Ari Graynor – Bad Teacher

Q) What are the recent projects you have been working on?

A) I am currently in rehearsals for an off Broadway play called American Hero by Bess Wohl and it’s directed by Lee Silverman who was just nominated for a Tony. I did the play last summer and it’s just such a special play. It’s just funny, deep and is a very different type of character for me. It’s really exciting to be able to go and hunker down in this really creative, thoughtful and fun work in the middle of the craziness of releasing this TV show, “Bad Teacher.”

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show “Bad Teacher?”

A) For a while, I wasn’t ready to do TV. I think, for me, exciting and creative things are happening in that medium, but it can be terrifying because you only read one script and could potentially be signing on for seven years for your life. That’s the contract you sign when you sign up for a TV show. I just hadn’t been ready to do that for a long time. Then, I think part of that was my frustration about the lack of dynamic females characters. There are just so few female roles out there. When I read the script for “Bad Teacher,” I really wasn’t sure. When they said it was coming my way I said, “I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to do a TV show based on a movie.” Then, when I read it – it was so much it’s own thing. There was nothing about it that was trying to emulate the movie. It just shared this title and this set up of this woman being a totally inappropriate teacher. Besides that, it was it’s own story and it was so funny and so smart. I laughed out loud the whole time and none of it was because it was just a barrage of dirty jokes. It came from the character, which is the stuff that you look for. This character Meredith Davis was this outrageous, confidant woman and says whatever is on her mind without thinking about what someone else may think about it. She’s brazen and fun. There was just so much in her that I responded to in terms of things that I wish I was more like. I just loved it and thought this is something worth taking a risk on.

Q) Was there anything about the role that you added that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I think that Hilary Winston, our creator and showrunner, is so smart and what she created on the page was really, really clear. But also we are very much in tune. So, I think that quickly that she understood the kinds of things about the character, the kind of comedy beats or storylines that I respond to the most and really speaks to my sensibilities. So, I think in a way we formed a very symbiotic relationship where we were bouncing off of each other without even having to directly to each other about it. I think that was really a natural evolution of me and the character. There is definitely stuff in each episode where I would throw in some of my own little lines here and there. It wasn’t like we would go off on these crazy improv tangents. There is definitely things that I threw in there now and then. That’s the thing about having a great script, when the showrunner understands you and you have the same goal. You just work so well together.

Q) You have great comedic timing. Is it a naturally ability for you or have you had to hone it throughout the years?

A) It was never a conscious thing. I never set out to do comedy. I haven’t taken any classes in it and it wasn’t a conscious thing. I think a lot of it is nature, what you are born with. I’m an only child. I was kind of an awkward kid because I was basically a forty year old in a ten year old’s body. I was certainly not the pretty girl. I was made fun of for being overweight. I think I always felt a little bit like an outsider because I saw the world in a way that most kids my age were not seeing. I think out of that comes a certain ability or necessity to be funny. I’m sure that it is a part of it. Then, later in life, I realized that a lot of the movies that I had spent so much time watching as a kid had these female leads, actors and comedians like Dianne Keaton, Bette Midler, Shelly Long and Lilly Tomlin. I think they probably inspired me more than I was consciously aware of at the time.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you enjoying the instant feedback from fans after each episode airs?

A) I do! That’s a really lovely part of Twitter and being able to engage with people. I did not want to join Twitter, originally. It felt almost like a soul crushing decision to me because I think there is a lot of value in social media, but I also think it can be incredibly dangerous in terms of how we relate to each other as human beings and how it can take us out of the present moment. With how it lends itself to a certain habit and instant gratifying of instant validation, I just think it is not ultimately the things that make us the fullest and best human beings that we can be. I was really wary of it, but now that I am on it I think it is a really fun thing to do and putting the show out there is scary and vulnerable. It is really so nice to be able to hear that people like it. I’m sure there are other people that are not writing that don’t like it, but it is really nice when I’m feeling anxious about an episode airing or just having my face be out there so much hearing that people are excited. It does give me a little extra boost.

Q) What do you think it is about “Bad Teacher” that has made it a quick fan favorite show?

A) I think it has such a great spirit. It’s so funny, but it is so sweet at the same time without being saccharine or message-y. I think one of the biggest things that I responded to about Meredith when I read the pilot is that she is someone you want to hang out with. There were a lot of people that would come on the show as guest stars and they would say, “I just want to be best friends with Meredith.” And I sort of feel that same way, too. She is I think incredibly refreshing and I think all of the characters on the show are fun and sweet and they make you laugh and it makes your heart ache for them a little bit. I think Hilary Winston and all of the writers just created a world that you are excited to be a part of for half an hour.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I just want to say a massive, massive, massive thank you. What’s funny about all of this that I have been thinking about is that from a childhood perspective we think, “When I am the titular character on a show on CBS and I get the reports that eight million people have watched the show I’m going to feel amazing and life will look and feel like this.” At the end of the day, I’m still me and I’m still full of my insecurities and vulnerabilities and that fear that “What if I’m not enough? What if people don’t like me?” That’s a battle we have our whole lives and it hasn’t gone away. To know that there are people out there that are responding to the show, that respond to me and that feel like they can escape their lives for a minute (it’s hard being a human) is the greatest gift there is. It sort of makes life more meaningful. I’m endlessly grateful and excited. I hope to meet some of these people and I hope they come see me and say hello while I’m doing the play in New York. I would love for people to come and wait after to come say hi. I feel incredibly lucky.