Tina Fey: first she broke the hold male writers had over Saturday Night Live. It was only a matter of time before she loosened the grip that TV had on her

Tina Fey is no stranger to TV viewers who love to laugh. In front of the cameras, she co-anchors Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment with Jimmy Fallon. Behind them, she is SNL's co-head writer--the first woman to hold the position in the show's 29-year history--a slot she won in 1999, two years after joining the show from Chicago's Second City comedy troupe. This month, Fey brings her skills as writer and actress to the big screen in Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters. Starring Lindsay Lohan as the film's central character, Cady Heron, and featuring Fey as her teacher, the project takes a satirical look at just how cruel teenage girls can be to one other, and just how absurdly funny that can be. Here, the comedian catches up with Alec Baldwin, an 11-time SNL host.

ALEC BALDWIN: My first question is, Why is Cady Heron not an Armenian girl?

TINA FEY: Wait--do you think I'm Armenian? I'm Greek.

AB: Oh, I'm sorry. Let's start again! Why isn't she a Greek-American girl?

TF: Because Nia Vardalos already did that. Plus I wanted her to be cute.

AB: [laughs] Now, this film is based on a book, right? Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bees & Wannabes [Three Rivers Press]?

TF: Mm-hmm. The book is a nonfiction guide for parents on how to help their daughters through the bitchy teenage years. You'll be buying it soon, by the way. I made it into a fictitious screenplay.

AB: Was the book funny?

TN: It's serious, but I thought some of the stories of the things girls do to each other and some of the interviews with real girls were funny.

AB: Uh-huh. And Mark Waters, the director--I know that name. What else has he directed?

TF: The remake of Freaky/Friday. And he directed The House of Yes [1997], which is very different. It's an indie film.

AB: I tried to do a movie with Lindsay [Lohan] about four years ago, so I know her really well. She's very talented.

TF: She's really good. And gorgeous. Have you seen her lately? She looks like Ann-Margret. You should try to make a movie with her now, Alec.

AB: [laughs] I'm going to remake Viva Las Vegas [1964] with her. I'll digitally enhance myself to look younger, like the '64 Elvis [Fey laughs], and she's going to be the new kitten with a whip. So how did all this happen? You wrote the script, and then what?

TF: Well, I went to Lorne [Michaels, Saturday Night Live's executive producer] and said, "I think this book could be a movie," and then we went to Paramount, and then I wrote the script.

AB: Of course. You're close with Lorne from doing Saturday Night Live, and he's got the golden touch for Paramount [which produces most of his films with SNL cast members]. How many episodes of the show are you guys doing a season?

TF: Twenty.

AB: You do 20 episodes of that show?

TF: You do 10 of the 20! [both laugh]

AB: True. How many years have you been with the show?

TF: This is my seventh year.

AB: And is this the first time you pitched a film to Lorne?

TF: Yeah.

AB: What took you so long?

TF: [laughs] I was just waiting for an idea, and this seemed like a good one.

AB: Hold on. Let me get this straight: You get sketch ideas and "Weekend Update" ideas on a daily basis, but you get a good movie idea every seven years?

TF: [laughs] That's been the pattern so far.

AB: How long did it take you to write the script for Mean Girls?

TF: I started the first draft two summers ago and wrapped it up by that September, but then the [SNL] season started, so I couldn't turn the rewrite around till the following spring.

AB: What do you think about that transition screenwriters go through, where you write a movie, hand it over to the producers and the director, and then become invisible?

TF: Well, I had a totally atypical experience. I did it through Lorne, and Mark Waters is such a super-cool guy, so they let me be in on everything.

AB: Do you think the fact that you wrote a screenplay about a 16-year-old is why you use phrases like "supercool guy"? [Fey laughs] So how many more years do you have in your contract with the show?

TF: Two.

AB: Are you happy about that?

TF: [pauses] I guess so.

AB: Unless this movie takes off, right? Then it's "I'm gone! Come find me!"

TF: Sometimes I think I'd have to have a baby to get out of here, that it's the only way I'll leave. But that's not a good reason to have a baby.

AB: Actually, Tina, that's a very good reason to have a baby. I mean, in the end, there's probably never a good time to have a baby, but this could be a good incentive. So what do you do in the rare moments when you're not writing? Do you and your husband collect butterflies?

TF: [sarcastically] We go to the diner.

AB: A Greek diner no doubt.

TF: Aren't they all Greek? What do we do? Well, we've been tied up in New York real estate problems lately. We're trying to sell our place and buy a new one, and it's just taking forever.

AB: What's the problem?

TF: I really shouldn't go into it, for legal reasons.

AB: Is there a movie in it?