Tawny Newsome is no stranger to holding her own alongside high-profile (and extremely funny) co-stars like Hank Azaria (in Brockmire) and, now, the likes of Steve Carell and John Malkovich. Her latest gig happens to be Netflix’s Space Force, the much-anticipated reteaming of The Office‘s Carell and creator Greg Daniels that is nearly upon us. The show launches on May 29 and features Tawny as Angela Ali, a helicopter pilot for the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Services. Let’s just say (without giving too much away) that both Angela and the actress who plays her, who’s steadily becoming a comedic force in her own right, are ready for liftoff.
Tawny recently took some time to participate in our vaunted twenty questions questionnaire series.
1. You walk into a bar. What do you order from the bartender?
Oh damn, the second we are allowed in a bar again, I’m going straight back to my Midwest college roots and doing a bourbon neat with a just-below-room-temp Miller High Life.
2. Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
Jaboukie!
3. What’s currently waiting for you on your DVR or in your streaming queue?
The last episode of Homeland. I can’t bring myself to watch it. I need to believe Carrie and Saul are still out there, running around, doing spy stuff, and falling for the wrong lovers. I need to!
4. It’s your last meal — what are you going out with?
If it’s natural causes, I want something fancy like a pâté and a crisp white wine. (She died how she lived.) Freak accident? Gimme everything from Taco Bell. (Life is chaos and death should be a party.) If I’m murdered, a big cajun-style crab boil. (You wanna kill me, you’re gonna have to deal with a nasty ocean mess.)
5. What websites do you visit on a regular basis?
Outbound Collective for adventure planning, Minimalist Baker for recipes.
6. What’s the most frequently played song on your mobile device?
This is a wild one but, right now, it’s “Hold the Line” by Toto. I’ve been playing a lot of drums lately (hell yeah, quarantine). This is a nice, quick one to practice to.
7. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice what would it be?
Get a full-length mirror, you absolute clown.
8. What’s the last thing you Googled?
The chords to Chaka Kahn’s “Ain’t Nobody.”
9. Dogs or cats?
Cat if it’s mine. Dog if it’s someone else’s.
10. Best concert of your life was…?
Stevie Wonder at United Center. Songs in the Key of Life. He did the album front to back. It was transcendent.
11. What book are you most likely to give as a gift?
Whichever one I JUST finished and won’t shut up about, but will 100% forget months later when you tell me you’re finally reading it.
12. What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
My husband does so many sweet, thoughtful things for me every day that it’s very hard to pick just one. So it would really be a pile of his tiny, sweet gestures. Like “Gave me the last tortilla” and “Held my hand on every airplane ever” and “Called Verizon” etc.
13. South Park or Family Guy?
I mean, sure.
14. You have an entire day to do whatever you want. What would you do?
Morning hike someplace remote and weird, then a Korean spa ($20 gets you half a day of bohemian luxury, plus there’s lunch!), and dinner someplace with oysters.
15. What movie can you not resist watching if it’s on?
Housesitter. Can’t resist Goldie Hawn, can’t resist tales about harmless con artists. It hits all the marks.
16. The sports team or teams you’re most passionate about?
This is a trap, and I won’t be fooled so easily.
17. Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
The French Laundry. BOUGIE ALERT. Sorry. I know. I took my Dad for his 60th Birthday, and it cost as much as my Chicago rent at the time, but it was very worth it.
18. The last movie you saw in a theater?
Cats! And I kinda hope it stays that way
19. Who was your first celebrity crush?
Alexander Siddiq. Deep Space Nine‘s dreamy Dr. Bashir had my heart from a young age.
20. What would you cook if Nic Cage were coming to your house for dinner?
Okay, we are gonna throw a pizza in the oven and open some mediocre wine. I don’t have time to flex my culinary skills, we gotta get to the bottom of WHY Nic is in my home. We all will need answers here, and I will need to focus. The coq au vin can wait.
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