Jenny Slate, our relatable role model, is currently on a press tour for Venom. I’m not even sure what Venom is, but what I do know is that she has given a series of amazing interviews.
We have the highlights, just for you:
1. She cut her hair into “a triangle” to reject the male gaze (Nylon)
“I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, I actually don’t know why I have long hair. And this is such a stupid thing, but then I was like, I do know why I have long hair: Because I heard a man—who I was actually kind of afraid of—say he didn’t find women with short hair attractive. It made me feel sad.”
2. Seriously, she wanted a triangle. And it’s amazing. (Elle)
“‘I only look like this because I am deeply trained to please an industry and cis-hetero dudes. Can you cut my hair into a triangle the way that I want it?’”
3. She explains that horniness is a way of life (Nylon)
“I use the word horny to describe a lot of stuff, and it doesn’t have to be sexual… I have to be horny. No one’s going to take this horniness away.”
4. She doesn’t always want to play the funny Jewish girl from Brooklyn (Nylon)
“There’s the appetite to do something new, that’s always there for me… I don’t always want to be playing the funny Jewish girl who lives in Brooklyn. The way I choose my roles is: Is this something new for me? Are the people good people? Will I feel upset around them or will I feel happy? Because if I feel like the atmosphere is cruel or shallow or uninspired, I feel bad about myself and then I do bad work.”
5. Smoking pot lead her to her hot dentist (Jimmy Kimmel)
Just watch:
6. SNL was just a blip on her career, but a very formative one (Fashion Magazine)
“After working at SNL, I remember thinking that nothing will ever be that hard again. And I do still talk about it because it was such a dream and then it was not what I expected. And the worst part is that you’re like, ‘Am I just being bitter that I didn’t cut the mustard?’ But looking back on it, no. I had to understand that as much as there are so many opportunities for joy, there are a lot of bad deals out there.”
7. She loves clogs (Nylon)
She loves how clogs are “chic, but really natural—and weirdly very comfortable even though they’re actually made out of wood.”
8. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is her ultimate “It Girl” (Nylon)
9. She wants a partner (Nylon)
“I’m a real love bug. I really want to have a partner. And I don’t necessarily love going to sleep alone, but it’s something that I’ve had to teach myself how to do.” (Pssst: Read our timeline of her relationship with Chris Evans here.)
10. But she’s learned to accept how to be lonely (Fashion Magazine)
“I don’t like being lonely, but I’ve learned to accept it. I would much rather be lonely and missing the man I love than be with a man or a bunch of men who don’t do it for me. I’m so lucky to love really hard.”
11. She’s ready to fall in love again. But not through dating apps (Elle)
“I feel like an old lady, but I don’t want to meet someone on a computer or phone.”
12. Her fantasy man loves the earth (Elle)
When asked how she would like to meet someone, she explains her fantasy: “I get invited to some weird eco-tech summit to do stand-up, and I meet a really warmhearted scientist who loves the earth.”
13. She wants to keep her faith (Nylon)
“I had to take a look at what my own behaviors were, why they didn’t serve me, and what I lost in my life. Whether it was my own self-esteem, whether it was my sense of reality, whether it was simply my temper that I lost… or was it just my faith or my innocence? Those are things I want to keep, no matter what’s going on in this world. [I want to keep] my faith in people—not my religious faith, but my human-based faith. Those are the things I need in order to be an artist and in order to be a good partner. And I just didn’t feel that I believed in myself as either one of those things. And so I had to really look at it. And it’s really hard. It can be humiliating.”
14. But maybe, she’s living her dream life right now (Elle)
“I live in a beautiful old house that’s just big enough for me and my dog and maybe one other person. It’s filled with plants, and I’m surrounded by flowers that I planted on purpose. I like myself and I’m peaceful, so this is it.”
Header Images via Nylon & Fashion Magazine.
