That’s legendary actress, comedian and all around show biz legend Lily Tomlin who’s featured on the Backpage column of Marie Claire’s March issue, on newsstands now.
The actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer started her career performing stand-up comedy and acting in off-Broadway productions in the 1960s. Today, she’s still one of the funniest women on television, starring in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, which has received four consecutive Emmy nods since 2015.
Here, she answers the MC questionnaire offering her best career advice and opening up about the change she wants to see in the entertainment industry.
1. If I weren’t an actress, I’d be: A school-bus driver.
2. Best career advice I’ve gotten: “Just meet with George Schlatter” (George was the producer of Laugh-In) and “Keep doing whatever you’re doing if you truly love it.”
3. Least gracious response to rejection/career setback: “I was just thinking this part is not for me. In fact, this part is so weak, I can’t think of who it would be right for.” I made that up. The only hurtful response I ever got at an audition was “Honey, have you ever acted before?”
4. The three qualities that got me where I am today: I’m not sure where I am today. No, really.
5. Moment I felt I made it: I still have yet to feel that moment. Maybe I should take this article as a sign that I’ve made it to a point or else why would you be interested in these answers?
6. Most agonizing career decision I’ve ever made: Remember when Cher won the Oscar and she wore that black outfit with the bare midriff and all? She was going to loan me that same outfit the next year in which I would present. I was in a long run at the Kennedy Center, but I could’ve canceled shows to be in L.A. for the ceremony. Plus the Kennedy Center was a convenient cover for cold feet. I’m still sorry I didn’t do it!
7. Easiest career decision I’ve ever made: Taking Jane Wagner’s The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe to Broadway.
8. Kind of work I’d do for free: Grace and Frankie. Maybe.
9. Favorite perk of the job: Jane Fonda and I have such fun together on the show.
10. Worst pitfall of the job: Having to start work by 5 a.m.
11. Change I’d like to see in my industry: Lots more diversity, more opportunities for women.
12. How did you make your first dollar? I had a “dime” business. I was 10, and I’d do chores for the neighbors in the apartment building: walk your dog, go to the corner store, empty the garbage. By age 11, I was so good that I raised my price to a quarter.
13. Books that left a lasting impression on me: My Life So Far: By Edith Ann [by Jane Wagner], about a regular 6-year-old just facing the beginning of her life’s journey, and Jane Fonda’s My Life So Far, about a grown woman who’s a huge star facing the third act of her life.
https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a26256518/lily-tomlin-grace-and-frankie/