5 Things We Learned From The Hollywood Reporter Comedy Actress Roundtable

Prepare to laugh and cringe, folks. For their latest roundtable, The Hollywood Reporter has assembled six of the most outspoken comic actresses working today — Lena Dunham, Ellie Kemper, Kate McKinnon, Gina Rodriguez, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Amy Schumer — for a button-pushing discussion on topics ranging from sex scenes to sexism. You can read the full interview here, but we’ve also highlighted some of the standout moments below.

1. Sex Scenes Are Rarely Fun (or Funny) to Shoot
At some point, every actress has to confront the possibility of shooting a sex scene. Except Kemper, apparently: “I’ve never done a sex scene. I am so prudish that when I’ve had to kiss someone in a scene, I think for the next hour that we’re in love! It’s a middle-school frame of mind.” Or maybe she’s just heard enough horror stories like the one Schumer tells about making her upcoming Judd Apatow comedy, Trainwreck. “This guy we were going to have make out with me was like, ‘Um, do you want our first kiss to be on camera?’ I was like, ‘No, no, come to my trailer and we’ll make out beforehand.’ It was so grotesque. I’m like, ‘Did you think I cast you because I want to make out with you?’ Then there was a lot of unnecessary touching. I was like ‘Get that guy out of there.’” Dunham, meanwhile, says that she’s simply gotten used to the unpleasant grind that the… um, grinding scenes in Girls sometimesrequire: “I stopped wearing the nude patch after the first season of Girls. There’s not one guy who works on that show who hasn’t seen the inside of my vagina.”

2. News Flash: Hollywood Is Still a Looks-Based Business
In an ideal world, comic talent would trump appearance when it comes to casting, but that’s rarely been the experience these women have had. Rodriguez remembers going in to audition for a part and being asked to come back in for another reading, this time wearing a tight black dress. The reason? “ “‘We need to know if you’re pretty enough to be on the cover of a magazine,’” they told her.

Ross faced a similar reaction when she auditioned for the role of a Harvard-educated lawyer on another network series. “I wore a skirt suit and heels. Seemed appropriate. [But they] had me in and out of the bathroom trying on clothes. They finally pick a skirt — the shortest I brought. Then got a T-shirt from one of the people in the office. The woman says, ‘Hmmm, your boobs.’ I was like, 'I didn’t bring a bra for this T-shirt.’ She screams down the hall, 'Who wears a 34B?’ I put on someone else’s bra, a size too small, and somehow auditioned. It was one of those moments where you’re so confused and humiliated. But that’s part of the biz.”

3. One Guy Made the Girls Set a Very Unpleasant Place
Though she doesn’t name names, Dunham calls out a guy on her series for acting in an overtly sexist manner. “I heard a guy on my show say into his microphone: ‘I hate this job. I can’t wait to be back on a show where there’s a man at the helm.’ Later, that same guy came up to me at lunch and said, ‘You’re really enjoying that buffet, aren’t you?’ He’s the worst person alive. I hope he reads this, which he won’t because he’s drunk.” OK, folks — let the speculation about this dude’s identity begin.

4. Schumer Has a Theory About Why Late Night Is a Boys’ Club
Despite there being enormous turnover in the world of late night, female comedians haven’t benefited from the departures of longtime hosts like David Letterman and Jon Stewart. Schumer’s explanation? “Because [women] get our periods at night.” Dunham offers up an alternate take: “The idea of risk-taking is terrifying. I love Stephen Colbert, he’s a genius, but CBS [couldn’t] take the David Letterman slot and hire somebody who represented even an ounce of diversity? There is no shortage of established women who’ve been on the comedy circuit for years. It bums me out that someone like Kathy Griffin was relegated to Fashion Police.”

5. McKinnon Is “Nervous” at the Thought of Meeting Hillary Clinton
As if stepping into a celebrity impersonation previously popularized by Amy Poehler isn’t terrifying enough, McKinnon is equally freaked out at the prospect of meeting the presidential candidate she’s been brilliantly skewering on Saturday Night Live all season long. “I’m rooting for her, obviously. It’s a combination of the writers’ take on her but also this contrast between a woman so driven and hardened by her experiences — She needs this! The country needs this! — and this sweetie granny from the Midwest. I’d be so nervous to meet her. I find her so resplendent!” She does have a campaign slogan ready to go for Hillary’s presidential bid, though. “Guys, come on.”