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This article contains some spoilers for the Netflix series The Four Seasons.
When Kerri Kenney-Silver went to audition for one of the lead roles in The Four Seasons, she figured she had absolutely no shot. It wasn’t because she lacked the experience or acting chops. Kenney-Silver is a member of the iconic Nineties sketch comedy troupe the State, logged two decades as the dunderheaded Trudy Wiegel on Reno 911!, and has had recurring roles on Superstore, 2 Broke Girls, Love, and countless other sitcoms and cartoons.
But this was a prestigious Netflix miniseries co-created by Tina Fey and starring Oscar nominees Steve Carell and Colman Domingo, as well as Will Forte, Marco Calvani, and Fey herself. And she was auditioning to play Carell’s wife, who endures a painful schism in her family and eventually an even deeper loss. It was about as far away from Reno 911! as one could get.
“I was shocked I was even being asked to audition for it,” says Kenney-Silver. “And strangely, I wasn’t even that nervous, even though the stakes were so high and the project was so big. What often happens on something big like this is you get a callback or even a second callback, and then they hire X/Y/Z A-List celebrity. And it turns out you never were going to get that part. It was meant for that actor or maybe even written for them. They were either using you as leverage or biding their time. In this case, the stakes felt low, I wasn’t even nervous. I was just like, ‘Of course, I’m not going to get this.’”
But she did get it. And The Four Seasons has been a giant hit even by the standards of Netflix. In its first four days on the streaming service, nearly 12 million people viewed it.
“At last, [Kerri] has a part worthy of her gifts,” Kenney’s State colleague Michael Ian Black wrote on his Substack. “A fully realized adult woman who’s funny and sad and complicated. They could have had any actress they wanted for that role, they picked Kerri, and ended up getting the better end of the deal. Moments like these, as rare and fleeting as they are, are what keep me from giving up on this industry altogether.”
We spoke with Kenney-Silver about her early years in the State, her under-the-radar Nineties alt-rock band Cake Like, the enduring appeal of Reno 911!, and bonding with her A-list Four Seasons cast mates.
What’s happened since the show premiered? It must have been overwhelming to hear from all the people who watched it.
Yeah. But overwhelming in the best possible way. I’m hearing from people that I haven’t heard from in decades and decades, so it’s amazing.
Let’s start by going all the way back to The State, the MTV show that ran from 1993 to 1995, named for the NYU comedy troupe you were a part of. As a young person watching that in the Nineties, I just presumed you guys were raking it in and had it made. The reality was obviously very different.
The reality was, we actually found out later that we were making $50 less than we would have made on unemployment. But to MTV’s credit, to hire 11 children who essentially who had never done television before, had only performed in small spaces at NYU, and give them their own television show… We were just so lucky to be there.
Are your dominant memories from it the fun times? The stressful times? What stands out the most?
Well, it’s different now, because Matthew Perniciaro has made a documentary about the State, and we’ve seen clips of it to make sure that the history is accurate as he’s putting it together. So, there are new memories that are coming up, because this started in 1988, so it was quite a long time ago, but we still continue to work together to this day. So, my memories and my current feelings about it are all good and warm.
The State was 11 people, many of whom have gone on to have notable careers, including Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, Thomas Lennon, David Wain. With a group that large, was it inevitable that there would eventually be rifts and hurt feelings?
Of course. Half of us were film students, and half of us were theater students, so of course there’s going to be drama and feelings and emotions. And also, just spending that much time with people… Most of us have children now who are older than [we were] when we met and started working together. And now you can see it for what it is. We were teenagers, and we’ve grown up together, and now we’re in our mid-fifties, so of course a lot’s going to happen in that time.
A lot of people forget that you were in an alt-rock band, Cake Like. Was that a fun experience?
Cake Like was a blast, and feels like a dream, because it was so compartmentalized in this little tiny time in my life, but it had such an enormous impact in my life. We started not knowing how to play instruments, and that was a thing at the time. There was a scene in the East Village in New York City at that time. And the girl-band thing at the moment was a thing. And we had shocking success for what we were doing very quickly.
How did you get signed?
