“Hacks” Megan Stalter brings the aesthetic of her absurdity to television

What does Megan Stalter’s character do? The pandemic-era internet comedian-turned-show-stealing advocate has become synonymous with an odd personality type: a subtle sense of distinct social cues, an inability to decipher nuances, and difficulty completing complete thoughts and sentences, to the point where people now tweet or videos online from strangers: “This is the character Meg Stalter”.

The customer is outraged by Starbucks’ corporate refusal of “Christmas” and auditions for a woman to be the housewife without understanding how the vacuum cleaner works. As is often the case with a good comedy, trying to explain it hurts a little. Fortunately for the public, much of Stalter’s work is available online.

“It’s very strange that you can post so much content and it becomes your portfolio,” says Stalter. The actor entered the collective consciousness of the internet in the early days of COVID-19 with his rogue army, regularly posting videos of past characters on social media and jumping on Instagram live to hone his long form. He has garnered millions of views and has become one of the faces of the quarantine comedy where stars like Amy Sumer and Katie Najim appear in their shows’ online chats. It seems that overnight, as if by sorcery or the incredible vision of an HBO Max casting executive, Stalter has moved from phone screens to television in a minor role. tricks. Of course, Stalter’s career began long before the lockdown.

After a fateful attempt at a nursing degree, Stalter moved to Chicago and began working as a nanny to pay for improv courses at theaters like Second City, Annoyance, and iO. “There’s no need to compare yourself to others,” he explains of Chicago’s comedy scene.

“The industry is not looking at us.” There were pushes to get to the Just for Laughs festival or a Saturday night live stream On display, but Chicago artists are largely left to their own devices. Eventually, Stalter began traveling around the country to give concerts; It was at a show in Los Angeles that he met tricks Co-founder Paul W. Downs. His first audition for the show was before COVID; When the second happened, the universe closed, Stalter returned to Ohio and his younger brother became a cameraman.

In the series, Stalter plays Kayla, the Las Vegas comedy assistant to Downs’ multi-talented agent Jean Smart. She is also the daughter of the agency’s owner. Frustrated not knowing, dutifully disarmed and blissfully selfish, Kayla reads Meg Stalter’s classic character. He is, as Stalter suggests, “someone very nervous and sure of himself.”

For his stuff, you can get Lyft drivers, childhood acquaintances, and TikTokers. Los Angeles coffee shops have proven to be fertile ground for creativity, especially when observing customers on an obvious first date: “The way people talk to each other when they’re trying to flirt is really funny,” he says. But Stalter also likes to make fun of comedians, actors and Hollywood. “I like to make fun of who I am,” he adds. “You can only make fun of something attractive if you really love it.”

The story first appeared in a separate June issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.