Joanna Lumley (00:00): Her grandmother is one of the richest people on the planet. She owns funeral parlors, she owns cemeteries. She makes her living from death.

Grandmama Hester Frump (00:09): I offer a friends and family discount.

Caitlin Reilly (00:14): Thing, are we rolling?

Caitlin Reilly (00:16): Hello, it is Caitlin Reilly, and welcome back to the Wednesday Season 2 Official Woecast. The last episode before the mid-season break was insane. Talk about a cliff-hanger. To help me break it all down, I am so excited to welcome Fester Addams himself, Fred Armisen, to talk about playing Wednesday's favorite unhinged uncle.

Uncle Fester Addams (00:41): Nothing like a good jolt to get this party started.

Caitlin Reilly (00:44): And I cannot believe I'm saying this, the actual Joanna Lumley will be joining me to talk through her appearances in this season as Grandmama.

Caitlin Reilly (00:59): I am so excited to welcome my next guest, the one, the only, Fred Armisen.

Fred Armisen (01:08): Hi. Thanks for having me.

Caitlin Reilly (01:09): Thank you for being here. Can I call you Freddie?

Fred Armisen (01:11): Yeah, you can. Whatever you want.

Caitlin Reilly (01:13): Okay, great.

Fred Armisen (01:14): That was a great introduction.

Caitlin Reilly (01:14): You can call me Chichi if you want.

Fred Armisen (01:16): Okay. Hi, Chichi.

Caitlin Reilly (01:18): Hi. Now, I want to talk about Uncle Fester. What drew you to this role? What was the process in casting? What were the conversations? Did Tim reach out? Tell me everything.

Fred Armisen (01:29): It was a combo of all those things, for lack of a better way to put it. My agent was like, "Would you be interested in playing Uncle Fester?" And I had this feeling of like, "Oh, absolutely." Very much like, "Oh, I'm the right guy for that role."

Fred Armisen (01:45): And so they reached out, and I had a conversation with Tim on the phone, and it was something that I really felt like, "This is a place that I want to be." And then from there, I started to just watch the original, the '60s show, you know?

Caitlin Reilly (02:01): Mm-hmm.

Fred Armisen (02:02): With Jackie Coogan because every iteration of Uncle Fester, it's almost like a tradition, so I wasn't trying to put my spin on it or redefine it. I was like, "Let me do the tradition of Uncle Fester." And then that original is like I pretty much on set watch clips of it.

Caitlin Reilly (02:22): Oh, wow. That was a direct line of inspiration?

Fred Armisen (02:25): It's like, yeah, a direct line of inspiration. And I even tried to get the voice. I'm like, "Let me match this voice." And because my vocal cords are different than his, it'll come out my own way. But I was like, "Let me just really try to copy this."

Caitlin Reilly (02:39): Right.

Wednesday Addams (02:39): Hello?

Uncle Fester Addams (02:39): You rang?

Wednesday Addams (02:46): Thanks for coming on such short notice.

Uncle Fester Addams (02:49): For my favorite niece, I'm always a lurk away.

Caitlin Reilly (02:53): Are there any other influences you have rolling around in your head when portraying this character?

Fred Armisen (03:00): Oh, wow.

Caitlin Reilly (03:01): Are you pulling from anything specifically? Aside from trying to honor past performances, are there any animal influences or physical influences or anything like that?

Fred Armisen (03:12): That is such a good question.

Caitlin Reilly (03:18): Thank you so much.

Fred Armisen (03:19): There is a kind of thing that I think about of '70s TV reactions, like really making a face.

Caitlin Reilly (03:23): Yes.

Fred Armisen (03:24): Even though Addam's Family is in the '70s, something about in the '70s, there was a real sort of, I don't know, you’d really DO something.

Caitlin Reilly (03:31): You know what I just thought of? I thought of Three's Company is a perfect example of that.

Fred Armisen (03:34): Fantastic. Mr. Roper would actually make a face. Even in shots where I'm not speaking, I do try to like... [makes a face}

Caitlin Reilly (03:44): You're in your own world.

Fred Armisen (03:46): There's this movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Danny DeVito has a really small role in it, and he's a patient there. But the thing is, every time he's sitting there [makes a face], he's kind of smiling. There's something he's... So something in there is like, "Just keep it going. Just keep it going."

