Maya Rudolph, who became a household name due to her work on Saturday Night Live and in movies like Bridesmaids and Grown Ups, reflected on her career and having famous parents. The 51-year-old actress made a strong imprint as a performer on-screen during her time on Saturday Night Live. She did justice to all the characters she played in the skits of the show. Many people miss watching her on SNL.
During her recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s podcast, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, she revealed that having well-known parents who are a part of the entertainment industry did nothing much to her career.
Maya Rudolph reflects on her career trajectory
Maya Rudolph said on the podcast that her parents were musicians. “They weren’t actors,” she said. Her mother was singer and songwriter, Minnie Riperton who was hugely known for her song, Lovin’ You, and her father, Richard Rudolph, is a musician, songwriter, music publisher, and producer.
Reflecting on her career path, she said that her trajectory was that she wanted to go to New York and be on Saturday Night Live. She further said, “I understand that drive to be somewhere else – forage in a new city and create my own path. But that’s a huge undertaking. I wasn’t like, ‘Oh my dad writes songs, that’s gonna make me a comedian.’ There was no direct line.” She added, “I knew I had to get there myself.”
Maya Rudolph reflects on not many people knowing she had famous parents
The Bridesmaids actress revealed that she was not sure that people knew who her mother was. According to her many people did not make that connection until many years later. Speaking about her mother’s fame, she said, “Everybody that knows who I am now knows that’s my mom. But growing up, I didn’t feel like she was a household name. I felt like she was special, yeah.”
Maya Rudolph’s mother, Minnie Riperton died at the young age of 31 years. She died of breast cancer when Maya was just 6 years old. She expressed, “So when I started doing SNL, people didn’t really know she was my mom, and they figured it out later. So, look, when you’re a kid and your mom dies, you don’t want people to know that.”
She pointed out that she would not want to talk about her mom as there would be an ‘added element’ of people wanting to discuss her.
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