Rachel Dratch: ‘I’m a Troll’
Image by Getty Images
Rachel Dratch just isn’t pretty enough.
That is why, she writes in her new memoir, “Girl Walks Into A Bar,” she hasn’t made it big in films or on television post-SNL.
“I am offered solely the parts that I like to refer to as The Unf-ckables. In reality, if you saw me walking down the street, you wouldn’t point at me and recoil and throw up and hide behind a shrub,” she writes. “But by Hollywood standards, I’m a troll, ogre, woodland creature, or manly lesbian. … Trolls, ogres, and woodland creatures can be done with CGI, so that leaves yours truly to play the bull dykes.”
Torie Bosch comments in Slate that she thinks that Dratch simply isn’t Hollywood leading-lady material. “Dratch is best when she’s cranked up to 11 — and that energy is neither sustainable for the actress nor enjoyable for the audience or the actress over a 90-minute film (or 22-minute show),” Bosch writes. “What is funny in a four-minute dose grows stale quickly, hence tiresome SNL films like ‘It’s Pat,’ ‘The Ladies Man,’ and ‘A Night at the Roxbury.’”
Whatever one may think of Dratch’s talents and looks, one must commend her for admitting to how hard it can be to find work after leaving Saturday Night Live. If it is any consolation to her — and The Shmooze thinks it might be — she has had the full support of many of her female colleagues. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph have all had her back, trying to get her roles and helping her to promote her book.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Opinion Trump’s Israel tariffs are a BDS dream come true — can Netanyahu make him rethink them?
- 3
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
- 4
Film & TV How Marlene Dietrich saved me — or maybe my twin sister — and helped inspire me to become a lifelong activist
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward David Sassoon, the Jewish royal designer who dressed Princess Diana, dies at 92
-
Fast Forward For a second straight Passover, Jews mark Festival of Freedom while hostages remain in Gaza
-
Fast Forward Plane carrying freed Israeli hostages and US lawmakers clipped at DC airport
-
Fast Forward 27 Jewish groups file amicus brief expressing concern over detainment of Tufts student
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.