Rachel Bloom  - As Told By Her
Why Rachel Bloom feels like Santa
02:25 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Rachel Bloom’s absolutely ready for you to introduce her to your kids as Silver from “The Angry Birds Movie 2.”

“Oh, I think that would be lovely!” she tells CNN, recalling her own avid enthusiasm for the animated movies of the “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator/star’s own youth. “I do remember ages four through seven: it was ‘The Brave Little Toaster,’ and then I would say, like, seven through nine was ‘Aladdin.’ And then I loved ‘Space Jam. ‘And then when I was in middle school, it was ‘Shrek’ – I loved ‘Shrek!’ I watched it so much!”

“There are some actors who I still think of primarily as voices in the animated films of my childhood,” she adds. “I think of Jeremy Irons as Scar from ‘The Lion King.’ I think of Eartha Kitt as Yzma from ‘The Emperor’s New Groove.’ I think it’s a huge compliment.”

And while she’s admits she’s “terrible” at the video game that inspired the film franchise, she’s very fond of her character Silver, an original creating for the sequel who, despite being raised by pigs, is revealed to be a skilled flyer and extremely resourceful.

“She’s super into the ideas that she has – the only way to describing it is kind of like dork-ily into the ideas,” laughs Bloom. “And the reason that I describe it as that is because I’m the same way. You get so into your own idea that it turns anyone into like an 11-year-old kid – that’s how she is about her ideas.” The actress enjoyed “saying everything through kind of a smile, even if sometimes it’s gritted teeth. I’ve been giving her that 1,000,000% energy at all times because she really wants to make the world a better place.”

Rachel Bloom voices Silver "The Angry Birds Movie 2."

Voice acting’s been in Bloom’s wheelhouse since well before her TV breakout with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” four years ago, although not every gig has been as high profile as “The Angry Birds Movie 2.”

“I booked a spec commercial for Sierra Mist that was never aired,” she recalls. “I played an animated tree, and it was crazy that I booked something, because it was the first commercial thing that I’d booked. I remember stepping into the studio and being really nervous and then it went by in like 10 seconds and then I left. and it’s what got me eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild.”

Her edgy musical-comedy series concluded its four-season run on The CW in the spring, and Bloom has spent the ensuing months on a bit of celebration tour, first on a multi-city concert trek performing songs from the series with her castmates, and currently with one or two solo shows every few weeks.

Even knowing the level of devotion “Crazy Ex’s” fanbase demonstrated through its run, Bloom wasn’t entirely prepared for the reception she received from the live audience.

“It’s a whole other level: the fan interactions at these shows because it’s incredibly personal for them. When you make a TV show you’re kind of doing it in a vacuum, unless the times that you’re on Twitter and kind of actively talking to fans. So in the live shows, the content from the TV show really takes on its own life,” Bloom said. e

“When we do anything live, we try to not just redo the songs the way we did them on the show,” Bloom adds. “We try to make them special for live performance, and we play a version of ourselves, because it feels like we want to be there and connect with the audience. Our audiences are the most just devoted, devoted, sweet people you’ll ever meet.”

Songs from the series’ swansong season are also enjoying a victory lap of their own, with two Emmy nominations: “Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal,” written by Bloom and her musical collaborators Adam Schlesinger and Jack Dolgen got a nod in the outstanding original music & lyrics category, and the fourth season theme song written by the trio is up for outstanding original main title theme music.

Rachel Bloom in 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'

“I’m really, I’m so excited – I think I’m going to go to both nights at Creative Arts, which means two pretty dresses,” Bloom says, proud that the show – which was never a ratings sensation despite its loyal core viewership – snagged such proud distinctions, given that it didn’t have an awards campaign budget to on pair with bigger juggernaut shows on the broadcast networks and streaming services. Nevertheless, “Crazy Ex” prevailed among its creative peers.

“We didn’t get any nominations last year, and that stung because I was really proud of our work last year, and so to get two in our final season was great,” she says.

Bloom’s not yet charted a specific future for her next labor of love, but she doesn’t believe it’ll be as all-consuming as her last.

“I will never do another show like ‘Crazy Ex’ again, because it would be physically impossible,” she says. “We were writing at the same time, we were filming at the same time we were editing, so I was going … I mean I would get the hair and makeup trailer, sometimes be looking at writing outlines, and then in between scenes go to editing. I could never do that again.”

Currently, “I’m kind of getting the lay of the land,” she says, considering possibilities ranging between TV, film, recording and theater. “It’s just what’s like, ‘What’s the good idea? What am I interested in?’ It’s always the idea before the format.”

She’s enjoying the luxury of choice – kind of. “It’s freeing and a little scary to not have hard deadlines for most of this stuff, so that way I can spend the rest of the day sleeping. But then, of course, wake up tomorrow and go, ‘Oh, I really should get on that thing!’”