Interview: Kate Micucci on NIGHT COURT cameo, DUCKTALES and STAR TREK dream role

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REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: Chips and ice cream! 

KATE MICUCCI: Oh, wow. That’s a good throwback. That song was so funny and so weird to learn. Gosh, I hadn’t thought about that in a while—thanks for reminding me.

KAPLAN: It’s one of my favorites, by the way. So, I wanted to ask if you were a fan of the original Night Court.

MICUCCI: I didn’t grow up watching it. It was always on. I’m a kid of the 80s, so I was aware of it. However, my parents were pretty strict with what I could watch, and I wasn’t really allowed to watch many shows. So, I am a new fan. I became a fan of the show with the reboot because I’m friends with Melissa Rauch, and I was so excited to see this new show she had helped create. So, I became a fan then and have been working backward since and watching a lot of the old ones since. So yeah, it’s an incredible show and a great format for a sitcom because you never know who’s gonna walk through that door—and it’s just so funny. They do it so well. So, growing up, I didn’t know about it. But I can definitely say I’m a new fan.

KAPLAN: Awesome. For the new Night Court fans who are just being introduced to the show, is it bingeable?

MICUCCI: Oh, my gosh, it’s bingeable. Last weekend, I was going through some old ones; it was so much fun. I think one of the reasons that it lasted for so long back in the ’80s is that its cast is incredible. What makes a great sitcom is everyone doing what they do so well, staying in their own lanes but working together; it’s a beautiful thing. With a sitcom, when they figure it out, it’s so much fun to watch—and Night Court is one of those shows.

KAPLAN: Since you’re playing Carol Ann, a character who appeared in the original version of the series, how did you approach playing a grown-up version of her? 

MICUCCI: I watched many of the clips of the older episodes with Annie O’Donnell and Brent Spiner playing The Wheelers, so I was kind of getting a vibe of their characters. Then, I thought, “Okay, what would their offspring be like today?” It was really fun to try to figure it out. Once I met Annie and Brent, we kind of figured it out together, too. My character is a little faster-talking than the other two, but that would also make sense for a kid of these two people. It was an honor to walk in and play a Wheeler—I was very excited about it.

KAPLAN: Did Spiner and O’Donnell have any advice for you on how to play the character?

MICUCCI: You know, not so much on the character. However, I did learn one really cool acting trick from Brent because he had to do a scene where he bites into an onion. So, he taught me how to bite into an onion. It’s not a real onion, but it makes it look like you’re biting into a piece of food, like, making it look like you’ve chewed, and your cheeks. I was like, “How do you do that?” He taught me that, like old-timey tricks. It was super cool.

They also shared stories of what it was like in the 80s when they worked on the show. Back then, the way the day would work was that, in rehearsal, you just had to hang out in the seats where the audience would eventually be sitting. So, they said that one of the perks of how the show works today is you get your own dressing room anytime you need it. 

KAPLAN: I used to dance. I remember spending all day in the theater.

MICUCCI: I gotta say, we were all having so much fun that we spent a lot of time on the stage. I loved watching the other scenes I wasn’t in and always learned. You know, it’s Julia Sweeney in this episode, and she’s so funny. I’m such a huge fan of her, and it was fun to watch her work. So, I always liked to be there, kind of watching; we all watched and had a great time. It felt like the cast was so welcoming—it truly felt like a family. So, they were very kind and welcomed us. Annie and Brent, it was an old family coming back to visit, which was great.

KAPLAN: I wasn’t sure if you’ve worked with Brent before since you’ve worked on some similar shows.

MICUCCI: No, I had never met him, although I would love to do some kind of Star Trek thing. That would be the coolest. Yeah, I’ve never met him before. But it was, you know, we were fast friends, the three of us.

KAPLAN: What is your dream Star Trek role?

MICUCCI: I don’t know. All I know is I would be down to either pilot some sort of ship or play an alien of some sort. That’d be cool.

KAPLAN: Since this isn’t the first time you’ve done a revival show, you also did DuckTales; is approaching a rival character different than when you do an original role? And is animation different than live-action?

MICUCCI: Because DuckTales was a new take on it, they told me to just do my own thing. So, I wasn’t as concerned about the previous, regarding matching vocal quality or anything like that. I just kind of got to be very energetic and bring my spin to it, which was fun. And I think all the guys would agree that we were doing a fresh take on the idea.

However, in the case of Night Court, having Brent and Annie there, who played the original roles, I wanted to make sure that I fit into this family and the scenario of something that had been built almost 40 years ago. It was really fun, and I have to say it wasn’t hard since we really gelled quickly. It was a thrill to be a part of it. 

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Catch Kate Micucci in Night Court episode 211 on NBC.

I’m sorry, folks. I forgot to ask her about the upcoming animated adaptation of Toy, a popular Keenspot comic created by Brett Murphy and Wilson Gandolpho. I would have asked about it; after all, this is Comics Beat, but I just learned about it today. Thank you, Deadline.