Entertainment

8 Thoughts From Tina Fey About Other People

by Alicia Lutes

Everybody loves Tina Fey. And when someone is beloved as much as she is, naturally, folks want to pick her brain. Know what she thinks. Hear her opinions. Exist in a world informed by her brilliance and candor. And in a recent interview Fey broke it down on several topics — including The Muppets (they're co-starring in a new film together, The Muppets Most Wanted ), George Clooney, trolls, and more. So now you can formulate your opinions about certain people and scenarios with greater clarity. Tina Fey-clarity. You're welcome.

On Ricky Gervais

"I worked with him years ago, and he’s a nightmare. A terrible person. We’re not in any scenes together. And that’s in my contract [Laughs]"

On Her Daughters Alice and Penelope

"They're inherently weirdos. The littler they are, they have no filter on their weirdness. The smallest [Penelope], she’s just pure id; she says whatever she wants. Like if I tell her no about something: 'No, it's too late for cartoons, no more cookies today,' she will very sincerely try to choke me to death. She'll have her little tiny hands around my throat, and I'll just be laughing."

On George Clooney

"[Following the Oscars' Gravity joke] he sent us a fake letter of complaint from Matt Damon. [Amy Poehler and I] sent two huge fruit baskets with two letters: one a sincere apology, and the second letter saying, 'If this is a prank, like we think it is, you didn’t fool us.'"

On Kermit the Frog

"I am kind of in love with Kermit, I really am. But he’s spoken for."

On Muppet Lew Zealand

"I like the way he dresses."

On Jack McBrayer (and also The Muppets)

"There's so much overlap with what it’s like to work with Jack McBrayer and the Muppets. They’re both really talented, they both have boundless energy, and they’re both kept in a box at night."

On Liz Lemon

"I always like to let characters be a little ugly and be wrong. I don't like it when things are too Pollyannaish and prescriptive and 'here’s how the world should be.' She was a very three-dimensional character, and I stand by her. I stand by every idiot thing she ever did."

On Internet Trolls

"...it's weird to know that there are people out there in the universe who are so mad about something. ... You just have to not feed that beast. Trying to change people’s minds on women in comedy or whatever is just a waste of energy, when you could be in a writers’ room actually making something."