An actress finds new fans and perhaps a new career path thanks to TikTok
As soon as you discover Mary Elizabeth Kelly’s TikTok, you don’t have to be her parent to think she should be on Saturday Night Live. That’s what I thought, too, when I first watched her celebrity impersonations. Who is she? How can we see more of her?
Imagine my delight to find out she did indeed audition for SNL this very summer!
Imagine my amazement to learn she already had a pretty decent acting reel, pre-pandemic, with roles on Law & Order: SVU, Alternatino with Arturo Castro, and Master of None.
Imagine my surprise to find out she was headlining her own comedy shows?! Although I missed her first gig at Carolines on Broadway in late October, I made sure to get in contact with her over Zoom to find out what comes next, and how she found herself in this position.
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Here is an edited and slightly condensed transcript of my conversation with Mary Elizabeth Kelly!
Sean L. McCarthy: How often are you doing live shows?
MEK: That was my first live show since COVID. I mostly, pre-COVID, was just doing improv. So that was my first-ever like real set that I put up, that was longer than like five minutes. But I’m hoping to do another one in L.A. soon, where I am located. And yeah, I mean, the dream is to do it many more times, and maybe some other cities.
And of course, just looking at your resume and your background. I mean, Broadway was the dream. Maybe not necessarily Carolines on Broadway, but you were initially aiming for Broadway, the Broadway we all know, right?
Yeah, it was originally. I studied musical theater in college. Loved doing theater growing up in high school. When I first moved to New York after college, I was auditioning mostly for musical theater, and yes, for Broadway. Never booked anything on Broadway, in theater at all. Which is kind of why I started booking TV and commercials and stuff in New York. And so I was like, oh, I think maybe this is — I’m made for the screen, and not the stage necessarily, but yes, I am a singer. But I don’t do that quite as much anymore.
What was the initial plan? Because you studied musical theater at Northwestern. Northwestern is one of those schools that really encourages internships and co-ops, and every summer it seemed you were landing a high-profile internship in show business or the media. So what was the plan? And how did that plan evolve over the course of each summer, as you started to see what the real life of show business is like?
Yeah, I mean, honestly, my whole family is in media and advertising. And so I grew up definitely, you know, simultaneously wanting to be an actress, but thinking, if that doesn’t work, then I’ll go into media somehow, like, I’ll just have sort of a 9-to-5 in some quasi-creative field, but more on the production side of things. But with every passing internship, I realized I cannot work in an office. I just can’t do it. And I loved interning at Second City because that was very hands-on and we got to see all of the shows. And I took classes too, improv class there. When I was interning there that was part of like, our payment, was free improv class. And that really sparked the comedy side of things for me. I really was like, OK, I don’t think I want to be behind the desk here. I think I want to be a comedian. An actor. So that really helped sort of shift things more into focus in terms of comedy for me, because again, like, yeah, when you go to theater school, they’re not really going like, hey, let’s work on your impressions! You know, it’s very, like Chekhov and Shakespeare and very serious stuff, but nothing really contemporary in terms of comedy. So yeah, I would want to see all shows at Second City and just go like, OK, this is where I, this is the dream really, more for me now is comedy, and performing like this rather than the drama side of things.
So then did you end up studying more at either Second City or improvOlympic?
You know, as soon as I graduated, I went straight to New York. And so I started taking improv at UCB in New York, which I took all through my five years there. Aaron Jackson, Shaun Diston, Natasha Vaynblat…I had some awesome teachers, and it definitely validated that feeling I had that I was like, OK, I think I’m good at comedy. Let’s see where this goes. And I did a couple of character classes there, which also sort of helped me. But improv is incredible in that way, because, of course, you have no idea what you’re going to say. And so it really helps you as an actor, really just overcome the fear of like, what if I forget a line or, you know, what’s the other person going to do my scene and blah, blah, blah, it really just kind of keeps you on your toes and keeps you like, easy and fresh. And so that just continued to make me go like, OK, yeah, this is it. This feels good to me.
Then the decision of moving to New York over LA, that was because of the Broadway dream, still?
