Interview: Cecily Strong Gets Serious: Finding Emotional Truth in What Happened Was...

“I’m not playing anything for laughs,” Cecily Strong insists—and that’s precisely what makes her performance so compelling in Tom Noonan’s What Happened Was…, now running at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre.

Best known for her work on Saturday Night Live, Strong has long balanced comedy with a deep commitment to character, a skill rooted in her theatrical training at Second City. That instinct—to ground even the most humorous moments in emotional truth—guides her return to the stage in the off-Broadway production.

Adapted from Noonan’s film of the same name, What Happened Was… unfolds over the course of an awkward yet revealing first date between two seemingly ordinary New Yorkers whose polite conversation gives way to deeply personal disclosures, blurring the lines between humor, discomfort, and emotional truth.

Strong spoke with TheaterMania about embracing emotional honesty over punchlines, navigating the play’s delicate tonal shifts, and why even an onstage red velvet cake comes with a post-show disclaimer.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What Happened Was… asks you to carry audiences through a very deep narrative. How did you prepare yourself as a performer for that level of vulnerability onstage?

Ian [Rickson], our director, is very thoughtful, loving, and whimsical. We talked through a lot and played games, so it was a comforting environment. The first day wasn’t like going to a table read and then we all clapped. We talked about lawyers we knew and who wears suits! From day one, we went about this in a way that made the whole room close.

Your performance shifts somewhat between humor and more reflective moments. How do you navigate those tonal shifts in real time?

Similar to when I am doing comedy, I am not ever playing anything for jokes. Even when I was doing SNL, I was doing character work more than anything. For me what is funny is real people feeling things and going through things—their circumstances can make them funny or tragic. It was that with Jackie. She doesn’t lie, she wears her heart on her sleeve, she’s so sincere, so all of the awkward stuff is funny. Even as I am reading from the book Jackie wrote, I’m not trying to read it for comedic effect. But I do love how people are reacting.

Everyone can relate to something in the play, whether it’s being single, being lonely, being a New Yorker in the rat race, just wanting to be seen.

Jackie grew up in a huge family and she’s kind of an artist, but there’s not really an outlet for that, so it just took her a longer time to figure out who she was. There’s lots of people you meet who can help you and hurt you along the way. It was very important to me to not have her be seen as crazy. I’ve had stuff in my life where I am like, “I’m glad I worked through that, I’m sure that was scary for whoever I was with!”

Which aspects of Jackie spoke to you on a personal level?

I live in New York, I’m in this industry, and I was a little older when I found my partner, John, so I understand that feeling of loneliness. Jackie certainly wears her emotions on her sleeves more than I do. But it has been interesting talking to friends who have seen the show and what they relate to. Many people have brought up specifically the idea of knowing that extras and background characters have full lives. That was new for me. A lot of people experience that as a visceral thing in New York. I think that’s part of living in this huge city and living your own huge life, and everyone around you is living their huge life. We are all so different, but everyone has made it here.

In an integral (and arguably the most entertaining) moment, Jackie reads her book. It walks the line between funny and cringey. What was it like to get that ready for audiences?

I’m totally trusting Ian and the play. When I first read the script I thought, “What on earth?” I didn’t get the tone. Then I watched the movie and I thought, “OK, I get this. This is beautiful, moving, funny, and awkward. [Reading the book] was a big part of that, and I was like, “I don’t want to prepare it too much because Jackie is not Cecily. Jackie is not a performer.” But then as time went on, I wanted to perform and do the different voices as she reads the book because it’s her fairy tale. There’s even a witch and an evil monster! I’m not trying to play anything funny.

This season saw representation of many SNL alums, with Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, and Ana Gasteyer also performing onstage in New York.

It makes me excited that people won’t pigeonhole SNL performers. SNL is live theater! It is being shown on TV, but it is in front of a live audience. Ana is an incredibly talented singer, actor, and comedian. After all, she was Elphaba! There are a lot of actors who are also comedians who do SNL. Rachel, Maya, and Ana are in that category.

You have a one-year-old at home. Are you encouraging her to be a performer as well?
I’m open to whatever she would like to be. Sometimes she’s a real show off and she enjoys it, and then sometimes she’s a bit more reserved, so I don’t know where she’s going to fall. She certainly has the genes to be a ham. She’s come to all of my stages. She went to SNL as a two-month-old, and she came to say hi to everyone at this show last week.

In a pivotal, gasp-worthy scene, a delicious looking cake meets its demise. At least your daughter would have cake when she comes to visit!
Plenty of cake, although I will say, it is a fake cake. I have to tell everyone after the show, “Don’t worry, we are not wasting a gorgeous red velvet cake. That would break my heart.