Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph lost her mom Minnie Riperton to breast cancer when she was just 7. Riperton, a talented soul singer remembered for her five-octave vocal range and her 70s hit song Lovin’ You, was just 31 when she sadly passed away.
And though her daughter has similarly made a name for herself in the entertainment industry, the Saturday Night Live star recently told Variety that she’s tired of being repeatedly asked about the tragedy of losing her mother at an early age. Rudolph, 52, however, stated she’s proud of her family and her mother’s musical legacy.
“My whole career, people have always brought up my mom, which is wonderful. But then they also bring up the tragedy of losing my mother when I was little,” Rudolph said.
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“And they ask me how old I was when she died. The other day, I said, ‘Why the f*ck are we still doing this?’ First of all, if you know me and you know who I am, you already have that information. And the second thing is, who wants to be asked about their childhood trauma every time they talk about their career? I’m 52 years old, and I have survived my childhood trauma.”
Rudolph also touched on how she feels anytime she answers that question. “I answer the question and then afterwards, I’m like, ‘Why the f*ck did I do that again?’” The Angry Birds Movie star said.
“Maybe this is the day where we just go, like, ‘You can stop asking.’ It just makes a sad story. But we’re talking about great things, yeah, and humans are capable of so much more than one thing. But for whatever reason, people want to really focus on the sadness, and I’m like, ‘I good.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rudolph, who won an Emmy in 2020 for playing Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live, touched on reprising her role in the late-night live sketch comedy variety show’s upcoming season.
“It’s a huge compliment,” Rudolph said in reference to playing Harris. “But it was also very bizarre, because I woke up to an article saying that I was confirmed to play her — and I hadn’t spoken to anyone! This is so much bigger than me, and this is about something very important. I’m thrilled to be associated with it, and I’m also glad that I’ve played her and everyone’s cool with it. She likes it.”
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