Yeah, I mean, the thing is, I’ve always liked seeing myself as an actor who can sing. Even in college, I wasn’t in the musicals that had like, big dancing showy numbers. I think I’m an actor who is able to sing, so I could very easily be in a musical but I’m not about to, you know, be cast as like, tapper number six or something. So I really just sort of wanted the best of both worlds moving to New York. The possibility of being in theater, but also plenty of amazing TV shows and commercials casting there. So I was like, I can do it all. But then yeah, once once I started realizing, OK, that’s not necessarily it…because I’m not as much like a musical theater person. There’s so many other people living in New York who really are that, who are like triple threats, who really, that is their like, bread-and-butter is just musical theater. And it just turned out that that wasn’t me. So I was like, alright, let’s focus in on TV and film and comedy and commercial and so I moved to LA.
But even while you’re still in New York, you’re checking off some of those classic New York actor boxes like you can’t be in New York actor and not be in the Law & Order universe.
Yes, exactly. The illustrious SVU. Yeah. That was fully like, it’s a rite of passage, really, as a New York actor. And it’s like my only dramatic credit, which is funny.
She took the stand in the episode, “Genes” (Episode 18.13, originally aired March 22, 2017), in which a suspected rapist blames his crimes on his genetics.
But that’s the thing. Like, I do feel like comedy again, and having a comedy training and improv background and stuff, it helps you with the drama it helps you with the dramatic stuff. So that’s my little anomaly. Right?
You were having some success booking roles, such as Netflix’s Master of None, where you wind up having a bad date with Aziz Ansari’s character.
Oh my God, that was such honestly, like a wild episode. It was very, very fun. But that was also like, that was my first real TV comedy credit. And so I think that was another sort of validation of like, oh, Aziz Ansari thinks I can keep up with these other very funny comedic actresses who are in these other roles. Like we’re all sort of on like an even playing field.
And then you also featured in an episode of Alternatino on Comedy Central.
Yes. Oh my gosh, with Arturo Castro. He’s awesome.
You mentioned you’re an actor who can sing. Of course, people now know you primarily for impersonations? So what was your impersonation game like, in high school in college when there was no outside online venue for it?
Yeah. I mean, really, what I was doing for most of my high school and college life, in terms of impersonations and impressions, was all just entertaining my friends and my family. I’ve been doing impressions for my loved ones for my entire life. Like, it just is sort of how my comedy sort of manifested itself as a kid. And I was a big ham as a kid. And so I used to do impressions of like, yeah, just like I used to do impressions of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers. So I used to do those a lot for like my family, because they were big Austin Powers people. And I used to watch SNL all the time. And, you know, I was in awe of people like Darrell Hammond, you know, people who were really just transforming into these celebrities. I never really put two and two together that that could be like, me doing that, you know? I just figured this is just for fun. This is just to make people who know me kind of laugh. So my repertoire was really just sort of random. Like I used to do impressions of my friends for my other friends. And I used to do like Katharine Hepburn singing, like, I don’t know why, but that was another one I would do. Yeah, it was varied and odd. And really wasn’t focused in on any sort of, you know, oh, I could do this as a career or something. It really was just to make people laugh around me.
But you didn’t feel like achieving your potential in New York. Meanwhile, you weren’t doing the typical watiresses hustle. You were a front-desk keyholder at SoulCycle, which sounds like a very Broad City job.
Very Broad City. Yes. Very Abbi Jacobson energy. Yeah, I don’t know how I stumbled into this. I nannied a lot. Like so much nannying, that was my major day job for a long time in New York. And I was sort of like, you know, I want more flexibility in terms of like, an audition would pop up, and I’d be terrified, because I would have to go, like pick a kid up from school and I’d go, Oh, God, you know, I’m gonna, this kid’s gonna be sitting there, and the parents are gonna be, you know, I felt like, it was a big responsibility to be taking care of a kid. And I might be called in at any moment to audition for something. So, I was like, OK, you know, maybe a job where there are a lot of actors working there, you know, a lot of people who are in sort of flexible careers. So SoulCycle, I had friend who was an actor who worked at SoulCycle, I was like, oh, that’s actually perfect. Because, you know, you get free workouts, which is great. You get paid nothing, really, I mean, there’s really not much at all, you’re getting paid, but the hours are very flexible. And like, I used to do the morning shift, like I used to get up at, like 4:30 or 5 in the morning, and get there at like, 5:30 or 6, open the studio, but then I’d be done by noon, and I’d have an audition in the afternoon, so it was much more flexible. And I got to have co-workers, which is fun. Because when you’re a nanny, it got a little lonely, you know, being in that nanny life. So I loved working at SoulCycle. I loved working for like a gym. But yeah, after a while, I was like, OK, I need to be doing this anymore.
