Time stops when Chloe Fineman first appears on screen in Summer of 69. In the dingiest strip club you could imagine—think glitter streamers, bursting light bulbs and disappointing tips—Fineman is unexpectedly swanlike as her character writhes around to “Boys Wanna Be Her” by Peaches. Somehow, simultaneously, the movie’s tone sharpens and softens. The moment plays out like a hypnotic fever dream.

In another actor’s hands, this scene would have been played for laughs. And that would have made sense—in the oft-raunchy teen sex comedy genre, women’s sexuality is almost always a punchline. But Summer of 69, directed by former Saturday Night Live writer Jillian Bell, paints its heroine, and her line of work, with far more depth. Here, curiosity is the catalyst, and sex is serious business. Well, serious-ish.

True to form, Fineman is inimitably hilarious as Santa Monica, a struggling stripper hired by an inexperienced high schooler (played by Sam Morelos of That ‘90s Show) as a “sex coach”. The setup hints at cliché, but the film zags—friendship becomes the focal point, and Santa Monica is behind a lot of the film’s funniest gags, not the butt of them. Her performance feels lived-in, and that’s what makes it so special.

This approach is a common thread whenever Fineman is on camera. Since 2019, the NYU Tisch alum has been one of the brightest stars in SNL’s new crop. Six years in, she’s on the show’s impressionist Mount Rushmore thanks to her takes on celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Coolidge and, most virally, Drew Barrymore. It’s beyond just nailing their voices and mannerisms. Like her approach to embodying Santa Monica, every SNL impression is deeply observed and uniquely insightful—not mimicking but inhabiting.

Off the SNL stage, she’s appeared in films like White Noise, Babylon, and Megalopolis, as well as shows like Dickinson, Big Mouth, and Search Party. There’s also a Freaky Friday sequel on the horizon, along with a pickleball comedy called The Dink. But Summer of 69 feels like a turning point, beyond comic relief.

One month after wrapping SNL’s 50th season, Fineman phones in from her parents’ home in Berkeley, California. She picks up on the first ring to discuss poorly timed laser appointments, fashion’s taste for irony, and stepping into her inner Samantha Jones.

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Is there a beauty treatment you’ve tried that you will never do again?

“I like everything I do. I’m just really bad at timing things. As soon as the [SNL] season wrapped I got a Fraxel laser, but I forgot we had to do SNL: For Your Consideration. Now, they’re putting those clips of me on TikTok, and I look so swollen. There’s nothing I’ve ever done that I regret, except for thinking about the timing of stuff.”

As an actor, what did working with Jillian Bell bring out of you?

“I’ve never really gotten to work with a female director in a movie setting. We’ve had a few come from SNL but it’s such a one-and-done thing. It’s the first time I’ve felt really safe on a set. Not [literal] safety, like I’m going to fall, but I can say things and no one’s going to judge me. I felt free to try a bunch of stuff, and so much of that wound up in the movie. Anything crazy that came out of my mouth is either from me improvising or Jillian yelling something out.”

Was there something liberating about playing a character like Santa Monica?

“Not to be all, ‘I peaked in high school’, but I was very uninhibited, comfortable and raunchy as hell when I was in high school. We were obsessed with Sex and the City, and my friends labelled me ‘the Samantha’. So, in a way it was liberating, but I was also getting to return to somebody who is not so careful. Once you’re on SNL and you have the internet commenting on your every move, you’re so much more careful in every aspect of your life. I really wish I wasn’t, because I’m not wired that way. So yeah, getting to be an unfiltered slut was awesome.”

You’re stepping into your inner Samantha.

“Yeah, I had really great friends growing up who were so uninhibited and confident. This was a
love letter to them in a way.”

Do you remember what, or who, sparked your love for fashion?

“Two things: I had a German au pair, and she had other German friends in their twenties. They would wear the craziest beautiful ‘90s gold and black and lace, and they’d let me play dress up with them. Then, my older sister was a stylist in San Francisco for a big chunk of my life, so her garage was always full of stuff. 

