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As she puts it in one episode: I believe that visual chaos promotes intellectual growth.
Hows your rabbit, Tina, doing?
I just need to get her waistline down a little bit, and I cant do it.
Im constantly giving her treats.
She wakes me up for it.
She circles me at night for it like a little addict.
What is it about the home that inspires so much of your comedy?
Im just too old now for location shooting.
And I grew up with an appreciation for set design.
Like, Oh, look, somebody hand-painted that!
Somebody made those flowers!
At Homeis definitely comfort viewing right now.
That would make for a really cute cross-stitch.
We shouldve done that.
What percentage of stuff on-set is thrifted or vintage, versus made for the show?
Its a good mix.
So a lot of stuff is my own.
Todd Oldham, another friend of mine, came on and contributed to the set.
You get people involved, just re-creating things I love.
Has quarantine been a good time for workshopping craft and recipe ideas?
But I do a few little things, like making potholders or my own little covers for Bic lighters.
But mostly just cooking.
Cooking is where Ive gotten creative.
Have you made a quarantine sourdough yet?
I dont have the room!
I dont have a closet to put a bowl of bread in and let it rise.
My place is jam-packed with stuff, and its not that big.
What am I gonna do, sit at home and eat a loaf of bread by myself?
Do you think theres a menacing undercurrent to that sort of Martha Stewart homemaker perfectionism?
We say our show is like Martha Stewart if she was being attacked by wild turkeys.
It was a real craft back in the day, making a wind chime out of nails.
I dont know why I choserustynails.
I had to go on eBay, and there were alotof weird people selling rusty nails.
Its just funny to me, like a wind chime made out of tuna fish can lids.
I like stupid ideas and dumb ideas.
Nothing makes me laugh harder than a bad idea.
My favorite craft fromSimple Timesis the tampon ghosts that are just tampons with googly eyes on them.
In my house, Im always stepping on googly eyes.
I keep finding them every time I clean up, or theyre stuck on the bottom of my shoe.
You play many characters onAt Home.
I want to ask about two of my favorites: Patty Hogg and Nutmeg.
Who was your inspiration for Patty?
Patty Hogg is a combination of a lot of southern women that I grew up with.
I didnt even think of doing Patty for the show.
The hard part about doing her is, Pattys face takes a lot of muscles.
I dont know if a lot of people relate to Patty.
Its always fun to have that kind of person around.
You just trust them.
Theyre gonna take care of everything.
I can look at Patty and say, Well, Patty looks really good for her age.
Whereas I look at me on the show, like, Oh God, look how old I look.
Nutmeg, meanwhile, has a Scotch tape facelift.
Whats going on there?
Im like, Youre supposed to see the tape!
In my head, Nutmegs 36.
And shes not Pattys daughter; shes Pattys granddaughter.
So we can find out who Nutmegs mother is.
Maybe if we do a fourth season, we can discover that.
People think, Oh, shes crazy.
I think Nutmeg knows what shes doing.
Nutmegs the sanest one on the show, actually.
Whats the collaboration process with these guests like?
Shes really sweet and really funny.
And then I worked with Cole onDifficult Peopleand I was really blown away by him.
I saw Orange Juice Commercial on YouTube, and I thought, Oh my God, theres my neighbor.
Coles also a writer on the show, so its always, Whats Chassies game here?
I love working with him so much.
And no ones funnier than John Early.
He reminds me a lot of Geoffrey Jellineck fromStrangers.
When he comes on, he brings energy and we step up for it.
Pasquesi was Stew the Meat Man onStrangers,so we made him the Knife Man.
Who found Baby Huckleberry from this seasons Babies episode?
Someone made that for me from a kit years ago.
I used to mistreat it as a joke, like, Punish Huckleberry!
and then I put it under a stack of clothes and neglected it.
But Huckleberry feels really good when you hold him.
Hes a really good-sized baby.
Ill play with him once in a while.
In the writers room, I was like, Gotta get Huckleberry on the show.
Because I always want to do a baby episode.
Thechemistry between you and Michael Ceraas the ham boy in the Valentines Day episode was really palpable.
That was based onSummer of 42.That little kitchen was inspired by that movie.
And then, of course, the living-room scene was inspired byThe Graduate.
Last weeks episode, about the danger of cruise ships, felt weirdly prescient.
Its certainly a newsworthy thing during coronavirus.
Like, Dont bring back any diseases!
