Our digital cover star Kiernan Shipka revisits her most iconic roles, from Sally Draper on 'Mad Men' to her cameo in the smash hit 'Twisters.' She also reveals who her favorite scream queen is and shares the best advice she received from Jamie Lee Curtis.
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00:00It's always nice when your character dies that you get a second chance.
00:04It's always nice to come back in the Riverdale universe, anything can happen.
00:07I'm Kiernan Shipka, and today I'm doing the breakdown for Cosmopolitan.
00:11We're watching my old clips, and I'm letting you know what went down that day.
00:15I have an interesting relationship with watching my work.
00:18I'm critical. I'm critical of myself, and I'm trying to be less so.
00:22Ranger Joe, it's not beating.
00:25You have no right to be here. This is where I work.
00:28Oh yeah, this is Monk, right?
00:30Oh no, I'm such a baby.
00:33I'm pretty sure that was one of the first things that I did for pilot season in 2006.
00:38And for some reason, I remember the parking lot.
00:40Tony Shalhoub was very nice, and I was a bit of a drama queen in it, I think.
00:46I think you broke its heart.
00:47Yeah, well, join the club.
00:49I have a tantrum.
00:51Oh no.
00:52I was a little baby there.
00:54When did you know you wanted to be an actor?
00:56I didn't have an ah-ha moment.
00:58I always was performing, and before I knew it, I was also doing that in a slightly professional sense.
01:05I just kind of always knew that I did.
01:07It always made sense to me, and it was what I was always up to.
01:11What's the most challenging thing about playing Sally?
01:13There's nothing.
01:16I mean, I try to be method on set.
01:18Aw, that almost makes me want to cry.
01:21I don't know, it's just like little Kiernan.
01:23I just want to protect her.
01:24That was, I think that was the first Emmys that I went to.
01:27Watching myself do an interview while I'm doing an interview is so kind of mind-boggling and funny.
01:32Getting the education that I got from being on sets is really surreal and amazing.
01:39And I feel like I'm almost Sally when I get on set, so it's pretty exciting.
01:42I mean, I feel like I learned from the best on Mad Men, that's for sure.
01:52Your dad is going to kill you.
01:53Oh my God, yes, this is where I cut my hair.
01:56Ah.
01:57This is a big episode for Sally, because she's really acting out in a lot of ways, because
02:01I think she has a lot of pain and feelings that she couldn't express, and no one really
02:05saw her.
02:06And what she was doing always made sense to me, that I didn't really psychoanalyze it.
02:10I cut it.
02:11I'm sorry.
02:12Hey!
02:13Ready.
02:14Or come at it.
02:15Go, oh, I know why I'm doing that.
02:17Watching Mad Men back, I see it from a much different perspective now.
02:20And Nora Zettner is amazing, too.
02:22She's really cool.
02:23She's still a friend, so that's always nice to see.
02:26This, toss it in the box.
02:33Feud!
02:34I mean, I have such fond memories.
02:36I loved working on that show.
02:38I'm such a Ryan Murphy fan, so to be on a show of his was so cool.
02:43And Susan is the coolest.
02:44I mean, Susan is legitimately one of the coolest people.
02:47I'll occasionally get a text from her, and it still makes me feel like, oh my God, this
02:52is crazy.
02:53Sweetheart, you did a fine job.
02:55You did a very fine job.
02:58And it was a really fun, great character to play.
03:00Gosh, I loved Feud.
03:01That was so fun.
03:02What's the best advice you've ever gotten from another actor?
03:05It was a conversation I was having with Jamie Lee Curtis when we were filming Last Showgirl,
03:10and we were talking about being free on set, and just having freedom in your work and not
03:15being afraid, and let yourself explode and explore.
03:19From a very young age, I was able to see extremely powerful, dynamic women portrayed
03:26on screen and work with those women.
03:29And in the back of my little head, I thought, I can do that, too.
03:38Oh, Sabrina Thelman.
03:41It's always nice when your character dies that you get a second chance.
03:46It's always nice to come back in the Riverdale universe.
03:49I really thought, goodbye, Sabrina.
03:51I guess, see you never.
03:53And it was not.
03:54It was see you later.
03:55It feels like it's been centuries, doesn't it?
03:57Sabrina was such a fun show.
03:58I feel like there was always talk of, is there going to be a crossover?
04:01Is there not?
04:02Is there not?
04:03The fans of Sabrina and Riverdale are so passionate and avid.
