The Latest: Out to Lunch with Tracey Ullman, Pamela Adlon, and BFI
Spend sometime eating with Tracey (and Oscar) and interviewer Jay Rayner in Out to Lunch...
“Better Things” star and showrunner Pamela Adlon has done scores of TV guest shots over the years, but one gig in particular made a big impression on her just as she was about to enter the world of parenthood.
Adlon was a guest player in a 1996 episode of Tracey Ullman’s HBO sketch comedy series “Tracey Takes On …” She doesn’t remember much about the role other than she played a staunch feminist type at a rally. But she does remember what she observed off camera from how Ullman ran her show.
“She had two little kids at home. There was trouble shooting that day and I remember her telling all of us ‘I want to get home by or before dinner because otherwise, what’s the point?’ ” Adlon, speaking to Variety for her cover story, recalls.
Ullman famously goes to great lengths to bring to life her wide repertoire of sketch characters. Adlon watched with admiration as Ullman moved through the day making quick decisions right and left. It was clear to all that Ullman was in command of her set and the day’s schedule.
“I watched her stop and price out how much it would cost to make a long catwalk or a roundabout for one scene,” Adlon recalls. “I watched her make all of these decisions. That was imprinted on me when I became a new mom. I watched Tracey write, direct, star, and showrun and do her character’s makeup and prosthetics, all in a one-day span. That was imprinted on me. I think she is the greatest.”
Lastly, here are some snippets from Tracey's BFI interview last year:
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