For our fourth wedding anniversary, Cinema Femme founder Rebecca Martin Fagerholm and I spent a week driving to see friends and family all around California. One of our essential stops was the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where we got to visit the resting place of my favorite filmmaker, David Lynch, and thank him for bringing us together (after all, our first date was spurred by me asking Rebecca, “Wanna talk more about ‘Twin Peaks’?”). Across the pond from David was the grave of my childhood idol Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman), who was buried not far from Burt Reynolds. Upon seeing my post on Instagram chronicling my visit to the cemetery, actor/filmmaker/singer/tarot artist Taylor Blackwell reached out to me and said, “It seems we have a lot of common interests,” singling out Lynch, Reubens and Reynolds, the last of whom had been their mentor when they were young.

With that number of shared heroes, I knew immediately that I had to check out Blackwell’s short film, “It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story,” in which they star as the titular Chicago-born comedienne. The cheerfully heightened world that Blackwell creates for their movie is a perfect fit for Tenuta’s larger-than-life onstage persona, as we see her delivering uproarious barbs in her unapologetically brash voice while brandishing her iconic accordion. She also goes on a date with the Pope, played by soon-to-be Disney Legend Alan Tudyk, in an inspired comedic riff I’d gladly see developed into a film of its own. The short is both a winning tribute to Tenuta’s genius and a marvelous showcase for Blackwell, who recently took time to speak with Cinema Femme about capturing the comedienne’s charisma onscreen, what they’d hope to explore further in a feature-length version, and how a sublime Lili Taylor movie opened their eyes to the religious texture of the comic legend’s persona.

Before we get to Judy, I can’t resist asking what it was like being the youngest student in Burt Reynolds’ acting master class?

What stands out to me, more than anything, is the passion he brought to storytelling. When he would share his experiences with our class, there was such excitement and enthusiasm around it. You know that saying, “You may not remember what people did, but you remember how they made you feel”? I feel that a lot with Burt because I was really young when I met him, and he passed when I was 19. I wish I could recount exact stories that he told in class, but what I remember is the energy behind them. I watched some of his films when I was a student of his, and have then watched a lot more in his absence. I really liked “Cop and a Half” when I was young, probably because it was one of the more age-appropriate movies for me as an 11-year-old in his class. I did see “Deliverance” when I was pretty young, which was not super-age-appropriate [laughs], but a lot of it went over my head at the time. And I love “Boogie Nights.” That one I actually watched for the first time the same week he passed. 

I like how he wasn’t above lampooning his own image. Roger Ebert may have been the only critic who gave a positive review to “Cop and a Half.”

[laughs] The only thing I really remember from that movie is when the kid is at a bar and he says, “I’d like a glass of milk in a dirty glass,” because he’s trying to fit in with the adults. I thought that was such a great line. I’m sure I got some special treatment in Burt’s class for being a kid. There was a real familial quality to our dynamic. He was like an uncle in how he was so encouraging of me going out and having my own experiences, and was always very affirmative about my capabilities. That support and positivity has always been in the back of my head.

You have done some fantastic music videos—I particularly enjoyed your song, “Never Could”—and I feel the number that you performed with your band, The Tenth, “I Will Not Make Any Boring Art,” would be an ideal anthem for the Cinema Femme Short Film Festival. Was the musical angle part of what drew you to Judy Tenuta?

Her use of the accordion was the first thing that initially drew me to her. I feel a kinship with any accordion player because it is such a difficult instrument, and people have very strong opinions about it. Anyone I’ve ever been aware of who’s an accordion player, I already feel like they are my friend or my ally. Mostly you hear about men—like Weird Al, who had Judy on his show—playing the accordion, so when I learned that there was this “Aphrodite of the Accordion,” I was like, “Wait—what? Who is this?” I had some familiarity with her name because she and I were both voices in the same audio book, Managing Bubbie. But we had never met because unfortunately, when you do any sort of voice over, it’s usually a very isolating experience where you’re not in the booth with the other actors. It was only after she passed that I began learning about her. 

