Laura Benanti toasts Melania Trump
Move over, Melissa McCarthy and Alec Baldwin. While Saturday Night Live is on break, there’s a new White House figure in the late-night spotlight. Laura Benanti owns the impersonation of first lady Melania Trump. Benanti’s first lady has dropped in on CBS
Q How did the whole impersonation come about?
A I was doing a show called She Loves Me on Broadway, and I was on the Colbert show as a guest promoting that, and he pointed out my resemblance to her. They held up a side-by-side picture of the two of us. Then I just did two seconds of my facial impression. ... And then, after the Republican National Convention when she did the (controversial) speech, I woke up the next morning to a flurry of emails and phone calls asking if I would come in and do an impersonation for a sketch. I had never heard her talk before. I don’t think many people had. I was actually five hours away in Delaware for my grandmother’s 92nd birthday, so my mom and my sister drove me three hours to a train. The train was two hours and I just basically obsessively watched her speech the entire time and then we went live that night with the impression.
Q So are you kind of bummed that Melania is so infrequently in the spotlight?
A No, because I do not want it to appear as if I am making fun of her. I think she’s beautiful. She speaks five languages. I do not mean it to be insulting to her or disrespecting to her. For me, Melania represents America. We’re all reluctantly married to Donald Trump now. She is a vehicle to making fun of him. I can’t do a Donald Trump impersonation, but I can impersonate her.
Q Is there a particular thing you wish she would do that would be your dream sequence of a sketch?
My dream would have been a sort of Risky Business style video where Melania is sliding through (their Manhattan apartment) high-fiving all the help because she’s thrilled that he’s gone. But it’s a little late for that, as she’s now moved into the White House. He gives us plenty of opportunities to mock him. I don’t blame her for laying low.
Q What kind of reaction have you had from fans or friends?
A For the most part, people are thinking it’s really funny. Even my cousin, who is a Trump supporter, thinks it’s very funny. And then I’ve had the people on Twitter being very supportive and loving it and thinking it’s hilarious, and then the people telling me how disgusting I am and what a garbage monster I am. I figure I’m doing my job well if people are mad at me and also very happy with me.
Q Do you have a favorite among all the other impersonators of White House figures?
A For me, Kate McKinnon can do no wrong. She is an absolute genius. She’s a hero of mine. Melissa McCarthy is hilarious. Alec (Baldwin) is doing such an incredible job. I think everyone is really doing some amazing work. And I think everybody’s probably really sad that we’re doing it.
Q Is there a line that cannot be crossed for you?
AI don’t want to ever make fun of her son, Barron. I don’t ever want it to feel like I’m being mean-spirited toward her or that I’m aggressively insinuating that she’s not intelligent. She’s a model, so I play up the vampiness. I have no beef with her at all. Her husband is a different story.
Q Would you be open to meeting her in person?
A I think that’s a question for her.