Neil Young found us playing at the Knitting Factory. He was brought to us by Ric Ocasek, who loved our band and produced a single of ours, and Neil signed us to his label. Jonathan Richman was his first artist signed on that label. Then he signed us, and it just took off in this bizarre way. And then I moved out to L.A. with Viva Variety [the Comedy Central sketch comedy series], and the other two girls [Jody Seifert, Nina Hellman] were in New York. So, by nature of distance, we stopped playing. But we made three albums, we toured around the world, and it feels like a dream.
If people want to hear one Cake Like song to get a feel for the band, what should they check out? I really like “Wendy.”
I love “Wendy,” too. I love “Lorraine’s Car.” David Wain directed that video, and the music’s on Spotify and Apple Music. So people can listen to it, but listen to it with an ear of, “This was 1994.”
You can really hear the influence of Hole and the Breeders.
Sure. We were completely influenced by all those amazing bands at the time. But I think what we had going for us was we did not have any skill like these other bands, so we could only make our own sound. We couldn’t have really have copied sounds if we had tried, but for sure the element of that time in that music was coming through us.
You went on the H.O.R.D.E. tour in the summer of 1997 with Blues Traveler, Beck, and Neil Young and Crazy Horse. What was that like?
It was as fun as you would imagine it would be. And Neil and Crazy Horse were like dads to us and so supportive. We would go in the morning when Neil was setting up his train set, the beginning of the festival, and afterwards when we would play.
We played early in the day. We would get to watch all the other bands play. And after Neil Young and Crazy Horse played, our manager who was also Neil’s manager, would say, “Ladies, go get some food. Go into Crazy Horse’s dressing room and get some food. There’s all this food, no one’s eating it.”
A few times we went in there and they were, what I thought of at the time was arguing, but it was just this emotional moment that they would have after every show: “You played a B-flat and it should have been a D!” And now I realize it was just artists at work.
That was a really great time for Neil and the Horse. It’s amazing you got to see it night after night.
What an amazing show that was. There was one night, I can’t remember where we were playing. It was an amphitheater, and there was a hurricane, and the power went out during Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s set. [Editor’s note: It was the infamous Tinley Park, Illinois, show on Aug. 3, 1997.] So, it was just candles onstage, and all we were hearing was the amp and the live drums and microphone, but none of the speakers were working. And there was lightning and water started pouring down the steps towards the stage. It feels like a fever dream, but it actually happened, and we were there to see it.
When Reno 911! started, did you have even a tiny inkling that it might last over two decades?
No, never in a billion years. Especially because the way it was created was just a Hail Mary. It wasn’t supposed to happen the way it happened. We had created a sketch show for Fox, and as we got closer to filming, they decided they weren’t into it anymore. So, at the last minute, we improvised the pilot to Reno, and they didn’t pick it up. Three years later, Comedy Central did. And it just is the show that never dies, which we’re all thrilled about. But at a certain point, I think we all feel like, how much longer can someone buy us as police officers? But then again, who would’ve bought us as cops from the beginning?
Is there any downside to being associated so closely with the one character? Did it pigeonhole you in some way?
For sure. It’s a blessing and a curse. I don’t even want to say curse. It’s ultimately a huge gift. And I think it has contributed to the fact that it’s taken me this long to be seen for a role that is grounded and isn’t the wacky chuckle-patch that is Trudy Wiegel.
The goofiest character often has the hardest time being seen as something else, like Gilligan.
Oh, I would love to be seen as Gilligan. But to Sherry Thomas, the casting director [for The Four Seasons], Tina Fey, Tracey Wigfield, and Lang Fisher, to their credit, to even see me for this at all, to take their time to call me in to audition, kudos to them, because they had not seen anything like this from me before.
There’s also the fact that Hollywood simply makes fewer comedy movies now, and fewer sitcoms. That must have presented you with some career challenges.
A million percent. But again, something gets taken away and something shows up as a gift. And in this case, 15 years ago, as a woman in Hollywood, I would have been counting my days right now, because there were not a lot of parts for women my age at that time. I can be the wacky secretary that pops in every couple episodes, but there were not, at the time, a lot of juicy parts for women. Now there are so many opportunities, which opens a new window for me.
Did you shoot a bunch of pilots over the years that never got picked up?
Oh, yeah. Any actor that’s been working for over three decades has a giant garbage bag filled of pilots. Some really good, some not so much. I did a great one with Dave Krumholtz and Martin Short that didn’t get picked up, which was such a bummer. But then I’ve done my share of turkeys, too. They’re not making as many pilots anymore. They’re going straight to series.