I watched Judy’s network television debut on “Letterman,” which includes much of the material you recreated brilliantly in the film. Both Judy and Paul Reubens had a vocal abrasiveness that could turn some viewers off, as you can see in the footage, but they committed to it until they won you over. You either get on her wavelength or you don’t, and I believe you captured why so many people did.

Thank you. Yeah, that appearance was not super well-received. Judy and Paul were actually friends and very much in the same sphere. I met lots of people in Judy’s world, and I probably would’ve met him if he wasn’t sick. I’m so sad that I didn’t get to, but I only heard the loveliest things about him. I think there is a youthfulness and playfulness that characterized many of the artists, or even just the media of the ’80s and early ’90s, including the Sid and Marty Krofft shows like “Land of the Lost.” These programs were brightly colored, larger than life and meant for children, but they also had an edge to them. Judy and Paul had that as well. They’re bright and bubbly, but they can also be a little spooky too. [laughs]

Was it daunting to channel her persona, especially her voice?

Yes, I was most nervous about capturing her voice because it is so distinct, so memorable, and the thing that people most often associate with her. I was pretty quickly able to get the high, more angelic part of it, but the lower, gravely part was really difficult for me. One day, it clicked, and I finally realized that I’d be able to do this. Being able to tell someone’s story, especially that of someone who is no longer here, has weight to it, and I wanted to do right by her. 

How did the whole idea of making this short come together?

After I found out about Judy, I started to do a deep dive on her work. Around that same time, I had a coffee date with my friend Brent Mata, who ended up producing and being the cinematographer for the Judy film. He and I had worked together previously on some music videos for my old band, The Tenth, and also for my solo projects as well. We were just kind of brainstorming about the stories that we wanted to tell, and I said, “I don’t know what the story would be, but have you ever heard of this woman Judy Tenuta?” I sort of resembled her and we both share a love of the accordion, so I felt like there was something to explore there. 

I didn’t know much about her apart from her standup routines, all of which are amazing, though it was her routine on the “Women of the Night” special with people like Rita Rudner, Paula Poundstone and Ellen DeGeneres that I thought was really phenomenal, and I ended up drawing from it a lot in my film. Brett had become a fan of Judy’s after seeing her on “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast,” so he loved the idea of making a film about her with me. From there, I began researching her life and put a script together before we reached out to her estate. 

They were very quickly onboard, and then it just kept snowballing from there. They were so gracious to give me access to her clothing, her accordion, and also her friends and family members who were able to share insights about her. They really gave me a lot of trust and encouragement. Their excitement about the project brought me a lot of relief as well, so I am so lucky for that. Having her real objects and clothing that she wore, that she touched, that have her energy on them, helped me as a performer and brought a level of grounded authenticity to the project.

It probably felt like preparing for a documentary, since there’s so much information you’ve compiled that you’ll get to explore further if you decide to make a feature-length version.

I’d love to! A lot of the conversations I had gave me ideas for the longer version of this. I had multiple conversations with people about Emo Philips, and I kept hearing this same little anecdote that they’d be out to dinner, and he’d want to take everyone’s leftovers to go. I thought that was so funny because he’s so thin! Those are the sort of details I’d love to include in the feature. 

The way you approach telling her story is through the lens of her comedy, which I felt was a masterstroke. 

With the short, we only have a very limited time to be able to give a glimpse into her world, so we’re never going to be able to encapsulate everything. Hopefully we give you enough of a taste that you fall in love with her and go watch her actual standup. I never got to meet Judy, but from what I gathered about her through conversations with her loved ones, it did feel like her onstage persona was just this elevated version of who she was in real life. A lot of her friends told me that she was just as funny offstage as she was onstage, though I imagine she wouldn’t be “on” like that all the time. 

There are some comedians who, when you meet them, are quiet, shy, and introverted, and it seems like they are saving all that energy for once they get up there. Judy, however, appears to have been an energetic, passionate person offstage as well, so I wanted to highlight that part of her. The Pope was a character she would often reference in her comedy routines and songs, and since our film already involves heightened realities and a suspension of disbelief, I figured that we might as well have him onscreen too. We get the viewer to question where the reality lies in a way that is tongue-in-cheek. 

