Episode #403
Michelle Ortiz was born in Los Angeles but studied all over the world, including the Moscow Art Theatre School, and classical opera in Germany. A participant in both the ABC and CBS diversity showcases, Ortiz broke through first as a cast member on the reboot of MADtv for The CW — where she impersonated the likes of Kim Kardashian, Melania Trump, Sofia Vergara, Jennifer Lopez, and Dora the Explorer. Ortiz also has appeared on I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Mom, Life in Pieces, Gentefied, and When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren. In 2022, Ortiz has a new chance to shine as Maggie in the Hulu comedy series, This Fool. Ortiz sat down with me to discuss how she found her way in the world and in comedy.
Here’s her TV reel from 2019:
Here’s a trailer where you can see Ortiz as Maggie, the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Chris Estrada’s protagonist, Julio, in This Fool, now playing on Hulu.
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So Michelle Ortiz, last things first: If I understand correctly, you just had a birthday.
I did! I did. I did. I did. I was doing a play at the Geffen and closing night was Sunday, Aug. 14. Birthday was on Aug. 15, Monday.
Happy Birthday! Do you celebrate your birthday? Or are you more like Chris’s character Julio and trying to avoid…
Avoiding it at all cost? Oh, no, I had friends from all over, fly in and we did a Palm Springs thing for my birthday. So it was like a celebration of closing the show, the premiere, birthday. It all happened at that same time.
Do you have any other birthdays you could compare this one to, in terms of being able to celebrate career accomplishments at the same time?
When I was on MADtv I celebrated my 25th birthday at a table read. So that was for me at the time that felt very iconic, but I guess it’s only up and up from there. There are highs and lows. There are highs and lows. I didn’t work for a year and a half after MADtv.
I’m sure when you got the job at MADtv, you didn’t expect it to be a short-lived experience.
No, because when you’re working, you think it’s only up from here. I thought this was just going to lead to more jobs, different opportunities, and I had to go back to catering, unfortunately.
But if you could tell that 25-year-old version of yourself that someday you will get on a series that’s got critical acclaim and you’ll also get to provide voices on a show that’s hosted by Dame Helen Mirren.
Yes.
Would that set your 25-year-old self at ease a little bit?
I feel like I definitely sacrificed a social life in my 20s for my career, so yeah, maybe I would have been like, you know what, girl? You put that apron on. And you go back to that wine bar and keep serving that Pinot Noir. Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have gone in as depressed.
Before that, according to your bio, you studied abroad in both Germany and in Russia. Which came first?
So I did a semester abroad. I went to LMU. We did half of the semester in Germany. And then the other half we did at the Moscow Art Theater in Russia. So that was pretty life-changing just because I like totally solidified that I for sure wanted to pursue acting professionally, no matter how long it took, no matter how many catering jobs in between.
Was there a different plan before that? Or was it always a goal and then just being able to experience the opera in Germany and the theater in Moscow?
Well, I started singing classically in high school. And then in college, I had this idea that I was going to be this big dramatic actress. I was going to like book a really cool indie that would take me to Sundance or something. I fell into comedy. I always knew I was funny, because I’ll do anything for a laugh, especially anything to make my friends laugh, and growing up. I don’t know. I came from a pretty broken home. So I think I would do a lot of things try to make my parents laugh, too. And I just fell into it. I hadn’t done sketch before MAD.
But you had done impersonations before?
Yeah, but I just don’t. I’ve always been of the thought that if you’re an actor, you should like try to be as well-rounded as possible. Like you should, if you’re not a singer, you should try to at least carry a tune. If you’re not a comedy person maybe it’d be nice to have a few impressions that you can pull out of as a party trick or something. I don’t know. Since I was a kid, maybe it’s like, love of musical theater as well. As much as I don’t like to admit it, to be able like to be a triple threat.
When did that switch flip for you, though? Where you went from the goal of being a dramatic actress to, oh, not only do I make my friends laugh, but this might actually be the path forward for me?
Well, once I graduated college, I started in non-union commercials, like in Spanish and English, and most of them. Most of the American commercial market is comedy when you watch commercials on TV, so I think, it’s out of desperation, Sean. You take what you can get, you know. It’s so funny when people ask you, how did you pick this project? Like I didn’t pick it. I’ve auditioned for 1000s and they picked me.
