Chloe Fineman on What Makes a Great Celebrity Impression—Plus the Drink That Powers Her Through ‘SNL’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Ever since she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2019, Chloe Fineman has been cracking up audiences with her spot-on celebrity impressions and mastery of fabulously ditsy character types. Fineman is currently gearing up for SNL’s 50th season, and she’s also keeping busy outside of the comedy institution, with roles in the much-anticipated film Megalopolis and the upcoming Broadway play All In: Comedy About Love.
On top of all that, the comedian has also just partnered with SharkNinja to promote their new Ninja Luxe Café espresso machine. It’s a natural fit, given the importance of coffee in her late-night writing and performing routine.
Chloe Fineman spoke to FIRST for Women about how caffeine fuels her creativity and the surprising places she finds inspiration for her impressions.
FIRST for Women: How does coffee fit in with the work you do on SNL?
Chloe Fineman: I have relied on coffee my whole life. My freshman year of college, I discovered that I could drink caffeine at 8 p.m. and not have a panic attack and actually go to sleep. I drink it like it's water, and we often have coffee at midnight when we’re writing. At work, Sarah Sherman is always like, “You need to drink water,” and I’ll only have a large cold brew in my hand.
SharkNinja
FFW: Given your hectic schedule on the show, how do you find work-life balance?
CF: This past week, I was crying walking down the street being like, “I need an assistant!” I don't have one. I don't have a work-life balance. I'm either on or I'm off, and I think a lot of us at SNL are like that. I wish I had a medium.
We're so on for three weeks, and then we have a week off and we pause, but I am sick in the head, and I think that I'm most relaxed when I'm working. I'm somebody where if I were in the desert at a meditation retreat, I would go completely insane. There is something very relaxing about getting to work, which is a scary, capitalist thing to say, but also why I think I'm perfectly a New Yorker now.
@chloeiscrazy/Instagram
FFW: Where do you get inspiration for your celebrity impressions?
CF: There has to be a love affair with it, and celebrities that I find charming or that make me laugh are usually where it starts. This past Fashion Week I had a lot of inspo, so I'm excited to get to use that.
With impressions, you're either charmed by the person or you hate them. I think the things that drive you absolutely insane, the stuff you want to rant and rage about or characteristics you can't stand, can also be really good sources of inspiration and a healthy outlet.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty
FFW: Do you have a favorite impression that you’ve done?
CF: Doing JoJo Siwa recently was really great. She was someone I was trying to do on the show for the past five years, and everyone said no. I think it came off a little weird to have an adult woman putting on bows and the show didn't quite get it, but when JoJo really leaned in to being gay and an icon, it was the perfect time. It was very satisfying.
FFW: A number of your impressions have gone viral. What is that experience like?
CF: It's definitely a very anxious thing, because there's a lot more at stake now than when I was in my nasty apartment in L.A. Now I feel like if I do something, that famous person will potentially see it, so it has to be kind, or hopefully they have a sense of humor about it.
It's really thrilling if people respond to it. Part of what's fun is I feel like I'm a Vogue editor going, “What's trendy? What's hot? Who is everyone talking about now?” I like to do current stuff that people are talking about, or someone that no one's seen an impression of before is always really fun.
There's something about it where you have to do it before anyone else. The internet is so fast. This summer, the Olympics was happening and I was in my car packing up from doing a movie. Then I saw the Australian breakdancer, and I was like, “Oh no, I'm near the mall!” So I ran to the mall, made an impression, filmed it and put it up. If someone's like, “You need to do this now!” there's an adrenaline rush to it.
FFW: How did you come to be cast in Megalopolis?
CF: It’s really weird. I was playing Melania Trump for a performance piece, and Francis Ford Coppola was in the audience, which I had no idea about. He offered me the part and let me improvise a bunch. He was really open to playfulness and ad-libbing. I’m so much more comfortable on a film set, I think because I'm a control freak. You can do a couple takes and edit it and make it better.
FFW: Heading into the 50th season of SNL, what lessons do you feel you’ve learned from doing comedy?
CF: One of my favorite things, and it's a hard pill to swallow, is that comedy is really democratic. Sure, there could be nepotism or favors, but with comedy it’s either funny or it's not. People are either laughing or they're not.
Something you learn on the show is that we all aren't for everybody, and that's what's cool about SNL. We all have different audiences. Maybe an old dude in Ohio doesn't like my girly thing, but that's okay, because that's my voice and that's what I love. There's an audience for you anywhere, you just have to be authentic and do what you love and make what you authentically want to make, and you'll surprise people.
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