The Brightest Light On Broadway: Ilana Glazer

You know her as one half of the comic genius duo in Broad City. So what is Ilana Glazer doing in a Broadway production of Good Night, and Good Luck with George Clooney, based on the very serious black-and-white movie Clooney co-wrote and directed in 2005? “It’s the challenge I’ve been asking for,” says Glazer, who portrays Brooklyn-born journalist Shirley Wershba, played by Patricia Clarkson onscreen. “It’s such a beautiful film and makes the hard historical truths creamy-dreamy to take in, to let it sit with the viewer.” Glazer hadn’t seen the movie until she first participated in a workshop of the play, but now she finds herself watching it “again and again.” Though it’s probably not so bad to show up to work on a daily basis with Clooney, Glazer relishes the dramatic pivot. “I get to surrender with full trust, really offer myself and let go of the control I’ve enjoyed in so much of my work,” she says.