Mathieu Young/The CWRachel Bloom received her first-ever Golden Globe nomination for her first-ever TV show: The CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend where she plays Rebecca Bunch, a successful lawyer who quits her high-powered New York City job to move across the country to pursue her ex-boyfriend from a summer camp stay. To say she's surprised is an understatement.
"There's so much good television right now. We're in a golden age of television and so for me to get on a list with the other people with whom I'm nominated is unbelievable and so flattering to me. I'm just so honored to be mentioned with them," she told E! News in a telephone interview after the 2016 Golden Globe nominations were announced.
That list she mentioned? Scream Queens' Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez, Grace & Frankie's Lily Tomlin and Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Yeah, it's a stacked category. The Golden Globe nominations are a mixed bag of newcomers, like Bloom, and expected nominees. There are some people in particular she's looking forward to crossing paths with. "Game of Thrones got nominated, which is my favorite show. I'm really excited to meet the Game of Thrones cast."
Bloom co-created Crazy Ex-Girlfriend with Aline Brosh McKenna and serves as an executive producer. The show debuted to favorable reviews, but chances are you've come across somebody who took issue with the title. What does Bloom have to say to people who aren't a fan and cry sexism?
"I say watch the show and within the first two minutes you'll understand the title is a deconstruction—the show is meant to be a deconstruction of tropes and stereotypes and take the stick out of your ass and just watch my show," she said. "Yeah, I guess my advice to them, on a medical level is to go to the hospital and get the stick removed from their ass because if you leave a stick in your ass for too long it will, I don't know, it will probably get infected and you'll have to have your ass taken out. [Laughs.] Yeah, just watch my show before you judge it. You will understand that the show is arguing exactly what you are, that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a stereotypical title. That is the whole point of it, that we are using it as a deconstruction, we are meant for it to be a bold statement about a bold character that we then look at the nuances of. Any one who watches the show immediately gets it, so instead of gratifying a subway ad, sit down at your little computer or sit down at your DVR and watch my amazing show. And you will see and your eyes will be open and the stick will pop out of your ass."
The musical comedy packs a lot into one episode, with at least two musical numbers each. It's hard for Bloom, who has a hand in creating each song, to play favorites, but there are two numbers that come to mind as favorites: "Sex With a Stranger" and "Settle For Me." The "Sex" song aligns with what she was doing on YouTube for the last five years, she said, and "Settle For Me" was born out of a desire to do Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and "turn it on its head, make it cynical or give it some sort of twist," she said. "That was just amazing."
As for what's to come on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you can likely expect the return of Tovah Feldshuh and some musical numbers that have been kicking around Bloom's head for the last year and a half. After some plots got shuffled, songs from what were originally intended for episode two are now airing in episode 12. Plus, "Everyone is going to start realizing the lies they've been telling themselves and the denial they've been in, and it's not just Rebecca," she spilled.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend returns with new episodes on Monday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. on The CW. The Golden Globes, hosted by Ricky Gervais, air Sunday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. on NBC.