Eliza Coupe stars in the Fox comedy “Pivoting” with Ginnifer Goodwin and Maggie Q, about three friends who pivot their life priorities after the death of their friend. For Coupe’s character, a local talk show producer, that means actually spending time with her young kids, despite her complete lack of maternal instincts or even a desire to be around her own children.
As an actor on shows such as the Chicago-set sitcom “Happy Endings,” Coupe has established herself as the queen of the acerbic line reading and perhaps that’s why “people don’t look at me and go, ‘Yeah, let’s have Eliza Coupe play the mother.’ Nobody’s doing that. I just don’t give off that vibe. But I know I can do it and I enjoy doing it. The way it was pitched to me was, ‘You have kids. But you’re not into having kids. But you love your own kids.’ And I was like, perfect! Sounds pretty much how I would be! So that’s great! Done and done — I’m pretty sure I can do that with my eyes closed!”
When asked to share a worst moment in her career, it was a cringe-y audition that came to mind. “The funniest thing was, it was with Seth Rogen,” Coupe said, “and then years later I ended up being on ‘Future Man,’ which was his show on Hulu, he was the producer. And I’ve never even brought it up to him.”
My worst moment …
“I was just out of the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival, which is how I got my start, and I was getting all these great auditions. This was 2007 or 2008. Months earlier I had been a bathroom attendant in Time’s Square. Then I did my show at Aspen, and space and time was collapsing over this four month period and all of a sudden I was going to do a director’s session with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen. I was so excited. I think it was for the movie ‘Funny People.’ I’ve tried to block this entire memory out, but it was a very big Judd Apatow movie and I was supposed to read with Seth.
“But something was clearly going on because when I walked in, they were all on their Blackberries. And yes, Blackberries, not iPhones, to give you a sense of when this was. You can’t unhear the click-click of those Blackberries (laughs).
“So I just come bebopping in. Remember, I had just won the breakout award at Aspen and I was also on Variety’s list of 10 comedic actors to watch. So I was having to live up to my own reputation. And I was so nervous, I hadn’t done an audition like this before. So I go in thinking, oh we’re going to have fun and then there was clearly some sort of catastrophe going on in their world because they were all on their phones and dealing with stuff and I was like, I guess this is how it goes?
“So I started to mimic that and pulled out my phone.
“And that was not the right move to make because they thought I was disinterested. And I’m like, but wait — you’re disinterested! I got so confused and that shot my confidence and I gave the worst audition of my life. I was the most unfunny person and I couldn’t even make eye contact with them. I want to seep into the carpet and disappear.
“We tried to improvise something and I did everything that you’re not supposed to do. When you do improv, it’s supposed to be ‘Yes, and …’ and I was like, ‘No,’ full stop! I didn’t come up through the improv ranks and I can improvise a script, that’s easy for me because once I know it, I can play because I’m improvising off a story. But they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re not going to use the script at all.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ And they wanted me to start it!
“I don’t know what happened, but all my funny was removed from me in that moment. All I know is, Aubrey Plaza ultimately got the part.
“It took a long time for me to recover from that audition. I really beat myself up about that one.”
When an actor walks into an audition, isn’t it natural to assume the attention would be focused on you?
“It is a natural thing to assume! But they were clearly dealing with something that was affecting all of them and the project. Maybe a deal fell through. Something was going on and (laughs) it was the worst situation to walk into as an actor because actors, by nature, we take everything personally and we look to other people to validate us! So it’s like: Oh god, I’m not important.
“So I pulled out my own phone and mimicked them in a jokey way and it was the worst choice possible because I didn’t really commit to it. I just looked like I was on my phone. I looked like a (jerk). And then they were like, ‘Um, whenever you’re ready …” And I was like, ‘Oh! I’ve been ready since six o’clock this morning!’ I really just misread the moment.
“I have crippling anxiety — or I did have crippling anxiety as a kid — so this kind of audition was a big deal. And I think I blacked out everything afterward when I walked out. I had to call my manager and tell them how bad it all was. And the whole walk through the studio, I think I got lost and it was so embarrassing just to find my way back to my car.
“Back then I didn’t have a lot of tools to work through things. I was so young. So I think I just decided to take it out on myself. And then I probably went and ran up a mountain; walking and hiking is usually what I’ve done in the past to process these feelings.
“The thing with acting, for me, is that if I don’t get to release my energy through my art, it’s almost what I would assume (sexual frustration) is for a dude, where you can’t release! So when I’m not able to honor my artistic expression — it never came out — then I need to go find someplace to get that energy out. So I would go hiking or running or sometimes I would yell or scream by myself, just to get that energy out. It needs to be released.
“I do remember the next auditions I had, I killed it because it was all in me having to come out.”
Why did Coupe never mention this to Rogen?
“I don’t know! I think maybe because I did eventually work through it. I guess I thought, what’s the point?
“It’s the same reason why I never brought up to the people of ‘SNL’ that I’ve met that I was a bathroom attendant at their after-parties in New York. I had full-on conversations and went to an after after-party with Will Forte and Jimmy Fallon. What happened was, Will Forte invited a bunch of us that worked at this restaurant to the after after-party and we all went and had a great time and we were all talking and it was really fun and then I ended up doing a fundraiser with Will Forte years later and rode in a private jet with him and I never brought it up and I don’t know why! I guess I thought it would be weird.”
The takeaway …
“It’s one thing to read the room and understand how to match the energy of the people in that room. But it’s another thing to completely abandon yourself to do that as opposed to, no, what do I feel in this moment that I should do? What do I want to do? What is my highest choice here?
“If I had it to do over, I would probably be like, ‘OK guys, whenever you’re ready.’ Like, ‘Take your time, send off those emails on your Blackberries.’
“I should email Seth and be like, ‘Heads up about this article …’”
———
