MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Each week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Earlier this year, Busy Philipps had a morning that can give you whiplash. She had recently auditioned for the new CBS drama "Cupertino." And then she got two calls.
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BUSY PHILIPPS: I found out in the morning that "Cupertino" was happening. They were all so excited about me joining the cast. And a few hours later, Dr. Davinski called me from NYU and was like, you have a real brain tumor, and it's got to come out of your head. And I was like, OK, but I'm starting a new TV show (laughter), so I don't know if this is going to work for me.
KELLY: On Wild Card, Philipps unpacks the experience of treating her brain tumor and filming that new show. She also opened up about another aspect of her life with host Rachel Martin, and we will note, this conversation does touch on sex and child sexual assault.
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RACHEL MARTIN: What's something you love that you discovered later in life?
PHILIPPS: (Laughter) Sex.
MARTIN: Say more. You discovered it...
PHILIPPS: Well, I just think...
MARTIN: ...Later in life?
PHILIPPS: No, I mean, I had sex very early, but I think I was, like, not - I think I had been raped, and I was a woman of a - and I'm a woman of a certain age.
MARTIN: Right.
PHILIPPS: And I...
MARTIN: Right.
PHILIPPS: ...Just was brought up in an era where, like, our pleasure was not a thing that we were sort of encouraged to even explore.
MARTIN: Yep.
PHILIPPS: And I didn't really - I, like, didn't get it kind of in a weird way.
MARTIN: You're like, this is supposed to be...
PHILIPPS: Like...
MARTIN: Fun? I don't get why this is fun. This is...
PHILIPPS: I mean, kind of, kind of, kind of, but, like, kind of not. I was actually just - I was thinking about this the other day. Well, obviously, yeah, for a lot of reasons. But, like, just thinking about the sort of - what - how it took - how long it took for me to understand that, like, my sexual pleasure is great. Like, it's a good thing, and it's a thing that should be - that I should be in touch with. And then I was able to do that. And if that changed...
MARTIN: I mean, to be clear, to be raped at 14...
PHILIPPS: Yes.
MARTIN: ...Is going to shift, obviously, everything for you. And what that...
PHILIPPS: For sure.
MARTIN: ...What that act means and how it could ever be pleasurable seems like a distant thing that you couldn't imagine.
PHILIPPS: You...
MARTIN: So yeah.
PHILIPPS: ...Can't. Like, yes.
MARTIN: It would take a long time. Yeah. It would take a long time.
PHILIPPS: It takes a - it took a long time for me to - way longer than I've - you know, I'm like, bummed. I'm bummed 'cause now I'm here, like, in this precipice of menopause. Perimenopause, like, has already, you know, taken over, and I'm like...
MARTIN: Girl, go get it now. Go...
PHILIPPS: No, I know, 100%. Yes, I am. But, like, I - you know, like, I read "All Fours." Like, I don't want to - like, I don't want to fall off the cliff. You know what I mean? I feel the cliff. I don't want to fall off the cliff. That's a bummer. But now Halle Berry is giving me hope, so I'm going to...
MARTIN: Yeah.
PHILIPPS: ...You know.
MARTIN: Yeah. I love that for you.
PHILIPPS: Thank God, Halle Berry.
MARTIN: Just period, for everything. You can just...
PHILIPPS: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Say that.
PHILIPPS: For everything. Thank God for Halle Berry.
KELLY: Wow. You can watch Rachel Martin's full conversation with Busy Philipps on YouTube by searching for NPR Wild Card. The new TV show "Cupertino" is out now on CBS and Paramount+. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