So what was the turning point? Where you decided, OK, enough of New York, I’ve got to go Hollywood?
Gosh, I mean, a lot of factors. I was sort of like, booking a lot of commercial work in New York, booking, you know, these comedy TV shows, and I had always wanted to move to LA, I had always just been like, what if? You know? I got married in New York to my college sweetheart. And we both were kind of like, we don’t have kids. We’re not trying to have kids for a while. Let’s just move. Let’s go somewhere else and see what’s up. Almost all of our closest friends live in LA and yeah, I talked to my New York commercial agents. And they were like, well, we can set you up with an interview with our office in LA, and we’ll see how it goes. And they decided to sign me out here too. And so I was like, easy peasy. Let’s do it. I mean, it was not easy peasy. By any means. But yeah, I just was: Why not? Let’s see! And I’m very happy I did it. It’s been great.
So what was life for you as an actress, just before the pandemic lockdowns of early 2020?
We had just moved here, spring of 2019. So we were here for less than a year before COVID hit, and I was trying to find reps, I had only come over with my commercial agent from New York. And so I was looking for a theatrical agent, I was looking for a great manager. Trying to meet as many people as possible, you know, in the biz, taking UCB-LA classes out here. And just I booked a couple little things. I booked an internet commercial and a couple little things here and there. But I was really more trying to network and meet people. And then yeah, COVID.
But even before then, in 2019. I think of anybody who joined TikTok pre-pandemic as an early adopter. Your first earliest video on your account is from the fall of 2019. And it’s doing impersonations from Downton Abbey.
She has 669,500 TikTok followers at @mare_kell at this writing.
Oh, yeah! So yes, I actually started putting some stuff on Instagram. Yeah, so I don’t know why. But it’s funny. I actually, when I came out here, I have a couple friends who are also actors from school. And we started this sort of little, we call it accountability group. Yeah, my friend Sally started it and she invited a couple of her actor friends and we essentially all were just trying to, like, get your shit out there. Like get your stuff out there. Like, you know, we’re all holding each other accountable to you know, like do something for our craft every day. And one of the girls in the group was like, ‘Mary you do such good impressions!’ like ‘You really should put them on the Internet, like these should be’ you know, I would sometimes my Instagram stories I would do like little impressions or voices or something. And she was like, no, you should put it on your grid, like really do it. And I was like, OK, so I started doing that, taking them from my story and putting them onto my main page, and then from there people really liked it, but I still felt, I don’t know. I was like, do people like this? Is this annoying? Is this annoying of me to be putting my stuff on Instagram for like, my friends who mostly have just see like dog pictures of mine up until now, like really?
People love dog pictures.
We all love a dog picture. That’s mostly what I was doing. But I think, I just was worried that people would just be like, ew, I don’t want to see this. But people liked it, so I kept doing more, and it evolved into me like really doing a bunch at a time and like doing impressions of full shows, doing all the different characters and stuff. And so I was like, OK, and then my husband was so into TikTok at the very beginning of it all, and he thought, this is cool. He’s in tech and media, and so he’s very advertising. So he’s very in on like, what the platforms are. And so we would watch TikToks together. I didn’t have a TikTok account or anything. But at a certain point, he was like, you know, if you’re on Instagram and putting your stuff on Instagram, you really should be putting it on TikTok, like, people are doing that now. And so I did. And some of those early ones really didn’t get much attention. But then I did something that was like reading Harry Potter in different accents, and people had to guess what it was. And that one got — it was my first like, sort of, I guess, technically viral, whatever thing. I remember the likes coming in for that and being like, Wait. This is crazy. Like all these people are looking at this video. Why? This is so weird. So that got me my first batch of like, you know, my little nest egg of followers and it sort of snowballed from there.
Her TikTok goes back to 2019, but she didn’t begin uploading those videos to “older” more mainstream platforms such as YouTube until just this year, 2021.
It’s fascinating to me that you describe doing the impressions for your family, being a big ham, watching SNL, being inspired by people who do all the voices. Yet it wasn’t until two years ago, and your friends and your husband convincing you: Hey, you’re an actress. You have reels. Like you should put these in there!
