Just being herself helped Emma Willmann make it onto an HBO series

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Auditioning for a role wasn't working for Emma Willmann.

Just being herself on stage at a New York City comedy club was all she needed.

Willmann, who headlines Dead Crow Comedy Room in Wilmington this weekend, was cast in Crashing — the HBO series executive produced and sometimes directed by Judd Apatow — after Apatow saw her do a set at the Comedy Cellar.

That was not Apatow's first interaction with Willmann though.

"I had seen him a few times. We would nod or say hi," Willmann said during a Wednesday afternoon phone interview. "One time...we were walking in opposite directions. I was going to the Cellar and he was going back to the (Village) Underground. I said, 'Hey Judd, I really like the new ending to that joke.' He said, 'Oh, thanks a lot. How are you?' Then I got kind of nervous and just kept walking."

"Afterwards, I was like, 'What the (expletive)? I don't think I even answered him.'"

The awkward ending to that conversation must not have left too bad a taste in Apatow's mouth since Willmann was eventually cast in Crashing.

Willmann got other breaks through working at the Cellar too.

"I got a call from my agent saying, 'Crashing wanted to make you an offer,'" Willmann said. "I was like, 'Oh good, I got that part I auditioned for.' They were like, 'No, you didn't. Judd saw you at the Cellar with a comedian named Mo and they wanted you guys to come on and play yourselves.' It worked out kind of well because if I hadn't met him at the Cellar then that wouldn't have happened. I also met the (Stephen) Colbert booker at the Cellar and Louis CK at the Cellar."

Originally from Maine, Willmann has landed other acting roles, hosts The Check Spot, her own monthly radio show on SiriusXM and co-hosts Inside the Closet, a podcast with fellow NYC comedian Matteo Lane.

In a life surrounded by jokes in the big city, Willmann is still able to remember the funny from her home state.

"Lobstering's really big (in Maine)," she said. "Every year, they have the lobster boat races. Everyone comes out and people get wasted or drunk. The people watching, I can't comment on the people in the races. People get lawn chairs out and watch the lobster boats race, but it's funny because lobster boats don't even really go that fast. Some of them do because they're souped up, but it's not like the typical thing to race. I always thought that was pretty funny."

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