Molly Shannon Talks About Overcoming A Bad Audition With Food

From 1995 to 2001, Molly Shannon made audiences laugh during her stint on Saturday Night Live, but she revealed how she almost quit acting due to a bad audition before she even nabbed the SNL slot.

At The Hollywood Reporter‘s Sundance lounge in Utah, Shannon spoke about that one audition that nearly tore her to pieces.

“I bumped into a girl before the audition, and she was like, ‘Oh my God. It’s so nice to see you! Have you gained, like, 100 pounds? And I was like, OK, that is so mean.”

Those mean words eventually got to her head, causing her to bomb the audition. The 50-year-old actress initially wanted to quit acting forever, but she ate an entire Gelson’s chicken instead. Food can always make you happy.

Shannon attended the Sundance Film Festival to promote her latest indie film, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. In the film, Shannon portrays Denise Kushner, the mom of Olivia Cooke’s character, Rachel. The film is a coming-of-age tale about a high school student who ends up befriending a classmate with leukemia. Shortly after the premiere, the film became the breakout hit of the festival as it was swooped up by Fox Searchlight to the tune of $12 million, a record price for an indie film that debuted on Sundance.

Cooke who played the titular “girl” character couldn’t believe how powerful the film was, sharing how she and Shannon were a wreck after the credits rolled. “Molly Shannon was next to me and her stomach kind of crumpled and she was like, ‘huh huh,’ bawling her eyes out,” the 21-year old Bates Motel star said.

Fox Searchlight couldn’t be any happier for their new film acquisition as Shannon’s new film is expected to meet the success of previous indie breakout hits like Juno and 500 Days of Summer. Fox Searchlight presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley admitted in a press release that the film had them floored. “The performances are honest and relatable and the film is smart, funny and original,” they wrote.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is expected have a wide release this year. After the film, Shannon is keeping busy by joining another group of talented actors in her next project. Director David Wain confirmed that the upcoming Netflix TV prequel for Wet Hot American Summer will include familiar faces from the original film. Shannon will be reuniting with stars like Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, and Ken Marino, making more fans excited for her upcoming show.

[Lead image via StarPulse.]