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Kansas City-Born Actor Ellie Kemper On Her Transition From Missouri To Hollywood.

A smiling person with shoulder-length red hair. Wearing a white shirt and positioned in front of a light neutral background.
Andrew Eccles
Ellie Kemper's new memoir "My Squirrel Days" was released Oct. 9, 2018.

She's well known for her stints as assistant Erin on the television show "The Office," the naive friend in the movie "Bridesmaids" and the lead role on Netflix comedy "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Now Missouri-native Ellie Kemper is branching out from the screen to the page with a newly-released collection of personal essays. We talked about why her the book devotes a chapter to squirrels and what it was like to make the jump from from the Midwest to Hollywood.

She also told us what it was like for her to act alongside her high school improv teacher-turned star (hint: he played Don Draper on Mad Men) and what she thinks of comedy super stars Tina Fey, Steve Carrell and Lisa Kudrow. 

  • Ellie Kemper, actor and author of "My Squirrel Days"

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.