Tina Fey says she glues her ears down for her popular television impressions of Sarah Palin, but it took her a while to accept that she was almost a perfect double for the Republican vice presidential candidate.
“When I first saw her, I didn’t think we looked alike at all,” Fey told TV Guide in an interview released on Tuesday.
“Then during the (Republican Party) convention, I started to think, ‘OK, maybe a little.’ ... We glue my ears down. That’s one of the tricks,” Fey said.
Fey’s lampooning of Palin in a series of sketches on “Saturday Night Live” have more than doubled ratings for the longrunning late night comedy show and have been seen by millions more in online replays.
The Alaska governor entered the national political stage when Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked her as his running mate in August.
Palin made an appearance as herself on the satirical show on Saturday in a series of skits that played off her striking physical resemblance to Fey.
But Fey, 38, the Emmy-award winning star of the TV comedy “30 Rock” and the movie “Baby Mama,” told TV Guide she didn’t feel she had totally nailed Palin.
“I expected people to be like, ‘Ahhh, we thought it’d be better than that,’” she said, adding “I stand by the pieces as both fair and quite gentle.”
Interviewed while watching a replay of the Oct. 2 debate between Palin and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, Fey said: “I’ll tell you, that lady is five times better looking than I am. She’s 44? She’s got none of that droopy s.... She’s keeping it tight!”
Fey is a former writer and cast member on “Saturday Night Live.” Her new comedy “30 Rock,” in which she is the lead actress, writer and executive producer, returns for its third season on NBC on Oct. 30.
“I really admire stand-up as an art form,” Fey said. “Growing up, I would watch anything with a red brick wall behind it. I loved it. But I always said if I ever tried it, I wouldn’t want to half-ass it.”