Molly Shannon on Mary Katherine Gallagher and 25 Years of Superstar

When Mary Katherine Gallagher made her Saturday Night Live debut in 1995, the character was an immediate sensation. A nerdy Catholic schoolgirl with severe stage fright and big showbiz dreams, she made more than 18 appearances during Molly Shannon’s original tenure on the show. While her antics varied from sketch to sketch—one day, she was auditioning for her high school talent show; the next, she was hiding in musical guest Tina Turner’s dressing room—you could always count on Gallagher to break into a monologue from one of her favorite made-for-TV movies or crash into a stack of folding chairs.

“Mary is very much an exaggerated version of myself and how I really felt as a little girl: anxious, over-dramatic, accident-prone,” Shannon tells Vogue. “It was nice to have people respond to this character that really came from my heart.”

Gallagher became such a fan-favorite, in fact, that she soon received the movie star treatment: In Bruce McCulloch’s Superstar, released in 1999, she attempts to impress the boy of her dreams (Will Ferrell) by winning the school talent show. But the film’s plot is secondary to Shannon, who, in her first leading role, completely lights up the screen. Her commitment to the bit is unmatched, whether she’s aggressively making out with a tree or learning about her parents’ deaths in a “freak Irish-step-dancing accident

The 1980s and ’90s were a golden era for films based on SNL sketches—just see zeitgeisty hits like The Blues Brothers or Wayne’s World—but Superstar was the only one led by a female character. (And it did respectable business at the box office, grossing more than twice its production budget.) Strong home video sales and cable TV reruns have since ensured the film’s legacy as a bona fide cult classic, with people still running up and quoting the film to Shannon to this day.

“There’s a pureness of spirit with Mary,” Shannon says, “and I think that’s a reason why people related to this character. She feels alone and disconnected and all she wants is to be loved!”

To celebrate 25 years of Superstar, Shannon caught up with Vogue about all things Mary Katherine Gallagher.

Vogue: Talk me through the origins of Mary—I read in your memoir that you developed her while studying drama at NYU?

Molly Shannon: I created Mary during my audition for The Follies, which was this midnight comedy show at a little black box theater at NYU. Madeleine Olnek was the director and Adam Sandler was in the cast, and it was so popular that there’d be lines around the block. One of the audition exercises was to walk through a door and make up a character on the spot. Madeleine played a really snooty director that you were supposed to impress, so I walked through the door and said, “Hi, I’m Mary Katherine Gallagher!” I kept improvising and the Follies team loved the character so much that they put her in the show.

Was that Mary pretty similar to the version we’d get to know on SNL?

Sort of. I’ve forgotten some of the details, but the show was a “whodunnit” and Mary was the murderer. I wore a red jacket and red capri corduroy pants that I probably got from a thrift shop. I got famous on campus pretty quickly—soon people started coming up to me and saying, “You should be on Saturday Night Live!” This was during my last year of studying drama at NYU, so playing Mary was a real turning point for me because I realized how much I love comedy. After graduating, I moved out to Los Angeles and created The Rob and Molly Show with my partner Rob Muir, and we would do these hot 55-minute shows with booze and music. I did Mary for a bit where she auditions for a David Lynch movie, so I got to develop her in front of a live audience and really learn what worked about her. When I got the chance to audition for SNL years later, I had really perfected that character.

How did Mary play during your SNL audition?

There was this woman who called herself the “local talent scout”—but she really wasn’t. She was just a friend of some business people from the show, and she would go to comedy shows around LA pretending to be a scout. I had been doing my show for a long time so she knew about me, but I think she got jealous when she heard someone else from SNL was coming to see me. She wanted some control over my trajectory and said, “Whatever you do, you better not do that schoolgirl.” It was terrible advice. But she acted like she really knew Lorne’s taste and that I’d never get on the show if I auditioned with Mary, so I listened to her.

Once you get to SNL, talk me through getting that first Mary Katherine Gallagher skit on the air with Gabriel Byrne.

