Paula Pell may have spent the last decade stealing scenes in series like Girls5Eva, AP Bio and, now, The ‘Burbs, but the multihyphenate hasn’t moved on from writing.
And after two decades at Saturday Night Live, several of which she spent as head writer, her next gig isn’t the most expected. She and her wife Janine Brito penned Netflix’s upcoming Kim Kardashian comedy. “My agent said, ‘Kim Kardashian is looking to put together some sort of girls’ friendship movie,” recalls Pell. “I think Janine said, ‘I don’t think she’s gonna want two lesbians who live in the woods to be writing her movie.’”
But she did. Production began on The Fifth Wheel in January. Pell discussed it as much as she could when she piped into The Hollywood Reporter podcast I’m Having an Episode (Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple), also digging into her new day job playing Keke Palmer‘s nosy neighbor in The ‘Burbs. Their comedy-thriller, which launched out of the Super Bowl, is currently sitting at No. 1 on Peacock.
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How much DNA does The ‘Burbs share with the film of the same name?
It’s a very loose remake. It takes the flavor of original with Tom Hanks. There’s a lot of little crossovers. It’s about that suffocating boredom of the suburbs. Everyone’s got their yard and they look out their window and they’re all talking crap about each other. But they’re also friends, and there’s there’s a restlessness in them.
You filmed this on Colonial Street on the Universal backlot, famously the filming location for Desperate Housewives, The Munsters, Leave it to Beaver and…
The original The Burbs! We’re shooting it in the actual place. John Lutz and I did Mapleworth Murders — our kind of very sick and funny reboot of Murder, She Wrote that’s on Roku — and the creepy house [in The Burbs] used to be my character’s house. At the time, it was a darling Victorian. Movie magic! The backlot of Universal, you would forget a lot of times that it’s a movie set. You’re just sitting on fake porches.
Did you have a relationship with the original film?
I remember being creeped out by it — and also thinking some of it was really funny. It was really fun for us to find that tone. Celeste Hughey, who created it, really knew how to write that. It’s a very difficult tone, because it can feel like whiplash. Funny and scary sometimes do not mix, but they did it really elegantly here.
In this arc of your career, you’re still writing but you’ve really pushed into acting. Is that from a conscious effort on your part?
I put acting away. I was in my thirties when I got SNL, and I had only been an actor until then. I was a local actor. I’d gone on a couple little tours of professional theater. I had my equity card. I got my degree in college in acting and everything. If SNL hires you as a writer, as opposed to an actor, they do say in so many words. Like, take that hat off and put this hat on. This is why you’re here. If they didn’t, every writer would be sitting there every day trying to figure out a way to get in the cast. I was not that type of personality, so I never would have done it. So I can’t believe I’m doing this in my sixties. I never thought I would return to it, let alone be really having all this work.
Keenan Thompson recently made a comment addressing the inevitability of him eventually leaving SNL after his long tenure. You were at SNL for a really long time, too. What was the process of leaving leaving that job like for you?
It’s different for performers. When you’re writing there, a lot of times you’re pretty insular. It’s such an all-consuming job — even though you have the summer off. By the time the summer comes, you always go, “I’m going to write a movie.” And some people do, but very few. Because it takes everything out of you and in the greatest of ways. You’re ready to just look out at the horizon and stare. Hug your dogs and your spouse. Back when I was leaving, it’s hard to think it’s going to be easy transition. But I was there for almost at 20 years. I had aged enough to where the cast was much younger than me. I had a lot of restlessness.
When you decided to leave, what did you think you should do next?
It was really all on me. It wasn’t anything that the show was doing. I had become a very codependent. I was always a codependent person, but I became very much the go-to for caretaking other people. It became like I was the mommy. I was a mom there to the new people. And I didn’t want to just be a mom. I wanted to be a mom to myself and go for what I wanted.
Who has been the professional caretaker-mom figure for you? Who do go to for advice?
I really have fashioned myself the teat: “Come suckle at the wise teat.” I’m just learning how to ask people for help or ask them for advice. But I think the core group of ladies that did Wine Country together are my heart and soul. We still all look to each other and lean on each other in days of tragedy and in days of joy.
Keke Palmer, Paula Pell and Mark Proksch in The ‘Burbs.
Elizabeth Morris/PEACOCK
You and your wife, Janine Brito, wrote The Fifth Wheel, which just started filming. I think a lot of people were surprised when it was announced you two had written a movie for Kim Kardashian. How did that get set up?
It wasn’t something we anticipated or expected at all, but it has turned into a huge, joyful thing. After the strikes, we were searching for new projects. My agent said, “Kim Kardashian is looking to put together some sort of girls’ friendship movie.” I think Janine said, “I don’t think she’s gonna want two lesbians who live in the woods to be writing her movie.” We hung up the phone and then we just started brainstorming. She had just done SNL, and everyone there was delighted by her. So we came up with this idea that we really loved. We talked to her, and she was absolutely lovely. So she went with us to sell it. Everyone wanted it, and then we got it sold to Netflix. It was so exciting. It’s got a lot of heart. It’s also really hard comedy and filthy, because that’s what Janine and I do. We write filthy things.
The cast is pretty stacked. Brenda Song, Nikki Glaser, Fortune Feimster…
Casey Wilson and Jack Whitehall, who’s also in The Burbs. They’re all so great. And Kim’s doing a fantastic job at the part that we’ve written for her. We’re so excited to put it together and make it real. I’m almost 63 and I just don’t suffer assholes anymore. I don’t work with anybody that has any inkling that they’re a jerk.
My dream is for every SNL alum, in their last will and testament, to have a document that reveals the biggest assholes who hosted the show. Because I get why none of you will ever do it while you’re alive.
No, but I can tell you what the personality type would be. They were pretty much the same across the board. And it was very rare, because they’re usually scared shitless. It’s the ones who did the worst. Because if you’re a jerk, you’re not going to have a good show. It’s the people coming in thinking they’re the best at everything. Everything you pitch them gets a “Why is that funny? I don’t think this is funny.” And you just have this inner monologue of like, “Honey, you just don’t understand. We are a kind group that wants you to succeed.” We wanted to be at that after party, running over to you and jumping around like we just did our high school play. And usually, hosts were like that. They’d be very childlike by the end of the week. It would be a short list, but, oh boy, there were real assholes.
OK, we’re in the middle of awards season. You have written for multiple awards telecasts. Any memorable experiences you want to share?
A lot of times, I would do it as a peripheral person — like with Golden Globes and Tina [Fey] and Amy [Poehler]. Just, like, “Hey, if you have any good joke ideas, let us know.” I was never the one there, watching it live and coming up with something during the commercials, but I have pretty consistently been asked to contribute. And, of course, they compensate you. But one Oscars, I was asked to write jokes and they didn’t have a budget for paying more writers. It was so late in the game. So I heard, “They’ll give you a big screen TV.” Nobody had big-screen TVs! This was the ’90s or early 2000s, and they sent me this giant TV. When I think back on it, it wasn’t a good picture. But it was free!
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The Burbs are now streaming on Peacock.
