WHAT WENDI WANTS
Wendi McLendon-Covey is one of the funniest women alive and distinctly not Hollywood. The Long Beach native lives relatively under the radar, and yet her witty flair has left an indelible mark on the comedic style of this generation. Her story is one of persistence, a lesson in finding the right shoulder to lean on, and proof of why remaining true to an ever-evolving self is the recipe for contentment.
The “Queen of Improv” began her journey at The Groundlings Theatre & School, a Los Angeles-based improvisation and sketch comedy theater famous for producing some of the biggest names in comedic show business. “Before I got married, I was trying to get into the business, but I didn’t know what I was doing, and I was trying to do it on the down low, because my parents were not thrilled about any of it.”
By the time she got married to her husband Greg Covey, “he knew what I wanted to do and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you just try it. I think you can do it, so just try it! We’ll pay for your classes and just take it one step at a time. Maybe it’ll work out, maybe it won’t. But there’s nothing wrong with you trying it.’ That’s what I needed—I just needed to hear that.” She went through the program, with Greg there every step of the way. “He was paying for my costumes and my wigs and all this nonsense—all the expensive crap you need to get on stage anywhere.” Yet, his involvement didn’t stop there. “He would listen to me rehearse lines and I’d run sketches past him, everything. He was just so supportive,” and he loved watching the process.
So did her in-laws. “It was kind of cool that they were on-board—it was kind of like a family affair. Like, I had a little cheerleading section and it was amazing … I needed that. We all need that,” she believes. “But, like I said, you don’t need it from everywhere. I needed it from my family and people very close to me because I knew they weren’t going to pull punches with me. One great thing about my family is they’re very honest, for better or worse,” she appreciates. “One of the big blessings of my life is that I had my husband and in-laws rooting for me, and eventually my parents came around.”
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Wendi attributes her success, in part, to the encouragement Greg has continually bestowed on her over the years, though she’s quick to clarify, “We are not a Hollywood couple, I just have to say. Like, we do the bare minimum of any of that stuff. We live outside of Hollywood for a reason!” When you listen to any of the interviews where Wendi talks about her husband, it’s evident that these two have figured out some secret to marital bliss, despite her reluctant tone. “I have no advice to give on how to make it last,” Wendi admits, “but all I can say is that if you can have fun doing nothing together, you’re going to be okay.”
Much of her improv material actually pulls from the humorous monotony of life’s daily routines. “That’s what life is mostly. Mostly life is very mundane, and there’s clogged toilets and relatives that get sick or whatever. If you can sit in a hospital waiting room with someone, you can stay married!” Her perspective points toward years of experience coupled with manifesting honesty. “My comedic approach has changed, in that, you have to tell the truth,” Wendi begins with a reflective tone. “I’ve been in quite a few improvised shows or movies. You always do what you’re directed to do, with a director and an editor involved. But the jokes work better for me if they come from a place of truth.”
She claims that it’s all about relating. “How do I say this,” ponders Wendi, and you can hear the creative wheels turning in her head. “When someone gets into trouble and then tries to redirect, that’s funny, or trying to get back to normal, that’s funny. Because the truth is just funnier than anything you could write,” as it’s easier for the audience to relate. “Those cringeworthy moments of when you’re trying to hold it all together and that trying works against you, that’s hysterical.” Of course, she divulges, “it’s not funny when you’re in that position, but when you’re playing it, it’s great.”
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In line with that comedic philosophy, Wendi today is perhaps best known for her role as family matriarch and stereotypical Jewish smother-mother Beverly Goldberg of ABC’s The Goldbergs. Long before the hit sitcom, her character Deputy Clementine Johnson on Reno 911! had audiences doubled over with her less-than-traditional law enforcement approach. Added to that, sprinkled throughout her career are countless guest appearances on numerous network television series.
Wendi’s résumé boasts more than a handful of supporting roles in big-name movies. Since her breakout performance as Rita in the film Bridesmaids, she has appeared in major motion pictures like What to Expect When You’re Expecting, The Single Moms Club, Blended, Think Like a Man Too, Hello, My Name Is Doris, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, and What Men Want.
Over the years, Wendi has also accumulated quite a collection of voice acting credits in animated shows, too, such as Pickle and Peanut, Bob’s Burgers, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Crossing Swords, Big City Greens, Puppy Dog Pals, and the upcoming Solar Opposites. “It’s not ever something that I went out and actively pursued—things just kind of started coming to me,” she recalls. “Thanks to animation, I’ve gotten to sing and do weird voices, which I love doing. I’m thrilled to get to do stuff like that—it’s just a completely different muscle to work.
Then there’s the departure from her trademark funny people parts; Wendi has been exploring some more serious characters as of late. As the lead role in Blush, an independent drama film featured at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, she garnered attention for her unrestrained performance as an obsessive-compulsive mom on the brink of emotionally unraveling.
“This whole thing about ‘you have to have it all and you have to have it all at once.’ No you don’t. You can get up and do the best you can, every single day, and be proud with the progress you’re making, and do it again tomorrow. But you don’t have to have everything all at once! I don’t care what some influencer on Instagram is pretending to have.”
On the other hand, her most recent film, Sylvie’s Love (released over the holidays), takes on an entirely different, heartwarming tone. “It’s a juicy, gorgeous, romantic love story that we need, that we want, with the beautiful backdrop of jazz music,” gushes Wendi. “It’s just dreamy! All the sets, the art direction, the costumes. So beautiful!” Wendi absolutely loved being on that set. Written, directed, and produced by powerhouse Eugene Ashe, “I hope he includes me in the next thing, because this is just a stunning movie and it did really well at Sundance—you know, for what that’s worth, because everything shut down right after,” she says with a sarcastic chuckle.
