It happens to everyone. But for Jenny Slate, star of Obvious Child, out now, it happened on live TV. Here's how she got over it—and came back strong.
I had dreamed of being on Saturday Night Live, so when I got cast in 2009, I was so happy. But it felt like an explosion when I accidentally said "f--k" on live TV during my very first sketch. After it happened, [SNL creator] Lorne Michaels wanted to make sure I was OK because he knew I was scared—I had never been exposed so publicly. The aftermath was hard; people tweeted that I was "ugly" and "not funny," and it really stung.
But even in those awful moments, I always tried to find a little bit of pleasure: I was still alive. I liked my lunch.
Lorne and I never talked when I was fired at the end of the season; I got the news online. I've still never watched the clip of my f--k-up. That'd be like watching yourself fall down the aisle at your wedding! I feel like it happened to somebody else, and I want to tell her, "Oh, girl. I'm so sorry, but you need to move on." If you ever fall on your face at work, I want you to remember: It's just one moment in time. It's one moment in a long life, and it's important to get up again. I'm no expert, but here's what you could do.
GO AHEAD AND WALLOW... JUST A BIT
When I was fired, I ordered 50 million pizzas and invited all of my friends over. It's important to let yourself go through all the emotions. But if you start seeing yourself as a victim rather than as all of the other amazing things you could be, it's time to snap out of it. It took me a few years to get back to myself; I developed stage fright, so I went to a hypnotist. But quiet contemplation isn't all it takes to get you through a screwup. Join a meditation group; go on vacation. Do something. (Just don't become an alcoholic.)
BE NICE TO YOURSELF
It's your job not to make things any worse for yourself than they already are. If you can't pick yourself off the floor first, no one will be able to help you.
USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM
That said, you need someone in your corner who doesn't work with you. My husband was there for me the whole time, which was beautiful because it's really hard to see someone you love beat herself up every day.
KEEP SOME PERSPECTIVE
I'm the girl who wanted to get an A in school and had never been fired before. It's embarrassing to be fired publicly. Rejection is hard! That's a normal human response. But there are a lot of people who do terrible things, and I know I'm not one of them. Everything Ann Coulter says on TV is a billion times worse than any swearword I've ever said. Remember, one day we'll all be 81 years old and not give a sh-t about the mistakes we made.
OWN YOUR TALENTS
It's easy to feel that your job is the only thing that matters, but get out of that mind-set. After my mistake, I thought I didn't have the right to be creative anymore, but my husband told me, "You were creative before, and you'll be creative after—it's in your nature." He was right. That's when we created Marcel the Shell [the character that launched 30 million YouTube hits and a book deal], and now I'm in every scene of a movie. I always wanted to be a movie actress, have a female body, and own lots of purses. Now that's really happening!
