Chloe Fineman Talks Samsonite Luggage Campaign and Why She Wants to Do a Jamie Lee Curtis Impression on ‘SNL’
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It’s the middle of the week, and today, Chloe Fineman is prepping for another episode of Saturday Night Live, this time with host Jenna Ortega and musical guests The 1975. “It’s like that panic before a table read,” says Fineman, calling from her living room in New York City.
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But before she steals the show with another hilarious sketch, the SNL star is playing a new character, this time for luggage company Samsonite’s new “Travel Like an Icon” campaign. The new retro-themed series was shot at the TWA Hotel “to capture the aura of the Golden Age of travel,” as the brand explains, with Fineman traveling with a mix of archival suitcases and modern luggage, like the company’s Elevation Plus Glider.
“It was fun to create a character that’s adjacent to myself and help write and come up with the creative,” Fineman says. “I just think it’s elevated and I’m really excited to be a part [of the campaign]. I kind of like more heritage brands and heritage luggage and I will say I’ve been using my Samsonite suitcases on all these flights and it really makes a huge difference. They glide! Hashtag: Glide.”
Ahead of the Samsonite launch, Rolling Stone caught up with Fineman over the phone about everything travel, improvising with Aubrey Plaza, and why her next impression just might be of Oscar nominee Jamie Lee Curtis. (“She’s just very effusive, and I love that she is the head cheerleader of the awards season and just champions everybody. And I just find her so refreshing.”)
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The Samsonite campaign looked like a ton of fun to work on. What was it like to shoot at the TWA Hotel?
It was heaven. It was funny because I was working in Atlanta, and then I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t even need to drive to set. I’ll just fly in.’ But then my flight – it was like a flight nightmare – I ended up flying to Newark and then taking an Uber to the TWA which was a crazy thing. But I got to the hotel at like 2 in the morning and I definitely feel like it’s haunted.
And going there when no one’s there was definitely like, ‘Oh, this is crazy,’ because it hasn’t really been changed since the Sixties – like the infrastructure’s all there. So you’re sort of like ‘I can’t believe this is how people travelled in the Mad Men days. And that’s what I call the Sixties [laughs]. But it was beautiful. It’s so cool.
It looks so cool. I still haven’t been.
Yeah, and also I’ll say, hilarious because, as we were shooting, people were getting off their flights and trying to go to their hotel rooms and then they had to wait for me to like act, which I felt bad about it, but, you know, was added to the fun of the day.
You’ve talked about how Samsonite is a company you grew up with. What was your favorite travel memory as a kid? Do you remember getting your first piece of luggage?
I have a vivid memory of a tiny suitcase that I would pack and then say I was running away and kind of like go up the block and then come home [laughs]. I just remembered that. Yeah, just always like melodramatic since a young age.
I mean, I distinctly remember the first time on a plane as a kid … we didn’t really fly until I was like eight, I’d say. I grew up in California, so a lot of it was packing a suitcase to go to like Tahoe. But yeah, I went to Mexico when I was eight, and it was heaven.
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Do you have any upcoming trips planned or dream vacations in between seasons of SNL?
I’m definitely going back to California on Tuesday of next week so I’m stoked about that. My sister lives in London, and so does the photographer who took the photos for Samsonite [who] is actually my brother-in-law – or my almost brother-in-law. So I definitely owe them a visit. And you always have to be like – London and Europe seem so far growing up in California, but Paris is like a five-hour flight. So definitely a Eurotrip soon. And I’ve never been to Mexico City which is really embarrassing.
It’s so fun.
I feel like every motherfucker in their thirties has been to Mexico City except me and it’s a tragedy.
Is your dog Peach going to go with you to London?
I’ve never taken the dog abroad [laughs]. But I don’t know what the ins and outs are but I’m dying to do that. When I got him, initially there was a breeder – this is bad to say but I was looking at breeders – but there was a breeder in London of Shiba Inus and I had this fantasy where my sister would like get the dog and bring it to the States and then my dog would have a British accent. But then I never went with it. [laughs]
Alright, say you’re on a long flight, what are the top three movies you’re going to watch?
Ooh, you know, lately I’ve really enjoyed watching indie films that maybe I wouldn’t go see in the movie theater, or that didn’t quite … like I saw Emily the Criminal with Aubrey, who’s like a buddy and just the best, and I was blown away. Pig, kind of these hour-and-a-half, these 90-minute movies are totally my jam.
Triangle of Sadness was amazing on the plane until it was disgusting to watch while you were in turbulence. I remember the plane was like shaking as they were puking so that I wouldn’t recommend. But yeah I think usually an independent film that I’m like, ‘Oh, I can watch that?’ is the best feeling in the world.
You mentioned Aubrey, and I loved the SNL clip when she’s doing the Pollock and American Beauty impressions and you’re doing a Drew Barrymore impression. But there have been so many memorable hosts this season. Do you have a favorite memory that sticks out to you?
I mean, well yeah, that Aubrey kiss was fully improvised and hilarious. We were working together on a different movie, so I feel like we were kind of in this experimental – I don’t know, we got close – so it was just a joke to kiss. But I remember everyone who was filming or working at SNL were like, ‘Are you OK?’ Because we always, we just had had an HR meeting, so that was hilarious. And then it was fun to be like, ‘No, no, we know each other, it’s fine.’ [laughs]. I love her. But that run of like Aubrey, Michael B. Jordan, and Pedro was definitely incredible and really highlight episodes for sure.
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You’ve done all these iconic impressions and characters on SNL, from Drew to Miley to Jennifer Coolidge. Do you have a dream impression you’d love to do on the show next?
Gosh, I mean, I don’t think it’ll go. I’d be shocked but definitely been working on a Jamie Lee Curtis [laughs]. She’s like my favorite woman at awards shows lately.
Have you met her?
No, I’m dying to. She’s like my new Meryl – I just think she’s the best. I just love her and she cracks me up endlessly.
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