Samantha Bee has been killing it as the only woman in the late-night game ever since her new show, "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," premiered in February.
On Tuesday, Bee and the show's head writer Jo Miller chatted with Vulture editor Stacey Wilson Hunt in front of a packed crowd as part of the Tribeca Film Festival. Here's a few things we learned:
Peaches' "Boys Wanna Be Her" was always Bee's top choice for her show's theme song.
"Well, almost from the moment of knowing that we were going to be doing the show, it came to me in a moment where I just went, 'Well Peaches will do the song. Because Peaches. We're into the same things," she said.
"I made a playlist for everybody, and I was like, 'Let's just throw songs into the mix.' But ultimately I knew which song I wanted from the very beginning. And we were deliberating a little and everyone was talking about it and I thought, 'Why don't I just DM Peaches on Twitter and ask her if we can have her song?' And so I did. And then she said yes. And then we paid for it."
Blazers give her life.
"It was not an early decision [to specifically not wear skirts or dresses]. I had a dress in a test show, honestly, because I just thought that's what you did. And I was just so uncomfortable, I was just physically ... I was so tight, and you know, just so cinched. I was honestly standing there like this [mimics her rigid stance] and my high heels kept poking through the floor... It was a disaster. And then I think possibly at the next rehearsal, I think I just wore a blazer. Which a blazer is -- it's my life staple. I just love -- I rock a blazer, I cannot help it," Bee explained.
"So I was just wearing a blazer and running shoes at rehearsal and everyone was like, 'You seem comfortable, do you want to wear that on the show, please? Because that dress was terrible.'"
Bee will get to vote in her first U.S. presidential election since becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2014.
"I voted today [in the New York State primary]. So exciting! It was fine, it felt good," she said, when asked about the experience. "You know it's not the most glamorous process in the world. But it was adorable for me. I stood in line. I did my thing. I got my sticker -- I made them give me a sticker."
The people she interviews know full well what they are getting into -- no, really.
"This is not going to be easy to believe but [Texas Rep. Dan Flynn and I] actually had a really great conversation. He was really pleasant, we had a nice afternoon. We disagreed with each other on absolutely almost everything. Well, everything politically we very much disagree on, but as people we're agreeable. And he knew," she said regarding her interview with the anti-abortion lawmaker.
"I don't want to ambush people. I don't like to interview people who don't know where I'm coming from. It's really just uncomfortable for me," Bee said. "I like us to be on pretty equal footing when we go into a room together, it just makes me feel better quite honestly."
She continued, "So he was very aware of our point of view and what we we were going to be talking about and we certainly had a lively discussion. And at the end of the discussion, it was very amicable and friendly. I don't think he liked the piece, but he did have a chance to express his point of view and we're being very careful about that on the show. We're really giving people a chance to express their point of view. It's important to me that we give people enough time that they feel like, 'At least I got my point out there.'"
"The Trump supporters were happy. Oh, they were very happy," she added. "They thought that I looked really stupid and like a complete idiot and that I was very brave for letting them walk all over me."
Bee became pregnant three times during her tenure at "The Daily Show" and credits Jon Stewart as the reason she felt she never had to hide it, which is often common for women on TV.
"I've got to give a lot of credit to Jon Stewart, too. Even the first time I was pregnant, I was so worried to tell him because I was like, "Oh no, can a woman visibly be pregnant on camera?" Like, we're so not used to seeing it. So I had a lot of doubt and I remember going into his office with a lot of trepidation and just really laying it down -- and I might have cried -- and he was really patient about it ... And he was great," she said of the former "Daily Show" host. He didn't care if I was this big or this big, he just didn't care. He just got it. "It didn't matter to him, he was all about our happiness. He was like, 'Do whatever you need to do. That's fine. We'll find blazers that are big enough."
"Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. ET on TBS.
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