I liked how you broke the fourth wall—just as Judy and Paul did with their audiences—during your date with the Pope. 

It was so fun. I don’t think I’ve done that before when it comes to other things that I’ve acted in. It is hard to do right, but I felt that it made a lot of sense for this project, like you said. I love fourth wall breaking in a film like “Ferris Bueller,” though sometimes characters will just do that without motivation behind it, and it doesn’t work as well. I’m glad you enjoyed that part of the film. 

Alan Tudyk first stood out to me when he stole all of his scenes in “Death at a Funeral,” and has subsequently proven to be quite the chameleon. I’ll now have to check out the show you previously did with him, “Resident Alien,” where you play his daughter. 

He’s a total chameleon. I feel like there’s nothing he can’t do. He’s so great, so funny, and just a wonderful human being. An interviewer recently pointed out that I play his daughter in “Resident Alien,” whereas in the Judy film, I play his love interest, which is a little strange. [laughs] Thankfully, nothing actually happens, and it’s a very innocent romance. On the set of “Resident Alien,” I adored him immediately and he has been very supportive of me, not just as an actor but as a screenwriter. He knew about this Judy Tenuta project from its inception, and when I eventually asked him if he would be a part of it, he agreed. Getting to collaborate with people that I really care about is something that I hope to continue doing throughout my career.  

Whereas Paul Reubens was giving us a gift he couldn’t fully give to himself, that of accepting those parts of ourselves that may be deemed weird by others—as detailed in the great documentary “Pee-Wee as Himself”—Judy’s persona as portrayed in your film seemed to be a mode of catharsis. 

Definitely. I think it enabled her to process the world around her. We explore a little bit in the short how she grew up in a large family with eight siblings, and had to find her voice in that environment. We talked earlier about comedians who are shy offstage and loud onstage, and I think that was an element in Judy’s story. Her comedy comes from this place of needing to be heard and seen, and I would love to explore those ideas further. I also keep thinking about the Catholicism element of it all. I watched this great movie recently called “Household Saints”…

I spoke with Lili Taylor about it a while back! I love that film and “Dogfight,” both directed by Nancy Savoca.

She’s one of my favorite actresses. I’ve gotten to know her a little bit as a person, and she is an equally wonderful human being. My middle name is also Lily, so I feel a special connection to her because we are like the inverse as far as our names go. We haven’t acted together yet, but I hope we will one day. “Household Saints” is incredible, and before watching it, I had never heard of Saint Thérèse, who is referred to as “the little flower.” It seems like something that would’ve come up in my research for the short, since Judy is called “the petite flower.” I would love to explore that further, the tie between Saint Thérèse—the little flower in god’s garden—and Judy, who is perhaps spreading joy and godliness in a different capacity. 

The politicization of organized religion has given me no appetite for it in my own life, but I appreciate the community that my Catholic Church back home gave me during my adolescence. That was a period in which the church, at least in my town, felt truly welcoming.

I think a lot of people have a very similar relationship with religion that you do. I did not grow up with Catholicism at all, which is probably why I didn’t know about Saint Thérèse, but it is fascinating to me. I grew up in a household that wasn’t very religious, but I’m very curious about different world religions. So often they have different names for things, but are essentially talking about the same thing. I’d be curious to explore how that manifests for Judy. I think for me, like Keith Haring said, art is the closest thing that we have to religion. I found my own community through acts of creativity. Have you read The Artist’s Way?

My wife keeps telling me to read it!

In that book, Julia Cameron connects creativity with god, and believes you can tap into your own godliness through creativity. I don’t have firm beliefs about any of it, but I like exploring these ideas.

Could you see your Judy Tenuta feature possibly becoming a musical, especially since your personal brand is entitled Musical Mushroom Productions?

