When Maya Rudolph went on “The Late Show with David Letterman” in 2009, she “did not have a good time.”
“He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated,” the “Bridesmaid” star, 50, told WSJ. magazine in an interview published Friday.
“I didn’t know how to handle it,” she continued. “I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”
Sources asked Letterman’s rep for a comment, but they didn’t answer right away.
Rudolph, who became famous when she joined “Saturday Night Live” in 1999, said that she had trouble with interviews and red-carpet appearances when she first started out.
“It would always feel like someone was stealing my soul,” she explained. “That’s where, over the years, I created a persona to protect myself.”
The comedian added, “I’ve definitely gotten much better. When I’m uncomfortable, I try to be funny.”
Rudolph doesn’t think of herself as a celebrity, even though she’s been famous for decades.
“I know I’m a working actor and people know who I am, but I don’t feel like a celebrity, because that word means something else today to me,” she said.
“There are a lot of different types of celebrities these days and a lot of self-made celebrities where people are famous for being famous, and that isn’t what I do.”
Rudolph was expecting her first child when she went on “Letterman” in 2009. Today, she lives with her partner Paul Thomas Anderson and their children, Pearl, 17, Lucille, 12, Jack, 11, and Minnie, 9.
During her interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actress said that no matter how busy work gets, she always puts her family first.
“Believe me, I am not a Pollyanna who’s like, I smile all day, every day. I get stressed out, I get pissed off, but I learned I could make a choice for myself, and it’s liberating,” she said.
“Maybe people who’ve worked as long as I have make other choices and have nicer cars. I don’t know, but it’s so important for me to [try to] have that balance.”