Each week was a constant battle in terms of trying to get your material on the show. When all these new people like Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri came in, they would always be in each other’s offices playing characters that they’d done in the Groundlings, and I’d be off in the corner, like, I have characters too! I remember showing my Mary pitch to a writer and he just started ripping it apart: “The reason this bit won’t work is because that’s not really a joke, this bit doesn’t really make sense, and this bit isn’t funny.” I went to see my friend Steve Koren in the writer’s room, and I tried explaining it the best I could: “So then I put my hands under my armpits, and then I do gymnastics!” We were in stitches typing up that first skit, and when I did Mary at the table read it was kind of a fun surprise for everyone. But even then I still don’t think they fully got this character.

You kinda have to see Mary Katherine Gallagher in action to really “get” it.

We’re sitting down at a table reading, [saying] “Mary falls into chairs, Mary does backflips. ” They didn’t know how wild I was gonna get. I’d been playing this character in my show for years by that point, so I knew she would make the audience go crazy. Usually during dress rehearsal, the stuff that Lorne really believes in is put at the top of the show, and Mary was at the bottom. I remember going crazy during the dress rehearsal and it going so well. I was so physical and raw—I threw myself onto those chairs and I just poured my heart out performing it. Everyone would go into Lorne’s office between dress and air to see what made the live show, and Mary got moved from the bottom of the lineup all the way to the top. And then my life pretty much changed after that.

Was Mary an instant sensation?

It certainly felt that way. Right after the first one aired, people on the streets started coming up to me and saying, “Oh my God, you are just like my sister!” The reaction was wild because people were laughing but they also really seemed to relate to her.

Were there any guest hosts who requested a Mary Catherine Gallagher sketch?

I’m not sure if Aerosmith requested one or just mentioned that they found her funny. Usually I would just do them whenever I felt like it.

Was there ever a host who wasn’t a fan of the character?

I never got that impression. But I do remember when we had Tina Turner on the show, she had been living a fabulous life in Switzerland with her new, young husband and had no idea who Mary was. We asked her to be in a sketch and her makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin was the one who said, “You have to do it.” So we have Kevin to thank for the skit where Mary breaks into Tina’s dressing room. And Tina was as nice and fabulous as can be.

Do you have a personal favorite Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch?

I really had so much fun doing them all. I love Aerosmith, so the one where I got to sing “Sweet Emotion” with Steven Tyler was a lot of fun. He was just so game. I always liked when it was connected to music. I also really love the Gwyneth Paltrow one, and the one with Matthew Broderick. There isn’t one that I didn’t enjoy!

On the topic of Superstar—whose idea was it to give Mary her own movie?

That’s such a good question that I genuinely don’t know the answer to. It was probably Lorne, and Sherry Lansing at Paramount. She read the script on a plane and immediately green-lit the project. She’s such a legend, so I remember being like, Ooh, Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sherry Lansing linking up! Sherry is someone Mary Katherine Gallagher would idolize—she would be reading Sherry’s memoir and writing her letters. It was sort of a big deal for a woman to lead her own movie at that time. I mean, it still kinda is.

I saw that Steve is the credited screenwriter on Superstar, but what can you tell me about the development process, in terms of fleshing out Mary from a sketch character into the leading lady of a feature-length film?

Before the amazing Bruce McCullouch came on as director, Steve and I would take long walks around my neighborhood in California and throw ideas at each other. It always makes sense to start with what a character wants, and what does Mary Katherine Gallagher want that could drive a story? More than anything else on this planet, she wants to kiss a boy. How’s she gonna achieve that? She’ll have to become a superstar!

One thing I noticed watching the very first Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch is that you establish so much of her backstory that would carry over into Superstar—primarily that Mary loves to watch old made-for-TV movies and was raised by a grandmother in a wheelchair.

When Mary talks about her grandmother, that’s really me and my dad, Jim Shannon. Mary’s life was sorta my life—my mom died when I was really young and my dad raised me. Mary is very much an exaggerated version of myself and how I really felt as a little girl after my mom died—anxious, over-dramatic, accident-prone. I was writing an exaggerated version of myself, so it was nice to have people respond to this character that really came from my heart. My dad would always tell me that I bore a striking resemblance to a young Elizabeth Taylor. He was really into Old Hollywood, so we would watch old movies together like The Easter Parade and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with our TV trays. We would talk about acting and listen to Judy Garland records.