In Sylvie’s Love, Wendi plays a Julia Child-like woman. “She has a cooking show in the early sixties, and she’s one way on-camera, and another way off-camera—very foul mouthed, smokes, blah blah blah,” the actress explains, “and Tessa Thompson comes in as a production assistant, and then ends up being the producer.” Thompson’s character Sylvie starts out working in a record store and climbs her way up the ladder into production, while Wendi’s character Lucy is a fun, comic relief within the film. “But it shows how she is kinda busting through glass ceilings and getting her life started,” she elaborates.
Moreover, Sylvie’s Love addresses a viewpoint that has not yet been extensively explored in cinema. “It broadened my perspective, in that media-wise, like let’s see some love stories from people of color that are just love stories, without all kinds of horrible circumstances. I’m not saying that doesn’t exist—it absolutely does,” reiterates Wendi. “I think that’s something that’s an underlying issue within this industry. Not just, ‘let’s tell different stories,’ but let’s let other people tell their own stories. We don’t need white executives telling people of color how to tell their damn stories! And it also speaks to if you want it told right, you gotta write it yourself, and now is the time.”
Age brings with itself a level of experience and understanding that cannot be attained any other way. There’s also a do-it-yourself mentality that becomes increasingly more self-evident. Co-hosted with art director and producer Dfernando Zaremba, Wendi’s podcast Generation Ripe feels like an opportunity to reflect on and evolve with that ideal. “In your twenties and thirties, you’re kind of waiting for people to give you the go-ahead for things—kind of like how I was waiting for someone to give me the go-ahead to get my life started, even though I knew what I wanted to do since I was four years old,” Wendi assures.
“After a certain point, you’re like, ‘Wait a minute… I’m over 40. I’m not dead. I could live another 60 years, theoretically. Do I want to keep waiting for people to give me the go-ahead? Or do I want to just take the bull by the horns and do it my damn self?’ Because the honest answer is good screenplays don’t get made, finished ones do. Finish something, and then worry about sending it out into the world.” Whether it’s starting a podcast, writing a screenplay, putting together your own bakery, “do it, and then adjust!” encourages Wendi. “There’s no awards given for good ideas that never get executed. Execute!”
That’s good advice, at any age. “And, you are never too old to start anything!” she emphasizes. “That’s such a lie that people have told us for so long! ‘Well, I’m too old.’ BS! Maybe you’re too old to play a 20-year-old, or to be on the women’s gymnastics team, but anything else, you’re not too old! Take that out of your head,” imparts Wendi. Allowing ourselves to experience that evolution is absolutely key to not just survival, but also sanity. We’ve seen that become increasingly evident in the manner in which the 2020 election just unfolded.
“It seems like this phrase gets bandied about, but the middle class is truly tired of being lied to, constantly,” Wendi says. “Because we have social media, we can really take the temperature of the rest of the country in real time … and there is a certain section of the population that only gets their news from memes and headlines—true, and they are way far behind. But they are steadfast and they vote,” she offers, while also acknowledging that “this [past] year we reached a breaking point.”
In reference to the social unrest of today, “I really hand it to this generation of younger people, who started all of this. I mean, people have been fighting for years—this is not news. The younger generation, who a lot of people made fun of because, you know, they got participation trophies and things like that. But it’s those people who are saying, ‘Um, hey, it’s not okay that your son was killed and nothing ever happened. Let’s do something about it!’ Whereas my generation, it was just like, ‘Oh well, huh. That’s terrible, but what are you gonna do about it?’ We were very complacent,” Wendi concedes. “Now, you can’t hide from things because you can see it in real time.”
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We’re in for some major cultural changes, from sea to shining sea. Despite the shifting times, there’s a silver lining around the cloud of inequality that is worth noting. As of the 2020 elections, more women are serving in Congress than ever before in the history of the United States; the gender gap is closing, yet there is still immense pressure for modern women to be everything to everyone, all the time. “This whole thing about ‘you have to have it all and you have to have it all at once.’ No you don’t. You can get up and do the best you can, every single day, and be proud with the progress you’re making, and do it again tomorrow. But you don’t have to have everything all at once! I don’t care what some influencer on Instagram is pretending to have.”
We know she’s right, yet it can still be difficult to shake decades-old ideologies. “Having it all is a line of BS that makes women feel terrible about themselves. It’s very overreaching, in that it makes women seem like they should all want the same things. And they don’t, and they shouldn’t,” Wendi comprehends with assured conviction. “Having it all, to me, means I can go to bed content every night. Maybe there’s some stuff that’s undone. Maybe my house is a wreck. That’s alright! It doesn’t really take that much to make me happy, and I think, at our core, we all are satisfied with a lot less.”
Wendi goes on to further ask, “Are your kids happy? Are you content in the moment? Did you do the best you could today? When you go to sleep feeling content, you have it all.” Wise words. Life is meant to be lived, not fretted. Stand up for what you believe in. Be unapologetically yourself. Remember, there will be good days as well as not so great days. Yet, at the end of the day, life is a funny thing—don’t be afraid to laugh at it daily, and live each moment to the fullest extent.
Features Contributor Elisabeth Ross
Photographer Leslie Alejandro @lesliealejandro
Stylist Gabriel Langenbrunner @langy
Hair Castillo @castillo_13
Makeup Courtney Hart @courthart1
Photo Assistant Donovan Soria @soria_don
