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Adam Scott Reveals Amy Poehler’s Diva Demands

Actor Adam Scott attends the
Adam Scott. Photo: Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images

A few months back, Amy Poehler revealed Adam Scott’s six most bizarre habits (he can’t keep his pants on, for example). She was probably playing around — probably — but we’ve been wanting to give her Parks and Rec co-star a chance to respond nonetheless. And so at a Sundance party for A.C.O.D, in which Poehler and Scott play stepmom and stepson, we did just that. Here’s what he told us about Poehler’s diva side.

She will not shoot a scene unless all of the lights in the building are turned off first.
“Before every take of a new scene, whenever we’re starting a new scene, she has a really weird process she goes through: She needs complete silence, and she has to have all the lights in the building turned off, which is really inconvenient because there’s a whole crew working, and all of the actors are trying to work. But we need to turn all of the lights out. So it’s pitch dark, while she, quote, moves into the space of her character. But, you know, whatever gets you there; it’s fine. And so we all support her, and it’s her show, so we’re all just going to have to keep doing that. But I will go on record as saying that I think it’s strange.”

She decides what the cast and crew will eat for lunch.
“She will usually dictate what everyone else is eating, and so every day when it’s lunchtime, everyone gets to their trailer and finds out what Amy had ordered for them. And you have to eat it, and you have to eat all of it. You can’t leave anything on your plate, that’s another rule. And sometimes it’s, like, raw squid, and you have to eat it because that’s her rule. It’s like Leslie [Knope] needs to know what everyone had for lunch. It’s some convoluted crazy way into her character that she’s come up with that she needs to know what everyone ate for lunch, and it has to be her idea. Otherwise, the scenes just don’t work.”

Adam Scott on Amy Poehler’s Diva Demands