Do people expect you to be big and turbulent in real life because they’ve seen you play this type of character before?
Oh yes, all the time. When people know you’re an actor, period, they think you’re going to tell this incredible story of what happened to you on the way to dinner and it’s going to be captivating. Add the fact that I’m known for doing mostly comedy and it’s like, “OK, where are the voices?” I’m not going to play characters now. Acting is supposed to be an extrovert. But it is not necessarily.
So, where do you find these qualities in yourself when you are playing these types of roles?
It depends on the character, but since I’m doing it – especially on “SNL,” because it’s live and you have millions of people watching it – you just get confused. And then you get out of this. It’s funny because although Barbara is nervous and unsure at first, I found it more difficult to play This one than who she later becomes.
Why was it more difficult?
Because at the beginning I resisted adding humor to it. I didn’t want her to look too much like the things I had done before, or it looked like I wasn’t able to do that part without adding something other than Kristen. But Patty and I had a conversation that completely changed my brain, where she was like, if you just allow yourself to let that mood go, it will look authentic and it won’t look as strange as you think. And it completely changed my experience. When Cheetah is bad, it’s like, OK, now I’m that person. Maybe because there is more of me in Barbara, I really had a more challenging time with that part of the shoot.
Was there physical training for this role?
[Exhales audibly] Yesss. Almost two months before we started shooting, I got a coach – the film wanted me, just to start. When you watch the movie, we learn and do all those fight sequences, in addition to our stuntmen. There are definitely some CGI elements later, but for the most part it is wire work. These are all real people. I was basically sore for about nine months. And it’s very easy to complain and say, my God, I can’t even go up the stairs. But to be honest, being stronger was very helpful in finding out who that character was. It made me feel really good.
[The next few questions contain mild spoilers for “Wonder Woman 1984.”]
There is a scene in which Barbara, just beginning to gain her powers, enters a party and is delighted to discover that she is the center of everyone’s attention. Was it as pleasant for you to do as it was for her to experience, or do you feel the glow of the spotlight even more?