How Cobie Smulders Approached Ann Coulter

By the time Cobie Smulders joined the cast of Impeachment: American Crime Story as conservative pundit, author and first-tier firebrand Ann Coulter, she was already familiar with the production. In fact, she had been living with it — in the form of her husband, actor Taram Killam, who came aboard early on as Steve Jones, the husband of Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who accused President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

The role required specific preparation because, as Smulders puts it, Coulter is "probably the complete opposite of who I am in my life."

The challenges for Smulders included channeling Coulter's signature cadence, confidence — and coif.

"I mean, it's really a lot about the hair, right?"

Emmy contributor Margy Rochlin spoke with Smulders shortly before completion of the Los Angeles shoot.

Did your husband start on Impeachment at the same time you did, or earlier?
Earlier. He was cast very early on. I want to say he probably started in the fall, and he spoke so highly of his experience, and the people on set, that it made me excited to do it. It made me excited for him to go into production first. Especially during that time. It was like, "It's great. It feels safe. Everyone's lovely. It's wonderful."

How did you find out about playing Ann Coulter? It is such a fun performance.
Oh, thank you. It's been a ride. I'm trying to think, because he was literally cast like spring of 2021. And this didn't even come to me, I think, until the summer. And then I put myself on tape and tried to do a believable impression. Not until the fall. So, I didn't know.

I didn't know much about Ann Coulter's involvement during this time. I don't think a lot of people did. It's certainly an interesting color to throw into it. It was just a wonderful opportunity.

When you put yourself on tape, did you try to approximate Ann Coulter's voice?
Oh, yes. I did my best. I think it was quite rushed. But it certainly was the beginning of what I was working on. She has a very recognizable cadence and way of talking, and her voice is pretty recognizable, so it was easy to hook into. But I listened to a lot of her audiobooks.

Not that I am assuming anything about your politics, but while you were perfecting her manner of speaking, you were also digesting some of her conservative views.
I'm Canadian — so that's a clue. (Laughs) It was helpful when it came to keeping things in the mindset of the late '90s. That was helpful to try to understand. Ann Coulter was sort of at the beginning of her journey, and she wrote her first bestseller. It was staying in that mind frame and reading and understanding.

It was an interesting exercise to really get into another point of view. A very different point of view than what I have. I was glad that she'd written a lot of books and read them herself.

Your performance made me think a lot about how one would describe her body language. It's sort of like an aggressive white-woman swagger, this very broad-shouldered, here-I-am vibe. I'm curious how you came up with that because it was very accurate and very key to who she is.
This is probably the complete opposite of who I am in my life. To be able to walk into a room and automatically think you're the smartest, that everybody wants to talk to you, that you are just the greatest.

Ann Coulter is very smart. And she is very charismatic. And she is able to hold that room. Those are all true things about her. I had to really detach (laughs) and do my job, but just pretend. I really had to do a lot of imagining and almost psych myself up a little bit in some scenes where I really had to own the room and just think I was the best person there. It was a fun challenge.

It sounds kind of freeing, the idea that you walk into a room, and you go to Matt Drudge and say, "What's with the hat?"
It would be great to bottle that somehow. Maybe that's what alcohol is to some people after having a few drinks. But not to me. But it would be great to bottle the Ann Coulter courage. And it's certainly a very powerful tool to have.

You said she's very charismatic. What did you base that on?
I watched a lot of her speeches in crowds that she wasn't welcome in. Which I applaud. She goes and speaks to people who really don't believe in what she believes. I've also seen her speak in front of people that love her. She's very funny. And she knows the right things to say to get the attention she wants.

I was thinking that who you play, and who your husband plays, are from very different ends of the spectrum. Were you two bringing home different energy?
We don't really bring our work home very much, other than, "What happened today?" But I feel like Steve Jones is struggling for attention and has that need to be somebody. Whereas Ann Coulter is already confident.

By listening to her so much, could you pick up what part of the country her clenched-jaw accent came from?
You know, it moves around a little bit. I wouldn't say it lands. I've never heard that accent anywhere. I find the way she speaks, there's a certain rhythm to it. And she makes sure she hits certain words or thoughts. It was more that, for me, than an accent, per se.

She's also very passionate. It's wonderful to see, especially from a woman of that time, who is outspoken and opinionated and willing to stand up and say what they believe, regardless of what it is.

Talk about the transforming power of that spectacular blond wig.
I didn't even know if it was going to work. I mean, it's really a lot about the hair, right? She does have beautiful, perfectly manicured, golden locks. The makeup team did an amazing job. And it was about just shifting features.

I thought, "I can get the voice; I can get some physicality stuff. But I don't know how it's going to translate."

When we did the test, I was very surprised. It was actually very helpful. Especially going from not wearing any makeup and sitting in my pajamas for seven months, by that point. It was a huge change physically. It was very helpful for getting into that character and the mentality of a beautiful woman presenting and the confidence you have when you're peacocking.

I talked to [Impeachment writer] Sarah Burgess. She was quite encyclopedic.
Sarah is a gift. I mean, it was so cool just reading her work. She's so, so, so good. I'm really glad she came on board to do this, because I think a lot of these scenes require dialogue and moments that are fast and cutting, and she really puts everything on the page.

I actually had a moment where I was like, "I just feel like she's saying this line, and it kind of comes out of nowhere. I'm gonna try it. I'll play around with it." And [Sarah] was like, "That's a very famous quote. [Coulter] was quoted on Larry King saying that." And I was like, (laughs) "I'm gonna shut up and just read the words that you've written down."

She's done a crazy amount of research. Insane. It was such a gift to go into a role — especially a role like this — and think, "I don't know, is this appropriate for her to be saying or not?" And to have someone else so on top of it for you? It was just wonderful.

Sarah mentioned to me that Ann Coulter is one of the few people who was enjoying herself — that she was actually having fun.
I was almost like a commentator on the events that were happening or trying to manipulate the events. It was interesting. I was kind of separate. Because I think Ann Coulter wasn't in the room where [things] happened a lot of the times. She was in a room where she was going to make things happen.

Did playing Ann Coulter give you insight into her? What motivates her? Is she just a provocateur?
The version of her that I play on TV is all based on my own perception, what I cobbled together from interviews and listening to her books. I don't know what she's really like. I don't know if anybody knows what she's really like. She chooses to present herself in such an extreme way, I can't imagine what she's really like. But this version is very much cobbled together from research during this time. It was '98. It was a very long time ago and people change.

Have you impersonated real people before?
I did get to play Jessica Walter as a young Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. Which was wonderful. She's not a real person. (Laughs) But they did flashbacks, so I got to mimic Jessica's Lucille.

So, what I am talking about [with Ann Coulter] is doing an impersonation. And it was quite fun to do and to nail little things that I've seen her do. It was a little more of a game.

Have you thought about what Ann will think of being played on TV?
Who knows what Ann is going to think about this? I don't know.

I think she'll like it — she's glamorous and assertive.
She is. That's true.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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