For Wendi McLendon-Covey, a "Smother's" Work Is Never Done

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As an actress who earned her improv chops at The Groundlings, Wendi McLendon-Covey thought she was "too weird for network television." But then,"network television got weird."

* This podcast contains explicit language.*

McLendon-Covey tells us how after a hilarious turn in Bridesmaids, she was cast in two promising projects that ended up falling apart. Following those disappointments, she ended up landing the part of the smothering mother (better known as a "smother") Beverly Goldberg on the ABC comedy, The Goldbergs. The show will start its third season this fall, but before it was a hit, creator Adam F. Goldberg had several failed attempts to get it off the ground. Despite the struggles for both McLendon-Covey and the show itself, she feels like things eventually worked out the way they were meant to be.

She tells us how she's shaped her career by saying no to roles that feel to similar to parts she's already done and how she once had to fire a manager who constantly shot down her ideas and told her not to audition for Bridesmaids. For McLendon-Covey, a lot of it goes back to the lessons she took away from her time at The Groundlings: "Work your ass off… and show them why you're worthy."


Wendi McLendon-Covey - actress, writer, producer and comedian - @wendimclendonco

Michael Schneider, Josef Adalian

Kaitlin Parker