Actress/writer Amy Schumer sat down with EW editor Danielle Nussbaum during SXSW for a hilarious and candid interview. In true Schumer fashion, she spoke not only about her current project, the Judd Apatow-directed Trainwreck, but also her childhood, the backlash, and much more. We’ve already shared some snippets from the chat, but here’s a full report.
1. Amy knew she was funny at age 5: “I played Gretyl in The Sound of Music. I love a good Nazi musical.” She went on to explain that the laughter from the audience made her uncomfortable until her teacher explained that receiving laughs was a good thing and she decided to embrace it.
2. Her last job was sorting mail: “I had to stop bartending at a certain point because, well, I wanted to stop talking to people.”
3. How she feels about Twitter trolls: “I have these, like, little rabbit teeth and people will post a photo of me next to a chipmunk. I don’t want to look like everyone else. I think they’re cute.” Amy says she really doesn’t respond to much of the Twitter haterade, other than to correct grammar. “I mostly respond to love.”
4. Her response to being told a lot of her characters are promiscuous: She assumes most people know that’s it’s a major exaggeration. “I’m not a stranger to c*ck, it’s the way I get a lot of material.” Amy recalls a time she had an experience with a “huge penis” that she “couldn’t handle.” “What was I trying to prove?” she says, “I remember being hungover at a Starbucks on the phone with my sister the next day telling her the whole story.”
5. When asked about whether she considered any other titles for Trainwreck: “It was gonna be Trainwreck or it was going to be C*m Dumpster.” Then she jokes about how writers in the room will have to use asterisks when they reference that quote. Touché, Amy.
6. “Judd Apatow is a f*cking oracle”: “If you look at all the people who are big stars, HE put them in movies first, he can just tell when someone can make that transition…to be vulnerable, to tell a story.”
7. On being approached by female fans who identify with her characters: “These girls will come up to me and say, ‘I’m you!’, and I’m like, ‘That’s not a good thing, I’m making fun of you’.”
8. Sick of the whole “woman” thing: “I’m sick of people telling me that they don’t think women are funny, but that they think I’m funny. You’re complimenting me but then insulting my whole gender!”
9. Her favorite TV shows: As a kid, she grew up watching, “The Muppets, Fraggles, Larry Sanders, Carol Burnett, Laverne and Shirley, Nick at Nite…these days I love Arrested Development, Seinfeld, all reality TV.” Amy’s favorite reality show? The Bachelor. During the Q&A, she went on to proclaim that she felt it was very unfair for Chris Soules to cut Jade after she told him about her nude photos. We agree, Amy. #teamjade
10. Advice she’d give her 16-year old self: “You’re gonna gain weight, you’re gonna get HPV…and that’s OK.”
