3:40 PM

Kristen Wiig - GQ by Marc Hom, December 2011

Jon Hamm on Kristen Wiig:

The opening bit in Bridesmaids with all the crazy sexual acrobatics was done on the very last day of shooting. Bounding around in a flesh-colored thong, trying not to sweat all over Kristen while a hundred crew members are literally like, “Can we get this done, please?”—our embarrassment coupled with everyone else’s exhaustion lent that scene a particularly awkward sensibility. But it was inspiring to watch Kristen quarterback the team, be the cheerleader and decisionmaker, and then get in front of the camera and be hilarious. And surprising. For a lot of comics, there’s a persona they’re not comfortable revealing unless they’re performing. Kristen is incredibly shy; she has her hoodie pulled up and her sleeves pulled over her hands. But this is a woman who wore coconuts on her tits on SNL; she can go to the craziest, most grotesque places on the planet in character. Kristen came late to performing, and the way she rose through the ranks speaks both to her drive and to her wild talent. The first time I noticed her was watching the SNL sketch “Lady Business.” Kristen’s line was “I’m a bitch in the boardroom, a bore in the bedroom, and I’m a bear on the toilet,” which she delivered with over-the-top seriousness. I thought, “My God, this girl is funny.”