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Schmieding also writes for the show, which premiered on Peacock last week.
Some light spoilers below.
I mean, you taught public school for a decade, so I feel like you could handle it.
[Laughs]Yeah.Thetoughest crowds, my students in the Bronx.
Sierra Teller Ornelas, one of the showrunners, has described Reagan as a character who has auntie vibes.
Theyre like the cool mom, the mom alternative.
A lot of those messages, Ive internalized.
I didnt really realize until I was confronted with the role.
In the lives of many, many people of size, romance is happening.
This is just a fabrication of Hollywood, the predominant narrative that courses through Hollywood.
In our lives, we snag, we get hotties!
Like, we can, you know?
And she was like, Were saying something without saying something, its fine.
Of course she has a romantic story line, shes cute!
And I was like, Okay.
And of course, doing it with Dustin hes a wonderful person, and a friend off-screen.
And there never will be.
You also co-star alongside Ed Helms.
What was it like acting with him?
Ed Helms is calling me on my phone right now!
I get very emotional when I talk about working with Ed.
Ive been watching Ed Helms on TV since I could watch him on TV.
He was an incredible mentor and friend to have as a first time being onscreen to this extent.
I asked him, Why do you do that?
So yeah, I get flummoxed when I talk about working with Ed.
I think working in the Mike Schur world, youre going to encounter a lot of opportunities to improvise.
Thats just sort of the style of comedy that the show brings forward.
I think ultimately, good improv relies on rapport and relationship with your scene partners.
You two have a lot of lighthearted scenes together, but also some pretty intense moments.
Did that resonate with you as you were writing or acting it?Absolutely, absolutely.
Theres nuance to everything.
We are all very multifaceted, and we have many experiences behind us.
So ultimately that was the intent, and performing it was wonderful.
It was a situation where Ed was very busy.
That meant so much to me.
Everybody kept being like, Oh, bummer that your first experience is happening during this really intense time.
And Im like, Yeah, tell me, whats it like otherwise?
And theyre like, We have food trucks.
So we didnt have food trucks, I guess.
But no, ultimately, it was a lot.
When we had spikes in Los Angeles, we shut down.
That was at the forefront of our minds as a Native show.
I would love to continue to do comedy.
And I think I can.
I hope I can!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
