Jenifer Lewis’ laugh is the eighth wonder of the world. Throughout our conversation about her fierce new role in Showtime’s I Love That For You, she guffawed a few times to my utter delight. People always compare successful women in charge to Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada, and that comparison needs to stop. When I told Lewis that her Patricia Cochran could eat Priestley for breakfast, she laughed and said, “”And it’s true. She would tear Miranda Priestley a new one.”
Lewis’s Patricia isn’t just successful–she’s runs a billion dollar company. She does it so flawlessly that she still has time to cut you down with a biting remark and looks fabulous doing it. Lewis doesn’t have to do much during her scenes, and she owns every scene.
Episode four opens with Patricia exercising, and she bellows out, ‘You don’t win. I win!’ It’s easily recognizable for a woman who doesn’t accept failure from the people who work for her company, SVN.
“Patricia came to slay all day and get that money, honey. Unlike everybody that thinks they are an ice queen, they will melt. This character had so many levels and colors, and the overall objective for her is to get that money. The whole psychological world that comes with that kind of living. Some people spend half of their life making their money and then the other half protecting it.”
I was shocked to discover that Lewis was considering retiring after ABC’s black-ish wrapped. What would we do without her? She’s such a television titan that our screens would not be the same without her. When Lewis found out the talent she’d be working with, she knew she had to sign on to embody Patricia. Lewis and Molly Shannon almost worked together on a different pilot, and she was immediately enamored with Vanessa Bayer. “I call her bubblegum,” Lewis said with a laugh.
“This role is light years from Ruby Johnson, and I spent eight years playing that character. I was so hungry for something new, but I was more hungry for something fun. I want to have fun now and I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. When they said Molly Shannon, I said, ‘You have me at hello, honey.’ I knew Vanessa Bayer was brilliant, but I never worked with her before. But think of Molly’s work. She’s sniffing her armpits and kissing a tree–I call her Molly Shenanigans. Vanessa is like cotton candy and Christmas morning. I’ve never met anyone sweeter in my life. Molly is jumping up and down and Vanessa comes in with these nuances. They made it hard for me to stand there as staunch faced Patricia, and it’s hard when you have Saturday Night Live giants in front of you.”
I Love That For You is a successful comedy because the writing and the performances are richer than you think from the get-go. On the surface, it is a glossy work place comedy, but Lewis was quick to point out that it also explores the realm of women who are told to go away in other professions. The characters played by Lewis, Shannon, and Bayer all deal with their trauma in authentic and honest ways.
“Because Molly, Vanessa, and I–and don’t get me started with the multi-generational element that each of us bring–there is no shame in our age. There is freedom in life and we bring that to the set. Those two seconds before they call, ‘Action!’ you bring your entire self to that moment. What is this character trying to say? Why is she saying it? Who is she saying it to? There are so many things that come into this show’s creative aspect to build the throughline of the scripts. The writing is the star, child. It has to be in paper for us to bring our A-game, and it’s on the page every single time. It’s gold, because you’ve got Jackie with her tragedy, Patricia with her mental illness, and Joanna with her cancer. We weather the storm, you see. It is the perfect storm.”
Lewis loves talking about the connection with her co-stars. When we spoke about a key scene between Patricia and Shannon’s Jackie, we quickly dove into how much Lewis connects with everyone she shares the screen with. She has tremendous respect for everyone. It’s shocking to find out that this is Lewis’ largest role as part of an original comedy series.
“I think all three of us are naturals, and we all have the it factor. Molly brings these lightning-changing moods. She can turn on a dime, and you don’t know where she is going to go. I don’t think I’ve used the word ‘enjoyed’ as much when I talk about this show, because I am enjoying myself so much. I think this is my biggest role that I’ve ever had on a sitcom? I’ve guest-starred mostly, but I haven’t been this big of a part in a original comedy series before in my career.”
We also talked extensively about how Lewis got to where she is now. Her second book, Walking in My Joy, will hit bookshelves this August (her first book, The Mother of Black Hollywood, was published in 2017), and she is doing complex comedic work on I Love That For You. To play a part like Patricia Cochran, you have to earn it. You must earn the respect from the audience to make that part believable. We can tell Lewis is having the time of her life, and we have to thank her for giving us the gift of her presence on screen every time.
“Patricia is totally in control. I have to tell you that I am having the time of my life. I am about to get my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I have a book coming out in August. We were just celebrating Molly’s New York Times best seller. I am so proud of her. There is nothing like laying your life down on paper. That journey within is not easy. When I was on tour with my memoir, I fortunately kept a journey since I was in seventh grade. It became habit. I knew I was going to be a star, so I knew I had to write it down. From the reaction of the crowd when I sang my first solo in church when I was five years old…and I never looked back.”
I Love That For You will finish its first season on June 19th.
