See Tina Fey's Younger Daughter, Who's Getting Laughs on This Hit Show
Fey admitted she almost didn't cast her daughter in this role.
It seems queen of comedy Tina Fey may have another hilarious star in her family: her nine-year-old daughter Penelope Richmond, the second of Fey's two children with her husband, Jeff Richmond. The couple also shares 15-year-old Alice Richmond, who famously played younger Liz Lemon, her mom's character, on an episode of 30 Rock. Penelope recently appeared on the hit Peacock show Girls5eva, which Fey executive produced and Jeff wrote most of the music for. Although Penelope wasn't originally cast on the show, she ended up playing the part perfectly and she's become a standout. To see Penelope on screen and learn how she ended up on the show, read on.
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The role Penelope plays on Girls5eva originally went to another young actor.
On June 15, Fey was the Today show's first in-person guest since the pandemic started. The actor, writer, and producer was promoting her new show Girls5eva, which just got greenlit for a second season. Today co-host Savannah Guthrie noted that Penelope is a rising star on the show. "Do you know her?" she asked Fey jokingly. "I know her. I live with her. I gave birth to her, and I will be cooking her vegetarian chicken nuggets later," Fey said.
Penelope plays nine-year-old Stevia, a young Instagram influencer who's the daughter of Busy Philipps' character Summer on Girls5eva, which follows the women of a 1990s one-hit-wonder girl group who get back together decades later. However, the part of Stevia didn't always belong to Penelope.
Since Girls5eva included a nine-year-old, the same age as Penelope, Fey knew if she didn't let her daughter audition, she'd never hear the end of it. Although Penelope did really well during the audition, Fey was hesitant to hire her. "I can't let the boss's kid get the first job they ever audition for," she recalled thinking. "But she did really well. We hired another kid, and then because of the pandemic, the kid was out of state and couldn't come in, and I was like, 'Penelope, you're up.'"
Penelope's only other role previously was one episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Netflix comedy Fey also co-created and executive produced.
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Penelope's TV mom, Philipps, was also impressed with her "brilliant" performance.
On May 6, Philipps told Bevy Smith on the Radio Andy show Bevelations that Penelope was "brilliant" as "minfluencer" Stevia. Smith agreed that "she slays that fist episode. She's so good."
Philipps also relayed the backstory that Penelope was only cast after another young actor had to drop out. She admitted that she told Fey she felt more comfortable having her daughter on set during the pandemic because she knew how responsible Fey was about COVID precautions.
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Fey said she was proud that Penelope was very professional on set.
Fey was ultimately happy she cast her daughter in the role. "She did a great job, and she was super professional and, you know, for like kind of a grim year of like distanced-learning and all that stuff, it was a little treat for her," said Fey.
But Penelope's performance on screen wasn't as important to Fey as how she acted behind the scenes. "I was very, very proud of her because, you know, it's one of those moments where you're like, 'Oh, you brought all your manners today,'" said Fey. "Like that's the main thing, right? As a parent, and I'm like, 'Oh, your manners were lovely.'"
And Fey said she was only a "stage mom" to Penelope once.
It can be tough for parents of young actors not to micromanage them while on set. However, Fey said she only fell victim to the temptation once over the course of filming. Fey's inner stage mom came out when she noticed Penelope fading a bit, and she knew they had to wrap the scene soon, she said on Today. To wake her daughter up, Fey suggested giving her a Snickers, since she couldn't give her a Red Bull like she would suggest for an older actor. Fey admitted it's "the worst kind of stage mom thing."
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