Since 2017 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has been cracking fans up and moving them to tears with its snappy, quick, and meaningful dialogue. Over the years I’ve found myself quoting lines from this show in my everyday life, and laughing about goofy sayings seasons after they happened. So, when I got a chance to sit down and chat with everyone from Alex Borstein to Tony Shalhoub and more about Season 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in preparation for its final season on the 2023 TV schedule, I had to ask them what their favorite quotes from the show were, and their answers did not disappoint.
Alex Borstein – Susie Myerson
Obviously, Alex Borstein had a hilarious line to recite when I asked her this question. The actress who won an Emmy in 2019 and 2018 for playing Midge’s manager Susie was ready with her favorite line, as she put on her best impression of Shirley Maisel and mused:
Well, not a day goes by that I don't say ‘Is your funnel cake delicious?’ Is your funnel cake delicious?’ I can’t, it’s constantly in my head.
While this line is hysterical and very memorable, Borstein also got sentimental with her answer, referencing a second quote that means a lot to her:
For my own line that I love the most from the series is in the pilot. I say, you know, ‘I don't mind being alone, I just do not want to be insignificant.’ That's the piece I'll take with me inside. But, funnel cake, is in my head.
She makes a great point, while “funnel cake” might always be in her head, this sentimental quote from Season 1 will always be in her heart. Many of the cast members had sentimental answers like this while reflecting on the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and drew back to Season 1 for their answers. However, others, like Borstein, had funnel cake on the brain.
Caroline Aaron – Shirley Maisel
Alex Borstein may have done a spot on Shirley Maisel impression, but there’s nothing quite like the actress behind the iconic character saying her legendary line in person. Caroline Aaron, who plays the Maisel matriarch, was quick fire with her favorite line from the Wonder Wheel scene, noting how often it gets quoted at her on the street:
For me, because people repeat it to me, so I'm going to repeat it to you: ‘Ethan are your funnel cakes delicious?’ That seems to be a big fave of Shirley’s. Anything involving food.
In a world where the Maisel-Weissman crew are constantly yelling over one another it can be hard to single out all the brilliant lines. However, if you’ve seen Season 4 there’s no way you can forget Shirley yelling at Ethan about his funnel cakes while everyone else bickers on a Ferris Wheel.
Michael Zegen – Joel Maisel
As one of Amazon Prime’s best shows comes to a close, Michael Zegen used this question as an opportunity to reflect on Joel’s growth. Midge’s ex-husband has been working to redeem himself since the second he cheated on her, and after five seasons I think he’s done it. However, the actor pointed to a moment in Season 1 that really kicked off Joel’s redemption:
The one that stuck out for me was ‘she's fucking good.’ Just because I love that scene. It was in the first season, last episode, last scene, when Joel is beating up the heckler. I just I love that scene. It was a very redeeming moment for Joel and so yeah, that's the one that sticks out for me.
I think this moment, where he truly realizes that his former wife is an excellent comic, is when we all sort of realized that Joel wasn’t really a villain. He’s simply a flawed and complex man who cares deeply about Midge, and made one massive mistake.
Luke Kirby – Lenny Bruce
There’s no doubt about it, the Carnegie Hall scene that ends Maisel’s fourth season is one of the most iconic scenes in the entire show. Lenny Bruce begs Midge to not blow her shot at fame, and this speech is ultimately what jumpstarts our protagonist in Season 5. Luke Kirby noted this exact scene when I asked him what his favorite line of dialogue was, saying:
The one I wake up to every morning, it's not a funny one, It's ‘just work and keep working.’ You know, ‘don't plan, work, just work, and keep working.’ I like that. And that's kind of my mantra when I have to do a job.
It really is a great mantra to live by, and knowing that Kirby uses a line from one of his legendary scenes in the show on the daily makes it all the more meaningful.
Marin Hinkle – Rose Weissman
Marin Hinkle, who plays Midge’s mother Rose, picked one of her on-screen daughter’s most iconic lines to answer this question, saying:
Mine is sort of maybe cliche but certainly for the rest of my life I think I'll remember ‘tits up.’
However, she went on to reveal she hasn’t actually said the sentence aloud, and Rachel Brosnahan knew that. What the lead actress did with that information made a lifelong memory for Hinkle, as she said:
But what's so funny is I don't think I've ever even said that aloud. Rachel knows how, maybe, shy I am about those kinds of things. And so she was giving sweaters that said [tits up], and to me, she knew I wouldn't wear it, so it was ‘marvelous’ instead. In fact, the other day someone said it to me and I blushed. So, that one I'm never going to forget.
I think for anyone who watches this show “tits up,” is a quote that is synonymous with the series. Other actors also pointed to this quote as their favorite line, like Alfie Fuller, who plays Dinah Rutledge, proving once again that “tits up,” is a fantastic mantra to live by.
Kevin Pollak – Moishe Maisel
Moishe Maisel himself had a doozy of a quote to share, and with the same gusto as his boisterous character Kevin Pollak recalled his favorite line, saying:
Mine is ‘13 Jews,’ from Season 1. Actually, it’s my first scene that I shot – episode two of the first season – was the ‘13 Jews,’ and it stays with me, and people yelled at me on the street. And I don’t know why, it takes me a moment to realize why someone is yelling ‘13 Jews.’
The scene comes not long after the parents learn that Joel and Midge will be getting a divorce. So, in dramatic Moshie fashion, he decides to talk about the importance of “hardship” and “self-sacrifice” by telling the story of the time he saved “13 Jews.”
Tony Shalhoub – Abe Weissman
As for the other dramatic father on the show, Tony Shalhoub recalled one of Abe’s hilariously clueless, yet confidently assertive lines, saying:
[Midge] comes in at two in the morning and I say ‘Your mother was very worried. She was in the bathroom throwing up.’ And Rose says ‘I wasn't throwing up’ and I say, ‘Well, she was in there for a very long time. She did not come out looking happy.’
This line truly shows off the many unobservant and clueless yet utterly confident lines of dialogue Shalhoub has throughout this show, and it’s comedy gold.
Jason Ralph – Mike Carr
As for the new kids on the block, they picked some excellent lines, or in Jason Ralph’s case, gestures from the new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The actor who plays Gordon Ford's producer Mike Carr recalled the sequence he filmed with his real-life wife Rachel Brosnahan, saying:
It's not a line but the first scene that Rachel and I have together, the first thing we shot together ends with me going like this [flips the camera off with both hands] in her face, and I'll never forget that.
Reid Scott, who plays Gordon Ford, then joked saying, “I’m so happy you guys had that moment together.” You know what? I’m also happy they got to have this hilariously explicit moment together too.
Reid Scott – Gordon Ford
As for Gordon Ford himself, he took the question and came back with an answer about a sequence he’ll never forget, because of how much pressure there was on it. Reid Scott explained an “epic oner” they do at The Gordon Ford Show, and said he’d been warned earlier that he needed to be ready to shoot the monologue in one take. Ralph also admitted that he was really nervous he’d mess the scene up for Scott, but they pulled it off, and the Veep alum said:
I was like just sweating buckets by the end of it. It was just so fun. The growl I think that was my favorite part. At the end of the scene, I go like [growls] ‘Writers!’ I kind of go off.
This entire cast has had to learn dialogue like this over the past five seasons, and while they’re talking at a mile a minute the lines are so memorable it’s impossible to not remember a handful of them. So, make sure you have your Amazon Prime subscription in order so you can watch new episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel every Friday, picking up hilarious and heartfelt lines along the way, before the curtain closes on Midge with one final “Thank you, and good night.”
