I first saw Michelle Buteau in Always Be My Maybe, and my initial reaction was “this gal is adorable.” That opinion still stands, although it’s now augmented with smart and sassy. After booking an endless succession of “the best friend” roles, Michelle now has her own show where she is the creator, writer, producer and STAR, finally. Survival of the Thickest, based on a book of her essays by the same name, came out on Netflix last Thursday and sees Michelle play a NYC-based size-inclusive stylist. Naturally, Michelle has been busy promoting her baby:
On being the creator, writer, producer and star of her show: “It doesn’t come out of nowhere. I’ve been doing comedy since 2001. I’m bad at math so you do it. I think it’s over 20 years. Thank God I age well… Honestly, comedians that can do other things and just be multi-hyphenates, we’ve been working for free for years. Whether it’s writing sketches with your friends or hosting some stuff on a cable network. We’ve actually been putting in the work for a long time, so by the time you do get to a position like this, you know how to call the shots and you know exactly what you want.”
Surrounding herself with ‘boss a*s bitches’: “All four of our directors are boss a*s bitches. All women. Most of the heads of our department were women. My showrunner, Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, she’s a boss a*s bitch. She’s done a ton of TV and she’s actually on the negotiation committee for the WGA right now. Like-minded individuals who only want to help you be your best, highest truest self is where it’s at for me. I really can’t f— with anything else. That’s why I don’t talk to half of my family. Sorry. See you on Facebook.”
‘A human area’: “We beat ourselves up for our bodies. Like, ‘Oh, this is a problem area.’ It’s not, it’s a human area. ‘Oh, I’m doing something bad.’ No, you’re just on a journey to self-discovery and you’re just doing something real. If you’re not learning from your mistakes, then you might be an a*shole and you’re not reading the room. You won’t get anywhere in life and you’ll wonder why.”
Why she made Mavis a stylist: “I think I really wanted my character, Mavis, to be a stylist because I definitely want to talk about body positivity and that fat people, disabled people and queer people are f—ing sexy and we should see that on camera. Also, I really wanted her to be a stylist because I wanted a good a*s budget for the wardrobe… Plus, it was just a beautiful platform to say, ‘Ok, how do we just make all these oddy bodies and fatty bodies just look and feel good?’ Also, it’s a job that your immigrant parents aren’t going to understand. People know how to dress themselves. Why are you dressing people for a living? Being a stylist hit all the marks in terms of what it was like for me to tell my parents that I wanted to be a comedian. They left Jamaica and Haiti to come to America to give me a better life. I’m out here just telling d**k jokes in Express jeans. Bootcut jeans! What a mess.”
Yes to all of this! She has so many gems here, and even more in the full interview (like at the top when the interviewer introduces her as “the brilliant actor, writer, producer and hilarious comedian,” and her first response is “you forgot mother, daughter, taxpayer”). I’ve been on record here before about my own body-positivity issues, or as Michelle might say, my (very long) journey of self-discovery. I’m definitely still in the mindset of seeing “problem areas” as opposed to “human areas,” but just her language alone there I find helpful. I’ve joked for years that I didn’t wear high heels because I had “human feet,” so why can’t I say the same about other parts of my body? This is exactly why Michelle is doing the right thing–we need to see fat, disabled and queer, any kind of other or marginalized group of people as main characters thriving in their sexiness. And if you’re able to throw in some expertly-executed fart jokes as well, then you have me for life.
Photos credit: Vanessa Clifton/Netflix and Getty Images for Netflix
