I can do comedy so people want me to do that but the other side of comedy is depression. Deep deep depression is the flip side of comedy. Casting agents don't realize it but in order to be funny you have to have that other side.
I always approach comedy roles pretending they aren't funny.
I think it's actually a misperception that I am a comedic actress. I do more drama than comedy but very little of it has been seen. When you are in big funny movies and they do well and your little part in it kind of explodes people perceive you as a comedian.
Comedy clubs can be brutal. Those people are for real and if you aren't funny they aren't laughing. They don't care who you are.
I think if actors don't think of themselves as funny in real life they think they can't do comedy.
Mmmm... the comedy that matters is the comedy you pull out of thin air. It's a bit like when something funny has happened and you try to explain it to someone else and end up saying 'You had to be there.'
But sooner or later I'd love to do a comedy. I mean I think that you know people don't think that that's in my wheelhouse because I've sort of played a lot of dramatic stuff and that's certainly a side of myself that I want at some point in the right context in the right stuff that I find really funny.
I do find comedy difficult. I don't know why. Maybe I think about it too much. There's a tremendous amount of pressure to be funny.
Comedy is surprises so if you're intending to make somebody laugh and they don't laugh that's funny.
The key is just to ignore the pain because physical comedy only works if you see someone get hurt and they aren't actually hurt. If someone gets hit in the face with a bat falls down and gets back up it's funny. If they stay down and their jaw is wired shut in the next scene it's really tragic and weird. You have to pretend it doesn't hurt.