Martha Kelly spent close to two decades as a semi-successful stand-up comedian before her friend Zach Galifianakis called her up out of nowhere and asked her to play one of the main roles on his beloved FX series Baskets. It was that opportunity that led directly to her most powerful performance to date as Laurie, the dangerous drug dealer who holds the fate of Zendaya’s Rue in her hands on HBO’s Euphoria.
In this bonus episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Kelly opens up for the first time about how the “intimidating” part fell in her lap, why she seriously considered saying no, and how her own experience as an addict impacted her performance. She also shares stories about how her comedy career evolved after getting sober, acting opposite a very intense Adam Driver, and the pure joy of working with the late Louie Anderson on Baskets.
The character of Laurie has appeared sparingly in the much-obsessed-over second season of Euphoria. But in the most recent episode, which aired last Sunday, Kelly’s performance reached horrifying new heights when Laurie—spoiler alert!—seemed to threaten Rue with sex slavery before injecting her with morphine to ease her withdrawal.
Kelly, who was a fan of Euphoria’s first season before joining the cast for its second, describes the surreal experience of suddenly inhabiting a world she had only watched voyeuristically from the outside. She was properly intimidated to act opposite Zendaya, and was instantly reminded of her scenes with Driver on another project she still can’t believe she got to be a part of: Noah Baumbach’s Oscar-nominated indie drama Marriage Story.
Always self-deprecating, both on stage and in conversation, Kelly says, “In my opinion, Adam Driver and Zendaya are both at that level of gifted actor where I’m going into it being like, ‘God, please don't let me ruin this scene.’”
When it came to her own past struggles with alcohol, Kelly says she never hit rock bottom quite as dramatically as Rue does in episode five. “I was just really miserable and not functioning and kind of in a slow-motion car crash with my whole life,” she says. “I think it’s easier to be creative sober. I certainly would never, ever be able to do a single acting job if I was still drinking. I wouldn’t be able to wake up for a call time and I wouldn’t be able to focus on what was happening.”
“It’s still mysterious to me how that moment happens for people, including me, but it just finally hit me one day,” Kelly adds. “I’m either going to keep getting drunk every night and my life is always gonna be the way it is right now, which is really bad—really painful, physically and mentally—or I’m going to never drink again. And if that is what you think, then you kind of have to stop.”
Below is an edited excerpt from our conversation. You can listen to the whole thing—including Kelly’s memories of acting opposite the late Louie Anderson on ‘Baskets’ and more—right now by subscribing to The Last Laugh on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, and be the first to hear new episodes when they are released every Tuesday.
Have you been getting much feedback on your performance, especially after this insane episode that just aired?
Yeah, the Euphoria fans are really amazing. I’ve been trying to limit looking at stuff on social media, because if you go looking for feedback, at some point someone’s going to say something that hurts your feelings. So I’m not spending a lot of time on Twitter and Instagram the past few days, but I have gotten really sweet messages from Euphoria fans and it’s just really nice.
Yeah, the show definitely has very intense fans, and I count myself among them. I’m just obsessed with this new season. I think it’s been so good and you’re so good in it. I know you’ve expressed some reluctance to acting in the past, since most of your career has been as a comedian. So how did this happen? How did you end up on this show?
Well, I think that [Euphoria creator] Sam [Levinson] saw Baskets and/or Marriage Story. And then they just contacted me about the part of Laurie and I was very scared. I was scared to do it because I’ve never done any character that’s a villain. And as a stand-up comedian, you just want to do comedies and play likable characters. So I was really scared, but then I met with Sam and he was so great. And also I’m a fan of Euphoria, so it was like, I’m scared to play a villain and I’m also intimidated by all the gifted actors on the show and the writing and was like, “What if I ruin one of my favorite shows?” I was very nervous, but everybody was really nice. So it made it easy.
Was there an audition process, or was he just offering you the part, or how did that work?
They just offered me the part. It’s like somebody dropped a winning lotto ticket in your driveway. I’m really lucky. It was really nice.
So you knew that this character of Laurie was a villain going in. Were there aspects of your own personality or approach that you were able to bring to it at all?
Only to the extent that my voice and my emotional range are kind of the same in real life and in any character I play.
Yeah, I get that feeling.
And I don't know a Laurie or anybody like her, luckily. Because she’s a monster.
What was it like getting thrown into that crazy world of the show? Especially in the season two premiere, where there’s just so much going on in Laurie’s house, so many interesting people walking around, some of whom are naked.
It was very intense. All the actors in that scene are so gifted that when my character is sitting in a recliner, not watching what they’re doing, they’re so good that it sounded like people being beaten up. And even though I knew that they’re acting, it’s still really intense to just spend a couple hours listening to the sounds of people getting hurt. I don’t love violence, but it’s such an amazing show and it’s kind of bizarre that I got to be on it.
I was curious whose idea the massage chair was, because that must have been kind of nice for you, getting to spend quite a bit of time sitting in a massage chair.
