Confessions of a Junkie-Whore

Here is a brief interview I did with Amy Sedaris. Words can not describe how I felt about having the chance to speak with her – I'm surprised I didn't swallow my tongue. Photography by Michael Ingulli.

For those familiar with her work, Amy Sedaris needs no introduction; for the rest she’ll need a little explaining. She’s been straddling the highest pinnacle of cult success since playing Jerri Blank on the darkly “high-larious” Strangers With Candy – an after-school special about a reformed drug addicted, teen runaway prostitute who returns to high school to start her life all over again. With a movie based on the series about to hit our shores, followed by I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (a how-to book on entertaining that is “charmingly old-fashioned, like courtship or back-alley abortions”), she looks set on bringing her delightfully cracked vision to the mainstream.

Luke Malone: When people meet you, do they expect to meet the junkie-whore?
Amy Sedaris: Yeah. They’re always disappointed when they realise I’m not a junkie-whore.

Do you ever slip into Jerri-mode at inopportune times without realising it?
Yes. She’s easy to go in and out of because of the facial expressions and the off-the-cuff remarks. So she pops up all the time.

Like someone who has a multiple personality disorder.
[In her Jerri voice] Keep it down, keep it down. [And then back to Amy] Exactly.

You’ve made a career out of playing misfits. What attracts you to these kinds of roles?
I’m more drawn to those people. I guess maybe I feel like I am one. And they’re a lot more fun to play.

Why do you think it is that you’ve got so many gay fans?
I think because they’re misfits and outcasts. And Jerri Blank was a misfit, so I think that’s what it is.

What’s been your weirdest encounter with a fan?
Sometimes when I’m with a group of people somebody will come up and just stand there – literally just stand there. And I don’t know what they’re doing or what they want and it’s just awkward. Things like that tend to happen a lot.

You do a lot of TV. What kind of shows do you like to watch?
I like that Law and Order: SVU.

I love that show!
Totally. I think Christopher Meloni is hot! And I just love sex crimes. It’s mindless, too. You can always look at the clock and be like, okay, that’s not the perp because it’s only ten after, you know what I mean?

Weren’t you on SVU?
I was and I loved it.

Do you like playing dramatic roles?
I’m drawn to more dramatic things but I just don’t think I have the chops to do it. Some of the stuff you have to say just makes me want to laugh. Like if I had to say, “Oh, I lost the baby!” my reaction would be to laugh. I also have no desire to cry in front of a group of people that I don’t know. You do it in real life, to be doing it in front of a camera just seems weird.

Do have any desire to come to Australia?
I would love to. It’d be fantastic.

Do you have any preconceptions? Like that there’ll be kangaroos jumping around in the street?
That’s pretty much what I think.

Well, it’s true. All true.
Really!?

No, not at all.
[Laughs] Oh, well. I still want to come and visit either way.