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Keyla Monterroso Mejia made her professional acting debut only four years ago, playing terrible actress Maria Sofia Estradra in the 11th and 12th seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Since then, the 27-year-old has been steadily working with some of the biggest names in comedy. She’s currently playing the role of Petra, Seth Rogen‘s assistant, in the Apple TV+ showThe Studio, the over-the-top Hollywood farce that lets her flex her comedic muscles — and the final two episodes will deliver some key scenes for her character. “I’m definitely excited for people to see the rest of The Studio,” Monterroso Mejia says. “There’s a specific moment that was my favorite. I had so much fun. I’m excited for people to see it and for them to know that it was improv.” Prior to The Studio, Monterroso Mejia also worked beside actors like Keke Palmer in One of Them Days, Will Ferrell in You’re Cordially Invited, and Quinta Brunson in Abbott Elementary. Consider it a graduate-level crash course in comedy acting.
Last month, Monterroso Mejia joined Rolling Stone by Zoom from her home in California to talk about what she’s learned from comedy legends, and why she’ll never be jaded. “If I actually allowed myself to be like, ‘Oh, hey, you’re in a scene with so and so,’ I would crumble,” she says. “The nerves will eat me alive. I’ve been fortunate to do all these things, but it never gets easier.” But, she adds, “I have not worked with someone who’s been anything but kind to me, and I feel really lucky.”
Your first professional role was on Curb Your Enthusiasm. What was it like going into that setting and with all those improv heavy hitters?
It was my first big professional set. It was my first time doing improv. I had done a one-off class [for improv], but I had never really acted professionally before. The cast was incredibly kind.It was an adrenaline rush. Once we would do a scene and they liked it, or I’d hear them laugh, I’d be like, “OK, I can breathe. I can breathe.” But I was physically ill every single day because I was so nervous. There wasn’t a moment when I relaxed. After we finished shooting, I probably had the best nap of my life because your body gets rid of all these nerves that it’s been harboring.
Have you always wanted to be a comedic actress?
I had an inkling as a child that I wanted to be an actress in general, playing pretend and dressing up. But truthfully, as I got older, it wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to be a comedic actress; it just sort of happened because, at the time, it was really hard getting auditions for anything. In the beginning, I was only getting auditions for drama and really sad things, like I was getting bullied or a parent was dying, something really intense. And then, my entire world changed once Curb Your Enthusiasm came into the picture. That was really what launched me into this trajectory of now just being known for comedy. It absolutely changed my life in ways that I could not have thought at the time. So, it just happened, and I fell in love with it [comedy] along the way.
Being on the set of Curb must have been quite a learning experience. What is the best advice or tips you got from Larry David?
I was definitely not coming up to him asking him for tips. What would I say? I was very afraid. I kept thinking, “I don’t want to get fired.” But I remember talking to him about an idea for a bit, and I asked him, “Oh, really? We can just kind of play [in a scene]?” He’s like, “You can do anything within the bounds of the scene. Just make sure that it makes sense for the scene, and it’s not just because you want screen time.” He didn’t say that exactly, but it was something along the lines of, “Just make sure it has a purpose and there’s a reason, and it’s not just because you want to say something.” And I really took that with me. If I’m going to try something or do something, it has to have a purpose.
The Studio seems much more meticulously scripted by comparison.
Yeah, very much so. I was reminded the other day that there is one place where we did improv, and it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the entire season, which will come later toward the end. I’m always nervous and scared, and that was no different here. But if I’m in a scene with Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, and Kathryn Hahn, I’m like, “I’m sticking to the script, and if somebody deviates, then I will deviate, too.” I do not want to be the reason they yell, “Cut, reset!” It was to my advantage that there was a structure and very strict parameters.
It was also one of the best experiences I’ve had on set. [Rogen and co-showrunner Evan Goldberg are] the best bosses I’ve ever had, truly. Other actors would approach them and then ask about certain ideas, and they would be so open to it. The fact that they’re not like, “Stick to the script” is so cool. The environment Seth fostered was like, everybody’s on the same team. He’s doing it at the highest level, and he’s so kind, and he’s so open, and there’s no ego involved. I can’t say that enough, no ego. It was so, so positive. It was amazing to be a part of an environment like that.
Did you feel more comfortable on the set of The Studio compared with being a newbie on Curb?
Yeah, I wasn’t as physically ill, for sure. It might’ve gone down by 20 percent, if I can gauge it. Actually, I wouldn’t go that far. Because it’s still Bryan Cranston, it’s still all these incredible actors. Ten percent is as low as I’m willing to go, because it was still nerve-racking. I do have more experience, but at the same time, it was a different batch of iconic people.
There’s a lot of cringe in both Curb and The Studio. Are you drawn to those types of roles?