That was such an inefficient system where they’d spend a fortune on a pilot and it wouldn’t even air.
We did a pilot in the Hamptons, Barry Sonnenfeld directed it, and it was huge. Kelly Preston and Rachael Harris and Judy Greer, this incredible cast. It was a remake of a show called Suburban Shootout that was a British show, and it was a 10 million-dollar pilot or something with cranes. And Barry Sonnenfeld is a genius, he makes these big, beautiful things. But at the end of the day, I think it was HBO that said, “This is not sustainable.”
Prior to The Four Seasons, were you feeling career frustration?
I’ve been really lucky to never really have a big patch of feeling frustrated. And I think that’s because — not that I shouldn’t have felt frustrated, perhaps I should have, but I’ve been very lucky to be a part of a group, the State, where, when we can, we are making our own work. So, there really has never been a lull… Maybe it’s not getting picked up or maybe it’s not doing well, but we’re always making something in some form or another within the configuration of the State.
How did you first hear about The Four Seasons Netflix series?
I got an audition from Sherry Thomas. My agent and manager sent me the sides, and I thought, “Oh, this will be, obviously, a walk-on guest role.” And then when I realized it was The Four Seasons, and that it was the character of Anne, played by Sandy Dennis so brilliantly in the movie, I thought, “OK, well that makes sense. So it’s a little bit of a bigger part, but she disappears.”
That’s because in the movie it’s shorter, obviously, and at a certain point we don’t follow her journey. And so, I was just shocked that this was such a fully realized story that involved Anne’s character, and that I was being asked to audition for it. I couldn’t believe it.
Tell me about the moment you found out you got it.
My husband and son and I were all home, and actually my husband was in the garden, and I walked down to him and I just was standing there with my phone, just looking like I had seen a ghost. And he immediately knew. It had been weeks since the audition, but he knew. This is so embarrassing, but we jumped up and down and hugged each other like I had just won something. And then the terror set in almost immediately.
How long did that transition from joy to terror take?
Maybe about 15 seconds. And then I was like, “Oh, now I have to actually do it.” And then, that hurdle of feeling, for the next several months, like, “Oh, am I going to get fired? What if that was an anomaly, that audition, and what if they see me in person?” Because I didn’t meet them in person. I did a Zoom callback with Tracey, Lang, and Tina, and I thought, “Well, what if my filter was on too high? And they think they’re going to get that, and they’re really going to get this?”
It’s really hard to think of a more top-shelf creative team and cast. Did you know Steve Carell or Tina Fey prior to this?
No one. I had never met any of them before.
What was it like to meet all these people you’ve only ever seen on TV or in the movies?
Well, it was very surprising. Their main goal was to put together people that were kind, and enjoyed working together, and no drama. And they succeeded, because the group is… I hear myself talking, and it makes me sick, because you see other interviews when actors are like, “Oh, we’re family. We get along, there’s no…” But it really, really is true. It’s just the most welcoming bunch of people.
On day one, after the first take, I blurted out, “I’m really nervous, you guys.” And every single person said, “Me too. Me too, me too.” I think it was Steve who said, “This is the point in filming, in the beginning, when I always think, ‘Do I remember how to do this? I think I know how to do this.’”
So, everyone has their insecurities, and this group, no one was there to prove themselves, no one was there to get the best monologue. We’re in our mid-fifties, we’ve had whatever careers we’ve had, whatever successes we’ve had. And this was just a celebration, really, it felt like.
Steve and Tina were both in Second City. Will Forte was on SNL. You were on The State. One commonality many of you have is that improv/sketch background.
But you know what? One thing that put us all on a level playing field is… So people see me in this and think, “OK, well, she can do comedy, but can she do the depth of the drama that this story requires?” Same with Tina. As far as Colman goes, we’ve seen Colman only in the depths of drama. We know he’s great, but can he do comedy? Marco hadn’t acted in 16 years, so he felt like, “Can I do any of this?” Which of course, he blew the top off of that.
With Steve was, of course, we’ve seen him do comedy. We’ve seen him do dramedy. But it’s such an unlikable character on the page. “Can it be likable and watchable?” And Will, he’d done Nebraska, and he’s done obviously crazy, wacky comedy, too. So, everyone knew he could do that. But he’s taking the Alan Alda character, that’s a tall order. So maybe I’m tooting our horn, but I feel like everybody proved that they’re capable of doing the thing that everyone wondered, “Is it possible?”