04:09I knew people were going to be excited.
04:10I want to do it again.
04:11I just want to do something beyond dog walking and lunch orders.
04:15He was so much more than an assistant.
04:17Ooh, swimming with sharks.
04:20Was a Quibi show.
04:21May she rest in peace.
04:22Then became a show for Roku.
04:25Genuinely, I had so much fun playing her.
04:28I see you.
04:29At the end of the day, it's about this sort of allure of Hollywood.
04:34And obviously, that's a facade, and it's all incredibly messed up underneath.
04:37It felt like a really interesting, nice pocket of time.
04:40And I really liked playing that character, too.
04:42She's a little freak, and I like those.
04:45It's kind of fun to play people that feel far away from who I am.
04:48I really enjoy playing people who are a little messed up.
04:51New kid!
04:52Get on the court!
04:53I mean, no.
04:54No, I'm okay.
04:55I'm okay.
04:56Let's go!
04:57Totally killer.
04:58I love that movie and everyone in it.
05:05I like our girl, Jamie, that I got to play.
05:07Another Jamie.
05:08I do repeat names sometimes.
05:09It was really fun.
05:10I love horror.
05:11I've done a lot of horror.
05:12I love comedy.
05:13I've done a little bit less comedy professionally.
05:17So to combine the two was really fun.
05:19Ninasheka Khan, the director, is so joyous and fun.
05:22You're out!
05:24I feel like I was surrounded by these comedic geniuses.
05:28I don't even know how many times I've seen Superbads and When Harry Met Sally.
05:31And this kind of feels like a love child, in a way.
05:33It was really young and silly in the right kind of ways.
05:37What's your favorite spin movie or iconic screenplay?
05:41I mean, Jamie Lee is really the iconic scream queen.
05:44She is the scream queen.
05:46And I recently re-watched The Shining, and I feel like I have to mention Shelley Duvall.
05:56Oh, Twisters!
05:58I love Twisters.
05:59I would storm chase with those guys any day.
06:02It was really so fun.
06:03I met, like, such great friends on it.
06:06It kind of felt like summer camp.
06:07Buckle up!
06:08Don't, don't!
06:09Lean out the window!
06:11Casting was quite last minute.
06:12Like, I got a call, and three days later I was in Oklahoma getting ready.
06:16When it came to the actual wipeout, I was on a wire, and they really yanked me back.
06:22There was water flowing in my face.
06:24I was saying, Kate, Kate, Kate, Kate, no!
06:28And then all of a sudden, you know, someone else pulls a little thingy, and I'm just,
06:32I'm just out.
06:33And that was actually something that was very fun about that movie, is that a lot of stuff
06:36was very practical.
06:37It was easy to react to.
06:39That was really fun.
06:40I had a lot of, I mean, I had, I've said I've had fun on that project a lot already, but
06:45let it be known, I had fun on Twisters, okay?
06:47Had a lot of fun.
06:48It's like a long dream.
06:54Oh my god, Carrie-Anne.
06:57Yeah, that was long legs.
06:59That was one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to do, truly.
07:03I mean, it was really just a morning.
07:04I think we might have done the scene, I don't know, maybe like six or seven takes.
07:08I think Oz did two different angles.
07:11I love Oz.
07:12I did a movie with him 10 years ago.
07:14I mean, it was a very sort of quick experience.
07:16We started shooting around eight, and I was done by 12, and we were in Vancouver, so I
07:21got to get a coffee and a donut by 12.30.
07:23It's like, be a little freak in the morning, and then get a delicious treat in the afternoon.
07:28I mean, it was maybe one of the best days of my life.
07:30I don't know exactly what I did.
07:31Like, I don't know what I did.
07:33I worked on it a plenty before.
07:36Learn everything, and then kind of forget about it all, and trust that it was going
07:42to be something.
07:43I'm so proud to be a part of that movie.
07:44I went and saw it in the theater.
07:46It was scary.
07:48I want to be her all the time.
07:50Not in my real life.
07:52This was really fun, and you can watch Sweethearts on Max now, anytime, anytime you want.
07:57Take your time, or don't.
07:58Watch it tonight.
07:59Watch it now.
08:00Watch it right now.
08:01I'm watching you.
08:02Open the computer.
08:03What else?
08:04I will show up as Carrie Anne at your doorstep.
08:07F*** it, Alex, leave.
08:08I'm not a Carrie Anne.
08:09Oh.
08:10Alex is like, you've been talking for f***ing forever.