Famous for her uncanny impressions of celebrity personalities including Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, Timothée Chalamet, and Melania Trump, Saturday Night Live star Chloe Fineman has a razor-sharp eye for detail. Earlier this month, the California born and raised actor, writer and comedian returned to screens for the 51st season of SNL – her seventh season.
For Fineman, SNL is as difficult as it is fun. The challenge isn’t in the exactness of an impression, it’s making the minute idiosyncrasies funny. And yet she makes it look easy, aptly capturing the essence of her characters in skits that span just a few seconds. “I admire anyone who is totally and utterly themselves,” she tells us. “I think that’s where great comedy comes from, when people are just themselves. It’s charming.”
If Fineman wasn't doing comedy, she’d be “banging on the door of a fashion magazine”. So, last month, when she collaborated with the LA-based denim brand, Mother, to create a capsule collection co-designed with her sister, artist, Emma Fineman, it was “a dream come true”. Inspired by her lifelong hunt for the perfect pair of jeans, the collection is “cheeky, vintage and inspired”. Cuffed ankle jeans, graphic tees, vibrant colours and brown pleather all find reference in the spirit of the swinging 60s and the true blue denim of the 70s. Designed with “it girls” and “icons” in mind, the collection feels effortlessly cool and yet, inherently fun – just like Fineman, who seems to imbue her signature wit and eye for detail into everything she does.
Here, we talk to Fineman about SNL, great jeans and how she wishes she’d eaten more gluten in her 20s …
1. What is one thing you couldn’t live without? Cold brew. Or my dog.
2. What’s your favourite book? Depressing but My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
3. What is your earliest memory? As a child, I was obsessed with wearing my mum’s lingerie, and I would always wear them around the house. One time, I was getting ready to take a bath with my sister and she had worn my mum’s bra to preschool under her dress. I guess we had an early love of fashion.
4. What’s a recent memory that always makes you smile? Going on vacation with my family, as an adult but kid-style.
5. Where did you go? We went to Hawaii. There’s just something about being in a pool with your family.
6. What film have you watched the most? A League of Their Own. I was obsessed with Geena Davis as a child.
7. What makes you happy? Sleep
8. What makes you sad? No sleep.
9. What’s it like being on SNL? It’s a miracle. It's really hard and rewarding at the same time, but it’s so much fun and very worth it and I’m endlessly grateful for getting to do it.
When you were young, what did you want to do? “I always wanted to be a young adult. I dressed up as one for Halloween when I was five” – Chloe Fineman
10. What’s harder: making a celebrity impression funny or making it accurate? Funny. That’s the great thing about SNL, and the challenge for me is, I’m very good at watching and learning the exactness of something but it’s a comedy show, we want to get laughs and a funny impression is more memorable. So you’ve got to take the accuracy, then figure out what makes you laugh about that person.
11. What’s the wildest reaction you’ve ever gotten from someone you impersonated? Timothée Chalamet being OK with me doing it in front of him and finding it funny. Otherwise, I guess … notes, like they’ve seen it and said “hey, tweak this”.
12. Who’s your dream person to impersonate that you haven’t tried yet? Most of the people I impersonate are iconic actresses over 40, so I’m really trying to discover the youngins, like Addison Rae.
13. When you were young, what did you want to do? I wanted to be an ”actress slash dancer”, exact quote. Or a young adult. I always wanted to be a young adult. I dressed up as one for Halloween when I was five.
14. If you weren’t doing comedy, what would you be doing? Fashion. I’d be banging on the door of a fashion magazine asking to write for them.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self? “You’re not allergic to gluten” – Chloe Fineman
15. What item of clothing can’t you live without? A great pair of jeans.
16. Tell us about your recent collection with Mother? Well, it’s a great pair of jeans. That’s where it started. I wanted to create the perfect vintage-style pair of jeans that look great on your bum (I say bum because you’re British). That kind of 60s/70s true blue denim inspired a very vintage collection with plaid that’s like tomato red and brown chocolate pleather. I love the act of dressing up when I put on clothing and our collection really speaks to that.
17. What was it like designing your first collection? Heaven because I got to do it with my sister and we didn’t fight once. We found we really agree on this one thing. I feel we should get the Nobel Peace Prize. And working with Mother was a very creative and tangible process, it was like a dream come true.
18. How would you describe the collection in three words? Cheeky, vintage, inspired.
19. Who do you admire most in history? I’ve been thinking a lot about Diane Keaton. I didn’t realise how inspired I was by her and how much of a compass she’s been for me. Otherwise … I admire anyone who is totally and utterly themselves. I think that’s where great comedy comes from, when people are just themselves. It’s charming. Like the people who eat the same thing for dinner every day, they make me laugh. People’s idiosyncrasies.
20. What is one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self? You’re not allergic to gluten. Enjoy your 20s.
Chloe Fineman’s collection with Mother is now available online.