[laughs] Definitely. My friend Claire McKeown is a wonderful collaborator, and I adore the music that she wrote for the short. I would love to explore that further with her in some capacity. She’s my vocal teacher and actually helped me a bit with the voice for Judy. Claire is an incredible vocalist who has played in tons of bands, and is also just the best person too, so it was such a dream to finally get to work with her on something. We had been talking about doing something together for a long while, and I hope we’ll get to collaborate many more times.  

I’d love to know more about the Infinite Possibilities Oracle Deck that you created as an empowering tool for young people. 

I love tarot as an art form and as a tool for self-exploration. I wanted to introduce tarot to my little sister, who is 13 years younger than me, so I made a couple cards for her eighth birthday years ago. She gravitated toward them along with her friends, so that gave me the ammunition to make it into something more legitimate. I designed a 22-card deck that is geared towards kids, but also a lot of adults use it too. I think it helps them connect to a more youthful side of themselves. It’s for sale on Etsy and at stores as well, and I may do an expanded version of the deck at some point. Visual art has always been an important part of what I do and it’s something that I want to have take up more and more space in my career.

How have you been able to maintain a spirit of optimism as a working actor?

I’m so lucky that I’ve had good support from my family. I am also fortunate that I was not in the public eye in a really large way as a child. Experiencing fame when you’re really young and your brain is still developing is so difficult. I would’ve loved to have been a famous young actor, but I am ultimately glad that wasn’t my road because no one’s equipped for that, even with the greatest support around you. I don’t think our brains are wired for that level of attention. Things have a way of working themselves out and for me, it’s been valuable to have many interests, creative and otherwise, to lean on when the rejection comes or I’m not on set as much I’d like to be.

It was a joy seeing Emily Robinson pop up in your film, another great talent who has straddled the line between acting and directing.

I’ve known Emily since I was probably about 15 or 16, which is when I really started to go to Los Angeles more and more. I was living in Florida, but I spent a couple months in LA going to auditions and meeting people. At a callback for a Nickelodeon show, I met a young actor named Kalama Epstein, and a week later, I saw him at another callback, which sort of solidified our friendship. He brought me into this world of people from different parts of the country who are very much like me, and Emily Robinson was one of those people. She was from New York but spending time in LA, and especially now in adulthood, I’ve really started to fully understand the value of those friendships. I certainly had friends in Florida, but it is a very unique and distinct experience to be living somewhere else at a young age and going on auditions, so I felt really seen by people like Emily, and it’s been so much fun to watch everyone’s careers unfold. I wish Emily had a bigger part in the short, but I just wanted to have her next to me in that audition scene.

Since it was my visit to David Lynch’s resting place that led to this conversation happening, not to mention the fact that you’re sipping coffee from an Agent Cooper mug, I must ask what the importance is of Lynch and “Twin Peaks” for you?

I’m a huge “Twin Peaks” fan, and I love the ensemble of that show. But oh goodness, where to begin with David? I love him so much. I saw this documentary about him recently, “It’s a Beautiful World,” about his time with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. There’s a famous photo of him that comes from the doc where he’s holding a coke and a cookie, and he’s so happy because he’s just been eating Indian food for weeks. He seemed to be someone who celebrated the menial or trivial things in life, as well as the people he got to work with. He enjoyed collaboration and was also dynamic in doing art across many different mediums. What a fabulous human being whose life will have a ripple effect forever. 

I could not agree more. Where should people keep their eyes peeled for your Judy Tenuta film?

We’ll be playing at the Oak Cliff Film Festival in Dallas, and are waiting to hear back from a few more festivals. Since we’re approaching the end of our festival run, the team is starting to have conversations about next steps. Though there’s nothing quite definitive that I can say now, the film will probably be online in some capacity within the next six months or so. I’m very hopeful that the film will screen one day in Chicago. Judy still has family there, so it would be really special to get to show it in her hometown. 

“It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story” screens at 1pm on Sunday, August 2nd, at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, Texas, as part of the Oak Cliff Film Festival. For tickets, click here. And if there’s any justice, the film will also be screening someday soon in Chicago.