“While making Better Things, I went back to the bones of my life. I wanted to talk about women who are aging and aging parents. I wanted to talk about girls growing up. I wanted to show these stages developmentally. That’s very interesting to me. I have a million stories to tell there.”
-Pamela Adlon, episode 369 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
This Mother’s Day, our very special episode with actor, writer, and director Pamela Adlon!
We discuss her new movie Babes (7:27), directing a comedy about reproductive rights in 2024 (12:38), and her creative upbringing between New York City and Los Angeles (17:55). Then, we dive into her early roles as a child actor, including appearances on The Facts of Life and The Redd Foxx Show (19:06), her foray into voice acting (23:15), and the MTV Madonna music video contest that made her want to become a filmmaker (34:16).
On the back-half, Pamela describes how motherhood shaped her career (41:50), including her semi-autobiographical show Better Things (44:30) and her newfound mission to mentor women in the industry through her production company, Slam Book Inc. (1:00:40). To close, a tribute to Pamela’s mother (1:04:30).
For questions, comments, or to join our mailing list, reach me at [email protected]. This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios.
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Show-notes:
- Watch Pamela’s feature film directorial debut Babes, opening in theaters May 17th.
- See her work on Better Things, Californication, and King of the Hill.
- Listen to Pamela’s podcast for Better Things.
- Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
- For more talks, hear our conversations with Natasha Lyonne, Abbi Jacobson, Jerrod Carmichael, and Nick Kroll.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Illustrations by Krishna Shenoi. Reference image by OK McCausland.
Subscribe, rate, and review: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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