Ep 65. Kathryn Hahn
Who is my character? Why\xa0does she say this line? What\u2019s my motivation? These are valid, if not typical, Acting 101\xa0probings.\xa0But as a certain actor so simply puts it, \u201cSometimes, you just need to walk in the door.\u201d That actor is Kathryn Hahn, who is a great example of someone who does just that; she steps into frame and before she utters a line, you\u2019re watching, just waiting for what she\u2019s going to say or do.\n\nThat takes a rare kind of presence, one that for too long seemed to be hiding in plain sight. Hahn got her first real TV break when Crossing Jordan producer Tim Kring created the role of Lily Lebowski for her in 2001. A string of small but brilliant supporting appearances in comedy features like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Step Brothers followed. Luckily, a few sharp-eyed observers spied a keg of talent going largely untapped. In 2008, Marcia Shulman, then Fox\u2019s head of casting, signed Hahn to a rare talent-holding deal. \u201cShe was doing the kind of comedy that reminded me of Lucille Ball,\u201d Shulman said. \u201cShe is very approachable, she has a very positive, happy presence. She is a great physical comedian, and I think that is missing on TV.\u201d\n\nShulman was right, but if anyone deserves credit for recognizing what others didn\u2019t, it\u2019s writer and director Jill Soloway, who gave Hahn her first lead role in the acclaimed 2013 film Afternoon Delight. As an over- achieving mom and housewife who finds a\u2014 let\u2019s call it creative\u2014way to deal with a midlife crisis, Hahn was able to show there were layers to the laughs. \u201c...She has an incredible way into the kind of authentic realness that made the careers of women like Diane Keaton back in the 1970s,\u201d Soloway told The New York Times. \u201cThe industry has never really known how to handle a woman like that\u2014a woman whose beauty is so intrinsically linked to her unique character.\u201d\n\nPerhaps not fitting into a cinematic pigeonhole isn\u2019t all bad. Hahn is one of the most\xa0game actors in the business, the personification of the acting ideal: free, open. She seems equipped to invest any character with warmth, sarcasm, humanity or a bit of ball-busting on an as-needed basis. While \u201cfree\u201d could be an understatement for some of her roles in movies like We\u2019re The Millers, Tomorrowland, Bad Words, and the upcoming Bad Moms, she\u2019s just as good, if not even better, at caustic (Boeing-Boeing, her Broadway debut), grounded (Transparent) and...male (her role as Jennifer Barkley on Parks and Recreation was originally written for a man).\n\nIf you\u2019ve seen her in any of these roles, you\u2019d have a tough time buying that an artist so willing to \u201cgo there\u201d with such complete abandon and utter lack of vanity was ever self conscious or timid. But growing up, Hahn was the girl who was always apologizing, saying anything but what she truly meant in order to keep people (mostly her family) happy. She\u2019s said that being able to stand up straight, look people in the eye and command her own space remain a bit of a challenge, even today. But it does get easier once you realize that your gift is who you are, and who you are is pretty much all you need. If Hollywood didn\u2019t know what to do with Hahn in the beginning, she\u2019s shown them now\u2014just about anything.