Yeah, yeah. No, I think I just always figured there were people who were better at it than I was. Or people who really had honed it more than I had. You know, the Chloe Finemans of the world. And like there’s so many impressionists on TikTok and Instagram. And I just figured, I don’t know? I’m not. I didn’t think I was at the caliber of those people. So like, why try? Because it’s a saturated market, you know? But yeah, honestly, as soon as I just was like, you know what? F-it. I like doing this. This is fun. So why not just put it on the Internet? And if it’s not as good as those other people, whatever, but it’s fun for me, so I may as well.
So when things started to take off after the Harry Potter accent challenge. How did that affect what you started to do moving forward?
Well, I started doing a lot of accent videos on TikTok, because that’s something that I had more thought that I was good at. And I also used to do that as entertainment for my loved ones, like doing different jumping back and forth between different accents. And so I started making videos. I essentially recreated that Amy Walker YouTube video where she does like 25 accents or something. I kind of challenged myself to do that. And that got traction, too. So this is an accent account. This is what I’m doing on TikTok. They like the different accents. They think that’s fun. So I made a bunch of those for a while.
And then I don’t know. I always just had this idea that I wanted to do, because I think part of the reason why I’m good at impressions is because I’m like, super perceptive. Like, I love just sort of like studying people. And so when I watch movies and TV shows, I’m often like analyzing idiosyncrasies and stuff in my brain. And I had just always noticed that certain actors had very strange ways of moving their mouth when they were acting and not necessarily when they were just like living normal life. And I had always wanted to do this mouth acting thing, and I tried it over the summer, I tried to — the summer before I actually ended up making the mouth acting video, I tried to make a video about acting. I was like, Oh, this kind of doesn’t work. But then a couple months later, I was like, no, you know what? I want to do it because I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean and Johnny Depp was just being so bizarre with his mouth movements. And I was like, this is funny. I’m gonna put this on the Internet. So I did and that was really when everything went crazy.
You get Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley together…
Right, two very strong mouth actors. Yeah, so I was like, let’s do it.
Where are you from?
Connecticut.
I would’ve guessed that, because I’m from there, and working at newspapers around the country, people would tell me I had no accent. But also: watching your accent challenges, there was something about your Fairfield County accent that seemed like there was something personal happening.
It was a direct impression of a friend’s mother, yes.
Yeah, it is interesting. I think it is helpful to be from Connecticut to have a pretty neutral accent in terms of being able to build onto it. So yeah, I’m thankful for my neutral lack of accent. It helps me.
Yes, and mouth acting can get you strange gigs such as talking to morning television in Ireland.
Yes. That’s so funny. Because I mean, my family is, yes, ancestrally Irish and so my family was thrilled to bits. They were so excited that I was gonna be on TV. But yeah, that was my first like, appearance on television on like a morning show. And I think it’s because after I had posted the mouth-acting thing I did on TikTok, and it went viral. An Irish guy named Declan Cashin, who’s on Twitter. I think he like, works for Twitter or something — he posted my TikTok to his page, and it went crazy in the UK and Ireland.
And so I think that maybe was the first group that was wanting to chat with me and excited about me, in terms of media and stuff. So yeah, I’m big in the UK.
Besides that and this interview, what’s the strangest gig that’s come out of your TikTok fame?
Honestly. I mean, I do get a lot of, you know, sort of random requests in my DMs from people. I mean, look, I asked for like foot pictures, which you know, of course, most women on the Internet or asked for…but the strangest gig or request…Oh, someone wanted me to do voices of animals or something. And I was like, I don’t think I can. That’s not quite my repertoire. Like literally like growls and sounds. So I remember being kind of like, OK, that’s interesting.
I take it your answer tells me that you don’t have a Cameo account.
OK, because that’s geared toward: Hey, give me some money and whatever you wanted, whatever accent you want.
You know, they’ve all been pretty wholesome, like, say Happy Birthday as Jennifer Aniston or something.
What about corporate America? In terms of saying like, we’ll give you $5,000 to say this like this.
I have been asked to do a lot of Tiktok partnerships and stuff. So all good stuff. All stuff that I’m like, sure. Yes. I’m saying yes to a lot which is great.
And of course, there was the show that you did in October at Carolines on Broadway. How did you go about it, since you told me you’re not from a stand-up background but you do have an improv experience. So how did you go about translating what you do to a comedy club show?
