The daughter of singer Minnie Riperton ("Lovin' You"), who died of cancer, and composer Richard Rudolph, Maya Rudolph was born on July 27, 1972 in Florida and grew up mostly in Los Angeles, where her classmates included Gwyneth Paltrow. After studying photography, she devoted herself to her passion for comedy and improvisation and finally joined the ensemble of the legendary sketch show "Saturday Night Live" for seven years in 2000. Since then she has appeared in series such as "Up All Night" or "The Good Place" and films such as "Away We Go - Auf nach Irgendwo", "Kindsöpfe" or "Bridesmaids". Occasionally she also takes on small roles in the films of her partner Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom she has four children, as was the case recently in "Licorice Pizza". Rudolph has won four Emmy Awards, twice each for her parody of Kamala Harris on SNL guest spots and for her speaking role on the animated series Big Mouth. On the occasion of her leading role in the comedy series "Reich!" (since June 24 on AppleTV+), we had a video call with her.
Ms. Rudolph, in your new series "Reich!" (original title: "Loot") you play a woman who, after her divorce, is sitting on a fortune worth billions. What's so funny and fascinating about the world of the super-rich?
From a comedy point of view, the possibilities are endless because there are hardly any limits.
Anything can be done with too much money.
And you can exaggerate and lay it on thick like in hardly any other setting, which is of course always particularly funny.
I love characters that are somehow out of touch with reality, which doesn't necessarily have to be negative or malicious.
I can really get a lot of potential out of this.
Also, the day-to-day life of the super-rich is something we don't get to see too often.
Of course, that also has its appeal.
At the same time, the Kardashians and Co. do show us a glimpse into exactly this world. Does the fascination of such reality TV shows open up to you?
To a certain extent, because that's often already very well made, entertaining television.
Just don't confuse it with real life.
The term reality TV is a bit misleading considering that the dialogue is mostly scripted and the plot and conflicts are staged.
And how many hours the protagonists spend styling their hair and make-up and doing costume rehearsals.
But it's insane that we live in a time when much of our pop culture seems to consist entirely of voyeurism of perfectly contoured faces.
Because you mentioned the exaggeration and lack of realism, did you have to be careful with the role in "Reich!" that you didn't just deliver a parody of the characters of the "Real Housewives" shows?
Of course there was danger, because if you let me, my first impulse as a comedian is always to go all out.
That's why I had to be careful not to overshoot the mark in this case, because we weren't shooting a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, but a series.
It was important for this Molly Novack to be believable and real to some degree.
Besides, she had to come across as lovable and likeable in some way, not just like an insufferable narcissist.
It was quite a balancing act.
As the daughter of singer Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph, you've been in show business for most of your life. You must have encountered a number of excesses of luxury ostentation and wealth, right?