Cristin Milioti

IS BREAKING OUT…

Best known as How I Met Your Mother’s elusive mom, Cristin Milioti has found success on stage (Once, Lazarus) and screens of all sizes (The Wolf Of Wall Street, Black Mirror) across her career. But beloved comedy Palm Springs, in which she and Andy Samberg come unstuck in time, has proved a breakout role in more ways than one. “That level of reaction was wonderful to witness,” Milioti says.

Palm Springs premiered at Sundance 2020 – does it feel like you’re stuck in a time loop talking about this film?

No, not at all. Talking about it this far out has really been an honour and a joy. Though I definitely feel like in my life now I’m stuck in a time loop. The film just continues to get more and more prescient as time goes on.

What was it about the character of Sarah that spoke to you?

I liked that she reminded me of the type of role I dreamed about playing growing up. She felt unexpected, and flawed, and spiky, and moody, and sad, and capable of great joy and sorrow and rage. I liked that she wasn’t boxed in.

You’ve gradually built a career across stage, TV and film. Was there ever a moment where you thought, ‘I’ve made it’?

I’ve tried to do as many different things as possible, and then I’ve had the enormous luck that a lot of them have been seen! But I’ve never felt that feeling of, ‘Yes, I’ve made it!’ I don’t think I’ve ever been kicking back in a Cadillac in a fur coat with a cigar in my mouth.

What’s your dream role now?

There’s so many. The next thing I want to do is get a lot weirder. I’m very intrigued by playing an alien, or an alien in human disguise. Something to meld the experimental kinds of theatre that I started doing with film. Or something like Beetlejuice! I would love to do something really unexpected and transformative.

ETA | 9 APRIL / PALM SPRINGS LAUNCHES ON PRIME VIDEO NEXT MONTH.