room—during a sketch last season on SNL called
“Close Encounter,” which was so popular it was
reprised in May with host Brie Larson. McKinnon played a woman abducted by aliens who had
a less warm and fuzzy experience than her fellow
abductees, played by Gosling and Cecily Strong.
It’s one of the rare times McKinnon broke in a
scene, and the sketch is even funnier because
all the actors involved could hardly contain
themselves.
“I try so hard not to break and usually I’m
too nervous but, I don’t know, that sketch was
just so well written,” McKinnon says, making
sure to praise its writers Streeter Seidell and
Mikey Day. “They just gooped it out and none
of us really thought that it was necessarily a win-
ner until we read it at the table read and every-
one was losing it.”
Like Jones, who loses it when McKinnon does
a “Scottish person” impression, McKinnon’s
funniest, Jones says, even though McKinnon
hasn’t performed it on SNL.
“I don’t think she has it as a character yet,”
Jones says, cracking up while trying to explain.
“But she speaks in this crazy Scottish accent, and
it’s the funniest thing that you will ever hear in
your life. I try to imitate her and I always sound
like a crazy; I sound like a terrible Jamaican.”
While filming Ghostbusters, Wiig and McCar-
thy would sometimes join in the impression,
making Jones done for.
“Whenever we would get delirious from
shooting or be real tired, they’d just get silly
and [Kate] would start doing it and they would
just start talking to each other and sometimes
Melissa would join in and it was really funny.
It’s like the girl from Brave. It’s the whole Brave
movie and, I’m telling you, it would bring me to
tears, laughing so hard. They would be like, Oh,
I don’t know where I’m going,” Jones cracks up
yet again and trails o;, carried away by the mem-
ory and her inability to do the accent, too.
the funniest lady
McKinnon’s career has taken o; since joining the
SNL cast and, these days, typical side jobs include
starring in feature films; co-hosting The Independent Spirit Awards with Kumail Nanjiani, for
which she appeared in a parody of the film Carol
that went viral. And she guest-starred on an episode of The Simpsons, ensuring her place in American pop culture. It’s a heady time, and with the
presidential campaign entering its final stretch,
McKinnon will continue to cement her place,
playing Clinton through the election and, if Clinton wins the White House, likely well beyond.
But McKinnon says shooting Ghostbusters was
the time of her life.
“The whole thing felt like it was a summer
camp, but not just a summer camp,” McKinnon
says. “It was like a beautiful dream. It felt sort
of like it was happening on another planet—not
just because we were in Boston—but everyone
was so thrilled to be there and believed so hard
in what the movie was trying to accomplish.
There was just a lot of love going around. I would
say that was the best summer of my life.”
Jones calls it “a friendship movie,” and the
director, Feig, agrees.
“It was a blast,” he says. “Every movie I’ve
done, all I do is hire the funniest people I can
find. And what I find every single time is the fun-
niest people I can find are also the most delight-
ful people in the world.”
“I love to work and I’m working,” McKinnon
says. “In this industry that’s a miracle. I don’t
know how anyone ever gets a job, and I certainly
never thought it would happen for me. To have
somewhere to go every day, to be around the peo-
ple who love the same stu; as you, is a true gift.”
CHARAC TERS
IN SEARCH
OF AN
IMPRESSIONIST
How Kate McKinnon
thinks of her subjects
RUTH BADER GINSBURG
Supreme Court Justice:
“Octogenarian victory dance”
ANGELA MERKEL
German chancellor:
“Filled with longing—the
most emotional German
person”
ROBERT DURST
eccentric, alleged murderer:
“A little, sweet, grumpy guy”
JUSTIN BIEBER pop singer:
“Just trying to have fun”
HILLARY CLINTON
presidential candidate:
“Warm powerhouse”
ELLEN DeGENERES
talk-show host:
“Bundle of joy”
“That really made me think I could somehow
make a career out of playing a bunch of di;erent
weird characters. It seemed like an impossible
dream, but I really wanted to do that.”
6
