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Molly Shannon reenacts her father's dying words. (0:56)
 

Full Interview. (9:46)
 

Tavis: Molly Shannon spent six seasons as a popular cast member on "SNL," earning an Emmy nomination for her work on "SNL" in 2000. She also enjoyed success in films and roles like "Talladega Nights," "Marie Antoinette," "Analyze This." Her latest project, though, is called "Year of the Dog." It's received some rave reviews, and the movie expands around the country this weekend. First up, a scene from "Year of the Dog."

[Clip]

Tavis: (Laughs.) All right, so I'm going to bust you right up front. Somebody told me that you in real life are, like, allergic to dogs.

Molly Shannon: Oh my gosh, yes.

Tavis: Did I hear this right?

Shannon: You heard it right.

Tavis: How did you sign up for a film called "Year of the Dog," (laughs) and you're allergic to dogs, Molly?

Shannon: Well, I have a much worse allergy to cats. So I -

Tavis: Good thing this wasn't "Year of the Cat" then, yeah.

Shannon: Yeah, exactly, I could not have done it. I get really wheezy. Most people with allergies have it much worse to cats and dogs, but I didn't want the director, Mike, to worry, because he was - this is his first feature that he directed. And so I just didn't mention it, 'cause I thought God, he has enough on his plate to worry about.

But then when we were in preproduction, we were doing a photo shoot with the dog Pencil, and the dog was licking me and I broke out in kind of hives on my face, and then I thought oh, God, I better tell them. And so I told them and they were like, "What? You're allergic to dogs?" (Laughter) And it was, like, hysteria on the set, and they sent me to an allergy doctor, and he prescribed all this medication.

But I ended up, luckily, not having to take anything. And it worked out fine, 'cause a lot of the scenes were quick, or they were outdoors, and it ended up not being a problem.

Tavis: I want to talk about the project - about the movie itself in just a moment. First of all, you said something a moment ago that I want to go back and get, though. So Mike, the director, to your point, this is his first feature film. This is just inside baseball, but I'm curious. Why do a project with someone who's directing their first feature film? Is there a certain fear in that, or is there a certain freedom in that?

Shannon: I feel like there's a certain -

Tavis: I'm not sure you'd want to talk to me if this is my first time doing this. You might not want to talk to me while this is my first time doing this.

Shannon: Yeah. Right, that would be hard. (Laughter) But then again, exactly, that would be hard, yeah. But let me see - I think that I really have a thing for writer-directors. I like when it's that pure, because you know that they wrote it, so they really have a very clear vision as to what they want. And Mike has so much experience in movies writing, and he's made so many movies, produced so many movies, that he really was almost overdue for it.

So in this case, I just felt like it was, to me, a no-brainer. And we'd done a TV series together for Fox that ended up getting canceled, and Mike was always on the set. I always wanted him to direct me during the TV show. I'd be like, "What does Mike think?" I felt very dependent on him, actually. I naturally wanted him to always direct me. So in this case, it just felt very natural.

Tavis: By the way, Mike, I wasn't trying to diss you or anything. I was just asking what that felt like. That said, (laughs) tell me about "Year of the Dog."

Shannon: "Year of the Dog." Well, it was just - you mean about what the movie's about? The movie's just about this happy-go-lucky secretary, Peggy, who loses - she has a very nice life. She's a secretary, and she - things are very simple. She has a house and a nice car, and things are going fine for her, and she's very close to her dog, she's not in a relationship. (Laughter) Her dog suddenly dies, and - what's so funny?

Tavis: (Unintelligible) say, she's very close to her dog. She is not in a relationship. And you just went right on past that. Go ahead, I'm sorry. That was funny.

Shannon: Well, yeah, for whatever reason she hasn't involved herself in that, but she's - everything's just fine just the way it is. But her dog dies and she basically goes on this journey of transformation 'cause she's devastated by the loss of her dog, and she ends up going through all these changes to kind of find out what's important to her in her life. And basically, she finds out what's important to her. And it's kind of her struggle to find herself.

Tavis: Have you ever had - you're allergic to dogs, as you mentioned earlier. And cats, obviously, are a no-brainer for this conversation. Anything other than a human being that you have ever been that personally attached to, when it died, when it went away, that you went through something similar?

Shannon: Oh my God, in my personal life?

Tavis: Yeah.

Shannon: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I lost my Mom and my sister when I was really little in a car accident, and so I went through that at a very young age, and it had a very profound affect on my life, that loss. Yeah.

Tavis: I read somewhere - to your point about the loss - I read somewhere that after that happens, of course, your mom and sister have transitioned, your dad raises you and your other sister.

Shannon: My other sister, yeah, Mary.

Tavis: But I read somewhere that you got a lot of your funny from your father, and I'm always curious as to where comedians, where the funny comes from. So what was it about your dad that you found so funny?

