cristin milioti
Cristin Milioti is an American actress, singer and producer. Her breakout role came in the smash-hit Broadway musical, “Once,” where she was nominated for a Tony in the “Best actress in a musical” category for her role as Girl. The production went on to win multiple Tony’s and a Grammy. Milioti boasts a diverse filmography, spanning mediums and genres, from” The Wolf of Wall Street” to “How I Met Your Mother” to “Fargo.” In her latest project, Milioti stars as Sarah opposite Andy Samberg in Hulu’s “Palm Springs,” dubbed an “existential comedy” by the actress herself. The film spans genres, featuring time loops, weddings, dance numbers and dinosaurs, and is arguably the feel-good movie of the year: something we could all use a bit more of right now. ContentMode caught up with Milioti over the phone for an extensive discussion, from Fiona Apple to breaking the romantic comedy mold to her return to Instagram.
Sydney Nash: Funnily enough, I watched Palm Springs twice in one day.
Cristin Milioti: I love that. I keep hearing from people that they’re watching it numerous times. Specifically, from interviews that I’ve done, which is extra incredible and flattering, because you guys have so much on your plate and to take the time to then watch it again… It’s such a huge compliment.
SN: I watched the movie one morning for this interview, and I went to see a friend that night and she asked, “What should we watch?” I told her, “Well, I watched this really interesting movie today that was great..” She asked if I minded watching it again, and so I watched it for a second time, and I have to say, I enjoyed it just as much as the first time around.
It’s a very interesting mix of genres. When someone was asking me what Palm Springs was, I had a hard time answering. It’s not really a romantic comedy, it’s also got a bit of sci-fi…
CM: I’ve been saying this, too. Everyone keeps referring it to referring to it as a romantic comedy, but I think it’s an existential comedy. Of course, there is a love story in there, but I also think [the characters] are dealing with such huge topics, like what we do with the time we have and trying to escape ourselves. All these heavier questions. There’s also this added sci-fi element, but I’ve always thought of it as an existential comedy.
SN: I was interested in what type of genre you would consider it, because I didn’t want to call it a romcom.
CM: I don’t either.
SN: I read that you really rejected the idea that Palm Springs was just a romantic comedy, because your character Sarah does kind of reject Andy Samberg’s character romantically in the movie.
CM: I think sometimes when people hear “romantic comedy,” they have a very specific idea in their head, and it’s easy to box [the film] in. What I love so much about this movie is that, it’s sort of to your point, actually, it’s multiple genres and almost genre-less. It touches on so many things I find to be very exciting. I guess I’ve done that (referred to it as an existential comedy) to adjust people’s expectations on some level.
SN: When I realized it’s a “time loop” film, Groundhog Day immediately came to mind. What do you think sets Palm Springs apart from these other “time-loop genre” predecessors?
CM: I’ve never seen Groundhog Day, but I loved Russian Doll.
SN: Yes, so good.
CM: I thought Russian doll was brilliant, and I definitely think [Palm Springs is] different. Just tonally, they’re different. But they also both touch on these big life questions of, what are you going to do with the time that you’re here, and when you can’t escape yourself, what action do you take?
Even the way we shot [Palm Springs] is different, but I think that’s what I love so much about the idea of a time loop. It’s actually very zen, because it’s maddening. You have to return to the same thing over and over and over. It’s the definition of insanity: repeating the same thing over and over and over and expecting different results. I feel that’s what we do as human beings. We get caught into the same narratives and the same patterns. We bang our head against the same wall over and over and over. It’s not until you’re willing to step back and look at your own part in that that you can then choose something else. The construct of a time loop sort of makes that crystal clear.
SN: The time loop is a bit existential, and you see that throughout the film. I think, too, what is so brilliant about this film is that it’s so timely. Obviously, you had no crystal orb you saw into, but the main characters are stuck in a time loop reliving the same day over and over, and I think that it’s a bit like how our present feels, being stuck at home. Do you think that this film can teach us anything about monotony and living in something that might feel redundant?
