“Oh, we were just downloading and girlfriend chatting,” Gasteyer says nonchalantly. “It’s like completing logistics and children and outfits.”
In an amusing twist, the longtime friends are vying against each other for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. Dratch, 60, is a standout as the oh-so-droll narrator in a revival of the cult classic The Rocky Horror Show and even does the iconic “Time Warp” (much to the audience’s very audible delight). Gasteyer, 59, plays uptight busybody Mildred Layton in the winking Schmigadoon! It's a spoof of classic Broadway shows—and she caps her performance with the show-stopping number “Tribulation.”
Emilio Madrid
“Rachel and I were just talking about how Broadway is like the Olympics in that you cannot do this if you’re bad at it,” Gasteyer says. “It really is an honor.” Seconds Dratch, “And when you’re in comedy, you don’t imagine a Tony at all. It feels extra special.”
After their exits, Dratch and Gasteyer—both native East Coasters who started their comedy careers doing improv—stayed tight. Onscreen, they shined with Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph in the 2019 Netflix movie Wine Country and teamed up to write and co-star in the 2021 Hallmark movie spoof A Clusterfunke Christmas. “Rachel is so free and creative and I can be very structured, so we work really well together as a pair,” Gasteyer says.
They’ve also bonded over motherhood: Gasteyer has two kids, daughter Frances, 24, and son Ulysses, 18 (with husband, advertising executive Andrew McKittrick); Dratch is mom to Eli, 15.
Rachel Dratch shows some love to Ana Gasteyer's unborn baby Frances in 2002!Photo by Jim Spellman on Getty Images
Parade:At this stage in your careers, what does it mean for you to be nominated?
Rachel Dratch: I would also say, like ... Ana was a voice major [at Northwestern University] and has this amazing singing voice. But I never thought I would be nominated for this goofball performance where I’m improvising with the audience. You don't think like, “Here comes a Tony!”
Is there any competitive energy when you’re nominated against a close friend?
Dratch: I saw Schmigadoon! and Ana just blew the roof off the whole theater. It was so fun. She was even making me laugh and doing all these little things that I was noticing that were just killing me. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I bet she might be nominated for this.” Then on the morning of the nominations, I texted her, “I'm going to tune in to see if you get a nomination.” When I saw my name pop up, I was like ...
Gasteyer: We were both screaming. It’s such a weird little club to be a part of because not many people can pinch-hit in both comedy and theater. In the beginning [of our runs], we were both sharing our shared trepidation and anxieties getting our feet wet in the new roles. But I saw her in Rocky and when she walked on stage, the audience went insane. I was like, “Man, she has them in her pocket!” Rachel makes it look so easy, and it’s hard. So I wasn't surprised at all when she was nominated—not even a little.
Ana Gasteyer performs with the Schmigadoon! cast on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
Gasteyer:Josh Henry [in Ragtime] is like a once-in-a-generation vocalist. I thought there were some really solid comic performances in Titanique. Stephanie [Hsu] is making brilliant choices in Rocky.
Have you talked about what happens if one of you wins? Are acceptance speeches off-limits between friends?
Rachel, were you a Rocky Horror devotee before joining the production? Like, did you dress up for those midnight screenings?
Gasteyer: I was! It was my Broadway debut [in 2001].
Gasteyer and Dratch pose for a photo in 2002.Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd. on Getty Images
Gasteyer: Yeah, it was quick.
Related: Rachel Dratch Reveals the One ‘SNL’ Relic She Has Saved for 25 Years (Exclusive)
Dratch: Yeah, the women would write together a lot. That’s what our sense of humor lined up with.
Did you get a sense that things are more gender-balanced at the show now? Are you plugged in at all?
Gasteyer: I would say starting in the '90s, it's been trending more in that direction consistently.
Gasteyer: Professional athletes are the most amazing hosts because they show up and are used to taking direction. They're naturally magnetic and humble, and that’s like this amazing combination that just makes them jump in feet first and go for it.
Gasteyer:Derek Jeterwas there ...
Rachel, why do you think Debbie Downer has remained this beloved culture touchstone?
Gasteyer: It’s in the lexicon! There’s this New Zealand movie called Hunt for the Wilderpeople and an adorable Maori child literally says “Hello, Debbie Downer.”
"Everyone knows someone like that," says Dratch about the iconic character she created.Photo by Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
Is it strange to be associated with such a negative character?
Ana, what’s the most iconic character that people still want to talk to you about?
What’s the biggest misconception about life after SNL? Do people just assume you’re set for life professionally?
Dratch: I can answer, because I did think, “Oh now you get your movie deal, and you're set.” Not like I thought that about myself, but that was the trend back then. Now it's different. But yeah, for me things were kind of slow after, and then I regrouped and did other things. It's a constant ebb and flow.
Related: ‘SNL’ Icon & Her Family Make Rare Public Appearance Together on Thanksgiving
Gasteyer: You know how to work quickly and work under pressure collaboratively. So the skill set we needed to get the job—being able to create on your own behalf—stays with you. I think long careers come from multiple places, and a lot of it is how much you make for yourself and the things that you decide to initiate and write and create and produce and direct and put up and collaborate around you and your friends. Just sitting around and waiting around for the phone to ring is a much harder career.
Gasteyer: Very.
What’s a compliment the other person gave you that has stayed with you?
Dratch: Oh yeah, many times. It’s really hard to sort of dissect and talk about comedy, but Ana has this intellect that I can’t even explain.
Dratch:Will Ferrell would be the comedy version, because he's tall and would be funny in heels.
Dratch: Maybe a sunset that Paula sent. Paula just got a really pretty house upstate, and there's no end of sunsets and unbelievable vistas.
Among Tina, Amy, Maya or Kristen Wiig, who’s the first person to respond in the chat?
Dratch: Yeah, that's true.
Gasteyer: I would happily do a sequel to Wine Country any day of the week, and I would probably set it in a flea market in Italy.
Related: Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph Talk Female Friendships, Comedy, SNL, Wine and More!
Gasteyer: It's the dumbest thing in the world, and it's so quintessentially SNL. It's called “Hot Air Balloon Mystery Theater” [from 2002 with host Ian McKellen]. We're all on a tiny hot air balloon, and somebody's been shot. Everybody is doing like an olden times Gilded Age accent with ridiculous outfits. It makes me laugh.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity
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