Yeah, I mean, I just sort of was like, OK, why don’t I just do me. I get asked so many questions all the time about, like, you know, I get a lot of DMS being like, how did you get started? What would your advice be for people who want to do impressions? Like, you know, so many questions, so I was like, why don’t I just essentially create a show that is essentially half stand-up, half impressions, where I kind of go through my childhood and the impressions I did as a kid and tell some funny stories from growing up as sort of stand-up, and then move into some rapid-fire impression type stuff.
So I auditioned for SNL this year, and you have to do five minutes of your best material. So I sort of developed, it’s essentially a monologue where I go into just a bunch of different impressions. I think I ended up doing like 15 or something for the audition. And so I kind of incorporated that into my show, and then added more like I think I ended up doing close to 20 or something. All in one monologue. So that was kind of like the grand finale, showstopper thing. And then I played a game. I did like a game of essentially guess the celebrity. Like I had people before the show, put requests in a bucket. And at the end I just like pulled them out and do them one after the other and they would have to yell out who they were. Just because I figured, you know, it’s rare you get to be in front of a real live audience full of people who like your stuff. So I wanted to hear what they wanted to see.
So what did you learn from that first show that you want to take with you on the road?
I need to look at the requests in the bucket before I do them. I gotta weed some out. Because there were so many, but there were a lot of repeated ones. Someone put Malcolm X in there like 10 times. OK, you know, maybe let’s curate these a little bit. Like, of course, I want to do what people want to see, but I’m not gonna do Malcolm X 10 times. So um, yeah, I think that was the main takeaway: Filter out the requests before I do them. But honestly, everything else went really well. Like I was really just thrilled at the response. You know, a couple of joke tweaks here and there like, for sure, but for the most part, it went over swimmingly. So no edits for myself.
And you mentioned that you did audition this summer for SNL. What kind of feedback did you get from Lorne Michaels and company?
You get no feedback whatsoever. Yeah, I mean, you kind of do your thing. And I mean, they laughed, you know, they laughed, which was great.
Did you audition in L.A., or did you make it to the final callbacks in 30 Rock?
I went to 30 Rock. Yeah, I screen tested. And honestly it was thrilling. The whole thing was just a thrill. Like, as I was saying before, I just was. I’ve always been a big SNL nerd. And so I was just like, awestruck to even be there. And yeah, I did, you know, I made it to the screen test and went out there and did my thing on the stage. And like I said, yeah, they laughed, and I left and then they’re like, you don’t hear anything for weeks. And then they go, OK, here’s the new cast. You’re not in the new cast, which is fine. I mean, honestly, even having just screen-tested is major. And just for me to be able to just say that for myself is huge. And it’s exciting for people you know, when I’m talking to people in the industry, and working on things here, it’s definitely a very validating thing to be able to say. It sort of helps vouch for your talents a little bit. So yeah, it was great.
But not getting the feedback. Do you suppose now that you’ve had a couple of months, a month or two to reflect on this? Not hearing anything. Do you find that better or worse than if Lorne Michaels himself gave you criticism?
Heavens! My God. I don’t know.
I mean, if he said you’re so close. Come back next year.
Yeah. I mean, I always love feedback. I love learning. I love you know, workshopping and figuring out how to be the best me and how to make my comedy the best it can be, so I would love feedback. Yeah. But as an actor, you’re used to just virtually cutting yourself open, putting your guts out on the table and then just literally hearing nothing ever about it ever again. So I’m used to it. You know, I figured I wouldn’t really get much feedback at all, but I guess I just sort of figured just being there was a seal of approval somehow from someone, you know, in the process. And I think a lot about, I didn’t have a hard time not taking it personally. Because again, I know so much about casting, being an actor and stuff that a lot of it is just about who they already have on the show and what kind of slots they’re trying to fill and what kind of talent they’re trying to have on. So I knew that since I was there, I was good. It just maybe not what they needed this year.
My feedback is I think you’re great. I think you’d be great on Saturday Night Live. I think I think you’d be great on any show. You should start your own sketch comedy series.
Honestly, look, I’ve had these thoughts of you know. I loved The Tracey Ullman Show. I love the concept of really being sort of yeah, the star of your own sketch show and showing just how much range you have, how many impressions you can do, you know all the things. So who knows? Maybe one day well, but for now? I don’t know. We’ll see.
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