Were there other plotlines you remember toying with before settling on the high school talent show competition?

We knew that was the general direction we wanted to go in, but there was one version where Mary makes up a lie that she’s pregnant with God’s baby. In another version, Mary has to go on Ritalin, but that would’ve been a much different, darker movie. The head of Paramount at the time said, “I don’t wanna make a movie where Mary is numbed up on drugs,” which is fair!

Did you film Superstar between seasons on SNL?

I think that we had already started to shoot SNL, so I was doing both at the same time for a while. I remember flying back and forth between Toronto and NYC a lot. Sometimes Lorne would send writers to me in Toronto to help write sketches, I would fly back for the dress rehearsal and live show, then take a red eye back to Toronto.

That sounds horrendous.

Yeah, but Lorne took really good care of me. It was his show and his movie. Plus, it honestly felt extremely glamorous.

Did Lorne give you any words of wisdom going into the filming?

He was involved every step of the way and just really trusted me. Lorne loves Mary Katherine Gallagher and he was really happy with the script. One time I mentioned that Will and I were worried about being too old to play high school students, and Lorne said, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be funnier that way. Just look at Grease.”

What was your headspace going into that first day of filming?

I was definitely nervous because it was my first time leading a film, but it was an absolute dream. I got to stay in this gorgeous hotel and there were costume fittings and dance rehearsals—it was like being at drama school again. It was also so much fun to work with people around my own age. I will say that all those kids, like Will and Elaine [Hendrix], would go out a lot after work. I remember my therapist telling me I had to take care of myself and that it was a long-distance run, so I realized early on that I couldn’t go out every night. Everyone was so wonderful, but I didn’t socialize a lot because I had to work so much.

What are some of your core memories from filming?

I went through a break-up in real life right before filming began. It really helped with the emotion of that pool scene, because I truly was heartbroken. I remember feeling absolutely devastated, and originally Mary was supposed to ask Slater, “Do you think I’m ugly?” Our wonderful producer Susan Cavan said, “I think Mary should say, ‘Do you think I’m pretty?’” It was such a great note. And it was fun to have that last line with Evian where I go, “I’m sorry you didn’t win, I guess you didn’t know that you were competing against a superstar!” That was during the same time so, it felt like a real Fuck you! to that guy.

Do you remember any scenes that were improvised?

I think it’s all mostly to the script. We did add that scene where I talk to my boobs in the mirror at the very last minute, which was based on how I felt growing up. That was me thinking about how your body changes and having to get your first bra at that age. It’s all that stuff connected to my boobs and puberty and losing my mom. Koren and I wrote it during a lunch break and asked Bruce if we could just play around. He really wasn’t into it until the production team said we could cheat it really fast between set-ups. I really fought to have that scene in the movie.

I think the hardest I laughed during this most recent rewatch is when you slam the door shut and repeatedly scream “You’re horrible!”

I think the script literally said “Mary slams the door seventeen times” or something like that. And the door on set actually broke! I slammed it so hard that it broke off and they had to re-do the hinges.

How was working with the fabulous Glynis Johns?

She was such an elegant lady. She’s exactly how you think she would be based on Mary Poppins. She would always come to my hotel for a cup of tea and to talk about our characters. Sometimes she would get confused and call me Molly instead of Mary during filming, but she was such a pro. And did you know she only just passed away recently? She lived to be 100 years old!

Do you remember how she felt about getting the film’s only F-bomb?

“You better fucking figure it out!” God, she’s hysterical. We were allowed to keep one “fuck” and still get a PG-13 rating, and I remember her getting quite a kick out of delivering that line. She really embraced the comedy, and Bruce got along with her really well. He was so good at talking to her and making her feel comfortable.

Do you remember filming anything that got cut from the final film?

