Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau, real-life best friends with babies, star opposite each other in Babes, a comedy about best friends with babies. It wasn’t always the plan, but it was the perfect solution.
“It felt so destined,” Glazer explained. “I wrote the movie with Josh Rabinowitz, who produced the movie with Suzie Fox, and we were writing it more like Josh and I were Eden, my character, and Suzie was Dawn, Michele’s character, because she had a one and a three-year-old and Josh and I were both expecting. We were having the dynamic.”
After bringing the house down at South by Southwest earlier this year, Babes is now in theaters. Glazer plays devoutly single Eden, who gets pregnant from a one-night stand. She turns to her best friend Dawn, played by Buteau, a married mother of two, to help her navigate her way into parenthood.
“Eden and Dawn’s voices are similar, but it was not a problem, so it’s not like you can’t tease apart who these characters there,” Broad City‘s Glazer continued. “They speak similarly, very New York, really Queens, and they grew up together. When Michelle came into my mind, I couldn’t sleep. I would see flashes of Michelle’s face and her hair. She’d spin into the frame, and Josh, Susie, and I became obsessed.”
“She was so busy, has got so much going on, and genuinely begged her, and then she said, ‘Okay, I see it.’ When Michelle is in something, she gives her entire heart and body; if she’s with you, you’re getting everything, and she fits in perfectly. She was exactly who we didn’t realize we were dreaming up the whole time.”
“Why would I not want to do a movie with a friend who says these nice things?” Michelle laughed. “If there’s no pressure, then why do it? Challenge yourself. I don’t want to disappoint my friend, her vision, and her dream. I do think they wrote an amazing script. They attached an amazing director, who I’m such a fan of, so why wouldn’t I? Creatives need to remember that we don’t stop growing just because we get older. We can still do hard things, and we’re better for it. I’m so glad I showed up and showed out.”
Babes‘ world premiere at South by Southwest in March 2024 was one of the festival’s high points. However, even the comedic leads couldn’t believe the reaction they got.
“It was almost like the theater was full of laughing gas,” Buteau recalled. “I knew it was funny, but I didn’t know people would be holding their heads and their stomachs, losing their minds, and looking around and watching people feel those emotional drops in moments and wiping away tears from laughing and then also being moved. I could not have expected.”
Glazer continued, “I don’t ever want to expect anything because you’re bound to be terribly disappointed, but I certainly hoped, and the response was beyond my wildest dreams. Michelle was behind me and kept touching my shoulder.”
“I call it winsanity because you’re winning and it’s insane,” Survival of the Thickest‘s Buteau added.
Babes is as frank as it is funny. It doesn’t hold back when using real talk to discuss everything that comes with pregnancy and becoming a new parent.
“People are loving the honesty,” Glazer said. “It’s so funny, especially as comedians, because we’re always talking about the stuff and jamming on ideas and vibes, but then I forget that it’s not out there. It feels good to, you know, help people feel seen and heard.”
Buteau mused, “If something’s going on with your kid, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your fault. They’re their own person. Let’s talk about it.”
So how has Glazer and Buteau’s friendship changed since they became parents in real life? Art imitated life in some respects, especially in the early days of new parenting.
“I was like, ‘Come over more.’ I love the community, and I grew up in a very Caribbean American household where we always had parties; people brought their kids, and the older kids played with the younger kids, learning how to fly kites and dance and all that stuff,” Buteau recalled. “It can feel very isolating when you first have a kid, especially a new baby, but I’m like, ‘Come over. We’ve got you. Someone will hold your baby so you can have a coffee or a glass of wine. I’m not going to judge your journey.'”
“It was nice to get some guard rails. We’ve known each other for 20 years, so we’ve partied,” Glazer laughed.
Buteau joked, “It’s nice to remember everything. I still take naps in the bathroom, but for different reasons now.”
While original, the influences of such friendship and relationship films as Bridesmaids, Superbad, Say Anything and even Jerry Maguire can be felt at different times. Coincidentally, Babes’ director Pamela Adlon starred in Say Anything, which was a major influence on a scene involving Eden and Dawn as the former is going into labor and heading to the hospital.
“You’re right. Pamela was in Say Anything. I forgot. That has blown my mind,” Glazer confessed. “While I was writing this movie with Josh and Suzie, we were referencing Superbad and Bridesmaids, especially Jonah Hill and Michael Cera or Kristen and Maya’s characters’ friendships. We looked at the tension especially. But for that moment exactly, as she’s going to the hospital, you’re getting the references exactly. We wanted that classic rom-com, pull-at-your-heartstrings thing, and I’m so glad it resonated with you that way.”
As if 2024 couldn’t get any better for Buteau, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, she will become “the first woman to tape a comedy special at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York.
“It’s crazy, but what is the point of doing something in life that you’re passionate about unless you are going to challenge yourself and try to upgrade something? I realize it’s not even about me anymore; it’s the bigger picture,” she explained. “I didn’t have a lot of comedic idols growing up, and I want black, brown, fat, queer, non-binary royalty to see that we can be on the stage where we were not welcomed that many years ago. We can find our space, earn that money that everybody else is doing, and see ourselves in our name on that marquee. It isn’t even just about me; it’s about all of us.”
“Every time I think about it, I do want to take a hot s**t, which means it is going to be good.”
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