Hannah Berner took a circuitous route to the cultural giant. Before her short mission Summer house Or her successful podcast, Gigli bandwith pal Paige DeSorbo, long before her current career as a comedic actress (watch her latest special, None of my businesswhich spent last weekend at No. 1 on Hulu), her desire to briefly appear in front of the camera led her to try out a career as a sportscaster. short.
“It’s very embarrassing to admit that you like being on camera,” says Berner, who likes screen time but not enough to tolerate goofiness. “I didn’t want to move to a small town to become a sportscaster and deal with the misogyny of trying to prove to guys that I knew basketball.”
Berner’s unexpected path to success should earn her some credit, which is something she says she’d like people to consider as she dips her toe into acting. Speaking during the latest episode of Hollywood Reporter Podcast I have a ring (Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple) Berner talked about her evolving stand-up audience, her thoughts on Summer House suddenly turning into a chill conversation and working on a potential scripted TV show for Netflix with DeSorbo and her producer — Amy Poehler. “I feel like I’m in a master’s program that’s one of the greatest programs ever,” Berner says.
I imagine there’s a stigma, even with being almost a year into a reality show. Did you feel like you had to overcome that to get where you are?
I look at some people getting hate because of where they come from and I think, “You don’t choose where you start.” I actually started doing comedy. Working for Betches was my joke writing boot camp. I think leave Summer house It gave me a psychotic desire to succeed in stand-up, because I felt so misunderstood. I needed to hear my voice. I also just lost my job. So I thought: “I’m going to get really good at stand-up comedy, so I won’t need a boss anymore.” I can’t get fired again! It took a desire for revenge and being Sicilian to get me to this place. And then it took therapy to accept everything.
When you’re on stage and looking out at the audience, what kind of final face do you want to see?
I have a good time with everyone in the crowd, but I’ve noticed a lot of friends coming to my shows. I don’t make it a safe place for them, so I don’t know how that happened. I think they like the tension and the talk in the women’s locker room. But I’ll go to Arkansas, and there’ll be a guy in a hunting hat with shades on top. At first you might think I might be like, “Oh no.” I love him. Let’s connect cultures. I had a gun. It’s in my first special. I’m basically saying, “To solve the gun rights issue, maybe the only people legally allowed to own guns should be women. If you look at the statistics, everyone will be safe.” There was this man who looked like a big hunter in the front, and he was laughing hysterically. But I once had a father who wore his AirPods. I said to him: “What are you listening to?”
Your profile has given you a lot of opportunities. What is something you would never say yes to again?
Some things take a really long time. It comes out and it really looks like it was easy, but it was a four-day shoot. I’ve done appearances and stuff where I was in a trailer for like 12 hours. This is not worth it. I’m really a “yes” person though. Paige is better at saying no. So…I would say reality TV. (He laughs.)
With this potential Netflix series, she will move into acting. How do you prepare for that?
I’m obsessed with not being put in a box. I love when people think they know who I am and then say, “She does What“Deep down, I always wanted to be an actor. When I was in seventh grade, I was at a performing arts school in Brooklyn, writing scripts and loving comedy. Tennis had taken over my life, and I had this goofy, performing side that I had suppressed for a long time. I felt like stand-up comedy was the easiest way to get attention through casting. So I was trying to do the best specials I could to see if I could get into acting. I don’t know if I’ll fall in love with acting or not, but I want to try and see. Because if I don’t enjoy things, I won’t succeed.” In it.
I know very little about her Summer houseso we won’t get into the details, but the behind-the-scenes drama of this show has largely permeated the culture. Non-Bravo viewers know what’s going on. How do you deal with experiencing this chapter of your life suddenly thrust into the mainstream?
I think it’s been positive overall for me. People looked at things and saw things differently. But it’s like hearing news about an ex-boyfriend, where you say, “I really want to get over it!” (He laughs.) I’ve muted most things, so I don’t see much. I’m more into getting my tea from the source. Ciara [Miller] And Paige keep me updated on what’s really going on. In general, I don’t like getting into that place mentally — the negativity of reality TV sometimes, the intensity of it all.
It is not a medium that thrives on positivity.
No, my dear. And it’s great that they get views and stuff. You just hope everyone survives.
I can’t imagine having to sit through a tape of those reunion specials.
It’s like nine hours.
When people leave, I just wonder why they don’t stay.
We tried. (He laughs.) There are contracts in place. It’s really like WWE for women. I was with Lisa Rinna last weekend. I witnessed a crazy reunion too. We had a good heart to heart, laughing about surviving everything. But I think some people succeed at it. This is where they want to be. They are difficult.
Speaking of Lisa, I know you just said you’d never do reality TV again, but how about that Traitors?
Well, I was talking to her about it. If you’re a straight woman or a gay girl, you’ll get kicked out early because they say, “We don’t like that!” If you’re a loud, straight guy, they’ll say, “He knows what he’s talking about!” I would never say I would never do it Traitors. I would never do a reality documentary show for a group of friends as they sometimes have to make something out of nothing sometimes. Competition shows will be fun at some point in my career when I have more time.
Before I leave you, video streaming: a necessary evil or just an evil?
Look, I love streaming video. When I started podcasting in 2019, I remember saying to networks like, “Do you do video? Can you help me with video?” They were all like “You’re obsessed.” Now, if there’s no video, they don’t want it. Since Paige and I started working in television, it was fun for us to come back. Facial expressions, eye contact, people’s clothing, it all adds to it. Frankly, the clips changed their course Gigli band. You can’t expect everyone to listen to an hour. But there are some people who live for the clips every week. Clips help you get exposure.
I am concerned that video audio broadcasting will lead to a significant increase in traffic deaths.
As a New Yorker who just got my driver’s license last summer, I didn’t take that into consideration. But you are 100 percent right. I had an Uber driver the other day who had a video booth while he was driving. I was like, “Should I say something?” It’s not even directly in front of him. It’s on the side. His head was turned.
What made you finally get your driver’s license?
My mom used to say, “If you ever have a family, you have to drive them in an emergency.” But I had a lot of anxiety. I had to do therapy about it. I was writing, “I’m getting my driver’s license.” Like, I was doing affirmations! It was the whole thing. So when I passed, I felt very accomplished.
