
It seems hard to believe, but punk musician-turned-comedian-turned-punk musician/comedian Fred Armisen has been on SNL for over 10 years. His first episode, on October 5, 2002, was the show’s first since Will Ferrell left, but in the decade since, he’s become, not unlike Ferrell, arguably SNL‘s most dependable castmember. He’s the face of dozens of recurring characters, including Billy Smith and Fericito, and three times as many impressions. I think about his portrayal of Prince at least twice a week, which is why I was so happy to talk to him about it.
I spoke to Armisen on the phone earlier in the week, not only about SNL, but also Portlandia, his wonderfully charming IFC series with co-creator Carrie Brownstein, and how the show has blossomed in its third season and whether we’ll ever see a Portlandia movie. We also covered his most quoted role, fan feedback, and, again, Prince.
The nerd PSA from last week’s Portlandia episode really took off. Where did that idea come from?
That was a conversation we had as we were shooting the show. I think we must have been a few weeks in, and [director] Jonathan Krisel had brought it up, and we were talking about exactly what you see in the sketch. Isn’t it weird how much people throw around the word “nerd,” and how cool it is to throw the word around? Then all of a sudden, we were like, Oh, there’s a sketch. It’s one of those ideas that came in a minute. Within a week, we found someone to do it, because you know the main guy, he’s a real nerd, like we didn’t want an actor to come in and be like, “Hey, I’m a nerd.” The casting person remembered someone who worked as a, I think, cashier somewhere. He was a little reluctant to do it; he wasn’t like, I want to be on TV. He was more, I’ll give it a try.
The sketch was played so straight, so I was curious if the stuttering was real.
It was absolutely real. In fact, he couldn’t remember his lines, really. There were way too many. So, I thought, I’ll fix that — we’ll use cue cards, we do that on SNL. I wrote them all out, but the takes the editors used for the shoot were the ones where he wasn’t reading the cards. The takes that resonated the most were the ones where he was remembering the lines.
This season feels broader than previous ones, in a good way. You’ve gone past Portland-specific jokes. Is that a natural progression for a show entering season three?
Yeah. We knew we needed the framework of Portland to give it some relevance, a place to work off of, and it kept going. It’s less about the city and more about the people, and what happens in society. It’s a natural progression.
Music’s such a big part of the show. If you could book any dream musician for an episode, who would it be?
If I had the people of my dreams, it’d be like Mick Jones of the Clash or Captain Sensible of the Damned. He’s a great musician, he’s really funny. I want to get someone from Kraftwerk. Like Ralf Hütter. What TV show has he ever been on? Paul McCartney, too.
Well, you have experience with him.
Oh my god, I flip out every time I think of it. He’s a hero.
That nerd PSA was wonderful.
Brilliant!
On Fred Armisen’s KCRW Guest DJ project he played Mick Jones, The Damned and Prince. In other news, we have friends in common so I guess that makes me cool by association.
If SNL had Captain Sensible on, I would vow to watch every episode, even the inevitable one where Pitbull hosts and the musical guest is the Willow and Jaden Smith Experience.
“Dream of the 90s” still makes me laugh, two seasons later.
I loooved the 1890’s remix.
I am a huge Portlandia fan. I think Carrie is effing brilliant, I’d love to see her start appearing in movies.
Season 3 of Portlandia so far is off to an amazing start. That skit where they wonder why no one is political, then every song turns into a “Party Rock” type song was bang on.
and of course…William and Joseph *points to floor*
The show is ok, but I think a movie wouldn’t translate well.
What a super cool dude. I love anything with Fred Armisen. His cameos in Euro Trip and Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo still make me laugh to this day.
Do yourself a favor — watch the extended cut of “Brunch Village” on Netflix. It’s basically a “making of” the episode, and it’s brilliant.
“SNL isn’t as good as it was,”
Kudos, Josh, for even bringing this up.
Nice article. I had a hard time picturing him off-screen until now.
I’m still left wondering about who he is when Elisabeth Moss said about Armisen, “He’s so great at doing impersonations. But the greatest impersonation he does is that of a normal person.”
Yeh, I remember that.
So the article is actually an interview with his brilliant Fred Armissen character!