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She definitely didnt expect to play Susie Greene for more than two decades.
Working onCurb,Im such a part of the creative process, she says.
It was two weeks ago that we got the phone call about Richard.
The hardest thing I find about getting older is losing friends.
Do you have any particular memories ofRichard Lewisyoud like to share?We were very good friends.
And it pissed us off, because we loved each other.
We wanted it so badly, and we never had it.
I sort of cant imagine how that scene would go down.
And Larry saves me for himself.
Oh, I have so many memories of Richard.
For a while, we went on the road together doing stand-up, which was insane.Insane.
He would wait in the car outside.
He was so idiosyncratic.
Before and after the show, there would be so many messages from him, so many emails.
It was the most neurotic behavior.
What would his messages say?Just on and on and on.
Just on and on on these tangents.
But he was incredibly sweet and lovable.
These people like Richard andBob EinsteinandGilbert Gottfried, they were such unique voices.
They cant be replaced, and the loss for me personally and the world is huge.
Richard was a terrific writer.
He could come up with jokes like [snaps].
I dont really have that ability; Im not facile with joke-jokes, setup, punch line.
My stand-up was never like that.
For years, Larry would never let any of the guest stars see the outlines, especially Richard.
From day one, he let me see them, but I was the only one.
Id be like, No.
No, you cant.
And yet he was a brilliant improviser too, so he didnt really need them.
Ive loved his scenes in the recent episodes.
Its been a fun season so far.
I guess it went up on Monday or something?
My friends have been sending me pictures Ill show you.
Im not making a dime on these caftans;HBO is selling them.
Susie always has some scheme like that.
She had the bedazzled sweatshirts, and then … soaps?Yes, I had Soaps On.
Do you have a backstory for Susie?
What was she doing when she met Jeff?You know, I have over the years.
I kind of fantasize things.
And I was like, Well, Ive been in relationships.
I can do that.
I never want to play myself.
Im with myself all day long its enough.
And I wanted to play this character who has complete confidence in everything she does and has zero self-awareness.
I had a very difficult mother.
What would it have been like to have a mother who just loved you?
I have no idea.
Susies confidence is great.
But she kind of takes it too far in that direction the clothes she wears …Right.
She has no self-awareness whatsoever.
I always had a fantasy that Moe Greene was Jeffs great-uncle.
Another fictional character, fromThe Godfather Michael has him shot in the glasses.
And before she met Jeff, she was in fashion.
Lived in New York.
I knew those women who worked in their 30s as a buyer or something.
Thats what she did.
And then she became a Brentwood housewife.
The other question is: Why do they stay together?
She gets to go to premieres and gets tickets to things.
They brought up their child, Sammy, and he makes a lot of money.
I do think she really loves him, oddly enough.
So shes old-fashioned in that way the opposite of me.
Ive been with my husband for 20 years, but I met him when I was 48 years old.
But I think that Susie loves him, and she accepts him, and this is their life.
Shes not going to blow her life.
Its like my mother used to say my parents had a horrible marriage.
Shed say, Where am I gonna go?
And it was kind of true.
Her whole life was about being the wife and the mother.
It works for the story lines, and thats it.
In comedy, its a different kind of acting.
Everything doesnt have to make sense.
It just works for the show.
Hes the worst out of anybody.
He breaks with me because he loves being yelled at.
Generally, I dont break character, but there was once when I really broke.
I remember Jeff and I just lost it to the point where they had to redo my makeup.
I mean, I couldnt stop laughing.
Some scenes weve done are too complicated to improvise, but not many at all.
I read the outline, and it was like, Susie is interpreting the sign language.
I was like,What?
You figure out ways to work it.
After you started working onCurb, did you ever consider moving to L.A.?Never.
I am the only person on our cast who never moved to L.A.
I went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.
AndCurbhas one season set partially in New York.That was season eight.
What I found about those episodes is that New York becomes a character, as it does inBroad Cityalso.
For the television house on Central Park West, I look out the window and theres Central Park.
I just loved it, because finally Im home.
I guess I have a caftan business.
Tell me a little about how the clothes come together.
My fittings are hilarious.
We just laugh, laugh, laugh.
The Guns N Roses shirt was really good the other week.
And I said, The back room of Loehmanns.
But the back room wasdesigner Versace, stuff like that.
Because it was the stuff that didnt sell, it would usually be outrageous.
Everything was still expensive, but you were wearing a Versace.
The back room of Loehmanns anyone of a certain age whos a New Yorker will remember.
Im curious if you have any thoughts about what Susie will be doing in ten years.Well, lets think.
Her caftan business is huge, and she goes on QVC and shes selling her own line of stuff.
Thats about as far as Ive taken it.
We finished shooting a year ago, at the end of March 2023.
How do you do that after so many years?I felt ready.
Ive been asked this question a bunch: How do you know its really over?
Larry would say it was over after every season, but now, its just a feeling.
I cant describe it any more than that.
Of course, six years later, he came back.
But it just feels done.
The last day on set was intense.
And Larrys quiet I always know when Larrys quiet, hes emotional.
And we finished, and Richard said something, and Cheryl said something.
It was very emotional, because weve all been together for a long time.
Weve watched marriages and divorces and kids being born and grandkids, and its been a full life.
Its great to hear that Richard Lewis said something.Well, Lewis is very sentimental was.
I hate to talk about him that way.
He would call me after wed shoot and tell me how great he thought I was.
He was a very sentimental guy.