I'm sure it was Sam’s. And it was a real old-timey working massage chair. So there were a couple times we turned it on for shots and it did feel really funny. It just feels like little fists in your back pushing.
I feel like there’s been a lot of debate around Laurie’s decision to give Rue the suitcase of drugs and trust her with that. People are sort of questioning why she would do that. Do you feel like you had to understand why she was so casual about giving her the suitcase of drugs in that episode?
I don’t feel like I spend a lot of time thinking about motivations of characters. If it’s not something that I’m writing, I just go into it sort of blind. I would guess that her motivation was either—you know, Rue is very convincing as a character. So either she really thought, “Hey, this kid’s going to open up a new arm of my business via high school students” or she knew it would end up entrapping Rue somehow. I don’t really know because I didn’t ask Sam about it, but yeah, it is a strange thing for somebody to give thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise to a teenager.
What has acting with Zendaya been like? I mean, she is so compelling on this show and especially in this most recent episode, where she’s really out of her mind. The contrast is so interesting too, because she’s so hyped up and moving, and you’re very still and have this deadpan thing that you do so well. So what was that like acting with her?
I was very nervous because she’s such a gifted actor. And it’s intimidating to be in a scene with someone who can go from just having a normal conversation with the crew or Sam or other actors and then when they start rolling, totally be in a natural-seeming emotional state for the character. I really admire actors who can do that, because it’s different from method acting, from what I understand—it’s not being in character all the time. It’s like being yourself and then in a split second, being able to concentrate enough to get into that character. So it's really intimidating, but she was so nice about it. And Sam was so nice. I think they knew that I was super nervous in the beginning, and sometimes later, and they just were like, “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Everybody was really sweet. I’m sure I’m not the only actor to be nervous around Zendaya. But I also was kind of struck that she just acted like not one of the most famous people in the world. It was like if you went to your friend’s house and their kid was visiting from college for the weekend. It felt normal. It’s pretty impressive. I admire her talent and her work ethic and she was very nice to me and I was really nervous so it helped.
It’s wild to think that she could just be joking around, totally herself, moments before doing some of the stuff that she does in the show, because it is so out there.
Yeah. I just imagine that actors at that level have an ability to concentrate that I don’t have.
In this most recent episode, you also have this great monologue about what opiates do to your brain.
Yeah, I feel weird about big chunks of dialogue, because I do know that I kind of speak in a monotone and if I have a long stretch of dialogue, I try to modulate my voice, but it’s difficult. And so, not being a trained, real actor, my mind was on trying to not put people to sleep or remembering the words rather than thinking a lot about opiates. I’ve been sober for 18 years. So I definitely know the appeal of opiates and I also know the damage that they do. So I’m familiar with that, but when the camera’s rolling, I’m always like, remember the lines, try not to put people to sleep, and then just listen to what the director says, what they want you to do. That’s where my head is always at.
Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about your own issues and history with addiction, because it is so central to this show. And it’s also something that you’ve talked a lot about in your comedy. How did that impact this performance or even your desire to be on the show? You said you don’t know anyone like Laurie, but did you feel like you had any relation to this world from your own experience?
Well, I’m definitely familiar with the desperation that addicts go through and the damage that that does to families and people who love you. I think that my initial reaction to reading the part of Laurie was, I don’t want to play a character that hurts kids. The most despicable people are the ones who hurt or exploit kids. And so I was like, I can’t, I can’t. I love this show and it’s so awesome to be offered a part, but I didn’t think I could do it. But that’s why I met with Sam. And after talking to him, I was like—in the violent scene or in the naked scene with everybody, Laurie’s not in there punching anybody or anything. I’m scared of that whole world, so there was fear of playing a character in it. Everybody that I talked to about it was like, “No one’s going to think you’re the character. Everybody’s aware that this is a TV show.” But I’m just not that experienced, so I was kind of scared to do it.
She’s not violent at all, but she is terrifying. And there are these sort of subtle threats that are happening throughout, including what seems to be a threat about making Rue some sort of sex slave or using her body to pay back her debt. I’m still very worried about that as we’re heading into the last few episodes of the season. And I know we obviously don’t want to spoil anything for people, but I guess my question is, how worried should I be for Rue?
Well to be honest, I don’t know, because as a fan of the show, I only read my parts of scripts and I have not watched ahead. I hadn’t seen that whole episode that aired this past week.
Do you kind of forget during the episodes that all of a sudden you’re going to show up at some point?
No. Because, like a lot of actors and comedians, I’m always kind of dreading watching myself. I think that’s how a lot of people feel about watching themselves. So I’m always on guard, but it’s easier for me to enjoy the episodes that I’m not in this season. It’s just such a beautiful show.
Next week on ‘The Last Laugh’ podcast: Sam Richardson from ‘Veep,’ ‘Ted Lasso,’ and the new Apple TV+ series ‘The Afterparty.’
