I had to babysit a lot when I was in high school, and I missed a lot of parties. I felt this longing, like, 'Oh no, I'm going to miss meeting the love of my life at that party!' I feel like that's very Mary Katherine Gallagher.
When I see a mom embarrassed because her kid is having a temper tantrum, I'm like, 'Please! Do you think I've never gone through that?' Women tend to be too hard on themselves.
I never think I want to try to be funny. And humor, if there is anything funny, should come from a real place.
She's true to herself and she's determined. She has things going against her, but she forges ahead despite all of that. I think that's encouraging. She's got some problems, but she has hope and tries to plow through things. I think that's a good role model.
I went to NYU drama school, so I was a very serious actress. I used to do monologues with a Southern accent, and I was really into drama and drama school. And then, in my last year of drama school, I did a comedy show, and the show became a big hit on campus.
Mary Katherine Gallagher is an exaggerated version of me, how I felt when I was little.
