Jackie Tohn
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Interview by Nolwen Cifuentes
Photography by Sami Drasin
Styling by Georgie Stuart @ The Rex Agency
Makeup by Morgan Grimes @ The Rex Agency
Hair by Sophie Rose @ Exclusive Artists using Balmain Hair
Before she became known for her breakout role as MelRose on GLOW, Jackie Tohn was actually a contestant on American Idol. She auditioned in New York with a rendition of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” impressing all four judges and advancing to the Top 36. In GLOW, she played Melanie aka MelRose—an actress with big ambitions and a wild streak, who didn’t always get along with her fellow wrestlers. Though MelRose’s antics were over-the-top, the character had depth, with moments like recalling her family’s painful Holocaust history bringing a new layer of complexity. From singing on stage, to touring as a musician, to taking on challenging acting roles, Tohn’s career has been anything but predictable.
Jackie’s latest project brings her to the new comedy series Nobody Wants This. The Netflix show’s got all the messy dynamics of modern relationships—think Rabbis, love, podcasting, and dildos. The show stars Kristen Bell as Joanne—a non-Jewish podcaster, and Adam Brody as Noah—the Rabbi she unexpectedly falls for. Jackie Tohn plays Esther—the Rabbi’s snarky sister-in-law who’s never shy about sharing her opinions.
As our conversation unfolds, it's clear that Jackie is constantly pushing herself as a performer. She has a knack for balancing humor with emotional depth. Influenced by comedy greats like Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and the crew from The State—Jackie’s humor is sharp, but always layered with vulnerability and nuance. With her projects spanning from heartfelt comedies to children’s animation, Jackie’s spirit is infectious, and it’s clear she’s not slowing down anytime soon.
Congratulations on Nobody Wants This. How did you get involved in this project?
I auditioned for it. I was sent the sides, and initially, they wanted me to read for the Rabbi's ex-girlfriend, Rebecca. But, I had heard about this other character - his sister-in-law that doesn't approve of what he's doing. She's snarky and pissed about everything. And that role felt more up my alley. So my agent emailed about the Esther role and that was who I ended up taping for.
I made the tape in my kitchen with my boyfriend in December. I remember it was early January, and my agent was asking “Hey, what's going on? We haven't heard anything.” So it was about a month after the audition that I heard I got it.
And it was just the one tape? You didn’t do any callbacks or anything?
No—that's what was crazy. This character was initially supposed to be a guest star in a few of the episodes. Normally, for the bigger roles, you would do a callback or a producer session and a screen test and all the things. But because she was only supposed to be in a few, they were booking it off tape. And then I ended up being in nine out of the ten episodes. Which was rad.
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Your character Esther—she's angry about the situation that’s going on in the show and doesn’t hide that. She’s also got a very dry sense of humor. What was your approach to playing her?
So, ok, this might be hard—you almost need to start drawing a family tree with stick figures. But, basically, the Rabbi, Adam Brody, is her brother-in-law. She’s married to the Rabbi's brother. And the Rabbi's ex of six years is her very best friend, Rebecca. It was always the four of them. And she (Esther) thought it was going to be the four of them into old age. The four of them going on vacation together etc. Esther and Sasha are already married and Esther knew that the Rabbi and Rebecca were about to get engaged. And then this new girl comes along out of absolutely nowhere. So Esther’s like, “You're not just ruining your life. You're ruining it for all of us.” The four of us, we're supposed to be—whatever the word is—a “quadrupple”. And that's over now. And also he's a Rabbi. So, she’s telling him, “You're not going to be taken seriously as a Rabbi in the temple if you're not marrying a Jewish gal.” That's what I was channeling. I mean, I think mostly she's being cranky because of what she's losing. And she's just mad about it.
I love that you tapped into that nuance. It’s a character that could have easily been one note, but that backstory brings a lot of complexity to her. She's not pissed off for no reason, there's something deep and relatable there. And, we also see this softer side of her in the sweet moments with her husband, Sasha.
I'm so glad that all got written for the season because it was important to me that she be a multidimensional character. There are times when she is fully bitchy. I get nervous sometimes about the conflation of calling a strong woman a bitch when they're not. But Esther is kind of a bitch, and it's okay to say that in this situation because it's true. But, she's also so loyal and loving and just delicious to the people that she loves. She also has a really complicated relationship with her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law is basically her 10x. She’s what she'd never want to turn into, but what she's well on her way to becoming. Being too opinionated, commenting on everybody's stuff, everything has to be her way. I think there's a real chance for Esther to see that and go in a different direction.
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The show is very Jewish, very rooted in the Jewish community. I’m curious, as a Jewish woman yourself, how was it playing this role in this context? Is there anything in your personal experience that influenced you playing this role?
