Cecily Strong on Her Ruined Engagement Surprise and Broadway's Brooklyn Laundry

-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated actress you know from shows like "SNL" and "Schmigadoon!" She's currently starring in "Brooklyn Laundry" at Manhattan Theatre Club's Stage 1 at New York City Center. Please welcome back to the show our friend Cecily Strong, everybody. [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, Cec! -Whoa. -So happy to have you. -Happy to be back. -A lot of exciting news to talk about, but let's start with the big one. Cecily got engaged. -I got engaged. I know. You always sai

d, "No one will ever love you and you'll never get married." You were wrong. Yeah. -How -- Did he pull it off well? Was it a surprise? -You know, it was not a surprise. But I am kind of a detective. But this was -- -So he tried to have it -- -It was -- Yes. He was sort of -- We talked about getting married, and then one day he was like, "I'm so inundated with e-mails and texts. Look at this." And he showed me his phone. And the first text was from a friend, and it said, "How did it go?" Ring emo

ji. [ Laughter ] And then I was like, "Oh, no, should I --" And he went, "Did you see that?" And I was like, I could try very hard to lie. -I like that he was like, "Did you see the thing I held in your face?" -"Did you see it? Can you read? I just want to know before I ask you. Are you able to read?" -"I'm fine either way. I just want to know before I ask." That is very exciting news. Congratulations. -Thank you. -It's nice, as well, that you gave him an option of pretending not to see it. -Yea

h, yeah, yeah. I thought -- I couldn't -- And then I was sort of like -- I still then took that from him. I was like, "Whenever you want to do it, that'll be the surprise." And then I had kind of a rough night in December and I was like, "Can I just wear the damn ring now?" And so that's how we got -- we got engaged. -That's nice, though. I like that -- I think a ring as a break glass in case of emergencies. -It was all tough. I don't know my ring size. I buy, like, every size ring. And so he to

ok one of those that was like five sizes too big. -So you did like a Hula-Hoop thing? -I was wearing it on my index finger for a long time. Not as a statement. It just would have fallen off. -I know that outside of the enduring love you have for your fiancé, you love animals, and you have told us a lot about seeing bears. You once brought us a photo of a raccoon waving. That was a big deal. -It's a good one, that guy. -You're in a play. So when you're in a play promoting a play, you can't bring

a clip. But you brought a clip for us. -Yes, I brought a clip of -- I just recently discovered pandas. -Okay. -Great timing, right? Now they're all back in China. Ohh. Classic. -I thought you were saying, "Great timing, right after I get engaged." -I mean, may as well. Sure, that's part of the timing, too. I get engaged. Pandas go back to China. -Tell me about this panda video before we show it. -So I don't know how -- My algorithm is all pandas now, but I just -- this is the best physical comed

y I think I've seen since Farley. -Okay. Chris Farley. -Chris Farley. -Yeah. -Yes. Thank you. -I'm sorry. I don't know what other Farley. -We play on the same baseball team, he and I, so I just called him Farley. -Would you narrate as the panda? -I'm going to try, yeah. -Okay, gotcha. So let's take a look at Cecily's new favorite panda video. -So he sees his friends. And he said, "Oh, oh, oh. Hold on, hold on. I'm coming. Here I come, you guys. Going to jump down. Oh, oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh!" It's a

lot of just, "Oh, oh, oh." "Hey, what's going on, you guys?" And he sees his friends. "Did you guys see me fall? Did you see that? Hold on. I'm gonna get a sip of water. I gonna just get some water from my bowl. Oh, oh, oh, oh!" [ Laughter ] "Did you guys see that?" [ Cheers and applause ] It's just a lot of, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." -Hey, I love it. He was like, "I'll clear my head. I'll go get some water. They'll forget." And then he eats [bleep] again. It was great. -He does so many times so well

. -It's really wonderful. Another thing I want to ask about is this wonderful play. -Yes. -So you actually started -- You went to theater school. You were going to be dramatic. That was your plan, at least. -Yes. I'm still dramatic, honey. [ Laughter ] -When did you realize that you had the comedy chops, as well? -You know, I gue-- So, when I was in college, everyone wanted to do "Angels in America." And I was doing a scene with Harper and Joe with the line, like, "Are you a homo?" You know the

scene, everyone. -Yeah. -And I was doing that, and everyone laughed. And Mike -- And I was sort of like, "Excuse me. I'm a dramatic actress." But that was sort of the beginning of like -- You know, I think comedy and drama is -- Life's absurd. It's all funny. You play it kind of the same. If your husband's a homo, you know... -Laugh it up, -...laugh it up. -This is John Patrick Shanley, who wrote "Moonstruck," very funny, "Doubt." -Very funny. -Maybe no laughs. Maybe a no-laugh play. But this is

a little of both, as well. It must be amazing to work with a playwright like him. -He's so great. And it was -- you know, it's very personal to him. So it was -- He cried kind of every day in the process. In a good way. -Yeah. -We didn't make him so miserable. But it was beautiful watching that. And then -- And he loved how cranky I was. -Interesting. Like, onstage? -No one's ever loved that about me, maybe. So it's nice. Onstage. -Onstage. Right, yeah. Good onstage crankiness. -Yeah. Yeah, yea

h. -Well, congratulations on the play. Congratulations on the engagement. It's always so lovely to see you. Thanks for being here, Cec. -Great to see you. Cecily Strong, everybody. "Brooklyn Laundry" is playing at Manhattan Theatre Club, Stage 1 at New York City Center. We'll be right back with Nicholas Galitzine.