With the documentary Hysterical now available to stream exclusively on FX on Hulu, Margaret Cho took the time to join us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night for a chat about her career in the entertainment industry thus far, with a heavy focus on her film and television work. We spoke about unforgettable films like the bonkers 90s action movie Face/Off and Cho’s appearances on red hot reality competition shows like Dancing with the Stars and The Masked Singer, but there’s no running through Cho’s list of credits without touching on the one that scored her a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, 30 Rock.
After highlighting Will Smith’s standout leadership qualities on the set of Netflix’s Bright, I asked Cho what other top tier talent used their clout on set in a positive manner. In addition to Smith, Cho noted her Face/Off co-star, John Travolta, and then put the focus on 30 Rock creator, Tina Fey.
As Cho explained, if you share a scene with one of the big 30 Rock stars, that’s not necessarily a guarantee you’re acting opposite them the entire time. Here’s how she described it:
“On 30 Rock, everybody was so famous that in a lot of the shots that you are in, you are actually working with their double. So like, if you’re in a scene with Tracy Morgan - I only saw Tracy Morgan for five or seven minutes when he was doing his coverage, and then you would only work with the double for the rest of it because they’re shooting your stuff.”
However, things with Tina Fey were different. Cho even went as far to dub her the most engaged person she’s ever worked with.
“But with Tina, Tina was there from when you got in to when you wrapped because she had written it and she wanted you to do exactly as she had envisioned it and she wanted to be there for you. So she was just off camera, right there, so supportive. Just incredibly invested and emotionally invested. Something that you never see, but she really is so responsible for that show’s success, but at the same time, very grounded about the entire experience. So she’s probably the most engaged person that I’ve ever worked with.”
Looking for more from Cho? Keep an eye out for her full episode of Collider Ladies Night dropping tomorrow which includes loads more about her experience working on Face/Off, Bright, The Masked Singer, Dancing with the Stars and then some!