Ashley Padilla

Padilla credits Keaton with teaching her she does not need to live for men's approval.

“You taught me that, like, I don't have to be in this world for a man's approval”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 1:01:33

Padilla says she had decided to quit comedy, having learned from Keaton that there were other creative paths.

“I was like, there's other ways to make money and be creative. That's what she taught me”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 44:34

Padilla says Diane Keaton taught her to notice the world around her with childlike wonder.

“she got me to like notice everything as if I was with a child”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 39:20

Padilla says she fights to keep pauses because comedy rooted in behavior cannot be rushed.

“Because I like watching people behave. And to behave, it's not rushed”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 53:17

Padilla explains that SNL writers helped her adapt Groundlings material to be punchier and more suited to television.

“helping me make it more SNL, more for television. It's got to be a little punchier. It's got to be choppy”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 52:03

Padilla holds that a comedic character should never know they are funny.

“You don't know you're funny. The character doesn't know they're funny”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 20:44

Padilla expresses deep admiration for Lorne Michaels.

“I just really, really admire him. I just think he's so smart”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 58:08

Padilla says she resisted online, front-facing comedy because it did not suit her, which slowed her career.

“I respect what people are doing online with the comedy. I'm not good at that”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 43:38

Padilla suggests women need to be more willing to write material for themselves to see complex portrayals.

“I do wonder sometimes if to get there, we just need to be a little more willing to write for ourselves”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 51:00

Padilla says the way women are written in scripts often bothers her.

“the writing for women sometimes bothers me in a way that I cannot”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 50:29

Padilla argues that people only retain information they are genuinely interested in learning.

“Unless you're interested in it. Because to absorb information, you have to want to know”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 31:54

Padilla credits her mother's example with giving her fearlessness about her place in the world.

“I just never had any fear I never wondered if I was too small for the world”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 23:12

Padilla says she and Alison Gates have seriously discussed applying to Survivor together.

“really lay out the game plan of if we want to go on Survivor together”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 1:08:43

Padilla says short hair makes her feel open and vulnerable because she cannot hide.

“It was, like, I like to be open and fresh and, like, vulnerable. It makes me feel vulnerable because I can't hide”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:40

Padilla recounts that she was arrested as a teenager after hiding in a rose bush for hours.

“They arrested me because I hid in a rosebush for, I think, four hours”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 26:46

Padilla says she admired Dwight Schrute because the character played everything from his own truth rather than going for jokes.

“And what was crazy and funny was that he was doing it out of his own truth as a character, so he wasn't trying to go for the joke”

Good Hang with Amy Poehler: Ashley Padilla (Sep 22, 2026) · Listen from 18:38