-
- You should do standup, and
I can help you.
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- What're you talking about?
- Talkin' about your act.
-
- I don't have an act.
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- You will when we're done.
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This is Alex Borstein, a comic actress
who has won two Emmys:
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one for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"
in which she plays Susie Myerson,
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the tough, brazen manager
of Midge Maisel,
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and I think I've heard her
voice somewhere else before...
-
what is this?
- This vooooice.
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Oh yeah, she voices Lois Griffin
in one of the biggest
-
animated shows of all time, "Family Guy."
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(singing)
- La la la!
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Borstein's roots are in comedy
going way back to the early 90s
-
when she trained in improv
at the ACME Comedy Theatre.
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From there she started writing for
various series like "Casper"
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and "Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain,"
eventually writing print ads for Barbie.
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On the side her first official
acting credits involved dubbing
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the voice of several monsters in
"Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
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You've got Madame Woe,
Bloom of Doom,
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and Lipsyncher.
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- Oh my! Where are those
gorgeous Power Rangers?
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- I just wanna KISS THEM
ALL TO PIECES!
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Her legacy in the "Power Rangers"
canon didn't end there
-
as she dubbed the recurring villain
Queen Machina in "Power Rangers Zeo."
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- Absolutely brilliant.
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Then, Alex got two big breaks
back to back, the first of which
-
was becoming a regular cast
member and writer on "MADtv."
-
And not long after that, she was asked by
a then unknown animator, Seth MacFarlane,
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to voice the mother, Lois Griffin,
in a new animated series called...
-
- "Family Guy!"
-
She would go on to become
a co-producer of the series as well.
-
Besides Alex's regular gigs on these
two shows, she began to pop up
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in TV with comedic one-off characters
in episodes of "Frasier"
-
and "Friends."
- How could he leave me!?
-
And she had two recurring characters
in "Gilmore Girls," like Drella the Harpist.
- Tell it to the tip jar.
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Fun fact: Alex was originally cast to
play Melissa McCarthy's character
-
of Sookie in an unaired pilot
of the show,
-
but unfortunately, couldn't continue
due to scheduling conflicts with "MADtv."
-
As far as movies go, it wasn't
unusual for Alex to play
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characters who, instead of having
names, had very specific descriptions:
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"Milwaukee Mom with Photo..."
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- Gee, you know what? This one,
I think it's more than enough.
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"Obnoxious Hummer Lady..."
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- I do! Look at the size
of this bad boy, huh?
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...and "Red Hair Woman."
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- It's Martha.
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She had a name. He just said it.
Her name was Martha. Just call her Martha!
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But some of Alex's more prominent
supporting roles usually involved her
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flexing her sass and attitude, like a
tour guide in 'The Lizzie McGuire Movie...'
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- Rome! The eternal city! Did
no one read the info packet?
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...a no-nonsense secretary in
'Good Night, and Good Luck...'
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- Brent's not gonna be in
for another hour...
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...and let's not forget about the
Razzie Award-winning 'Catwoman,'
-
in which she fit right in as
the plucky best friend Sally.
-
- If I screw it up, you can throw
away the key.
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In more recent years, Seth MacFarlane
has continued to feature her
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in projects like 'Ted...'
(screams)
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...and 'A Million Ways to
Die in the West.'
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But one of Alex's favorite roles was in
the short-lived HBO dark comedy "Getting On"
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as the head nurse in a geriatric wing
of a hospital.
-
- It's not "a feces" it's
just "feces."
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- But it wasn't a gang of them,
it was just one beast.
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When this show was cancelled,
Alex almost threw in the towel
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as far as on-screen acting.
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- I don't wanna read your diary.
- It's not my diary.
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- I don't care what your
first time felt like.
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...until she was approached by
"Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" creator
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Amy Sherman-Palladino, whom
Alex had previously worked
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with on "Gilmore Girls."
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The rest is history, and Alex has continued
making audiences laugh
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both behind the mic and in
front of the camera.
-
(laughing)
