Martha Kelly spent close to two decades as a semi-successful stand-up comedian before her friend Zach Galifianakis called her up out of nowhere and asked her to play one of the main roles on his beloved FX series Baskets. It was that opportunity that led directly to her most powerful performance to date as Laurie, the dangerous drug dealer who holds the fate of Zendaya’s Rue in her hands on HBO’s Euphoria.
In this bonus episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Kelly opens up for the first time about how the “intimidating” part fell in her lap, why she seriously considered saying no, and how her own experience as an addict impacted her performance. She also shares stories about how her comedy career evolved after getting sober, acting opposite a very intense Adam Driver, and the pure joy of working with the late Louie Anderson on Baskets.
The character of Laurie has appeared sparingly in the much-obsessed-over second season of Euphoria. But in the most recent episode, which aired last Sunday, Kelly’s performance reached horrifying new heights when Laurie—spoiler alert!—seemed to threaten Rue with sex slavery before injecting her with morphine to ease her withdrawal.
