Jill-Michele Meleán who plays George Lopez’s girlfriend on Comedy Central’s Reno 911! is best known for her impressions on FOX’s MADtv but is currently working with Emmy award winning Executive Producer, Sandy Chanley, on her One-Woman-Show Rule Breaker. She’s also part of the cast on the stand-up special Hot Tamales that is available on Showtime On Demand for a limited time. Want to know more? Check out my interview with Jill below!

Did you always know you wanted to be a comedian?
I always knew that I wanted to be on Saturday Night Live or win an Oscar since I was a kid. I grew up in Miami and my family is very Latin and they wanted me to get married and have kids but I knew what I wanted to do very young.

That’s interesting that you wanted to be on SNL and ended up on MADtv.
Which is good too. I was very happy about it!

What was your favorite role on MADtv?
My favorite was Drew Barrymore because for some reason, people didn’t even know it wasn’t Drew. People thought Drew came on as a guest star and played herself so that was cool. I haven’t met her but I am dying to.

What was the audition process like for MADtv?
It was very grueling. I think I went back 9 times for about a year and a half. They were kind of looking at who they wanted to bring in when there was an opening. So eventually it was the right timing and I did a few impressions and a few characters…you have to do an entire performance so I was there 20-30 minutes each time. After awhile, I was given an offer and I went straight to on camera testing and was part of the cast. That was absolutely amazing. So it actually paid off in the long run that I went back so many times.

Did you know that your character as George Lopez’s girlfriend on Reno 911 was going to grow into a character that lasted more than one episode?
No, I came in as a guest star and it was amazing. Then they wanted to bring me back and it was great. I kept coming back as different characters and playing George Lopez’s girlfriend is so fun!

What was it like playing Jenna Bush…that’s a very interesting role to play.
(laughs) It’s funny because it wasn’t that hard to play. We shot in my hometown, Miami and my cousins are from Texas, so I had the accent down and it was so much fun! We did so much improv that the movie is like 3 1/2 hours long!

What is your favorite and least favorite part about stand-up comedy?
My favorite part is taking responsibility for laughter. There is an amazing feeling letting people escape from reality for however long I am on stage. I’ll never stop doing stand up, I love it. The least favorite thing is that I still have to fight harder than the guys since I am a girl. So there is still that part where it’s pretty much a boy’s playground. Tina Fey is breaking the barrier with television and she is on my vision board but it is time to break out in stand up as well and be able to cross over. Most women choose to get married and have children and the stand up life is hard when you are in that life so I have chosen a different path.

What was it like working in Jamaica with Cedric the Entertainer?
When I got the call to work with him, I was thinking, “Is he going to be there? Are you guys kidding me?” He hand selected me which I found out later when I got to Jamaica so that was such an honor. Flying out to Jamaica was surreal because we were in an amazing resort. Cedric is one of my comedy icons so it was amazing. We actually ended up filming the stand up as a stand up special, Caribbean Comedy so you might see that soon.

What is it like working with Emmy award winning Executive Producer, Sandy Chanley, on her One-Woman-Show Rule Breaker.
She is such a gift. I connected with her about 3 1/2 years ago on a pilot and I was so honored to work with her. She has taken me under her wing as a mentor. Writing this one woman show was the most vulnerable and rewarding journey I have ever had in my career. It’s very much like a Broadway show and we had the option to take it to Off Broadway or turn it into a screenplay. We are currently turning it into a screenplay. We are taking our time with it and we have wonderful people behind it. You probably won’t see it for another 3-5 years because that is how intense the planning is for it and it is nice to have a friend that you can have around and always learn from.

Tell me about your experience working on the stand-up special Hot Tamales.
That was amazing. You hear so many offers in this town so when it started happening, I thought “This is going to happen” so it was great and the chemistry of us all is so nice. When it aired on Cinco de Mayo, it was so popular that it was extended through June and then July so that is amazing!

For more updates and to catch Jill on tour, check out Jill’s website.