Right? But that’s not how it works, for, say voices, where you’re sitting there and you’re like, I didn’t pick Sofia Vergara. Sofia Vergara her voice is channeled inside me.
OK, so that like, so once I knew I was auditioning for MADtv, I was like, well, what characters, what impressions are relevant for 2016-2017? What will they have me do? And I think Sofia Vergara was on, or is Modern Family still on? I don’t know.
I mean, it’s on somewhere.
It’s on somewhere. There’s reruns playing somewhere. I created, I wrote my audition to be whatever it was relevant at the time.
Oh, OK. So that was really more of the gig informing the work?
Exactly, exactly. But my first real TV credit was, I booked a little recurring on the Nickelodeon show kids show Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, where I play like the bitchy, sarcastic deadpan babysitter. So, I mean, my first real credit was, you know, a kid’s sitcom.
How old were you when you got that?
I think that was like 2014. I must have been like 24.
Did you get before, or because of, doing the diversity showcases that the broadcast networks would do?
I mean, I’ve said this many times, I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for those showcases, unfortunately, and fortunately, because I did. ABC in 2014 But I don’t think I got that because of that one. I had already gone before that casting director a couple of times before. But then in 2016, I did the CBS Diversity Showcase which is now just called the CBS comedy showcase.
The CBS one was the one that really came under fire, but that was after you had done it. Did you feel any sort of harassment or pressures going through it?
No. Listen, I think the people that were running it at my time, their hearts were in the right place. And at times, yeah, it was frustrating because we’re like CBS diversity showcase. Let’s do the sketches that just, you know, we want to show our comedy chops. It doesn’t care what color you are, what gender, what your sexual preference is. And then we would do some sketches and they’re like, ‘OK, that was great, but can you do it in a Cuban accent?’ And we’re like, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?! So there were moments like that, but if, you know, it’s on the resume, it opened other doors for me. I can’t really talk shit about it. It helped me out.
Am I presuming correctly that doing the ABC one may have led directly into that Agents of SHIELD web series?
Maybe? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And then also the ABC one, it was a mixture of comedy and drama. So some people did comedic scenes. Some did dramatic scenes. Of course, I ended up getting a comedic scene but yeah.
So take me back, celebrating your 25th birthday at a table read for MADtv. What was that year for you like?
I mean, first of all, the fact that MADtv even came back was shocking. Because also like, back to college, you were like, how did you get into comedy? In the back of my head, I always did want to try for SNL. I just didn’t know how. I didn’t know that you had to go to Groundlings or UCB to develop your like character skills or whatever. And MADtv had always been, Mo Collins, Alex Borstein: those were like heroes of mine growing up. Then it got canceled. So I was like, OK, well, maybe I’ll figure out a way to audition for SNL. Then the MADtv audition came around. I couldn’t believe it, let alone when I was testing for it, I was just happy to be there. And so once I booked that it was like beyond a dream come true. Just because I didn’t know that it was possible. So then, you know, booking that, still auditioning and getting close to a lot of real exciting projects that didn’t book me. Not even a commercial which was like my bread and butter, was, I had to think about like oh, is it time to quit? Like maybe it’s time to quit? Thankfully I didn’t. But tumultuous we can call that year chaotic.
What kept you going during that? What kept you from not quitting?
I don’t know, that’s a great question. Maybe it was honestly, knowing the fact that I had done that without any kind of formal sketch training is maybe what kind of kept me afloat. Like I did that. I did that on my own and I never considered myself a writer before that, either. You know, I wrote all of my, the audition was like, you know, five impressions, five original characters. And if you can sing, try to show that off. If you can dance, try to show that off. And I wrote that whole thing by myself, so.
You do have this reel that’s on your YouTube channel of your highlights from MADtv. It’s very impressive! And you got to perform with some of the past MADtv people.
So we did all of the shooting for the digital sketches during the week and then on Friday was the live show. My first live show in front of a studio audience was the Melania Trump sketch with the Clintons, and it was Nicole Sullivan and Will Sasso playing the Clintons. I mean, that for me, it was one of those moments where you’re like watching yourself, do the damn thing. So that yeah, that was pretty surreal.
