Amy Poehler: ‘I’m more of an introverted extrovert than I thought’

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Amy Poehler has a new interview in The Hollywood Reporter promoting Inside Out 2, which is out June 14th! She’s also been traveling with Tina Fey as part of their comedy tour. Amy is around my age and a lot of what she said in this interview resonated with me, particularly about loving to dance and being an “introverted extrovert.” It’s a real thing and since we can be social to an extent people don’t recognize it. Here’s some of what she said, with more at the source.

On her SNL friends including Maya Rudolph and Ana Gasteyer
Those women are giants, and it’s the blessing of my career whenever they want to work with me. You really do remember the people and the way they made you feel, more than the other ins and outs of a project.
On dancing as a remedy for social anxiety
I really like dancing in general because I can get social anxiety, and at parties I tend to hit the dance floor because I’d rather do that than talk. But we’d always notice on the show [Smart Girls] that 12-year-old girls were dancing and 13-year-old girls were too nervous to dance. Something switches.
“You don’t strike me as someone who gets social anxiety at parties.”
I’m good at opening and closing conversations. (Laughs.) One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I’m more of an introverted extrovert than I thought. So now I’m trying to figure out how to interact with other people. For most of my 20s and 30s, I was so extroverted. I was doing improv and comedy and was on a weekly sketch variety show. I had to figure out what part of that was filling me up and what part was draining me — separating the authentic from the performative.
On going to the movies
I also do feel there are so few spaces where we sit shoulder to shoulder with people whom we don’t know and might not have much in common with. The theater, whether it’s movies or live theater, still feels very special and a way to be like, “Oh, this is what it means to be human beings.”

[From THR]

I also love dancing at parties, particularly weddings and places where you can line dance. Dancing changes your whole perspective on life. Going to Zumba or doing a modern dance workout can lift my mood every time. I feel that way about music too, and always listen to music throughout the day. Like Amy, I’m an introverted extrovert. Technically I’m an “E” on the Myers-Briggs, but just barely. I can socialize fine and people assume I’m extroverted, but it tires me out and I need alone time afterwards.

There’s so much more in that interview including Amy’s thoughts on the Best Picture nominees. She said her favorite three movies were Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest and Past Lives. Past Lives wasn’t my jam, but I agree on the other two movies. I included her quote at the end about going to the theater because that’s so true, it helps remind you what it means to be human.

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