It’s Thanksgiving week, making it the perfect time to revisit one of the most iconic television scenes of the holiday.
Season 3, Episode 7 of The West Wing features a beloved sequence in which President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) consults the Butterball turkey hotline on Thanksgiving. Two years ago, Ana Gasteyer revealed that she, in fact, provided the voice on the other side of the line as President Bartlet fumbled for a cover name and dissected the ins and outs of preparing stuffing.
After she shared the fun fact via Twitter, the anecdote went viral, prompting cast members of the show and even creator Aaron Sorkin himself to share that they had no idea the Saturday Night Live alum provided a critical half of the conversation.
MY STAR TURN ON #westwing WAS AS THE BUTTERBALL OPERATOR. Imdb it! https://t.co/tU0sD8UaMq
— Ana Gasteyer (@AnaGasteyer) November 21, 2019
Now, Ana Gasteyer has shared how the pieces behind her appearance came together in an extended interview with Consequence.
“One of my directors at Groundlings [Tony Sepulveda] went on to become a very successful casting director,” she explains. “I was on SNL, and I was in New York at the time… He called me up and said, ‘Would you want to be the Butterball turkey hotline lady? You just have to record it in a booth, just audio, so we don’t need you in L.A. You can just record it in New York.’”
