In Netflix seriesGirls5Evathe band gets back together literally.
And what was your first impression of the script?
Watch on Deadline
RENEE ELISE GOLDSBERRY: It was the middle of Covid.
Renée Elise Goldsberry as Wickie in ‘Girls5Eva.‘Netflix
I had no idea what that was.
But I read it, because I had nothing else to do.
And I was in.
From left: Busy Philipps, Sara Bareilles, Paula Pell and Goldsberry inGirls5Eva.Emily V. Aragones/Netflix
And it only got funnier.
I just was like… my brain exploded.
Its so smart and so dense and so ridiculous at the same time.
I was in, and it only really got better from that.
I got to meet Meredith on a Zoom and Tina who I knew.
It wasnt a hard pitch.
DEADLINE: How did you know Tina Fey?
You didnt see me in it.
[They] took me completely out of the movie.
I get to talk about it all the time.
It was the summer before I shotHamilton.
I did this movie and it was the first time I was on a set with brilliant comedians.
I just couldnt believe how that brain works.
And theyre brilliant at it, and it was wonderful.
I had a great time and then I got cut out of it.
Just because it was too long.
Thats what they told me.
DEADLINE: I love Paula Pell as Gloria in this show.
When she calls up a previous one-night stand and says, Hi, its Gloria from sex.
GOLDSBERRY: So casually, Gloria from sex.
God, lets hope theres no video of it… Youll never see her not screaming, Look at me, discover me, acknowledge me.
Give me my rightful place in the atmosphere, yo?
That is her whole thing.
And its so different from me.
GOLDSBERRY: [Laughs] Ill not say their names.
Were more used to seeing it on young, beautiful, talented women.
But what seems to be threatened as you get older is that sense of power.
Even as she gets older, she refuses.
And these little things that she does.
Like, Im dating a man thats much, much younger than me.
And Im doing whats been done to me and Im not apologizing for that.
We see women apologizing all around us all of the time.
We are so conditioned to apologize.
And it only gets worse as we get older.
And the show doesnt harp on their ages either.
We just put the clothes on and go for it
DEADLINE: Doesnt that feelSNL-esque to you?
GOLDSBERRY: Tina literally said, Were going to goSNLbecause we dont have the budget.
She didnt say it like that, shes much classier than that.
The success of it means more to me than, Oh, the shows doing well.
DEADLINE: Tell me about performing theGirls5Evasongs.
I sing obnoxiously on the show, but I am not trying to sing badly.
Thats just what I had in the moment.
DEADLINE: You have your own album coming out too, right?
Shes just been a great sister to me in terms of her encouragement on the journey.
It feels sometimes dangerous, unnecessarily dangerous, to ask for more every year I get older.
And so, I believe god put this in my life, to not let me settle.
Everywhere I look, there are women that are not retiring.
Its like theyre saying, My future will be even greater.
