Maya Rudolph Tests Her Bird Knowledge with Paula Pell, Talks Viral SNL ABBA Sketch with Kristen Wiig

Maya Rudolph's four children, along with her husband Paul Thomas Anderson, filmed 'Licorice Pizza' during the COVID lockdown. This unique circumstance meant the entire family, their friends, and even Rudolph's parents and nanny were all on set, creating a 'little world' in 1970s San Fernando Valley for three months. The experience strengthened her children's admiration for their father's directing.

My kids were not allowed to go back to school. So we were doing Zoom school. And it was a scary time, and no one was vaccinated. And it provided this amazing experience where my kids, their friends, their friends' parents, my parents, my nanny -- we were all in it, and so we were all around. And so we had, like, a little world. Like, we were living in the 1970s in the San Fernando Valley for like three months. It was beautiful.

Rudolph describes her role as the evil villain in Disney's 'Disenchanted' as the 'meat and potatoes of character actors' and 'doing drag.' She enjoyed the opportunity to be 'nasty,' sing, dance, and wear tight corsets and beautiful gowns. She also recounts a humorous incident involving her male horses peeing extensively on set, contrasting them with Amy Adams' 'magical' female horses.

Like, you want to be the evil villain in a Disney movie. It's, like, everything you could possibly -- It's drag. I'm doing drag. And it was so fun. I had long nails and I got to be nasty and I got to sing and dance and wear really tight corsets and beautiful gowns... My horses peed a lot. And her horses never peed. And we realized, 'Oh, those are female horses.' Mine were male.

The show 'Loot' was filmed in a house called 'The One,' which was listed for $500 million. Rudolph describes the mansion's extravagance, including an indoor pool and four additional outdoor pools, plus a transparent pool off the master bedroom balcony designed for watching a 'lover swim.'

We shot at 'The One.' Have you ever been in a house that has a name? This house was called The One. And it was -- I think it was listed for $500 million. And it was pretty insane... I went outside, and there were four other pools. And then I went upstairs to the master bedroom, and there is a pool off the balcony of the master bedroom, but it's see-through.

Maya Rudolph watched 'Saturday Night Live' from the audience for the first time when Amy Poehler hosted. She had 'never watched the show before' without being in it. She noted the stark difference between the relaxed 'Lorne zone' experience as a guest, where she was offered wine, and the frantic, costume-changing pace she remembered as a cast member.

I've actually never watched the show before. That was the first time I've ever watched the show and not been in the show... When you work there, you're like, 'May I have some more, please?' And this was like, 'Can we get you a glass of wine?'

For an episode of 'Loot' involving bird watching, Maya Rudolph conducted extensive research into ornithology, the study of birds. She learned about different species and had an expert teach the cast, gaining knowledge about puffins and cardinals.

I actually did a lot of research into which birds are which. I did. I actually learned quite a bit about birds. I learned that the study of birds is ornithology. And we had to learn, like, a lot about, you know, the different species and stuff. And we had someone come in and teach us.