The original script had Mary losing the talent contest, but in a way where she gained a sense of self at the end of the day. It was still a fairly happy ending, but we did test screenings and audiences hated it. They really wanted her to win, so we reshot the final scene.

Were you happy with the finished film?

I know I’m biased, but I thought it was so good! I still couldn’t really believe I was the lead in a movie. The whole development process was so fun, and getting to partner with Lorne and Bruce and Steve was such a fulfilling creative experience. It was an absolute dream come true to watch the film and feel so proud of it. Then the posters started going up on billboards all over Los Angeles, and I really did feel like a superstar. The night that it opened, I drove around to different theaters across Burbank.

What do you remember observing during those screenings?

I would sneak into different theaters wearing a baseball cap. I usually sat in the back of the theater and right when it started, I would say a little prayer thanking God. Occasionally I would go sit next to people, and this one time a kid turned to look at me during the movie and his eyes got big. He looked at his mom and said, “I think that lady is the superstar!”

Damn right she is!

I went to so many screenings and when the movie was over, there were always people running out of the theater yelling, “Superstar!” It made me really emotional. And then when Halloween came around, all these people would dress up as the character. It’s just continued to grow and grow into this cult classic where people still quote the dialogue at me to this day.

Has it been a pretty constant stream of people running up to you and screaming “Superstar!” since the late ’90s?

Yes, and I never get sick of it! It has never stopped, from the first time I played Mary up to now. One time I was sitting with a boyfriend at a diner in New York and we’re by the window, eating breakfast, when somebody pressed their face against the glass window and screamed “Superstar!” My boyfriend looks up, doesn’t say anything, and immediately goes back to eating. People always love to ask me to do my characters, and I don’t wanna call attention to myself but I’ll do it quietly. Sometimes I think it’s funnier to do a little “Superstar!” under my breath.

Whenever I do anything even remotely glamorous, I still say “You know what it’s time for? Supermodel Documentary Hour!”

That was one of my favorite days of shooting. And it’s funny, because Christy Turlington came to a book party that I threw in New York a few years back. She came with the designer Clare Vivier, who’s a friend of mine, and we took a picture together. I didn’t think of it until afterwards, but I was like, Oh my God, this is just like Superstar!

Did you ever encounter any ire from Catholics or Catholic organizations who didn’t enjoy the character?

I’m not a practicing Catholic anymore, but I was raised Catholic and the character of Mary definitely reflects that. This isn’t Monty Python, and I wanted to make it very clear that God means very much to her and she prays every single day. But we definitely got some letters from people who didn’t find her funny. This was before the internet really allowed direct feedback, so people would send hand-written notes, and I remember getting some stuff from the Catholic Church. Everyone would put stuff like that on the bulletin boards at SNL, and I remember reading one and thinking, Huh, the Archdiocese doesn’t like Mary.

If you were to bring Mary back in 2024 for a sequel, what do you think she would be up to?

I’ve always felt that she’d probably be interested in studying psychology or learning how trauma affects the brain. I always thought she would do something studious.

I thought she might be a Real Housewife, but I like your idea much better.

That’s the fun part, though—Mary would be funny in a bunch of different contexts. Would she be a mother? Is she a student? Where does she work?

You last played Mary in 2015, on SNL’s 40th-anniversary special. Do you have any interest in reprising her?

I really haven’t thought about it. I did think recently that it might be fun to play her on Broadway, or do some sort of cabaret show as Mary that incorporates music. I would love to do that. I’m totally open to bringing her back in the right capacity.

Looking back 25 years after Superstar, why do you think the film and Mary Katherine Gallagher have retained such a cult following?

I truly think it’s Mary’s sense of hope. She’s a survivor—her parents died and she went through some sad shit, but she’s been able to get through it. She bleeds a little bit, but she’s tough as nails. There’s a pureness of spirit there and I think that’s a reason that people related to this character. She feels awkward at school and is sort of a freak. She feels alone and disconnected and all she wants is to be loved. Who can’t relate to feeling that way at some point in their life?

This conversation has been edited and condensed.