ANA GASTEYER

I always loved comedy but I didn't start formally until I was in college.

It's so easy in these cabaret venues to get earnest.

I'm pretty earthy; I nursed forever because I liked it and my kids liked it, but at the same time I'm very laissez-faire about stuff like bedtimes and food.

I'm not much of a famous-person friend. I've hung out with Brooke Shields and I don't think I've ever seen that kind of pure face recognition, but I keep a low profile.

I love people who try to keep the world in control - because the world is inherently not in control.

I'm not a standup, but I play one on TV.

I was inspired more by early Bette Midler. I do wear a fancy dress and very high heels - and extra high hair. My goal is to obliterate all earnestness.

I played Liddy Dole last year and met her as well. From the artful way she phrased it, I still don't know if she had actually seen me play her. She made it sound like it was good, but that's just a gift they have.

I live in Brooklyn.

I'm so bad at spontaneous impressions.

I'm very social, and in a place like New York, even if you're alone on the subway, you never feel lonely.

I'm friends with a lot of actresses, but my 'SNL' friends are my closest. The experience of working there is something of a battleground, a great one, but complicated. I think there's a deep connection for having survived that workplace.

It's definitely like being in some weird sorority. I'm friends with a lot of actresses, but my 'SNL' friends are my closest.

Be tenacious. Get as much stage time as possible.

I'm a liberal inside a liberal's body.

It's funny, there are so many women who are former executives and have taken all that stress and anxiety and transferred it onto their kids.

Losing yourself in the character opens you up in a way that no amount of precise preparation can.

I've always lived in a city.

I've always lived in a city. I'm very social, and in a place like New York, even if you're alone on the subway, you never feel lonely.

You know, once somebody knows you can sing Elphaba, it's like being able to sing Evita - people shut up about it already.

I'd like to say that parody is a celebration of a person's specific characteristics, as opposed to mockery.

I'm married but the special man is my dog, Henry.

There are different kinds of actors, and movie actors tend to be exceedingly precise and mechanical in a way that's really admirable for me to watch. You always learn from them.

I always tried not to be too mean, but my problem is that the people I tend to find hilarious don't usually have senses of humor. So interacting with them is a little bit of an awkward engagement, because I can't really make them laugh, on top of which I've been doing an impression of them.

Comedy's been really liberating for me because I've been able to sneak the singing part in through the back door.