Go on a Koreatown Lunch Date with Chaplin Star Erin Mackey & Her Broadway Bestie Jessica Stone

How many people can say they met their best friend aboard a luxury cruise liner? Before Erin Mackey took the stage as Charlie Chaplin’s wife in Chaplin, she spent a year aboard the seafaring S.S. American in Broadway’s Anything Goes. Mackey and her dressing roommate Jessica Stone (who starred as Erma in the Cole Porter classic) hit it off immediately, and as they shared string cheese and popcorn backstage, they quickly became BFFs. These lovely leading ladies invited Broadway.com on a lunch date for bibimbap in Koreatown (say that three times fast!) and a stroll through Herald Square.

Check out our exclusive photo gallery of Erin and Jessica!

How and when did you meet your BFF?
Erin: Jess and I met over a year ago now, doing Anything Goes. We shared a dressing room for about 10 months.
Jessica: I met Erin in September of 2011 when she joined Anything Goes and we shared a dressing room for almost a year.

What was your first impression of each other?
Erin: The moment I met Jess I knew I had lucked out with an amazing dressing room mate. She welcomed me with a big hug! Little did I know just how much I would love her.
Jessica: I was relieved after I met her because she was so grounded and warm and adult. A dressing room becomes very small very quickly if personalities clash!

When was the moment you knew it was BFF material?
Erin: A few months into the show. We would laugh constantly, and we have a very similar perspective on life. When I shared my weird humor and she got it, I knew I had found someone special.
Jessica: Within weeks I realized that not only was she grounded, warm and adult, but she’s also incredibly smart, playful, game, has many different interests and thinks poop stories are funny. The poop sealed the deal.

Name three adjectives to describe your BFF
Erin: Wise, hilarious, loving.
Jessica: Dreamy, silly, loving. Three isn’t enough! Loyal, gorgeous, kind, calm, patient…

What do you call each other?
Erin: Jess or “friend.”
Jessica: I call her Erin, sometimes “Er” and “friend.”

If you formed a band together, what would its name be?
Erin: The LA’s… It’s kind of an inside joke I’m hesitant to elaborate on, but trust me, that’s definitely our name. I also think our backup singers would be Kevin [Munhall], Andrew [Cao] and Ray [J. Lee] (some of our other dear friends from Anything Goes).
Jessica: The Tone Deaf Harmonists.

What’s the best gift your BFF ever got you?
Erin: The gift of Popcorn, Indiana, a delicious creation.
Jessica: She’s a baker and I would be hard-pressed to find a favorite. But one day she came to the dressing room with string cheese for our fridge and I was unnaturally ecstatic.

What should the title of your BFF’s memoir be?
Erin: The Day I Face-Planted: A Memoir
Jessica: Hufflepuff: Resigned But Proud

If you could be in any show together what would it be?
Erin: We both are crazy about the old-school musicals and Oklahoma! is a favorite for both of us. I think Jess would be a great Ado Annie or she would also direct an awesome production of it. Also, we managed to make ourselves cry backstage just singing “No More” one day, so maybe we should do Into the Woods.
Jessica: It’s a hard question because I would love to direct her in something. She’s a smart, warm and funny ingenue, which is a rare breed! If we were to be in something together it would have to be something that we didn’t have much to do in so we could sit backstage and eat candy and talk about how much money it would make to do gross things. Maybe we’re the stepsisters in Into the Woods? Backstage time and we get to cry while listening to No One Is Alone!

What annoying habits do you find adorable in your BFF?
Erin: Jess thinks she talks too much, but I don’t agree. She’s so entertaining!
Jessica: That she can eat an entire jar of candy and not get cellulite.

What trait do you admire most about each other?
Erin: First, I really admire the creative woman that she is. She’s such a gifted actress and she is also such an insightful director. Second, she’s an incredible wife and mother. I really look up to the family she and Chris [Fitzgerald, her husband] have created. I love having a friend in my life who is in this business and also has a wonderful family.
Jessica: I’m so impressed by her ability to walk the walk. She is gentle and kind and gives people the benefit of the doubt. Her example raises the game for everyone around her.

Who is your friend’s celebrity equivalent and why?
Erin: Hmm… Someone really funny… Maybe Tina Fey? But I think Jess is even funnier!
Jessica: I think she looks like Barbara Stanwyck! She’s like the love child of Barbara Stanwyck and Teri Garr.

What about your BFF makes you jealous?
Erin: I don’t know about “jealous” but I definitely wish I could pull out the witty zingers she can. She’s so quick!
Jessica: That she can eat an entire jar of candy and not get cellulite.

I can always count on my BFF to…
Erin: Be interested in my life, offer great advice and make me pee my pants laughing.
Jessica: Make me howl with laughter, give me perspective, validate whatever I’m feeling because she’s usually feeling the same way and be in the mood for Rickshaw Dumplings.