CM: I think teaches is a strong word, but it shows that the only change can come from within. That’s one of the reasons I really loved this film when I first read it. I felt like so much of Sarah’s journey is that she’s actually been in a version of a time loop in her own life. She’s been repeating the same mistakes over and over and over, blaming everyone else and refusing to look at her part in it, refusing to try and change it. Once she starts to take herself seriously, accept responsibility and take action, then her life begins to change. She figures, ostensibly, a way out.
SN: Now, I’ll throw you a couple less existential questions. (laughs)
CM: No! I love these questions, because I love that people are having these conversations about it and all the things you’re bringing up.
SN: Like the dinosaurs?! (laughs) I mean, come on!
CM: (laughs) Oh yeah.
All the things that you’re bringing up, it’s why, when I read it, I wanted to be a part of it. Even sometimes, when I go very far down that path, I feel like my brain explodes.
SN: What excited you about this project once you read the script and met the team?
CM: I’ve been a fan of Andy’s for a long time, and I really adored our producer, Becky Sloviter. She’s incredible. I also just loved the script and so much of it was aligned with what I look for as an actor. I’d never read anything like it. In regards to what we were talking about earlier, of course we’ve all sort of seen versions of the “time loop” as a framework, but I had never seen it used in this way.
It’s also just such as zany, weird movie. It touches on some really dark stuff, but it’s also very moving. Those are all the things that get me excited as an actor, so I was all in.
SN: I have to say, your chemistry with Andy was phenomenal in the film. It was just magnetic. I can only imagine that filming with him also had to be so fun.
CM: Oh, it was so fun.
SN: What was it like to work opposite him? Obviously, there’s a lot of comedic moments, but there are also a few quiet, more serious moments between you two throughout the film.
CM: He’s a delight. He’s a blast and so much fun. And he really did bring it in those scenes that required a real vulnerability, which I don’t think people have seen him do. I don’t think it has been asked of him a ton in his career, and it should because he’s so good at it!
I also think our chemistry just comes down to some weird thing that is hard to describe. We’re friends, and we also have similar taste in things. We also really intrinsically understood this world and these characters, and we really trusted each other. Sometimes it doesn’t go that way, and I was very, very lucky.
SN: So tell me what the filming process was like. How long did it take you guys to shoot the film?
CM: We actually shot it in 21 days. It was nuts. It was such a testament to how invested everyone was across the board. We were working really insane hours. We’re in the middle of the desert during the day, which is like 110 degrees, and then at night, it plummets to 30 degrees. Everything at night is shot at like four in the morning.
I would get maybe two takes for the majority of it. There were some things we were able to spend more time on, but for the most part, it was really just leaving it all on the dance floor, so to speak.
SN: What was your favorite aspect of playing your character Sarah?
CM: I loved how human she is. She is allowed to exist with all of her flaws, and you don’t always get that. Unfortunately, men are afforded that left, right and center, but women less so. You get to see all of these different sides of her. You get to see her make some pretty horrible decisions, and she can be a real pain in the ass to be around. But she’s a human, and she’s trying her best, and sometimes she doesn’t try her best. She is a whole being, and I was really excited by that.
The ending of [Palm Springs], which I have my own opinions about, it’s very clear that Niles doesn’t come into Sarah’s life and rescue her. She chooses him. It’s a choice: “I think my life will be less mundane with you in it.” But I also got the sense that she would be okay without him.
SN: You have a lot of diversity in your performances and genres, from TV to stage acting and from comedy to drama. I feel like I don’t see that that often. Are there types of projects that you typically more drawn to or is it just the script itself?
CM: That is something that I’ve really done with intention. I’ve always really made an effort toward not being pigeonholed and to play as many different people as I possibly could, because it’s the most exciting thing about being an actor to me.
I love trying new things out. I think my taste naturally skews a bit dark and weird, but with humor. Humor is the ultimate coping mechanism and an amazing way to reach people.
SN: Getting at the root of being a performer, was there a moment where you decided you wanted to pursue acting or was it more of a gradual realization?
CM: To be honest with you, I think it was a gradual realization. I’ve always loved performing. I’ve sung my whole life, was in bands in high school and did theater. Performance has always been a huge part of my life. There was never a single moment. It was a series of seeing and hearing things when I was young and just having some intrinsic feeling of, “I want to be a part of that,” as opposed to watching something and being like, “I’m going to be an actor!”