Caitlin Reilly (04:04): I love that. I love that so much.

Fred Armisen (04:05): That's nice of you to say. I'm not bragging or going like, "Hey, I do this thing."

Caitlin Reilly (04:09): No!

Fred Armisen (04:09): I just mean it like if you're asking if there's anything that I do, I do, I put my mind to every shot, every scene because I just love it. In my life, and this is the biggest thing I've done, this is like-

Caitlin Reilly (04:25): Do you really feel that way?

Fred Armisen (04:26): Yep.

Caitlin Reilly (04:26): That's incredible.

Fred Armisen (04:28): I mean, in terms of people saying something to me, my whole career, people have wonderful things to say to me and they're very appreciative, but this is the only time where they've got stacks of pictures of Fester where they're like, "Will you sign this?"

Caitlin Reilly (04:47): Wow.

Fred Armisen (04:47): So I feel like it's more of like a family thing.

Wednesday Addams (04:51): I need you to find LOIS. Could be a patient, could be a doctor. Just make sure that the head shrink Dr. Fairburn can't trace you back to me.

Uncle Fester Addams (04:58): Oh, don't worry. If there's an expert on getting committed to a loony bin, it's me.

Caitlin Reilly (05:07): I want to talk about your relationship working with Jenna, working on your characters together, their relationship. It kind of feels like Uncle Fester is a funny, silly older brother to Wednesday.

Fred Armisen (05:20): Yeah.

Caitlin Reilly (05:20): What was it like working on that relationship this season? Because they really get into schemes together.

Fred Armisen (05:26): Well, it's definitely that, them getting into schemes together. It used to feel like Fester is helping, but now it's a little more conspiratorial where it's like the two of them are like, "We both have a goal." And it also used to be a little bit more like Fester was swooping in, you know?

Caitlin Reilly (05:52): To save the day, yeah.

Fred Armisen (05:53): And now it's a little more complex than that, which I really like.

Caitlin Reilly (05:58): Well, why do you think Wednesday trusts Fester so much? They just have this kinship and-

Fred Armisen (06:04): I don't know if it's a matter of anything concrete. I think it's more, you know, that's in life. There's people you just like and know and you're like, "I understand who you are." And because he is mysterious, I think that's what appeals to Wednesday is that because he's off doing, I guess, crime?

Caitlin Reilly (06:27): Crime.

Fred Armisen (06:29): There's a Robin Hood element, but I don't think he's giving anything back.

Caitlin Reilly (06:34): No, it's giving Robin Hood, but he just keeps it. He just keeps the result, which-

Fred Armisen (06:38): Yeah. Yes, he is like a bad Robin Hood.

Uncle Fester Addams (06:40): I'd like a suite. The biggest you've got. One night only.

Apple Hollow Inn Clerk (06:44): Welcome to the Inn at Apple Hollow, Mr. Diabolik. I'll need a credit card.

Uncle Fester Addams (06:51): I'd rather pay in cash. Don't worry. That washes off.

Caitlin Reilly (07:03): I wanted to talk about Fester and Thing this season. They have such a unique, funny relationship. What was it like working with Victor? He is my favorite. Thing is my favorite. Talk to me about that.

Fred Armisen (07:15): Agreed. Agreed. He is my favorite. The fact that he's there on set, it's kind of funny. And he also, because he's in a position where he can't really move his body, it starts getting a little, for lack of a better word, he's getting a little sweaty. It's like a workout.

Caitlin Reilly (07:34): Oh!

Fred Armisen (07:35): So he's got to be in this-

Caitlin Reilly (07:36): It's acrobatic.

Fred Armisen (07:37): Yeah, it's acrobatic. And he's sort of in this position and then you could feel the sort of like, "Oh, this is not easy for anybody." What I also like about him is he's really into it.

Caitlin Reilly (07:48): He's so into it. He's so into it. It's a complete art form for him. He takes it so seriously. He's so intent about the emotions of his hand and the movements. It's a whole thing.

Fred Armisen (08:02): As it should be.

Caitlin Reilly (08:03): Speaking of Thing, he happens to be here. He's actually helping me produce this.

