Laurie Metcalf Visits Colbert to Talk Puzzles, Playing Hillary Clinton, and Sneezing on Stage

Laurie Metcalf dropped by The Late Show April 16 to discuss her newest role—a star turn in Lucas Hnath's Hillary and Clinton on Broadway—with Stephen Colbert.

“I am a Hillary Clinton who lives on a planet Earth slightly different from this one,” Metcalf explained. “We do not impersonate Hillary and Bill.” Fellow two-time Tony winner John Lithgow takes on the latter in the show, which takes place on the 2008 campaign trail.

When Colbert asked about the campaign trail, the Broadway vet said, “I don’t know how people endure that. I can’t imagine how grueling that is—to put yourself through a year and a half of that kind of pressure and being under the microscope every day, all day it. It doesn’t seem like people are meant to do that.”

The Oscar nominee also shared her nightly routine before the show starts: running all of her lines—something she's been known to do at the Golden Theatre for some time now—and jigsaw puzzles.

Colbert also asked the hardest line Metcalf has ever had to deliver on stage. Her response? Various types of sneezing in a David Mamet play. Hear all about how she crafted the perfect achoo in the video above.