Ellie Kemper Answers Our Rapid-Fire Quiz

Playing a cult escapee turned New Yorker, Ellie Kemper continues to stay alive, dammit, when Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt returns to Netflix this month. Here, a quick game of tell-all with the star:

1. If I weren't an actress, I'd be: A teacher.

2. Best career advice I've gotten: Create your own material.

3. The three qualities that got me where I am today: A large, round moon face; red hair that I now have to dye; and several substantial bribes.

4. Moment I felt I'd made it: Being cast as Erin Hannon on NBC's The Office. 

5. Kind of work I'd do for free: Something involving taste-testing gooey butter cake.

6. Favorite perk of the job: Working with brilliant artists. 

7. Worst pitfall of the job: Waiting.

8. How I made my first dollar: Babysitting the neighbor kids.

9. Who do you admire and why? Tina Fey, because she works hard and doesn't complain.

10. Last thing I binge-watched: Final month of Late Show with David Letterman.

11. Book that left a lasting impression on me: The Easter Parade by Richard Yates.

12. Song that always makes me cry: Sufjan Stevens' "Fourth of July."

13. Song I want played at my funeral: Andraé Crouch's "Soon and Very Soon."

14. First album I bought: Belinda Carlisle's Runaway Horses.

15. If I could live in a foreign country, it would be: England.

16. One thing I'm exceptionally good at: Keeping a conversation going. 

17. One thing I'm epically bad at: Ending a conversation.

18. How I clear my mind after a crappy day: A nice long run.

19. Something nice I did for myself recently because, hey, why not? Asked/told my husband to give me a foot massage.

20. If I could compete in an Olympic sport, I'd like it to be: Figure skating. 

21. My first kiss: Was slobbery and reeked of Italian food.

22. The three qualities I thought I wanted in a partner: Very tall, brown hair, kind.

23. The three qualities I know now matter: Fairly tall, brown hair, kind.

24. Advice to a woman with a broken heart: One day at a time.

25. What my high school boyfriend would say about me: She ate too much Italian food.

This article appears in the April issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands now. 

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