Ellie Kemper Has The Morning Energy We Need In 2020

From Woman's Day

The sun has barely risen, and Ellie Kemper is as energetic as the famous characters she’s played on TV. At an hour when most people are either still asleep or wish they were, Kemper displays a warm, bubbly energy that most people can't muster until at least 10 a.m. She snakes through a crowd of people, finding her way to a dispenser of steaming hot coffee and holds the drink tightly to warm her hands. And as she stands out from a crowd of half-awake New Yorkers with her auburn hair and easy smile, it is hard to distinguish her from the effervescent characters that have made her famous.

If you've seen Kemper on the hit shows The Office or The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, you're aware that she’s is known for projecting a high level of energy. So it should come as no surprise that Kemper labels herself as "a complete morning person."

The actress spoke to Woman's Day at a sunrise event hosted by Tropicana, saying "I've lived in New York for a very long time, and I've never been to a Manhattanhenge before," referring to the rare event where the sunrise or sunset perfectly aligns with the grid of Manhattan's streets. After watching the sunrise, Kemper went on to proclaim — more than once, in fact — "I love mornings!"

When she's not in the middle of New York City watching the sunrise, Kemper has developed a more typical morning routine. "Right now, it’s sort of unusual because I have a 4-month-old, so the mornings are a little chaotic," she tells Woman's Day. "First and foremost, I must wake up and have coffee immediately," she says. "I need caffeine in my body. I’m like a cartoon character, if I don't have it I’m not awake."

After she's been adequately energized, she gets her 3-year-old ready for preschool and then prepares to spend the day with her 4-month old. "I’m not working right now, I’m staying at home with him," Kemper says. "And I think it’s so essential for me to always find one moment, it could be 30 seconds it could be five minutes, where I just am with myself finding some moment of brightness and collecting myself for the day in order to get myself through the rest of the day." In her moments of solitude Kemper says she tries to "empty my brain" and find calm.

"It usually involves just sipping coffee and breathing," she says. "Which sounds a little corny, but it is just breathing in, breathing out. It’s just having a moment of not reading anything, not going on my phone, letting my brain empty for a minute. That recharges me."

For one of the bubbliest characters on TV (or Netflix), a devout lover of mornings, and a mother of two young children, one of the best parts of her days is taking a deep breath. "You just need quiet moments," she say. "I think it’s essential."

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