Fred Armisen (08:09): Oh!

Caitlin Reilly (08:09): He's actually right over there in the booth if you want to say hi.

Fred Armisen (08:12): Hey!

Caitlin Reilly (08:12): I mean, he's not the best producer in the world, but...

Fred Armisen (08:16): Hey!

Caitlin Reilly (08:17): Thing! I was kidding.

Fred Armisen (08:20): It's good to see you.

Uncle Fester Addams (08:28):

Thing! Find Stonehurst and you'll find LOIS.

Uncle Fester Addams (08:42): Hey, Wilbur. I'm looking for a schlub named Stonehurst. He won amnesiac bingo yesterday. Forgot to pick up his prize. Can you point him out?

Wilbur (08:51): Old Gus prefers a different type of company.

Caitlin Reilly (08:54): I wanted to talk about the makeup for it. I mean, how long does your makeup take?

Fred Armisen (08:59): It actually, it takes a while.

Caitlin Reilly (09:01): Did you have to shave your head or was it a cap?

Fred Armisen (09:03): I wanted to shave my head.

Caitlin Reilly (09:05): Very method of you. Very Daniel Day.

Fred Armisen (09:07): It's also a little easier.

Caitlin Reilly (09:09): Oh, that's a good point.

Fred Armisen (09:10): You know, putting on a cap, it takes a while and it's a lot of prosthetics and stuff, so it's kind of easier just to go in. And also, the way actors move when they have a bald cap on, sometimes it's very protective.

Caitlin Reilly (09:26): Oh, yeah, you're always worried about the back. Yes, yeah.

Fred Armisen (09:26): Yeah. So they slather on all this sort of white-ish makeup and then the only prosthetics they use are over my eyebrows, so they cover my eyebrows. So there's this hulking kind of thing like this.

Caitlin Reilly (09:41): Right. I didn't notice that. That's how good it was.

Fred Armisen (09:45): Oh, no, it's great. It still actually takes a while, but less than it would have if I had a bald cap. But it still takes a little while, which is kind of nice. Like you come in, we shot this in Ireland, and so then everyone has this Irish accent. So I'm just quietly getting my makeup on and everyone's just chatting away and I love it.

Caitlin Reilly (10:07): So we find out this season that Fester has 18 passports, 33 driver's licenses. You need to tell me right now, we need to expand on the universe of Fester.

Fred Armisen (10:20): Yes.

Caitlin Reilly (10:20): Did you sit and take all of these pictures? Where do you think he's been? Where do you think he's going?

Fred Armisen (10:25): I did. I really did sit for all these pictures.

Caitlin Reilly (10:29): Wow.

Fred Armisen (10:31): It's a very hard job. But the thing about Fester is he moves fast. And traveling, when you get to an airport, all the lines you have to get into, it just slows you down.

Fred Armisen (10:42): So for him, it's like, "How do I get through airports quickly?" You have to, to travel, you have to-

Caitlin Reilly (10:47): What does he do?

Fred Armisen (10:49): He's got them all ready. And for European countries, he's got one. That, he just keeps it Danish. Denmark is a sort of Europe of Europe, the most almost caricature of Europe that you can get. So then he's got a different one for Great Britain, the UK, a different one for Ireland. South America, a bunch of those. Chile, Brazil, keeps it all going.

Caitlin Reilly (11:21): Wow.

Fred Armisen (11:22): He has an Italian one for fun.

Caitlin Reilly (11:25): Where do you think his favorite country is?

Fred Armisen (11:27): Iceland.

Caitlin Reilly (11:28): Iceland.

Fred Armisen (11:30): You just look at Iceland and it looks like Fester.

Caitlin Reilly (11:33): It does actually.

Fred Armisen (11:35): Yep. Because there's all this sort of lava, that black around his eyes.

Caitlin Reilly (11:41): The lava rock? Yep.

Fred Armisen (11:41): And then of course all the snow and ice-

Caitlin Reilly (11:42): Snow and ice, perfect.

Fred Armisen (11:43): ... for his skin.

Caitlin Reilly (11:44): Now, in terms of the script and character development, what was it like collaborating with Al and Miles?