Shannon: My dad was really silly and we played a lot of games around the house. Like he would always want to do crazy things, like we'd put wigs on and he (laughs) was - we'd play telephone games. We first started acting where we would have to answer the phone and pretend like it was a real conversation, and he would go, "That's not real enough, hang up and do it again." (Laughter)

And so we would just have to make it where you could really trick people, like "Hello? I'm sorry, she's not here right now; can I ask who's calling?" And he'd go "Stop; do it again." (Laughter) And he would take his teeth out. He had teeth that could come out. It was crazy. And he'd be, like, (makes noise). He was just, like, a real crazy character.

We'd go into candy stores. Like, he and I would be together and he'd go, "Let's pretend like I'm blind and you're with me." And he'd go in and, like, is there chocolate? Like, and he'd knock down boxes. Like, just, like, crazy games and he was, like, a very funny guy. Very silly.

Tavis: And did you ever have reason to think that there may be something a little wrong with your father?

Shannon: (Laughter) Let me see. No, I knew that he was very funny, 'cause there were girls that lived in the neighborhood and he would drive us all to the pool and he would imitate - we had a neighbor who was a really bad driver and she would always - and so he would imitate this woman, how she drove. And all the friends from the neighborhood would come in the car and they'd be like, "Mr. Shannon."

They would just be, like, (laughter) cracking up at my dad, like, roaring laughing. So I just knew he was different. He was fun, yeah. And so let me see. And because I didn't have - because I wasn't raised - because I lost my mom when I was so little, I had no ideas of what it was like to be ladylike or what was expected of a woman.

It was, like, a crazy, like, free-for-all. Like, I had holes in my tennis shoes and I wore crazy get-ups. 'Cause my dad was, like, “Whatever.” I'd wear, like, tights in the winter, and long dresses. And so I think that gave me a certain freedom in comedy in that I felt like I could do anything and be any kind of woman. I didn't feel - I could do stuff that was kind of bawdy and my dad would be, like, that's adorable. He liked (laughter) crazy, funny.

Tavis: So how did that kind of freedom with your father help you in your "SNL" years?

Shannon: It really helped me because - let's see here. Well, he gave me a lot of confidence, because he was always very encouraging. Like when I was - I went to grade school and every year we did a St. Patrick's Day song and dance number? And he would say, like, "Get up in the front row and march up in the front and show them your singing voice."

And he was always, like, wanting me to get up in the front and dance, and he would show up at the show and he'd, like, wave from the back like he (laughter) was so proud. And I don't -

Tavis: Your dad sounds like Will Ferrell. I'm just, like -

Shannon: Oh, does he?

Tavis: I'm trying to visualize who would play your dad in the movie about your life.

Shannon: It would be, like, he looked a little bit like Harry Dean Stanton. Kind of like that, but, like, a more comical Harry Dean Stanton. Kind of like that. Or John Mahoney? He was kind of like that. Those would be the two I would cast, kind of.

Tavis: Okay. (Laughter) Thank you, Molly.

Shannon: Okay? But let's see, so he gave me a lot of confidence. He really made me feel like I could do anything. And when I first went out to Hollywood, he was, like, "You gotta go in there and march into those talent agents in Hollywood and say, 'Hey, hold the phone, I got talent.'" And I was, like, (laughter) I don't think that's going to work. And then he would say, "Use your singing voice. You have a wonderful singing voice. Use your singing voice." I was, like, oh, God.

Tavis: I'm trying to figure out how you've navigated yourself to this point in your career, and you have not introduced us to a project about your father.

Shannon: Yeah, mm.

Tavis: I think there's a script waiting to be written here.

Shannon: I know. As a matter of fact, before - when he was dying, we were very close and he was always giving advice. He loved being involved in my career and stuff. And when he was dying he was literally, like, on morphine and he couldn't breathe, he had oxygen. But he was still, like, had a few bits of advice for my sister and I.

And he loved the movie - I did this little funny scene in this movie "Analyze This," and he really liked that. He was, like, "Oh, that's really good." So when he was dying he was, like, one more thing. And he was (unintelligible) oxygen, like, (makes noise). And he was, like, "Small parts," and then he was, like, "in movies," and then he was, like, (makes noise) "like 'Analyze This.'" And then he died. (Laughter) I'm not kidding. He died, like, a minute later. And my sister and I were, like, oh my God.

Tavis: So only with Molly Shannon can you laugh about the transitioning of her father. (Laughter) But that's how funny she is. You wanna see a real actress? Go see "Year of the Dog." Anybody that can do a whole movie, who's allergic to dogs, called "Year of the Dog," deserves to be seen. I'm glad to have you here.

Shannon: Tavis, it's so nice to be here.

Tavis: I'm glad - come back any time.

Shannon: Oh, good. Okay.