You mentioned commercials being your bread and butter. How many commercials would you have to do to put yourself at ease? Was it one a year, or was it one every six months or?
Well, unfortunately. Especially now, there’s not as much money in commercials as there used to be. Back then? No, I would have to do a shit ton. No, I mean, I was non-union until 2013. So before then you just get paid your day rate. You don’t get any residuals.
What did you get your SAG card for?
I got my SAG card because of Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn. So 2014.
In between there and and This Fool, you were able to get a series of like guest spots on network television. So that had to keep you going mentally and emotionally, too, right?
Yeah. I mean, also in between all of these, it’s like, this happens for every actor, I’m sure. You end up auditioning for or getting close to, or testing for things where you’re like, oh, wow, this could be like, life-changing and then you don’t get it. But then, you know, I booked a guest-star on Mom. I’m like, OK, I’m in the scene with Allison Janney and Anna Faris. OK, like, I can hold my own, I think. So yeah. If it weren’t for those guest stars in between.
You had two jobs right before getting This Fool. You had Gentefied, a Netflix show which I guess is just one of many shows on Netflix that only got a couple of seasons and it didn’t matter what the viewing was, Netflix would just cancel them.
I’m not sure what the drama is with them. So I was in season one. They called me back for season two, but I wasn’t available. I was shooting a guest star for Mr. Corman, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt show on Apple. So I was already quarantining in New Zealand during the height of the pandemic, so I couldn’t do it and yeah, then it got cancelled after season two. I don’t know the drama behind whether or not it got millions of Netflix eyeballs on it. But um, yeah.
Wait. Tell me more about spending the pandemic in New Zealand.
Oh my God. OK, so I booked this guest-star on JGL show, Mr. Corman, for Apple TV+. During the height of pandemic, I get to New Zealand. And have to do the two-week quarantine in a hotel room that’s monitored by like 20 nurses, they come and check on you every day. Do the two-week quarantine. Get out. New Zealand is fully open, no masks. It’s like COVID was never there. I get to the studio and the first person I shake hands with is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I was like, ‘Ah! hi. Oh my god. It’s so nice to meet you. And I was like, I’m sorry if I seem really crazy. I just got out of the hotel for 14 days. You’re the first handshake,’ and he was like, you must feel so vulnerable without your mask? I’m like, Yeah, it’s so weird. So I came off like a total crazy anxious person when I first met him. But yeah, it was amazing. Then it was just back to normal life.
I would imagine even the flight there must have been weird because New Zealand wasn’t really letting people in.
And what was crazy is that when we got there. I can’t remember where I quarantined. It wasn’t in Wellington, but when we got to the to the airport, the New Zealand Army picked us up in buses and shuttled us to the quarantine hotels. Very apocalyptic, but yeah, and then I was able to shoot after two weeks.
Did you try to spend more time there after shooting just to enjoy New Zealand?
Oh, I really wanted to but I can’t remember why I couldn’t. I had to come back right away.
I suppose the experience working on When Nature Calls was the complete opposite of that, right?
When Nature Calls I recorded entirely in my closet in my apartment. Yes, I mean obviously there was a sound engineer on their side, but I’m like I don’t know about this quality you guys.
So are you able to watch the footage or no?
Yes. Yes. So the sketches: the script was written. Then there’s like some temp v.o. on it that the writers do. We watch the nature footage, and then record it and then if I want to improv, ad lib any of my extra jokes, we do that on like the second or third take.
And for This Fool, how well did you know either Chris or Frankie?
I didn’t know any of them! It was just, another you know pilot season, you get hundreds of auditions. Sometimes you audition for like four a day or something like that. And just another pilot audition I got. Loved the script. Was a big fan of Corporate, the showrunners who were running this show, and just self-taped. Oh! And actually, I did the chemistry read from New Zealand. I was like well, how’s this gonna work out? And so we hopped on the Zoom with like, the showrunners, ABC Signature, Hulu. I saw a little square that said Fred Armisen. Oh my God. He’s here. And Chris and did the chemistry read remotely.
That’s got to be a testament to your chemistry, that you can pull that off an entire world away.
