These days, our knowledge of celebrities too often originates with paparazzi images and snarky quotes by anonymous “insiders.” After a while, it’s easy to forget that stars are real people. That’s why HuffPost Celebrity decided to launch its all-new #nofilter quick-fire question and answer series. Because how well do you know someone until they’ve shared their guiltiest pleasures?

You probably know Ana Gasteyer best from her wonderful six-season run on “Saturday Night Live,” during which time her uproarious impressions of Martha Stewart and Celine Dion made her one of the show’s most coveted performers. Since leaving “SNL” in 2002, Gasteyer has been here, there and everywhere, including gifting us with a reunion with former cast mates Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Tim Meadows in 2004′s “Mean Girls.” Now she has a starring role on the ABC comedy “Suburgatory” and is preparing to record her first music album, based on her nightclub act. But in the meantime, the 45-year-old mother of two took time to speak with HuffPost Celebrity about boycotting “American Idol,” lying to Lorne Michaels and whether an “SNL” appearance might be in the works this season.

What do you think of how “Suburgatory” is going? Are you pleased with its reception and the viewership it’s getting?
Of course I am. What’s not to love? Especially because there’s a craft to trying to get a job while being on a job you’re not embarrassed to be on. The show is hilariously written, so it’s been a true pleasure to beef up my résumé through that. As far as viewership goes, I kind of keep myself in a bubble about that stuff. I do live two completely separate lives, and that’s enhanced by the fact that I live in New York and travel to Los Angeles to film the show. So I tend not to think about “Suburgatory” when I’m not on the “Suburgatory” set. That’s the beauty of the five-day shooting schedule and half-hour episodes.

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Specs
Age 45
Accomplishments Stars on ABC’s Suburgatory; Saturday Night Live cast member from 1996 to 2002 (famous characters included Martha Stewart and Celine Dion)
Base New York and Los Angeles

What’s the first information you consume in the morning?
If I’m in L.A., I read my texts, then my email, then my mentions and interactions on Twitter, then a search for #Suburgatory, then I do a meditation on selflessness and get out of bed. If I’m in Brooklyn, I look out the window at the weather on the giant clock on the Jehovah’s Witness’ Watchtower building.

What do you read or watch or listen to at the breakfast table?
My children.

What occupies your mind in the car, on the subway, train or bus?
The many moving parts of my family’s calendar. I use Google calendars and iCal, and BusyCal to manage both.

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+ “Fun Size” Premiere – 10/26/12 (Cast)
+ rag & bone Celebrates Opening Of LA Flagship – 10/27/12 (Carly)
+ NYC Comic Con – 10/14/12 (Jane)
+ “Fun Size” Special Screening At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – 10/26/12 (Jane)
+ Cast of “Fun Size” on Extra – 10/26/12 (Jane)
+ Laker’s Game – 11/05/12 (Jeremy)
+ The Shakespeare Center Of Los Angeles’ 22nd Annual “Simply Shakespeare” – 9/28/12 (Alan)
+ “Wreck-it-Ralph” Premiere and After Party – 10/29/12 (Alan)

Seattle Men’s Chorus (SMC) is heading to south-of-the-border and other tropical locales this holiday season with Baby, It’s Cold Outside. With their unique blend of song, dance and campy comedy, Seattle Men’s Chorus has carved its niche as Seattle’s OTHER holiday tradition. This year they will add some heat to traditional holiday tunes in eight sizzling Seattle concerts, plus two out-of-town concerts in Tacoma and Everett.

For the first two performances of their 33rd season opener, SMC welcomes stage and TV star Ana Gasteyer (Nov.30 & Dec. 1 only) as the guest artist.

Ana Gasteyer rose to fame during her six seasons on Saturday Night Live (1996 – 2002) portraying celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Celine Dion, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. But it may be her hilarious NPR skit, Delicious Dish with Molly Shannon, Alec Baldwin and those fantastic Schweddy Balls, for which she is most famous. After SNL, Ana Gasteyer went on to originate the role of Elphaba in the Chicago production of Wicked and later reprised that role on Broadway. She appeared in the films Mean Girls and The Women, as well as dozens of TV shows including Frasier, The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She currently has a recurring role as the wacky neighbor, Sheila Shay, on ABC’s hit show, Suburgatory.

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+ Ana Gasteyer on Jimmy Kimmel – 10/24/12

When it came time to cast the younger version of Ana Gasteyer‘s character, Sheila Shay, for Wednesday’s episode of Suburgatory, producers didn’t have to look very far.

“[Executive producer] Emily [Kapnek] just reached out to me. She knew [my daughter] Frances loves theater and acting,” the actress tells PEOPLE. “It turned out great.”

In the Halloween-themed episode, Gasteyer’s 10-year-old makes her onscreen debut portraying her mother’s character in a series of flashbacks that depict her rivalry with character Paula (portrayed as an adult by guest star Rachel Dratch).

While she’s visited many of her mother’s sets in the past, Gasteyer says Frances took this new experience very seriously.

“She really loved all of it. I was amazed,” the Saturday Night Live alum says. “She highlighted her line and she really delivered at read-through; she was very focused in terms of her blocking and hitting her mark, all of the technical parts of it.”

In fact, the experience proved easier on Frances than it did for Mom.

“It’s kind of a whole deal to be on set with a kid,” Gasteyer, 45, says. “I suddenly realized I can’t leave my kid alone on set, so one of my ADs kind of helped out.”

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While tonight’s brand new episode of SUBURGATORY is important for a certain on-screen relationship, it’s also a pretty big episode for star Ana Gasteyer (Sheila) — not only does Gasteyer get to reunite with her SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE co-star Rachel Dratch (Paula), but Gasteyer’s real-life daughter, Frances Mary McKittrick, makes her acting debut as a young version of Sheila.

“There are flashbacks to Rachel’s character and mine, and it was her first acting job,” Gasteyer told reporters on set. “It was so cute. It was crazy. I was freaking out. I had mentioned to [SUBURGATORY creator] Emily [Kapnek] if there was an extra part, [Frances] wants to learn acting and on-camera acting and she emailed to say, ‘Do you think she’d want to play this part?’ And we actually had a table read [on Frances' first day], so I wasn’t around for the first part of her first scene. She did great.”

Gasteyer was equally as enthused about reuniting with Dratch, calling the idea “so great, so fun.”

“They own completely opposite sides of the feminine sphere,” Gasteyer explained of their character dynamic. “They occupy two very different sides of the Equal Rights Amendment.”

But don’t think for a second that the two women are content to respect each other’s differences.

“Sheila characterizes [Paula] as ‘diabolical,’” Gasteyer said. “She’s the witch of East Chatswin…there’s not a lot of gray in the land of the Shays.”

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