Aline Brosh McKenna

Again, I just felt this pull towards theater people and people who wanted to sell stories and creative people.

And so I ran the light board.

And I was a stage manager and I did stuff like that.

And then I had applied and forgotten.

I applied to direct a play and forgot that I had applied.

And I got a letter one day saying, you have $500 to put on a play in the freshman union.

Hmm.

So I did that and I found I really enjoyed marshalling a group.

And so that's what I did in college is I directed a lot of plays and wrote a little bit for the newspaper.

But I never, you know, I think...

I never have lost the sense of wonder that I have around actors and performers.

I did Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with Rachel Bloom, who was my creative partner, and I knew what she was capable of.

So writing for someone who I knew what she could do and what she would crush, you know, and then that's been true.

I mean, just imagine writing lines for Harrison Ford, you know, just...

Yeah, well, Meryl Streep.

And then imagine writing, you know, lines for Meryl Streep and knowing that you're going back to writing for these four people who are, you know, in the 20 years since have only become more esteemed, you know.

So I've never lost the sense of being tickled by great acting and singing, although there's not a lot of singing in these movies, because I was never able to do it.

I did...

a cameo on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with Rachel and I had, we came, I played the prosecutor and I came out and I said my line and she just doubled over laughing and I said, what's wrong?

And she goes, that was so bad.