All things in my personal experience influenced me playing this role. It’s why it was so important to me for her to have a more vulnerable side. My mom is a very opinionated, strong Jewish woman, but she's also the most generous, kind and truly funny woman. She always has her little quips, both under her breath and out loud for all to hear. I was channeling my mom in this character. There’s this—not even radical honesty—but this blunt force truth that’s wrapped up in this really funny, witty, warm lady.
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You've also been really close friends with Kristen Bell for twenty years. And you’ve collaborated previously on a kid’s animated series, Do, Re & Mi. What was it like collaborating again on this project?
She's the best. Our friendship is very much maximum wise-assery at all times. I knew that she was doing this show where she gets with a Rabbi. I thought it was such a funny concept and was so excited for her. I had no idea if there was going to be a character on it that made sense for me. Once the breakdowns of the roles came out, I sent in my tape. Then I didn't hear for a month, and I knew other people were sending in tapes. It was very nerve-wracking and exciting. But, yeah it’s amazing to work with her. We have such a shorthand.
For the cartoon we did, Do, Re & Mi, my friend Mike [Scharf] and I created it. And my friend Dave [Schuler] and I had already written a bunch of the songs. I was at Kristen’s house one day, she was in the kitchen cooking, and I was hanging out with her daughter, who was maybe three or four at the time. I was showing her the art and music from Do Re & Mi because I didn't know any other kids. I wanted to see if the music we made spoke to a kid. And after I left, Kristen called me and was like “She hasn't stopped singing that song and talking about it. She wants to see more.”
So Kristen came on as executive producer and she and I ended up voicing the two main characters. We coupled up with Gaumont for development. Gaumont brought us over to Amazon. And in 2018, Amazon greenlights us for a 52 episode first season.
It was wild. Dave and I wrote a song per episode.
That’s amazing! A 52 episode season is a lot! So you wrote 52 songs for it?
Yeah, 52 songs. Each episode is 11-minutes long and has a music lesson, a social-emotional lesson, and a musical genre that the kids would learn. So, for example, one episode, the music lesson was a rest. One, two, three, rest. The social-emotional lesson was about listening to your body when it’s trying to tell you something. If your body tells you to rest, you can't keep running and running, you'll get yourself sick. Then the musical genre was '80s Whitney Houston pop. Each episode always had those three components, but we really felt we cracked the code with that one.
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You’re also starring in The Floaters—not yet released, which is a movie about a Jewish summer camp. What can you tell me about this film and your character in it?
It’s a summer camp movie where I play this girl named Nomi who wants to be a rock star. She's given her whole adult life to making music. At a breaking point, her band quits, her tour gets canceled, and crying, she calls her best friend who’s now working at their old sleepaway camp. Her friend tells her to come to camp, just come. The movie opens where Nomi’s like, “I’m a 40-year-old woman, I'm not coming to camp.” and then cut to her Doc Martens stomping out of an Uber, and she's at camp looking around like, “Oh, this is my absolute living nightmare.”
She ends up working with this group of kids at camp called “the floaters”. They're a ragtag group of misfits—all fabulous and freaky in their own way. And it gives Nomi a chance to see outside herself. I think with a lot of entertainment people, we're very...I don't know if it's self-involved, self-centered, both? We have such an eye on the prize. It’s always about what do I have to do to get to this next phase? And that's very Nomi. Her whole life was focused on getting to this next piece of her career. And now she’s working at the camp she went to as a kid and helping kids and seeing outside herself. There's so much friendship and love in the movie. Seth Green's in it, Jonathan Silverman, Aya Cash, Sarah Podemski.
What are your favorite comedies?
One of my favorite comedy TV shows in recent years is Fleabag. I loved it so much. I couldn't believe what I was watching. As a kid, I loved Rosanne.
As far as sketch and weird stuff, I love The State Comedy Troupe—David Wain, Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black—those guys were a big influence for me growing up. Oh, and the Christopher Guest camp. Waiting for Guffman was a huge movie for me as far as forming what I thought was funny. And Wet Hot American Summer—that's all those same guys from The State. Howard Stern, Joan Rivers, and Gilda Radner were all huge influences on me. I used to memorize all the Gildas sketches and do them in my bedroom. I did all the characters and would do my hair all crazy.
I love Wes Anderson. Rushmore blew my mind. When I first saw that movie, I didn't know that was possible. I didn't know things could look like that. I didn't know jokes could be that subtle.
What are you excited about next in life?
I’m excited for the show to come out on September 26th and for people to see it. I'm excited for our business to be coming back to life between COVID and then over a year of strikes. I'm looking forward to some semblance of normalcy. This business is never stable, but some version of stability would be nicet. I also have pretty serious wanderlust. I went to Japan last July, and I've been really wanting to do a trip this year. I don't know where I'll go, but I want to go somewhere. I like to adventure, so we'll see what happens.
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