But I think it’s in my soul. As a kid, my parents made fun of me for never wearing a jacket. I thought it would mess up my look. My famous quote was ‘Fashion before death’—I would scream it as a toddler. In kindergarten, for Halloween I dressed as a young adult because I wanted this fabulous outfit at a store and my parents wouldn’t buy it for me. Then I thought, maybe [they’ll buy it] if it’s a Halloween costume? So, I wore this fabulous outfit [for Halloween]. I’ve always loved clothes.”

Do you feel like fashion has a sense of humour?

“That’s a big shift that’s happened since I started on the show. I’ve always loved fashion and being a part of that. But at SNL, people would be like, ‘Oh you’re doing fashion,’ thinking it’s so humourless. It was unusual to be somebody in comedy, and also loving who I am, which is a chic toddler. 

I remember someone on the show being like, ‘I went to one [fashion show] and I hated it. It’s so serious.’ Immediately I just thought, well, that’s because you weren’t at the right show, bitch. I see Cole Escola, and peers of mine like Benny Drama and Ayo Edebiri, and now these are all fashion darlings. Fashion is a really serious thing, but the best fashion doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you don’t have fun people in fashion, it gets boring.”

Exactly. I remember last year when Mary Beth Barone wore archival Versace for her stand-up special. You don’t typically see that—it’s an exciting shift. 

“When I started stand-up, everyone was wearing plaid and Keds. It was like, if you weren’t dressed like Sarah Silverman, you weren’t a stand-up—not that I’m much of a stand-up myself. Then seeing Cat Cohen, it was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s in heels. Woah!’ You can dress however you want. It’s rebellious, weirdly, to not have to fit the ‘jeans and a t-shirt’ [mould]. Or like, ‘If I’m really fancy, my sneaker has a heel.’ You know those wedges? Yeah, kill me.”

Do you have an off-duty uniform for when you’re moseying around the West Village?

“It depends on the time of year. For my summer off-duty uniform, the things I’m really addicted to and keep coming back to are any version of The Row Gala pant—but not The Row Gala pant. LESET has a pair and La Ligne NYC has a pair. That, with anything on top. Kind of like chic PJs. 
It’s [also] depending on where I am. In California, you’re dressing like a surfer nephew. I feel like I dress sexier in L.A. and in New York I’m covered in as much clothing as possible. We did an SNL sketch called Forever 31 and that was me making fun of the fact that I’m in oversized everything.”

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When you were on set for Freakier Friday, did Jamie Lee Curtis mention the impression you did of her in 2023?

“Everyone on set refers to her as J.L.C. She was wrapped before I got there, but she sent a lovely DM. And she messaged me after the impression, which I was shocked about. Plus, she posted it. It was crazy. Like, this woman was about to win an Oscar, and she was taking the time to post this SNL thing.”

You’ve said that shooting Freakier Friday in L.A. was a really special experience. Describe what that was like for you.

“That was the first time I had ever shot anything in L.A., and I’ve been acting for a really long time. Not that I have a long body of work, but I’ve been doing it long enough that I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is the first time I’m working in L.A.’ You’re always [somewhere like] Atlanta or New Orleans. Now, luckily a lot is happening in New Jersey, but it was so special. Even just being able to order Goop Kitchen was a revelation for me.

What’s your Goop Kitchen order?

“When I was in college in New York, like 2007 to 2014, it was the macrobiotic renaissance of Manhattan. I don’t know what happened, but everywhere you went you could get a carrot-ginger dressing on something—then everything went away. But Gwyneth Paltrow has a chicken salad with a carrot-ginger dressing. That is my favourite thing in the whole wide world.”

Your background is in dramatic arts and theatre acting. Is that something that you’d like to eventually return to?

“Absolutely. I think this summer I’ve been like, ‘I’ll write my [own] things so I can capital-A act.’ I
don’t know why it’s been the hardest thing to get to return to, but I’m excited. I really admire
funny people who go back and do that. 

With comedy, I took it really seriously but I don’t think I’m a serious person. So comedy has been a healthy place. But, like we were talking about with fashion, I think when you have unserious people in drama, it makes for great stuff. I can’t wait to get back to that stuff. Soon, soon, soon, soon.”