Rachel Brosnahan has said starring in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel gets more and more terrifying every time.
Filming of the fourth series began in New York this month, with the 30-year-old American actress reprising the role of Midge Maisel, a housewife who discovers a talent for comedy after her marriage falls apart.
Brosnahan told Cosmopolitan UK she originally took the role thinking stand-up would not be a major part of it.
However, as the story has evolved and her character has become more successful, she has herself had to develop her stand-up skills.
She said: “It’s definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done. It continues to get more terrifying as we go on.
“As someone who had never done comedy before, I justified (the role) to myself in the beginning by thinking ‘Midge isn’t a stand-up comedian, she is just a funny lady having a breakdown. I can do that, I’m an actor. I can act this mental breakdown with this great dialogue.’
“But, as the show has gone on, Midge has had to become much more technically accomplished.
“She is a stand-up now and the audiences keep getting bigger, so I’m nervous all the time.”
Brosnahan dismissed the idea that she might take up comedy herself.
“I would not fare well. I have a whole new respect for stand-up comedians,” she said.
“I don’t know how they do what they do. I became an actor so I didn’t have to be myself all the time.
“Being a stand-up, you are putting your whole self on the line for a laugh.
“When it works, I imagine there is no greater high, but when it doesn’t… I would just want to crawl into a hole and die.”
Brosnahan, who has also appeared in House Of Cards and Manhattan, said her confidence has been knocked by people criticising her fashion choices online.
She told the magazine: “It doesn’t feel great when I get dressed up for a public event and people talk about how much they hate my outfit or my hair and tag me on Instagram.
“It can do some knocking to the old confidence, but I feel fortunate that I’ve always been surrounded by people – from my friends to my partner – who are vocal about the fact that I am most beautiful when I look like myself.
“So the noise from outside is more easily blocked out. But it’s still there. Whether you are seen on a public platform or you’re being seen at your workplace, it’s something women constantly have to contend with. The noise doesn’t ever go away.”
– The March issue of Cosmopolitan UK is on sale now.