Atsuko Okatsuka Is Here to Make Friends


You’re also writing for and starring in several upcoming TV and film projects—has that always been a goal for you?

Yeah, whichever way I can feel seen and able to share my story. Standup is the most efficient way to be able to do that. You’re physically in front of people, and able to have that connection back and forth. When you’re shooting scenes for TV or film, you’re with the film crew and your fellow actors. You don’t see the real people there. You’re just imagining that one day they’ll see it. You might never even see how they react to your work, which is so the opposite of standup. They’ll tell you later, but you don’t even know if they’re telling you the truth. I kind of want to be watching your face. I’m a psychopath. I want the real-time reaction I get when I’m literally telling you the jokes. But I do have different ways I could tell a story, and I really love movies.

In Father, you’re open about the codependency between you and your husband [painter and producer Ryan Harper Gray, who directed the special]. You celebrate marriage in a way that almost feels subversive for a comedian.

Being your authentic self is feminism, too. I’m inspired by all kinds of fellow female comedians, and some of them are more rigid and more anti-man. And that’s their authentic self. I’m good friends with Chelsea Handler, and she’s like that, but she also loves [Ryan’s and my] love. And when she’s been in relationships and she’s been in love, she loves love, too. But her general sense is, I hate men, and that’s her true self. I’ve been tempted in the past to be like, Maybe that’s how I talk about guys, too. But that’s not how I feel about Ryan. And so, I think that’s sort of the revolutionary thing. You be you. That’s its own movement, too. And maybe it’ll encourage men to be better. Like: Oh, shit. Our wives could be stoked about us.

You’ve talked about the difficulty of making friends as an adult. With your rising fame, do you feel like it’s been even harder? Or is it easier because more people are drawn to you?



#Atsuko #Okatsuka #Friends

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