‘Tracey Ullman’s Show’ Season 3: The Actress & Impersonator Hints at What’s Ahead

Aubry D'Arminio October 25, 2018, 1:00 pm

You know the saying “she has a face for radio”? Well, actress and impersonator Tracey Ullman has a face for anyone — making Season 3 of her HBO sketch show, Tracey Ullman’s Show, a gut buster.

Our fave characters: German chancellor Angela Merkel practicing how not to roll her eyes at other politicians, and Duchess Camilla Parker Bowles taking the step-grandkids for a playdate to a children’s gym.

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(Quote: “I’ve been looking for something like that ever since Charles said we’re not allowed to chase them with dogs.”) We asked comedy’s own duchess (above, in character as a random office worker) how she does it:

Politics and pop culture are always in flux. Have you had to make last-minute changes to sketches that you already taped?

Tracey Ullman: Yes, we’re doing that. We’re trying to be more like Saturday Night Live.

You’ve gotten rave reviews for your impressions. You once theorized that you had a face for them.

I have a face for change! Prosthetic artists say it’s my low forehead. That my nose is predominant, but my jaw isn’t. My eyes are small and inset. And I have a big head, so it’s good for wigs. On small heads, wigs look silly.

In one skit, you play yourself reacting to Twitter comments — and hunt down someone who dissed you. Do you actually read those?

I did social media for a second. I made my daughter sign me in. What the character says in the sketch is what a person wrote to me in real life. And no one would say that to your face. So I just had a major overreaction. And I thought: What would it be like to find that person by the river, fishing, and push them in?

What’s the oddest thing a fan has said to you?

Most say lovely stuff. And some go, “I’m your biggest fan. What’s your show?” This summer, I was in Tuscany with my kids, and a German woman said to her daughter, “Oh my goodness! She has records and she’s on the television and in films.” Then she went, “You’re still alive. It’s nice to see you’re still alive!”