‘SNL’ Star Molly Shannon Used to Scam Talent Agents Into Getting Her Acting Gigs

Molly Shannon is among the most iconic comedic actors of the final 20 years. From Saturday Evening Dwell to blockbusters films, Shannon has dominated each massive and small screens. It wasn’t all the time really easy for Shannon to get roles, although. She lately revealed the trick she used to trick expertise brokers into assembly together with her. 

Molly Shannon’s profession in films and TV

Actor Molly Shannon attends the twenty fourth Annual Display Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. | Christopher Polk/Getty Pictures for Turner

Shannon is most well-known for her time on SNL, the place she created iconic characters like Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley, in addition to imitated stars like Courtney Love. 

The actor has gone on to star in films like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Moist Scorching American Summer time, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Shannon has additionally starred in reveals like Twin Peaks, Will & Grace, 30 Rock, Glee, and The White Lotus

How Molly Shannon and a pal scammed brokers into assembly with them

Earlier than becoming a member of the forged of SNL, Shannon lived in Los Angeles, working as a waiter whereas she hustled for roles. She and pal Eugene Pack — now a author and director well-known for stage reveals like Movie star Autobiography and actuality packages like Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Group — got here up with a plan to trick brokers into agreeing to conferences with them. 

“We called it the Mamet Scam,” Shannon defined on a latest look on The Howard Stern Present. “And what we did was, we thought [of] it to get into agents’ doors. So, I had a fake character named Liz Stockwell. Eugene Pack’s character was Arnold Katz, and we would call for one another, pretending to be, you know, one another’s agents and we would call whatever agent we wanted to meet.”

She continued, “I would say, ‘Hi, this is Liz Stockwell calling, I’m from David Mamet’s office. We’d like to speak to this agent.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ They would put the agent right on the phone.”

“I would say, ‘David speaks so highly of your company and, you know, we have a kid out here who’s in David’s next play. He’s, like, the up-and-coming star and, you know, you gotta meet this kid,’” the actress laughed. 

“We always had a rule doing sales where you couldn’t hang up the phone ‘til you had the credit card,” Shannon defined. “So, we used the same thing with the Mamet scam. So, it was like, ‘Don’t hang up the phone ‘til you got the appointment in the books.’”

She continued. “So, if this agent would say, ‘Well, why don’t you just have Eugene call me when he gets to town?’ I would go, ‘No.’ There was an answer for every obstacle,” she completed.

Molly Shannon’s terrifying encounter with Gary Coleman

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Shannon lately printed her autobiography, referred to as “Hello, Molly!” The memoir made waves for the story she informed about her expertise with actor Gary Coleman, who died in 2010. By way of Fox News, the 2 actors shared the identical agent in 1987, and the trio met up for a meal on the Plaza Lodge in New York. 

Coleman invited Shannon up to his lodge room, together with their agent, however he quickly disappeared. Coleman requested Shannon to sit down on the mattress after which began to try to “get on top” of her. 

The actor mentioned he was “relentless” in making an attempt to kiss her and get on prime of her, however she was in a position to get away from him and lock herself within the rest room. After Coleman continued to knock on the door and stick his palms beneath the door, Shannon fled the lodge room. 

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