Emmy-winning host and St. Louis native Andy Cohen speaks with Student Life’s former Managing News Editor, Zach Trabitz, after delivering the commencement address on May 15. (Isabella Diaz-Mira | Managing Photo Editor)
After his speech at Friday’s commencement ceremony, Andy Cohen sat down for an interview with Student Life reporter Zach Trabitz. The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Student Life (SL): How was [Blueberry Hill] last night? How was your experience?
Andy Cohen (AC): It was so fun. I mean, dude, I went to Blueberry Hill when I was in college. My college roommate’s daughter is graduating, and she was like, ‘Welcome to Blueberry Hill.’ I’m like, ‘You, welcome to Blueberry Hill!’ So, yes, it was really fun to be there, and the energy there was similar to the energy that it was in the ancient days when I used to go there; it’s just good vibes.
SL: You talked about your experience in the media working world. The media landscape is changing so much, and I’m curious as to what you would view as qualities or traits that are still necessary for both the media landscape [and] college grads in general.
AC: I think just ultimately finding your passion and figuring out, like, ‘I love cooking shows,’ and then going and finding a production company that produces cooking shows, or saying, ‘I love cooking shows, and I make my own on TikTok’. I mean, the thing is, in a weird way, the landscape has gotten kind of tougher, but in another way, it’s totally opened up, because opportunity is there for the taking and you can make it yourself via your own channels, which completely did not exist when I was growing up.
SL: If you were graduating today at 21, what would your first step be?
AC: Oh my god, Zach. I mean, my first step would be figuring out where I wanted to live, or if there was a very specific thing I was going for that would dictate it. Yeah, so I would either say ‘I love New York, I’ve always dreamed of it. I’m gonna go there and get a job,’ or I would say, ‘Oh wow, this show, entity, [or] newspaper, is in this town. I’m gonna go wait tables until I get a job at that thing.’
SL: I’m curious, as someone who lived in St. Louis and then New York for a long time: What midwestern qualities do you notice within yourself versus other people who grew up in New York?
AC: You know, interestingly enough, I find New York City to be just the friendliest town and super neighborly. In a weird way, you have so many connections with your neighbors in New York City, because you literally live on top of each other. You see them in the hallway of your building every day. You see the same people at your bodega, so you have this weird community of people in this teeny little radius that you live in. I think that you can take the broader level of community that’s so important in St. Louis, and it winds up just localizing to wherever you are.
SL: Can you talk about a funny anecdote or story from when you first made that move to New York post-grad?
AC: Well, I mean, I just had a huge mouth, as I still do, and I just remember being the lowest person on the totem pole at the morning show at CBS with the loudest voice. Then, finally, someone said to me, ‘You know, we don’t need to hear from you about everything,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, that is so true,’ like, this is terrible. So I had to learn to kind of modulate myself a little bit.
SL: The idea of redefining success was present in your speech, and I’m curious how you’ve had to do that yourself.
AC: Kylie Jenner is a billionaire at age whatever. I think that can be a little daunting because we live in this world where we put people on pedestals who have unattainable situations. It’s my hope that the kind of idolatry of people with perfect features or a lot of money totally switches, and your generation starts to look a little more inward at personal gratification and personal happiness. That’s part of the message that I was trying to get across about success. I just think that if you are happy and having fun, that should count for an incredible amount, and you should be able to give yourself a break and just figure out just what that thing is that vibes [with] you.
SL: Would you rather have fish for hands or have to adopt a child every time you heard “Bohemian Rhapsody”?
AC: Okay. Fish for hands?
SL: Yes. It can be any kind of fish.
AC: Well, but that would render your hands inoperable, right?
SL: Yes.
AC: Or I have to adopt a child every time I hear “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Can you control how much you hear “Bohemian Rhapsody”?
SL: I guess if you wear earplugs everywhere, you can maybe reduce it a bit.
AC: Do you feel that Bohemian Rhapsody is so prevalent in your life that it could become [a] tribe of children?
SL: I’m gonna flip it back to you, because I’ve thought about this a lot. I can’t help you with this.
AC: I feel that although I love children, I feel like I would rather have fish for hands.
