October 2–9, 1997

20 questions

Janeane Garofalo

Interview by Neil Gladstone

Background

Janeane Garofalo is cuddling up with a stack of pillows on the floor of a room in New York's Regency Hotel. She's like the older sister you never had: casual, kooky and ever willing to speak her mind. Around her neck she wears a ringed collar to show solidarity with her dogs. "A collar is uncomfortable for them and they hate it," Garofalo explains, "but they need to wear it, so I wear one too." Her latest movie, The Matchmaker, casts her as a jaded political campaign worker who must travel to Ireland to discover her boss' roots. It's a romantic comedy that pokes fun at the house of Kennedy. Garofalo just had a comedy special air on HBO and can be seen regularly on the MTV music show Indie Outing. You can also look for her as an FBI agent in the upcoming movie Clay Pigeons. Still, she laments that she hasn't worked since June. The 32-year-old actress-comedian lives in New York, but spends a good portion of the year in L.A.

How do you like being interviewed?

Not too much. I don't mind televised and radio interviews because what you say is heard, but irony and sarcasm don't translate into print and the interviewer often won't explain that you're kidding. Sometimes the reporter doesn't like you and they don't mind pointing that out.

Can you think of any particularly bad situations?

One time I did an interview for Buzz magazine and the opening statement was "The pleasantly plump Garofalo shows up wearing cutoff corduroys and T-shirt. I'd say she was almost cute if she wasn't trying so hard." What is trying so hard about cut-off corduroys and a T-shirt? I didn't get that at all. But it set a tone that I'm a dick.

Did you get in touch with your Irish roots when you were filming The Matchmaker in Ireland?

You kind of can't help but get connected while you're there because it's so great. Especially if you're drinking whiskey, you get all maudlin and weepy and you make a connection which may or may not exist. A couple of times I was standing under the stars drunk, conjuring up the ghosts of my relatives. I felt good about life when I was in Ireland. It was so pretty, people were so nice, you didn't lock your doors and you could hitchhike. The pace was slower and just living was much more pleasant.

Do you thrive on New York's fast pace?

I do. It was nice to take a three-month break, but I prefer this life—living in the Village.

Is Denis Leary (who also appears in The Matchmaker) always so snide?

I love Denis Leary. I just recorded a bit for his upcoming comedy album. He's a dream to work with. People think that he's being surly. What it is, is no bullshit. You're so used to people being full of shit that it appears that he's nasty. It's the same thing with Bill Murray. People ask me, "Hey, is that Bill Murray a pain?" No, those are the super-easy guys to work with because they're never lying to you. Whereas the other people who seem nice are the ones you have to watch out for.

Do you ever try to give input for the bands they show on Indie Outing?

I have before, but it's very difficult to get these bands. And if you're going way indie, the bands don't want any part of MTV. So it's hard to get certain bands to appear on MTV because it's not "punk rock" enough for them.

In the past you've railed against MTV for their objectification of women. Do you ever say anything to the executives when you see them?

I make fun of them all the time. They don't give a shit. They're making money hand over fist. What do they care? I could shit on it all I want.

Do you take acting lessons?

I've taken four. Ben Stiller forced me to do them for Reality Bites and I will always resent him for that. I don't believe in acting class and I hated every second of it.

Did he ever say he was sorry?

No, we don't have that kind of relationship. We're both stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. No one says they're sorry.

You're a big fan of SCTV. Why do you think that show was never a hit in America?

SCTV is too sublime to be a hit. It's too good. Larry Sanders is too good for the masses. It can't be processed by the average American. The comedy is too multilayered. Albert Brooks, Woody Allen, same thing. I know it sounds arrogant to say that, but it's true.

Have you ever thought to compile your monologues into a book?

No, but I'm working on a book with Ben Stiller. We're doing a takeoff on self-help books.

In a '96 interview you said that your karma dictated that you were due for romantic retribution.

I had just broken my boyfriend's heart. I was sure karma was going to kick me in the ass and it did. My recent boyfriend broke up with me out of the blue while I was doing Clay Pigeons. He didn't have any good reasons and was very vague. I'm sad about the whole thing, but I feel like it was appropriate because I hurt the last one badly.

One of the Web sites I saw said that you were divorced.

No, I'm not really divorced because I was never really married. I got "married" at a drive-thru chapel in Vegas with some other writers from the Ben Stiller Show as a joke a few years ago. But it wasn't real. We didn't put real information on the certificate.

Your next project, Dog Park (which starts filming in November), is about how dog parks are the new singles scene. Have you had experience with that firsthand?

I watch what goes on in my dog park, but it's nothing near what goes on in the L.A. dog parks. Ugh. Los Angeles dog parking sucks. People come dressed up, ahh, it's terrible. Women show up in their wife-beater T-shirts and no bra and guys come with their Adidas shorts and nothing else. It's so calculated and uncool. The dogs play second role. It's just a ruse.

If you could be the god of something, what would you want to be the god of?

Public transportation. I'd make it more palatable and I'd make it so cool in L.A. that people would want to take it. Then they would unclog the streets for me to drive.

The Matchmakeropens Friday, Sept. 3 at area theaters. Check movie showtimes on p.