Amy Schumer: ‘Even on my wedding day, I think of them’

ACTRESS and comedian Amy Schumer reveals her thoughts on marriage, dancing like no-one’s watching, and the two women she thinks about every single day.

Amy Schumer: “We knew really quickly. I was never really interested in getting married. But then we met and I wanted to be partnered up with this guy.” (Pictured: Schumer with husband Chris Fischer. Pic: Instagram)

ACTRESS and comedian Amy Schumer reveals her thoughts on marriage, dancing like no-one’s watching, and the two women she thinks about every single day.

You recently married chef Chris Fischer. Does this mean he does the cooking and you do the dishes?

If I get home from a day where I’m working and exhausted, he cooks me dinner and we eat together, and he’ll usually do the dishes. And I thank him for that.

Given you got married not too long after meeting, is it a case of “When you know, you know”?

I think people thought we just started dating in January and were married in February. We actually met last May and we’d been dating since September. I know it’s not that much longer but it’s not just two months. We knew really quickly. I was never really interested in getting married. But then we met and I wanted to be partnered up with this guy. People say you’ll meet your person when you meet them and then you’re like, “F*ck you!” I’m really close with a lot of my exes, but they weren’t my person. And he just is; he is it.

So are you happy being married?

I’m happy. But I do like stirring things up, and I’m still like that. It’s only been over a month since we married and we aren’t trying to change each other. I’m excited I never have to zip my knee-high boots up and leave someone’s apartment at 3am.

Your new film I Feel Pretty is about a woman who gains incredible confidence after she hits her head and wakes up believing she is extremely good-looking. When do you feel most confident and beautiful?

I have to feel physically comfortable. I love being with my friends and family — with no make-up and hanging out. Just being yourself with the people who know you and love you... I feel beautiful then.

“I’m excited I never have to zip my knee-high boots up and leave someone’s apartment at 3am.” (Pic: John Russo/Contour by Getty Images)

One of the most notable scenes in the film is when you twerk onstage at a bikini contest. Do you have a dance move you’re known for?

My friends make fun of my dancing. I dance like an aunt at a wedding. What’s interesting about that scene, it was written that I just stood up there in the bikini contest but I changed it personally, and said “Nope, I’m going to dance, I’m going to go crazy, I’m going to throw water on myself, and make this a memorable moment.”

In your autobiography The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo, you were very open about the abuse and rape you suffered in your past. With the emergence of campaigns like #MeToo and #TimesUp and women’s marches, do you feel real change is finally afoot?

I’m very involved in those movements so I hope so. Especially now with the wider reach of the internet and social media — it’s easier. It used to be hard to get publicity for your marches; now we can reach each other. Women across all generations are standing together, and I feel really encouraged. The generation before us — the baby boomers and over — a lot of the women seem to feel confused by the movement, and then my generation is like, “This is great. We didn’t know if we’d live to see all this happen.” And the younger generation says, “Yeah of course! This is crazy — we can’t live like this.”

You’re an advocate for gun control, especially after two people were killed when a gunman randomly opened fire at a showing of your film Trainwreck in 2015. Has the recent shooting in Florida strengthened your outlook?

Saying gun “control” has become such a trigger for certain people, so I like to say I’m an advocate for gun “safety”. I think about Mayci and Jillian, the two girls who got shot, every day; even on my wedding day. This movement of the students standing up [campaigning for gun safety] has been encouraging. It makes me emotional. I wish we could follow [Australia’s] model — there was a terrible shooting and you got rid of [the guns] and it’s done.

Amy Schumer features in today’s Stellar magazine.

People often expect comedians to always be funny. Do you find that expectation at odds with who you are on a daily basis?

I think you can be really funny and also be an introvert. I don’t always want to be the centre of attention; I only want attention when I’m working. I’m usually pretty quiet.

What was the last thing you laughed at really hard?

At my husband two nights ago. We got in bed and he wanted to kiss me. He wears Vaseline on his lips because they’re a little chapped, and he always puts so much on. And right before he kissed me he remembered he put some on, and it was so much that we just started laughing together. We laughed so hard we were crying.

Last year, you and Goldie Hawn co-starred in the film Snatched, in which you played her daughter. Who else would you like to play your mum on film?

Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Oprah... I’d like to do a movie where they’re all my fairy godmothers.

I Feel Pretty is in cinemas on April 19.

Originally published as Amy Schumer: ‘Even on my wedding day, I think of them’