"Some interviewees you make friends with and some you don't"
About this Quote
The line lands like a shrug, which is exactly the point. Ruby Wax takes the glossy mythology of the “great interviewer” - omnivorous empathy, instant intimacy, everyone leaving the studio feeling seen - and punctures it with a blunt truth: rapport is uneven, chemistry is real, and pretending otherwise is its own kind of performance.
As a comedian, Wax knows that interviews are not neutral fact-finding missions; they’re live social negotiations with status, ego, nerves, and timing. “Some you make friends with” nods to the intoxicating alchemy when the guest relaxes, the guard drops, and the conversation turns from content to connection. “Some you don’t” is the punchline, but also the boundary. It quietly rejects the expectation that the interviewer must be endlessly accommodating, or that a good interview requires affection. Sometimes professionalism looks like friction, or simple distance.
The subtext is also about power and vulnerability. Interviews can function like staged intimacy: the audience wants candor, the guest wants control, the interviewer is tasked with creating “authenticity” on schedule. Wax’s sentence admits the messy human residue left behind when the cameras stop: you can’t manufacture mutuality, and not every encounter should be smoothed into a feel-good narrative.
In a culture that markets likability as a career skill, this is a small act of honesty. It gives permission for interviews to be what they often are: not friendships, but moments, with consequences.
As a comedian, Wax knows that interviews are not neutral fact-finding missions; they’re live social negotiations with status, ego, nerves, and timing. “Some you make friends with” nods to the intoxicating alchemy when the guest relaxes, the guard drops, and the conversation turns from content to connection. “Some you don’t” is the punchline, but also the boundary. It quietly rejects the expectation that the interviewer must be endlessly accommodating, or that a good interview requires affection. Sometimes professionalism looks like friction, or simple distance.
The subtext is also about power and vulnerability. Interviews can function like staged intimacy: the audience wants candor, the guest wants control, the interviewer is tasked with creating “authenticity” on schedule. Wax’s sentence admits the messy human residue left behind when the cameras stop: you can’t manufacture mutuality, and not every encounter should be smoothed into a feel-good narrative.
In a culture that markets likability as a career skill, this is a small act of honesty. It gives permission for interviews to be what they often are: not friendships, but moments, with consequences.
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
|---|
More Quotes by Ruby
Add to List