It was just being slowly drawn in by all these different things. For example, Fiona Apple is a huge influence on me. I worship at her alter, and I remember hearing her first album Tidal when I was 10. If you’d sat ten-year-old me down and asked, “Why do you like this so much?” I don’t think I could have been able to give an explanation outside of, “I just want to be listening to it and near it all the time.”
SN: Moving forward in your career, Once must’ve been a very trajectory-changing role for you. How did that role affect your life, and when you started it, did you realize that you had something on your hands that was super special?
CM: I remember, very specifically, that I thought it was the most special thing I’d ever been a part of, and assuming that, it meant no one else would.
We did a short workshop of it in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was jumping out of bed every day to go do it, and that feeling was so incredible. We were coming to New York with it, and I was sort of bracing myself for loving something that no one else was going to love as much.
The reaction blew me away. That show changed my life in so many ways, certainly career-wise, but the show was also a confluence of all the things I loved most in this world. The music was beyond gorgeous, the story was so sad, but there were also these moments of beautiful humor. I felt like I played a real character, and I really got to disappear into someone. I will be forever grateful and indebted to that experience.
SN: I want to talk to you about what’s going on right now in the world. First of all, how are you doing? I feel like I probably should have asked that first. (laughs)
CM: I’m extremely privileged to be very health and safe. I’m really okay. I miss my family terribly, as they’re on the East coast, but outside of that, I’m really, really okay.
Except for the state of our country: it’s gutting. It’s so overwhelming every day. It’s like waking up with an anvil on your chest. You see the amount of pain that people are in. I’m trying to use this time to become as active a member of society as I can be, help enact as much change as I can, and to throw my time and money behind the causes that I believe in. I’m just trying to be a better citizen in the world and get everybody to vote.
SN: I follow you on Instagram, and I’ve noticed you’ve utilized your platform to amplify different causes.
CM: I’ve hated social media my whole life. I got an Instagram like a year and a half ago basically to say, “You can watch me in this,” and I would post one thing every 10 months and then throw my phone away. I’m very thankful for my platform, and when all of this started going down, it just felt incomprehensible to me not to use it in that way.
I’m learning so much from using Instagram for the first time. This is how I’ve learned about every protest I’ve gone to, every Senator to call, all these different email addresses to bombard. It’s the first time where I’ve understood the power of social media. In light of everything that’s happening, it’s been extremely informative and has helped to mobilize people in a way that is actually quite hopeful in the face of all this. When I’ve gone to these Black Lives Matter protests, it’s the first time I have felt hope in the face of our current state of affairs.
SN: Are there any practices that you have found to help keep you grounded?
CM: I listen to a ton of music. I’ve been listening to Fiona Apple’s recent album Fetch the Bolt Cutters on repeat since the day it came out. I’ve been listening to Phoebe Bridgers and Nina Simone. My taste runs the gamut. I’ve just been listening to music that makes me feel alive. I’ve also been meditating, talking to a bunch of friends and reading. I’ve been reading White Fragility and I’m about to read How to Be an Antiracist.
SN: Is there anything that’s really giving you hope right now?
Cristin: I would say, in a larger sense, I’m really hopeful for the younger generation. Going to these protests and deep diving into different Instagram accounts, the younger generation is blowing me away. I ‘s the first time I’ve felt like, “Holy shit, our future is going to be in great hands.”
Quick Q’s
SN: If you weren’t an actor, what do you think you would be?
CM: A very extreme environmental rights activist.
SN: Who’s your role model?
CM: Fiona Apple because she’s unabashedly herself.
SN: What’s the last tv show you binged?
CM: Insecure.
SN: What do you think’s the most slept-on movie?
CM: Addam’s Family Values. Weren’t expecting that were you?
SN: (laughs) No. I wasn’t.
Last question. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
CM: This is pretentious, but it’s what popped into my mind. “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.” Boom.
*This interview has been transcribed from audio and edited for length and clarity.