How much time did the six of you spend together before filming started so you’d have that chemistry that’s on the screen?
I met them in the makeup trailer, essentially.
Wow.
Marco and I met going to our wardrobe fittings in the entrance of the stage in upstate New York. And when we saw each other, we dropped our bags and ran and hugged each other, and almost started crying, even though we had never met. I think we both were very excited and very nervous.
What was it like meeting Steve?
I was starstruck in the beginning. And Steve is a very sweet but very quiet guy when you first meet him. And of course, my crazy brain is projecting that he was thinking, “Oh God, what is she doing here?” And, “I have to work with this? I wanted X/Y/Z actress for this.”
And then pretty quickly, after a couple of takes, he and I were off to the side and he said, “I just have to tell you, when I heard this was you, I was so excited.” He said, “My wife, Nancy, and I are such huge fans of yours.” And I had worked with Nancy on Angie Tribeca, so I knew her, but I didn’t know Steve. So, just no ego and just kind and welcoming.
Tell me about getting into the headspace of your character. She has to carry around such sadness, but there’s also a real tenacity to her spirit.
In this project, there wasn’t a lot of work to be done, and if there is work to be done, I will overwork it. So, to be clear, normally I would have notebooks and notebooks filled with, “What is the backstory here? Where did it just come from? How does this relate to her childhood?”
But Tina Fey’s words are just… It’s there, it’s handed to you, there’s nothing to figure out. There’s no subtext that we’re missing, and there’s such depth to the characters. It’s really a master class in writing and story and character. So, I just really did some work on what this means to me, what this [storyline] would mean to me as a person. But for the most part, just being truthful in the moment with the words and with the other actors was enough. It was more about letting go of my ideas or any acting tricks, and just really being there.
I truly think some Reno 911! fans are going watch this and not even know it’s you.
That’s every actor’s dream that you disappear into a character.
The scenes with you and Erika Henningsen, who plays your ex’s young new girlfriend, are really fascinating. This is someone your character is supposed to hate, but you slowly find compassion for her.
She probably had the hardest job of all of us, and she made it look so effortless, because that character, by nature, is unlikable. Even if she were a kind person, in such a short amount of time she has to immediately prove that she’s not there for the money, she’s not trying to take advantage in any way, she really truly does love this man, she’s not dumb. And she’s so likable that my character’s struggle is not, “How do I like this person?” But, “How do I stop liking this person?” She’s endearing.
That scene where she and I speak at the end by the fire pit was one of my favorite scenes to shoot, because there’s this tension that built up through the entire series and [Anne] wanted to let it go, she really did, she really did not want to be in this place. So, it was such a release to be able to do that scene with her.
I got worried for your character during the third episode, which you barely appear in. I thought you’d simply be gone and Erika would take your place on the trips.
Well, that’s how I felt reading the scripts as they were coming in. And it made more sense to me, before shooting this, that I would disappear. I thought, “Of course I disappear. Sandy Dennis disappears in the movie.” And also, what? A show with Steve Carell and Tina Fey is going to let me do a bunch of episodes? Of course not. So, I was very pleasantly surprised too.
How long did filming take?
It was pretty quick. We shot three months in upstate New York, and then two weeks in Puerto Rico. So, when you see the summer episodes, which are three and four, those we actually shot last Christmastime in Puerto Rico. That’s probably why, if you felt that we were really connected as a group, as a family of friends that have known each other forever, it’s because when you were watching, when you were three episodes in, we were connected because we had spent all this time together.
The final reveal is a pretty big shock. Did learning about the pregnancy shock you too when you read the script?
Everything shocked me in the script. We never were given a heads-up when anything was coming. Every time I got a new script, it’d be like an hour before our Zoom table reads. Every time I would think, “This is the one I die in. Here is when they kill Anne, she’s going to fall off a boat.” So, that was a huge surprise, but brilliant storytelling, as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t see it coming. I gasped. And it makes me go, “OK, I want to see more.”
Do you think it sets the stage for a second season?
Absolutely. It brings up all kinds of new opportunities for entanglement.
Do you think it’s going to happen? Has there been talk?