It just happens that way, truly. I fit well in the cringey genre. I thrive in the cringiness. I’m just a cringey individual. It’s really funny to me, too. I’m like, “I wonder why I’m not terrible at this? I wonder what’s going on there…”
You had a hilarious four-episode stint playing a teacher’s aide named Ashley on Abbott Elementary. I heard that Quinta handpicked you for the role.
That was wild. Even now, I freaking can’t believe that happened. Crazy. I didn’t realize for a while that it was an offer until they told me. My manager reached out like, “Quinta is going to call you. She wants to talk to you on the phone.” And I’m thinking, “OK, wow. No wonder she has all this success. She pays such attention to detail. She’s calling the people who are auditioning for her show. Wow, that’s crazy. I didn’t know that.” And so, I get on the phone, and she’s talking to me about this character, and then says something like, “I really would hope that you would join us.” And I’m like, “Yeah, girl, of course, I’m going to audition, duh.” I can’t really piece together what happened next, but at some point, they [casting] were like, “No, she’s offering you [the role]. You don’t have to audition.” I was like, “No freaking way. No freaking way. No freaking way.” That, to me, was wild. Absolutely.
It was funny, after I filmed Curb, my stupid brother was like, “You peaked.” And for a second, I did believe it. I really was like, “Dang, where am I going to go from here?” But then I remember walking through the halls on Abbott and having a moment of, “Dang, I could never, ever have imagined that my next job would be here.”
What was the best advice that Quinta gave you?
I don’t want to say I have an accent, but I speak a tiny bit more properly for TV. And I remember Quinta was like, “Hey, by the way, you can just be you. Don’t feel like you need to change the way you talk or the way you sound.” Truthfully, I wouldn’t have even been aware of it had she not said anything. It was something that I appreciate so much.
You had some hilarious scenes with Will Ferrell in You’re Cordially Invited. What was that like?
To be honest, I could barely perform because I was dying. The upside is that I get to work with these incredibly iconic comedic giants, but also the downside is that I am working with these incredible giants. AndI am just barely holding on for dear life.
One of the greatest gifts that I got was that we really got to improv. There’s a specific scene where [Will and I] are yelling at each other, and I remember our director, Nick Stoller, would let the scene go on forever. And I am thinking, “Holy shit, I am ripping with Will Ferrell.” We are just going at it. At some point, it ran on for so long that I had to turn away because I was breaking character, because he was so funny. I was dying laughing.
Really, one thing I took from him is that he goes balls to the wall, he goes for it. Just fully alive, present, and going for it. We were screaming at each other at one point, and he was truly screaming at me, and his saliva got on my face. It was the best thing in the world. I’m like, “Dude, that’s like Will Ferrell’s saliva on me.” It was just the coolest experience. He’s just so iconic.
You also excel at physical comedy. There’s a scene in Curb where you and Cheryl Hines and Ted Danson are wrestling on the floor. Did anybody get hurt?
Oh, my God, yes, this is a very embarrassing story. There was a stunt coordinator, and they were giving me a rough draft outline. And so remember, I’m new to this, and I’m really nervous. And there was a point where I push Ted Danson out of the way into the couch or something, and I was so nervous I was accidentally pretty forceful. He was like, “That was definitely a little hard.” And I was like, “Oh, my God, I’m so, so, so sorry.” At the same time, Cheryl Hines was just one of the kindest people, but I remember there was a time when we were fighting, and she had a little stain on her cheek. And I’m like, “Oh, Miss Cheryl, you have a little pink thing right here.” And she’s like, “It’s not coming off.” It was blood. She had a little scratch on her. She was so cool about it. She said, “No, no, you’re all good. Don’t worry, it’s all good.” I was like, “Oh my God, oh my God, what the fuck did I just do? I just threw Ted Danson, and now here I am scratching people. What is going on?”
What are you excited to learn more about as you grow in your career?
The kind of comedy that I’m doing right now is, in a way, universally funny. Like slapstick. So, if somebody falls in a funny way, everybody will laugh. I think it’s really hard to be universally funny, [even more] to have a mass group of people find you funny in a more dry, witty, deadpan style of comedy. You really have to be genius-level good for people to enjoy that, because it’s very subtle and small, and your delivery has to be precise and on point. I see that in Michael Cera. He’s a huge inspiration. That’s something that I would really like to take on, or at least be a part of a project where I could see that in action, so I can observe and steal.
Any other dream people to work with or dream projects?
I don’t want to say, “No, I don’t.” But truthfully, I feel as though every time, I’m so surprised by what the universe has [for me]. I never in my freaking wildest dreams would have thought I’d be on like shows like Curb and Abbott and The Studio. I’m just going to let life surprise me, because it’s been so good so far.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
