Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety
Variety sat down Chloe Fineman and Hannah Einbinder in Actors On Actors. The two comedic powerhouses first met eight years ago at We Know Vino, a wine bar in LA, which was the spot for open mics. As Fineman explains, both actors had similar arcs, this sort of start in comedy that eventually let them both into the acting sphere.
Einbinder first rejected the notion of acting because as she states, “I love standup. It is like my first love but I feel like acting is like it's just nice to collaborate.” The sort of community that is created on set and the incredible comedians she gets to learn from has really made Einbinder’s role as Ava Daniels on Hacks, “one of the most rewarding experiences.” Stand-up on the other hand, she describes as being, “totally in a vacuum you're just like a one man band.” Because Einbinder finally decided to try her hand at acting, Einbinder was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice for a Primetime Emmy. Einbinder, opposite Jean Smart who won 2 Emmys for her performance, was able to translate her love and admiration for her co-star into an incredibly compelling on screen relationship. As Einbinder puts it, “I think love is like the basis of all the work.”
Einbinder totally fangirled over, “the Chloe archive,” referring to the Instagram videos Fineman would post of herself doing impressions before she ever got the job at Saturday Night Live. The insanely talented impressionist said it all started because she refused to get on Tinder so she used Instagram as a dating app because, as she admits, “I always wanted to date somebody funny and I felt like it was just a way to like show comedy.” She reflects on this surprising choice saying, “I don't know why I thought like dressing like a small child from Dance Moms was going to like get me what I wanted.” These impressions, specifically her impersonation of Melania Trump, got her a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s 2024 film, Megalopolis.
In her past, Fineman even went through a clown phase. “As one does in LA, you dabble in the clown community,” Fineman states. The SNL cast member admitted she “got dumped by my clown teacher” and “was kicked out of a clown production.” After a failed clown career, Fineman, luckily, decided to take this talent of hers and audition for SNL. Fineman gushed over her cast members and how driven everyone is. One pitfall to this however is that Monday is no longer a rest day for the SNL cast members who all have insanely long hours. Fineman does say, “I do wish Mondays could be chiller.”
Fineman and Einbinder could not stop fangirling over each other as both have been a part of inarguably hilarious projects. Both comedians clearly have a burgeoning future in the business, Hacks and SNL is only where it started.
Watch the full “Actors On Actors” with Hannah Einbinder and Chloe Fineman here!
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