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"People were saying how unattractively I was playing Chelsea, and all I did was not wear makeup and put braces on," the SNL alum said. "If you say that, you're saying I'm unattractive!"
Saturday Night Live alum Julia Sweeney is taking a look back at her 1993 portrayal of Chelsea Clinton in a skit that also starred Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks as Bill and Hillary Clinton.
While appearing on the Fly on the Wall podcast, hosted by David Spade and Dana Carvey, Sweeney opened up about her thoughts on the segment that she claims got the former first lady to actually write a letter of complaint to showrunner Lorne Michaels.
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View Story"People were saying how unattractively I was playing Chelsea, and all I did was not wear makeup and put braces on," said Sweeney. "If you say that, you're saying I'm unattractive!"
And while Sweeney assured that she "wasn't trying to play [Chelsea] unattractive," she now understands Hillary's point of view as a parent.
"I just didn’t wear makeup and put on braces," added Sweeney, "That was it, and a wig. A long wig... I understood what Hillary was saying, especially now that I’m a parent. It's like, yeah f--k off. I mean, don’t play kids. That was wrong. She was right, that was wrong."
Incidentally, SNL apologized to Clinton around the same era of the show after a Wayne’s World sketch saw Mike Myers and Dana Carvey’s characters suggest Chelsea was less attractive than then-vice president Al Gore's daughters.
"We felt, upon reflection, that if it was in any way hurtful, it wasn't worth it," Lorne stated in the apology. "She's a kid, a kid who didn't choose to be in public life."
Saturday Night Live is currently on hold due to the Hollywood strikes, but will return once SAG-AFTRA and the WGA reach an agreement with the studios.