Fred Armisen (11:50): That's great because what we do is we talk before the season starts, and they go, "This is what we have planned," and I just get excited. So never have I had to been like, "No, I think he should do this." It's always like this.

Caitlin Reilly (12:05): You're just super excited?

Fred Armisen (12:07): Always excited.

Caitlin Reilly (12:08): It was such a joy to talk to you today.

Fred Armisen (12:10): Likewise.

Caitlin Reilly (12:12): Thank you so much for speaking with me.

Fred Armisen (12:14): My pleasure. And thanks for having me.

Dr. Fairburn (12:16): We have Fester Fumagalli, Fester Dubois, and my personal favorite, Fester Fiesta. What is your real name?

Uncle Fester Addams (12:34): It's just Fester. Like an open wound.

Dr. Fairburn (12:37): You do understand you're in a psychiatric hospital?

Uncle Fester Addams (12:40): They used to call them funny farms. My parents abandoned me at one when I was 10. They said it was summer camp, but they never came back.

Psychiatrist (12:47): Tell me what you see Fester.

Little Fester (12:51): Death. Death. An ice cream cone. Wait, turn it that way. Still death.

Caitlin Reilly (13:04):

Okay, so my conversation with Joanna Lumley is next. I have to look my best. Okay.

Caitlin Reilly (13:12): Thing, how do I look? Okay. So fix the hair? Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Thing. Thanks, buddy.

Caitlin Reilly (13:24): It is my delight and my honor to welcome here today Grandmama herself, my dearest Joanna Lumley. Joanna, thank you for being here with me today.

Joanna Lumley (13:38): Caitlin, I am so thrilled. You're the person on the planet I most longed to meet and now we meet.

Caitlin Reilly (13:44): That is... Can you put that in writing and I can frame it and just sleep with it?

Joanna Lumley (13:49): It's so lovely being introduced as Grandmama because I've played, I mean, I have played grannies before, but in England, probably just called Granny. Anyway, suddenly Grandmama sounds quite grand. And I've been aunts and I've been mothers and I've been all kinds of parts of the family. And now I'm a grandmama, so that's wonderful.

Caitlin Reilly (14:06): Grandmama, it's very... There's a joie de vivre about it. There's a glitz and glamour about it, I have to say.

Joanna Lumley (14:14): Well, especially about her, about Hester Frump.

Caitlin Reilly (14:16): I wanted to talk about how you got involved in the show and involved in this cast and what the conversations were.

Joanna Lumley (14:22): The conversation was this. My agent said, "Tim Burton is going to call you because he wants you to be in his show, Wednesday." And then suddenly there was a Zoom call with Tim. There he was on the line looking just like himself and saying, "Will you play this part?" And it all sounded... I just went, "Yes," immediately. Immediately.

Joanna Lumley (14:38): So I felt like Hester from the very start, from the care they took with my wardrobe, which was going to be stern and cruel and sort of high-collared or pinched or leathery with the same kind of Wednesday clomping, great boots, and jewelry and a very, very cruel and very beautiful hairdo where I had two wigs, one white wig down, and then a black wig on top of that. And then the white wig plaited up over the top of it. Most elaborate every time I was shooting.

Joanna Lumley (15:06): So it was all magic. And from that, and the beautiful writing, Al and Miles, the showrunners, I mean, their stuff is really beautiful. So it was just the best, the most wonderful, complete little character given to me to inhabit.

Grandmama Hester Frump (15:22): Nothing stirs the senses like a funerary urn. The only people who deserve to be buried in this dump are the maintenance staff.

Wednesday Addams (15:32): Grandmama.

Caitlin Reilly (15:33): Did you have any other prior knowledge about the Addams Family in the past, the old TV show in the '60s?

Joanna Lumley (15:40): And the cartoon strip from which it all started, of course, because although it's colossal in America, it is well-known in England. But of course we knew about the films, and of course I can remember, I think particularly Anjelica Huston playing Morticia, but they were all, of course they are Tim Burton–perfect. They were all gothic and dark and a strange family. And I can remember them all very, very white with black hair and stark eyes. There were quite a lot of scars. I remember, was it Lurch the butler, I think I remembered, and Uncle Fester. Wonderful names and rather weird kind of characters.

