Emmys FYC continues with the LA screening of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 3.
Netflix treated members of the Television Academy to two episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘s new season. Season 3 debuts on the streaming service on May 13, and it is packed with belly laughs and guest stars galore. After the screening co-creator/co-producer Robert Carlock, co-producer Leila Strachan and cast members Ellie Kemper, Carol Kane, Tituss Burgess, and Jane Krakowski came out for a panel discussion.
Discussing the new season, Kane said, “I lost my beloved Robert [Durst], but I find someone new.” She teased of her quirky on-screen character Lillian. A highlight of the new season is Burgess performing an homage to Beyonce’s “Lemonade.”
“They called and said I needed to learn some songs,” Burgess explained. “I saw the lyrics and thought the rhyming was close to ‘Lemonade.’ ” He joked when asked if Beyonce had seen the performance, “I’ve not spoken to Beyonce.” He said as the audience roared with laughter.
In the new season, we also see Jane Krakowski’s character learning to stand on her on two feet, “I was thrilled for the wardrobe alone,” Krakowski joked. “Tina [Fey] explained to me what was going to happen to her and my first question was, ‘She stays rich right?’ ”
Krakowski revealed her character auditions for The Real Housewives of New York. “That was the hardest thing for me to shoot. My character auditions for the show and she has to deny that she wants to do it,” she teased.
Ellie Kemper, who plays Kimmy Schmidt, finally sees her character go to college: “I love that she goes to college.” Kemper revealed to the audience how her character gets into college and said, “She fits right in there. She missed this period of her life, so it’s fun to visit.”
Now that they’re in their third season, the cast talked about how their relationships have changed. “The relationship has deepened,” Kane said. Kemper added that she felt lucky that they all got along. She went on to share a fun story about her and Burgess that had the audience in hysterics. “Tituss was in a towel and shirtless. I was sitting on his lap, taking a selfie, and we started laughing so hard. I peed on his lap.” Krakowski told everyone that Burgess would call her “diva” because he didn’t know her name.
Kane talked about how working on Netflix and filming the show differed to working on Taxi as show she appeared on in the 70’s. “Taxi was filmed in front of a live studio audience and the writing was magnificent. When we did something funny, the audience would laugh.” She went on to say, “With this show, the writing is magnificent, we shoot like a movie, and you don’t hear the laughter. It’s a challenge to be doing comedy and not get the immediate feedback.”
Talking about what she finds challenging, Krakowski said, “For me, it’s to land the joke right. There are so many amazing jokes, and I still get nervous during filming because I never knew if I blew it or not.”
Burgess admitted he is nothing like his TV persona. “Tituss is a hundred all the time. I’m a two. I’d rather be at home making dinner and binging The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I have more tact than he does, and the challenge is drudging that energy to play him.”
The audience wanted to know if there would ever be a full musical episode. Carlock said, “We felt like we couldn’t come up with a justifiable reason to have all of them singing.” Carlock said.
Never say never.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 3 will be released May 19 on Netflix
