–continued from page 11 “We lived next to a fraternity from Occidental College, it was a rental right next door to us,” Bamford, 47, says as she sips water at her favorite coffee shop, Café de Leche, high in the hills of her new, more serene hometown, Altadena (the café’s Highland Park location is a recurring setting in Lady Dynamite). “The first five years, it was owned by a family, and then they started to rent it out to a fraternity. And then it just got worse and worse and worse. And we looked online and it turns out there is no real way to fight a fraternity, really. “Because it’s off-campus housing that’s private, the [college] won’t do anything about it — like, campus security can only drive by it… it’s really dumb. Then the LAPD is completely overrun — they’re attending to actual crime. It was not as funny as the movie [Neighbors] — the movie was very good.” And while that frat horror flick was unfolding in the real world, Maria’s personal experiences were inspiring a boldly off beat series on Netflix. Lady Dynamite, which co-stars comedy veterans Mary Kay Place and Fred Melamed, premiered May 20, 2016, to much acclaim — Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 97 percent rating. The series has been lauded for one of the key ingredients she and the show’s creators set out to achieve — to destigmatize mental illness. The series orbits around a mental breakdown Maria experienced after she broke into showbiz. (Bamford, who suffers from depression and anxiety, has been diagnosed as bipolar with obsessive-compulsive disorder.) Lady Dynamite revels in ignoring narrative conventions, like not breaking the fourth wall (it does) and giving three characters the same name. It also jumps around in time, with “Present” segments reflecting recent events of her life in Hollywood and Arroyoland; the “Duluth” segments — she grew up and was hospitalized in that Minnesota city — trace her post-breakdown days finding her way back to a new life; the “Past” chapters go even farther back to her career-building years and successes in the entertainment world. And, as Maria revealed in our interview, the new season also reaches into the “Future” of her fictional character’s life (she hinted at marriage!). In real life, the series concept was hatched over “many, many lunches” with Arrested Development creator and Maria fan Mitch Hurwitz. Hurwitz eventually brought former colleague and South Park producer Pam Brady into the mix. “So Pam and I met, and we had a really good connection, and it worked out,” Bamford says. “I think it was almost two years of just sort of chit-chatting back and forth. And then we pitched it to Netflix. We didn’t really know we had gotten the show until I found out from a network executive at a whole different thing [at Netflix], like a week later. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re so happy to be working with you!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh? What are we doing?’” While the series is born from Maria’s personal experiences, she notably has done no writing on the show. “No, no, I don’t. I just come in and I tell stories, and then [the writers] take it and go everywhere with it, wherever they want to go. And that’s wonderful ’cause I’m not really a writer, in terms of scriptwriting. That’s not something that’s been an enjoyable process for me. At this point, I’d rather do standup and just have a fun time. And I think it probably helps the writing process that I’m not there, ’cause it is personal stories…And I don’t think I have the energy to do all that, I just don’t. It’s 12-hour days in an office, where you’re sitting there at a table and making a show. Pam Brady is amazing, and they’ve just done a beautiful job.” Critics agree. Describing Bamford as “a beautiful wackadoo,” IndieWire called Lady Dynamite’s new season “the perfect antidote to this woman-hating garbage world.” The Hollywood Reporter said the show “mostly remains sharp, vital and groundbreaking.” Since the topic of mental illness is a key element, I ask Maria how she decided to embrace that part of her life so fully for the world to see. “I think I wanted to be open about it for myself, for selfish reasons, so that if I did get sick again, that somebody would notice. And I would get help earlier. ’Cause I think I have trouble — feeling ashamed [about mental issues]. Even though I grew up — you know my mom’s a therapist, there’s mental illness in our family… my parents were very open and understanding about mental health issues, and I don’t understand why I was so embarrassed, but I was. So at least it’s a self-protection thing — if I can be open about it, then the village, if you will, can rise up and help out, on that level.” Bamford’s openness has elicited a grateful reaction from people who have been comforted and inspired by Maria’s forthrightness. She has said she hopes that what people get from the show “is that by losing everything, it’s possible to become something better.” –continued on page 14 PHOTO: Bruce Smith 12 | ARROYO | 12.17
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