GLOW stars Alison Brie and Marc Maron recently spoke with Anne Easton for Observer; you can read a few highlights below. GLOW’s second season will premiere on Netflix next Friday, June 29th.
Marc Maron on how he prepared to play Sam Silvia on GLOW:
MM: I didn’t watch the original GLOW TV show [from 1986] because I was told that my character didn’t know anything about wrestling. I was like, “Great, that’s gonna work for me!” But I’ve interviewed wrestlers on my podcast so I know Mick Foley, CM Punk, Colt Cabana and AJ Lee. The thing is, I wasn’t a wrestling fan as a kid or anything, but I grew to appreciate it and I kind-of found that there are some similarities between becoming a professional wrestler and becoming a stand-up comedian, that was fascinating to me.
Maron and Brie comment on how wrestling and comedy are similar:
MM: Well, they’re kind-of both scripted, and in both cases, you have to do these shitty gigs to get anyone to notice you. Like, there’s this touring mechanism in wrestling where, as they’re becoming better wrestlers, they do these horrible shows in small venues and that’s sort of like the open mic circuit of doing stand-up. They both have this thing where you’re sort of learning how to do it, while kind-of paying your dues basically.
AB: Actually, we’ve learned that a lot of wrestling is more physical improvisation in the moment, and open communication between the wrestlers minute by minute in the ring, than prior planning. To relate it back to stand-up again, it’s just really experienced wrestlers who wrestle with each other and they’re just communicating to one another what’s going to happen. So, while they’re wrestling in the ring—unbeknownst to the hundreds of people watching—the wrestlers are really [staying] in tune with the audience and can see who they’re rooting for, so they know who needs to ham it up and stuff.
Maron and Brie explain why the show is more that just ‘women’s wrestling’ to those who might be turned off by the theme:
MM: Oh, it’s about so much more than that. We’re talking about the overall struggles of life here, especially when you’re looking at how people are with each other. That’s real stuff there. And, it’s super funny too. So, you’ll laugh a lot. If you wanna laugh and feel some stuff, watch this.
AB: And I think what everyone can relate to that this is a story about a random collection of people who had nothing better going on in their lives and then they found this outlet. Everyone is looking for something like that, right? Someplace to fit in. When you find those people that really get you, you want to stay together, and that’s not always easy. GLOW is about a bunch of underdogs and everyone loves to see the underdog rise up and win. We all need something good to root for. That’s what this is.