Oh, I would never dare to say, but I’m just enjoying this moment. And wouldn’t that be a dream?
Do you think this is going to open up new doors for you? More dramatic work?
Now that I have a taste of it, I sure hope so. But I’ve also been in this business long enough to know you never know. So, I’m just trying to stay grounded in this moment, enjoy it, and keeping the possibilities open for more of all of it.
Michael Ian Black wrote the sweetest essay about you. Did you read it?
I did. How beautiful was that? It made me sob. I’ll tell you, those guys, they are my family, and I’ve known Michael Black since I’m 17 years old. And we all do different projects. We’ll send each other a text or call, or when we see each other, “Hey, you were great in that. I caught you on that one show…” This has made them stop and have a moment with me and say, “Kerri, this is different. We’re really proud of you.” And that feels enormously good coming from my brothers.
This is a pretty great time for all of you on The State. Michael Ian Black has that new CNN show, Have I Got News for You. David Wain is directing a new movie with Jon Hamm and John Slattery. Ken recently brought back Party Down. I could go on…
Kevin [Allison] is about to go on tour with RISK! again. Todd Holoubek is killing it in South Korea, his art and teaching. It’s like, these 11 kids who were sitting together in basically a cleaning closet at NYU saying, “We’re going to work together forever, and we’re all going to have successful careers in this business,” is absurd. And yet it’s happened. And especially in this moment in time, be it fleeting or a sign of something to come for all of us, it feels really good, because like I said, not so long ago in Hollywood, in your mid-fifties, you were trying to think of other opportunities or other options in your life, or you were thinking, “I want to do more, but maybe there’s nothing out there for me.” So, it feels really good for us all to be seen right now.
The same thing is happening with the Reno 911! crew. Cedric Yarbrough just had that great dramatic turn in Juror #2. Wendi McLendon-Covey is the star of St. Denis Medical, which is a big hit. Niecy Nash is in everything.
I used the visualization of the train, and I’m thinking, “I watched them get on the train. There they go. Oh, Wendy got on the train.” It just feels incredible to see the people that I have always known deserved much more than the attention they were getting, to see them get that attention is so well deserved.
Niecy had an incredible opportunity to show her range in that Jeffrey Dahmer series.
I envied Niecy getting to have those opportunities, and even reached out to her at one point like, “How do I do that? Because people don’t see me that way.” And it hopefully takes that one job where you can be seen in a different light. And listen, I am thrilled to live in the comedy space that has been so kind to me over the years, and I will never stop doing it. I enjoy it and it fills my heart. But I also am so grateful for this opportunity to show a different side.
The dream of so many State fans is to see a new season of the show, like what the Kids in the Hall did a few years back. Is that just a crazy pipe dream?
Listen, never say never. That’s what I’ve learned with Reno, that’s what I’ve learned with the State. I never imagined that a year ago we would all be dancing around in unitards with ribbon sticks to sold out audiences across the country. Two nights sold out in Times Square. Never say never.
Do you think there will be more Reno 911! at some point?
Never say never. The way it relaunched the last time was Niecy and I were on a press line together for something else, and she was ahead of me. And she stepped away from the interviewer and I stepped up, it was my turn. And he said, “So, Niecy just told us that there’s a new season of Reno 911! coming.” I said, “Oh, she did, did she?” And that spurred conversations between Tom and Ben and I. And then, we went off and did another season. So, if you build it, they will come.
I spoke to Michael Showalter recently. I can’t believe what’s happened with his career. He’s suddenly directing everything.
He is killing it. I actually texted him directly and said, “Will you please watch this show? Because I would love to work with you in this capacity that you have shot into the stratosphere in, and here’s my acting reel for you. My current reel,” in the sense of this performance and this show.
The guys in Monty Python did a reunion show when they were in their seventies. There’s a lot of time left for all of you to do something.
As long as we’re still alive. And even if we’re not, we have a deal amongst the group that whoever goes first, the rest of the group gets to dress them in their open casket so we can wheel them out onstage. Anything is possible.
Are you able to really enjoy this moment you’re having?
It’s such a high. I’m on such a high, and I’m really grateful that this moment of being this visible is happening at this stage in my life as a human being, because I’m able to savor it, know that it may be a blip, and not feel afraid of the moment. Really enjoy it.