You know, I feel like it was definitely me just bossing my way in, because you know, when Zoom comes up, and it’s more than 20 people, Brady Bunch boxes, everyone. The videos turned off and they’re like, OK, Michelle, we’re gonna jump right in. I was like, Wait! Where’s Chris? And I tried to like moment with him before we even started because we’d never met. We’d never spoken! Wed’d never spoken until the chemistry read.
That’s amazing. I guess I would have just figured that you having grown up in LA, been performing there, that you just would have been in the same clubs or parties?
I mean, yeah, after my TV. I did some shows at the Improv. I was singing backup for The 88 Show with Avery Pearson, which is still a show that’s going on now. So I think Frankie Quinones and I may have like crossed that but I didn’t know anybody. Yeah. And what’s so nice about the show, too, is that they since they do know so many stand-ups you know, they bring them in for co-star if there’s like a part for them.
I know Jamar Neighbors is a fixture at The Comedy Store.
Isn’t he amazing? He’s so good. I’m obsessed with him. I didn’t know him until the show either, actually.
So how does it feel to be part of a show where all the episodes come out at once?
I mean, I’m just so thankful to Hulu, that they released all 10 episodes so people can binge because this show does seem pretty bingeable. Again, it’s a testament to the writing. And it’s Chris’s real story. You know, it’s based off of his stand-up. Most of his stand-up is based on his life, so I think it resonates with all kinds of people, not just Latinos.
Did he tell you about the real-life version of your character that you could stalk?
I tried asking him like OK, so what’s the deal with like, yeah, it’s based off an ex girlfriend. I’m like, OK, can you tell me more? He wouldn’t really let up.
He wouldn’t show you her Facebook page?
He’d just say it’s a combination of a bunch of different ex-girlfriends. He wouldn’t really let up on the details. But that was OK because that way I was able to craft my own version of what I wanted and Maggie’s look was really important to me. They let me you know, do the Bettie Page bangs. Go full punk rock chick with the style of my wardrobe.
I know you’re just an actress, not one of the showrunners or one of the executive producers. How important do you think it is that This Fool is on Hulu, as opposed to one of the other streaming platforms or even the broadcast networks?
Ramy is amazing. That’s a stand-up show also, you know, based on his life and his personal journey going through life as Muslim. So I think Hulu is the perfect home for it, obviously, they appreciate stand-up comics who, you know, bring their real life story to the stage. So I think they’re doing a great job and I’m so glad that they with Hulu.
Well, that’s that’s the sense. I mean, it’s kind of a loaded question because that’s the sense that I have, too. Not only with Ramy but also with Reservation Dogs.
Reservation Dogs, Amy Schumer’s show Life & Beth.
They’ve been able to allow a platform, just to be able to tell stories from different perspectives, that don’t have to fit into those neat little holes that say, the CBS diversity showcase would have wanted you to fill.
I don’t know if this is true, but like when you go and pitch a show, which I’ve done many times already to like streaming network or whatever. They sometimes the note is yeah, but it’s really niche. Like we don’t know if this is gonna have an audience. A wide audience. So yeah, I think you hit it on the nose.
So what do you hope your next birthday is like?
Oh my God. Well, I hope
If I check back in with you in a year, what do you hope that I’m asking you about?
Season two, baby! Season two. I feel like there’s so much more to go especially with my character you know one can only, one can only hope there’s a green light for season two.
Right, I mean, Maggie is Julio is on again off again. And yeah, there’s some episodes that you’re a major part of it. And there’s some episodes they weren’t even in so
Yeah, I’m not. I’m not (episodes) two, five or six. Don’t watch those. I’m just kidding. They’re great. I’m jealous.I’m not in episode two. And I think episode six is excellent. It focuses on Julio’s mom, played Laura Patalano, who’s amazing. I think that’s one of my favorite episodes. Actually. And I’m not in it.
You had more fun doing that than bowling?
Oh my God, bowling was fun. That was a great day. We had a lot of fun shooting that.
Who’s actually the best bowler?
I want to say it might have been Frankie…or Michael. Michael Imperioli.
Well, Michelle, I really enjoyed This Fool. And I really enjoyed your performance in it. Thank you for spending some time with me. I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me.
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