I wish Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were my best friends. That, sadly, is never going to happen for any of us, but we have some consolation. They have a truly epic friendship that they're more than willing to share with everyone. These two women lift each other up and make each other laugh – and they try their hardest to do the same things for all the people who enjoy watching them, separately or together. If you're crushing on Tina Fey and Amy Poehler too, check out these fun and often uplifting facts about their world-famous friendship!
Technically, the epic friendship of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler started with a horse. Allow me to explain. The two of them met back in 1993, at ImprovOlympic in Chicago. They were, of course, taking a class on improv. To be fair, they probably would have fallen in girl-love anyway, but Amy fondly remembers that Tina penned a play that involved Catherine the Great fornicating with a horse, which immediately piqued Amy's interest and let her know they were destined to be friends. Further fun fact: Tina also taught Amy about eyebrow maintenance.
Many of you may already know that Amy Poehler was a member of the absolutely outstanding Upright Citizens Brigade. She was also in Second City, and after going with UCB to NYC, Tina had the opportunity to join Second City in Amy's place. They mourned each other, however – everyone who knew them in Chicago talks about how inseparable they were. Amy often returned to Chicago to work with Tina. Tina ultimately moved to NYC to write for SNL and the two joined together again, with Ms. Fey performing alongside Amy in UCB's ASSSSCAT improv show. Early fans everywhere rejoiced.
So, Tina came to work for SNL in 1997, yes? Yes. She immediately began begging Amy to come work on the show as well. Given the marvelous way they improv together and their immediate chemistry, it's easy to understand why she wanted her friend to come work with her – plus she fully admits that she simply missed her friend. In 2001, the amazing happened: Amy joined SNL. In her memoir, Bossypants, Tina further admits that having Amy with her made her feel less alone.
No, they're both cute; they're gorgeous women, inside and out, because they're brilliant, funny, and lovely. However, they don't want to be seen as cute comedy girls. In another tale from Bossypants, Tina describes how, once, Amy was being wonderfully vulgar and ballsy while joking around. Jimmy Fallon freaked ever so slightly and told her to quit it because her joke wasn't cute and he didn't like it. Amy's response was epic: “I don't f**king care if you like it!” The point was that she made it known that she didn't want to be the cute sidekick, the little sister, the girlfriend; she was a comedienne and she'd do what she damn well liked, a revolutionary stance that helped form Amy and Tina as the strong, dynamic, comedic duo we adore today.
In fact, it led to a total domination of SNL. The two women co-anchored Weekend Update. Weekend Update had employed female anchors before, of course, but most usually as the second banana to a male anchor. Tina, in fact, straight up told Lorne Michaels that she and Amy were going to do it together. She did not ask. This statement of fact led to the best years of Weekend Update ever.
Their stint as co-anchors, along with their roles in movies such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama, proved something else as well. Although these two women are awesome forces of nature on their own, they're always better together. They play off each other so beautifully, and the fact that they have massive respect for each other shines through every sketch, every role, and every bit of banter. Let's not forget how well they perform as hosts. They need to host everything, always, and the awards show season might go back to being interesting.
This is a tiny vignette, but I think it's adorable. You know “30 Rock,” right? Well once upon a time, Amy made a cameo on the show. Do you know what she did during that cameo? She played a younger Liz Lemon. In essence, she was Tina Fey. We can only hope that someday, Tina will play a younger version of Leslie on Parks and Rec.
Amy has two gorgeous sons. Tina has two delectable daughters. It's a well-known fact that they kind of want their kids to marry each other. Although I'm no proponent of arranged marriages, I think this needs to happen. Those kids should just be betrothed to each other right now, and someday they'll create a comedic legacy the likes of which we've never seen.
There are so many examples of this. Tina dedicated an entire section of Bossypants to Amy, calling them her love letters to her friend. Do you know what she titled it? “I Don't Care If You Like It” – Amy's exact response to Jimmy Fallon. Further, Amy was hugely supportive when Tina wrote her book, saying that she was not at all surprised that her friend was able to accomplish that while working on her own show and maintaining a wonderful family balance. Further still, Tina won a SAG Award in 2013; she was up for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series, and Amy was up for the same award. Tina was actually sad that her friend didn't get the award, and declared her love for her bestie during her acceptance speech.
I love to see women really supporting each other. I know they crack jokes and get a little Mean Girl-esque sometimes, but it's the nature of the beast when you're hosting an awards show. Besides, you can't question their commitment to female empowerment. Remember, they stepped up to help women reclaim the bitch-title. Do you love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler? Do you have a friend like this?
Sources: vulture.com, hollywood.com, Bossypants by Tina Fey
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