Copy of: It Took Fortune Feimster 17 Years To Become An Overnight Success
Fortune Feimster talks about getting rejected from "Saturday Night Live" and the hard lessons she has learned throughout her time in entertainment.BUILD is a live interview series like no other—a chance for fans to sit inches away from some of today’s biggest names in entertainment, tech, fashion and business as they share the stories behind their projects and passions.
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- What age did you move to LA?
And could you have imagined just how your career is taking off?
FORTUNE FEIMSTER: Yeah.
I moved there-- 23, and I, you know, worked my way up.
I worked for eight years at comedy not getting paid, not making any money, getting noes constantly.
I tested twice for SNL.
Didn't-- so close.
Didn't get it.
- You don't really get noes there.
They just-- FORTUNE FEIMSTER: They just don't call you back.
You're just like, oh, that's the new cast and I'm not in it.
And yeah, you're just like so close to dreams. You're like, oh, I'm like right there, and then nope.
So you're just getting, you know, constant rejection.
And you're trying to just pay your bills.
That's the goal, you know?
No one's going out there being like, I'm gonna be a movie star.
You're just like, I just want to pay my utility bill.
And you know, what it does, though, is it makes you stronger.
It makes you take the noes and figure out a way around them.
Like, OK, I got a no, and I'm still getting noes constantly.
But you learn to be a little bit more self-reliant.
I started writing more.
I've sold a couple movies, couple TV shows because I realized early on, like, people aren't writing for someone like me.
I got to create it myself.
And it made me, you know, work harder, I guess.
And then I started working-- I think at 31 I started working pretty steady.
"Chelsea Lately" was a big break for me.
And then I, after "Chelsea Lately," started doing a lot more acting.
So what's funny now is that people know me from "The Mindy Project," or "Life in Pieces," or different things, and they don't know I do stand-up.
But that was always-- I mean, I started in improve and stand-up, so this has always been a part of me.
