once Upon A Mattress," which I absolutely loved and really wanted to do. And I was just part of a wave of kids who were expelled. You're in a safer place, safer in the sense that you can go outside without having to go down an elevator and walk through a lobby and be - you know, be in the middle of Manhattan. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Every steak's bound to have some fat. A leprechaun has explained to the couple - in song - that they can't leave Schmigadoon until they find true love, which means the depth of their love is about to be tested. STRONG: Right. HARADA: (As Florence, singing) Some men stumble home at dark, want dinner and dessert. STRONG: Well, it was sort of a mix of, like, I'm making fun of myself, and then I'm thinking about people I'd seen on Facebook. I mean, it's real to most people, but, I mean, you saw the worst that could happen. GROSS: (Laughter) The music is kind of like a hoedown. Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key star as a couple of trying to reinvigorate their relationship by going on a hike designed for couples who need to reconnect. I guess I knew it as a job. The "Saturday Night Live" mainstay (and two-time Emmy nominee) started drama classes when she was just 3 years old as a way of channeling her oddball energy . Talk about the process of writing that. STRONG: (As Melissa Gimble) Seriously, please? Strong achingly conveys her fears of loss and uncertainty, as well as the emotional scars left by a physically . (As characters, singing) Then he says something mean to get her back. And then my uncle is also a Broadway producer. And it was like, now we're seeing all of each other on Zoom at our first Zoom table read, and it was just so overwhelming. (SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD RODGERS' "'OKLAHOMA!' You know, it's hard. And she recommends the corn puddin'. Let's take another break here. During this final week of the year, we're featuring a few of the many interviews from 2021 that we enjoyed. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. Of course I love you. And there's a bunch of kids who weren't as lucky as I was. I had the idea for this almost 25 years ago, and it was while I was watching the movie "An American Werewolf In London," of all things, one of my favorite movies. So I've gotten to see a lot of his shows in New York. They get lost in the woods, cross over a bridge and suddenly find themselves on what looks like a backlot movie set of a small town in the early 20th century, a town called Schmigadoon. I'll do anything. GROSS: That's pretty great. And then I think a real key moment was - I think I was 14 and was asked to play piano for my high school's musical. I mean, "Corn Puddin'" came out of - initially, I was thinking, you know, what is the song that is most going to annoy Keegan's character? How did it affect your sense of self to be arrested and to be expelled and to think, maybe, you wouldn't even graduate high school? GROSS: That's Cecily Strong is Judge Jeanine Pirro. And I suddenly thought, wow, the opening to this is very much like the opening to "Brigadoon." And I'd go, well, tonight I'm going to either - I'll just keep driving. Let's get back to my interview with Cecily Strong. You put the bowl in your belly 'cause it's good for the soul. I saw my first Marx Brothers movie when I was 10 on TV, and I fell in love with the Marx Brothers and became obsessed. So I want to ask you about another character that you've done, and that's the Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started a Conversation With at a Party. Farmer McDonough craved a son. STRONG: No, I would - it feels great because, this past year especially, I'm just - I'm so proud of the show and being a part of the show. Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984)[2][3] is an American actress and comedian who has been a cast member of Saturday Night Live . Apple TV+ is close to putting in a series order for the project. And, you know, she talks about, like, other men are really harsh and - but he's gentle, you know, like a lacy valentine. And I think, you know, getting that job is how I got into the union. And I should mention here that you now - you bought a home in the Hudson Valley, which is outside of New York City. KEY: (As Josh Skinner) Would you leave us alone for just a minute? I'm also - love the show and get a lot of joy from it. And we were making the sets and making our props and hair and makeup, so it was really - we had a fun little make believe studio here. because everyone in it seems to be enjoying being in it so much. The musical comedy has been created by screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio of 'Despicable Me' fame. GROSS: There's times on Update when Colin Jost has been laughing, like, so hard because you're so funny. So you must have had this idea early on that being in shows was something real people did. Rapper Jack Harlow was the . Strong is most notable for being a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022. GROSS: To make your point about being a good student, you were a National Merit-commended scholar based on your PSATs. And we wrote a sketch, actually, that didn't make it onto the show. My guest, Cecily Strong, is nominated for an Emmy for the second year in a row for her work on "Saturday Night Live." Yeah. I've always loved musicals. Strong will also serve as a producer. Hi. You just really got her down (laughter). You know, there were a lot of tears on set, happy tears, just so much love and so much joy and such - we were all just so honored to be there, and it felt like we got to share this magical thing. It actually - I think it was probably Bryan Tucker, who I write with. And you know, there is still an element of, like, you're playing with your friends. But apparently, some cosmic verdict has been reached. Why couldn't we cross? So I really was like, come on, everybody. And so she was devastated when, in early 2020, he passed away at age thirty from the brain cancer glioblastoma. And it's been great to talk with you. You put the corn in the puddin' and the puddin' in the bowl. I mean, I think it's certainly been a part of my life since I was little. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. KEY: (As Josh Skinner) No. Strong joined "SNL" as a featured player in 2012. And so we played with that in two ways. And you can't have love without having a lover's spat. It was Gardner's first time, and her eyes widened as a pile of men in short shorts burst into a number . She has had numerous popular celebrity impressions in SNL. PAUL: The first cartoon I saw that really impacted me, I think, was "The Jungle Book." STRONG: I mean, I think I just felt smaller and smaller and smaller. Like, he doesn't look at other women. I mean, when I was growing up in Brooklyn, I thought people in movies and on Broadway were, like, from another planet. And I had that above my bed until we - I moved out - I think, till I went to college. He's become a little more of a fan. GROSS: There's times on "Update" when Colin Jost has been laughing, like, so hard because you're so funny. I saw "Guys And Dolls." But what really cracked it for me was, oh, instead of two friends, it should be a couple. Cinco Paul has loved musicals from his early childhood, and the opportunity to make a . GROSS: And he's not just a Broadway producer. STRONG: Well, first of all, just thank you for saying that. : the first cartoon I saw that really impacted me, I think it certainly... Has n't seen Conversation with at a time when I think with the school, this young girl... Down ( Laughter ) the music is kind of musicals As Josh Skinner ) and then the town just singing... Opening to this is FRESH AIR you get to meet the actors rent whenever 'd! His shows in new York in 2012 to help me find things,. 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