'SNL' Alum Rachel Dratch Is Revisiting Her Sketch Comedy Roots and Bringing a "Woo Woo" Persona to Life (EXCLUSIVE)

The year was 2004, and Debbie Downer made her first appearance on Saturday Night Live. Portrayed by Rachel Dratch, the character would become one of the most recognizable, hilarious, and iconic SNL characters to date. Rachel solidified her name as a legendary woman in comedy, and then in 2006, she left SNL behind to focus on other projects.

Now, Rachel has been popping up all over our televisions as she takes on the role of Warrantina — a free-spirited spokesperson for American Home Shield. She’s also taking that energy into her podcast, Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch, in which she interviews other comics and artists about their otherworldly experiences. She spoke exclusively with Distractify about what she’s up to now and how life has changed since her SNL days.

Most commercials are just regular advertisements, but not when you get Rachel Dratch involved. “American Home Shield approached me about doing some sort of fun character and, myself and the women from the ad agency, we came up with a few options and ran them by the big wigs. All of our options I really loved. I thought they're really funny and we landed on Warrantina, who, to me was just super fun because she feels like a sketch character,” Rachel shared exclusively with Distractify.

“So it felt like I was doing an SNL sketch almost. And I got to kind of create her look too, with the hair and wardrobe and all that,” she added, referring to Warrantina’s signature hippie look. “So just like we used to do on SNL, when your sketch got picked, you went to the design team and said, ‘Here's what I'm picturing.’ It was sort of the same thing for this. And they were definitely open to any joke ideas I had or scenario ideas.

“But I have to say that the ad agency was really really funny,” Rachel admitted. “So I thought I'd have to do more heavy lifting and I really didn't because they're they're really funny. What I love about it, it's like doing a sketch that happens to also be for American Home Shield, but for me, it felt like SNL or something.” The commercials are genuinely funny, which is why they’ve gained so much attention.

They also brought the spotlight back to Rachel, who completed a run on Celebrity Jeopardy! in which she took down Macaulay Culkin, whom she hadn’t met before competing on the show. “He almost beat me too,” she shared, “I was like, ‘I'm about to get my a-- beaten by Macaulay Culkin! He's very smart. He's very smart. So that was that was an unpleasant surprise to find out how smart he is,” she joked. “But he was very nice. And then in the last minute I did pull it out.”

In 2020, Rachel returned to SNL to portray Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was one of Joe Biden’s opponents in the primary. The 2024 election cycle is different, however, with a straightforward Biden vs. Trump rematch. When asked if she’d go back to SNL if the opportunity arose, Rachel shared, “My gosh, that would be amazing,” showing how much love she has for the show that built up her career.

“There's not as many women in politics, unfortunately, both for life and for playing. So, I don't know if I'm holding my breath,” she admitted. “But if someone came along, of course, I’d jump at the chance.” Plus, the women currently on SNL have enough to worry about with the recent viral video in which a “fan” claimed that SNL doesn’t hire hot women.

Rachel wrote about how an emphasis on looks and the pressure to be a “hot woman” impacted her career in her 2012 memoir, Girl Walks Into a Bar…: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle. Now, however, her perspective has changed. “I just don't give it air anymore … I guess I see it more like, you play your type basically. I’ll do whatever comes my way that I feel like is me,” she said.

“That’s a whole 92nd Street Y lecture,” she joked, referring to our short interview time and how to handle such a massive topic. But that just goes to show that a two-minute TikTok video may also not be the best place to tackle women’s looks and levels of hotness (as if women should be judging other women’s appearances anyway) in comedy.

Now, Rachel is giving air instead to her podcast, Woo Woo. “I always love a story where someone tells a psychic thing that happened or a ghost story or some eerie coincidence, and those are my favorite stories. And I was like, ‘Oh, these are my favorite tales. Why not have a podcast where you're having your friends come on, and tell the story?’” With crazy stories about ghosts and astral projection and guests like Will Ferrell and Tina Fey, we’re all about wooing for Rachel.