Joanna Lumley (16:15): But this version of it is quite extraordinary. For a start, I think it's extremely bold and sweet to jump onto Wednesday and make this from her point of view, her story. A kid at school, at boarding school with extremely talented children with different abilities of which of course Wednesday is outstanding amongst them. And she comes from an outstanding family.

Joanna Lumley (16:39): And Hester, her grandmother, is one of the richest people on the planet because she makes her living from death. She owns funeral parlors, she owns cemeteries, she owns everything to do with death. She lives off it. It's a family business.

Grandmama Hester Frump (16:56): A good run through the tombstones always makes you feel alive. Was that crow luring you into a murderous trap? Varicose and I had wagers.

Wednesday Addams (17:04): The Avian that controls them just stole all my evidence. I've rattled the birdcage.

Grandmama Hester Frump (17:09): The plot thickens. What's next?

Wednesday Addams (17:11): I need you to buy this cemetery and find out who authorized those cremations.

Grandmama Hester Frump (17:15): Why would I do something so rash?

Wednesday Addams (17:17): Because once you tell my mother that you're finally getting me into the family business, all of her childhood insecurities will come bubbling to the surface.

Grandmama Hester Frump (17:25): Well played, my dear. You know exactly how to worm your way into my cold, desiccated heart.

Caitlin Reilly (17:32): I wanted to talk about the character of Grandmama, and specifically in episode four. What was it like walking onto set that day? I mean, how did it feel stepping into this character?

Joanna Lumley (17:46): Well, it was stepping into this set for a start, which was the cottage where Morticia's living. It's just death. It's death. Everything is skulls and webs and old, dead wings of things and the sense of immensely dark with a fire flickering in the grate. And of course, white-faced Catherine, beautiful white-faced Morticia standing there with her long, black hair, and Wednesday.

Joanna Lumley (18:12): And it was rather lovely because it was my first real introduction to either of them. You realize from that what a bond these two have between them. It's kind of jumped a generation. It's as if Wednesday is particularly adored by this grandmama who's a bit offhand with poor little Pugsley, and I think very, very naughty about Morticia. She's very spiteful about Morticia.

Grandmama Hester Frump (18:38): What happened to your sister was a tragedy, but even if I had said something, she would never have listened.

Morticia Addams (18:43): Unlike me, who took every one of your withering words to heart.

Grandmama Hester Frump (18:48): Is that your sales pitch to get me to donate to the Nevermore Gala? I heard they put you in charge. No doubt they're hoping you can convince me to chisel open my casket of riches.

Morticia Addams (18:59): I'm raising funds, not the dead. And besides, we both know you'd rather be buried with your millions.

Grandmama Hester Frump (19:06): I am willing to make a donation. But there is one condition.

Morticia Addams (19:14): Isn't there always with you, Mama?

Grandmama Hester Frump (19:16): Give Wednesday back her book.

Joanna Lumley (19:21): It's quite a little tussly-tussly scene. So it was lovely. Quite a big one to start off with. Great.

Caitlin Reilly (19:26): My favorite part of this season was seeing this multi-generational relationship with these three women in this family. What was it like cultivating those relationships with Catherine and Jenna and filming that scene?

Joanna Lumley (19:43): It's so cleverly written. We know the mother-daughter relationships that go on. So between Hester, my character, and Morticia, and between Morticia and Wednesday are a kind of friction. Quite often they like the boys best. Mamas like their... The boy is the mama's favorite, and the girl, there always finding some fault with her, picking on her. And I think Hester picks on Morticia, and Morticia disapproves of Wednesday.

Joanna Lumley (20:08): So it was a nice little frictional thing firing up and down. And you can see how Hester, who was probably rather wild in her youth and reckless and stingy and very, very powerful, would rather love Wednesday, who she can see has got so many of her own traits and characteristics. But I know that she's disappointed in Morticia, in everything she thinks. She could be more daring, she could be more powerful, she could be less on the back foot all the time.

Joanna Lumley (20:37): And Hester, who's got used to cracking the whip and having everything her own way and being very bold and very cruel, can't understand why Morticia is so wet. I think she thinks she's wet. She's disappointingly married. That's one bad black mark against her.

Caitlin Reilly (20:53): Don't get married, ladies.

Joanna Lumley (20:55): Just don't get married or only marry the person who Hester wants you to marry, which is obviously not this one.

Caitlin Reilly (21:01): Right.

Joanna Lumley (21:01): She's horrible. Luis and I luckily adore each other. I call him, when we're in the makeup, I call him Luisito and he calls me Jojo because those are our children's names.

Caitlin Reilly (21:12): What nickname would you give me?

Joanna Lumley (21:14): I'd call you Catty the Cat.

Caitlin Reilly (21:16): Ah, I love it. Everyone call me Catty the Cat, okay? Call me Catty the Cat.

Joanna Lumley (21:22): It's interesting. It's interesting watching these stories unfold and so many different parts of the stories unfolding for all the different characters with this little pivot, this little extraordinary character in the middle.

Joanna Lumley (21:33): I mean, Wednesday, Jenna's made her into something extremely special. Not often you get to do that with a teenage character, and Jenna to understand and to behave, to have caught it, I don't know, so absolutely very clever.

Grandmama Hester Frump (21:50): It's all in the wrist. Ah, shoddy work, I must say. Lumpy. That's odd. Here, just like I taught you.

Wednesday Addams (22:07): Overtones of deer, hints of squirrel and raccoon, and a subtle finish of Shih Tzu.

Grandmama Hester Frump (22:15): Very good. What's missing?

Wednesday Addams (22:21): Human.

Caitlin Reilly (22:23): Can you give us any clues on what we can expect from Hester Frump in the second half of this season?

Joanna Lumley (22:31): We get to see her very, very spectacular house where she lives and where Wednesday had spent a lot of her childhood, which was a truly phenomenal real house in Ireland called Powers Court, which is one of the great splendors south of Dublin with the most spectacular cascading terraces going down, down, down to a fountain, and this beautiful mansion at the top of it.

Joanna Lumley (22:56): And so that was Hester's place and that was... It's lovely. I always love to see where people live and what their homes are like and what it's like there. And we get to meet, of course, her wonderful servant, Varicose, who is the female version of Lurch. Just a great heavy-foreheaded, white-faced sort of thunk who doesn't speak, who just lunks about taking care of Hester, who bosses her about cruelly.

Joanna Lumley (23:23): We get to see Hester just giving us a glimpse of the extraordinary powers. She's decided to retire most of her abilities, but when needed, she can summon them up again. So all these things are yet to come, yet to be seen.

Caitlin Reilly (23:37): Joanna.

Joanna Lumley (23:38): Catty the Cat, do not leave me. Don't go! I've loved talking to you.

Caitlin Reilly (23:42): Joanna, I love talking to you. I mean, can we move in together?

Joanna Lumley (23:46): Sure.

Caitlin Reilly (23:47): I don't know what else to say.

Joanna Lumley (23:48): Just let's do it. And can you come? Actually, can you come over and see us if we shoot anymore? I think we're going to be shooting series three at some stage. Won't you come over?

Caitlin Reilly (23:57): Well, I have an idea. Here's my idea and let's just all get our emails out. I think that Hester Frump needs a spin-off and I think that she needs to go on her own journey and I think that we need to do a little bit of her past and see young Hester Frump and I think it needs to be me.

Joanna Lumley (24:15): Oh, I love that. That, I love.

Caitlin Reilly (24:17): I don't make the rules, but I'm going to try.

Joanna Lumley (24:19): That would be sublime.

Caitlin Reilly (24:20): So you send an email and I'll send an email.

Joanna Lumley (24:22): Okay, babe.

Caitlin Reilly (24:23): Thank you so, so much for speaking with me today and I cannot wait to move in together.

Joanna Lumley (24:29): Thank you very much. Bye-bye, Catty the Cat.

Caitlin Reilly (24:37): What an episode to take us into the mid-season break of Wednesday. Monsters, conspiracies, a psychiatric asylum break, and the cliff-hanger to end all cliff-hangers. Is Wednesday still alive? Is Tyler still alive? Who were all those patients in LOIS and will we ever see them again? Did Uncle Fester run off into the sunset with Louise? These are things that we need to know!

Caitlin Reilly (25:03): We'll be back when the show returns to break down all the latest from the world of Wednesday. I'm Caitlin Reilly. See you next time.