Tina Fey had to make a very important call before launching a certain person in “30 rock.”

The former star of “Saturday Night Live” said in a joint sitting with Jon Hamm who contacted the creator of “SNL” Lorne Michaels before offering Hamm the part of Dr. Drew Baird.

“I didn’t know you before they were [‘Saturday Night Live’]and I remember calling or sending an email to Lorne and saying: “Let me know if it is fun because we have a part in ’30 rock ‘that would be great for him,” Fey shared with the interview magazine in an article published on Monday.

The call was “also to make sure you were not an idiot,” Fey added.

Hamm added that “that’s something real” in business.

“It is not fun to work with people who are not fun,” said the “honor ladies.”

Fey agreed, saying that “life is too short and the hours are too long.”

Tina Fey actor Jon Hamm attends the annual entertainment breakfast of Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles on December 7, 2016.
Tina Fey actor Jon Hamm attends the annual entertainment breakfast of Hollywood Reporter in Los Angeles on December 7, 2016.

Frazer Harrison through Getty Images

During the couple’s interview, Hamm also recalled the “fun” of receiving the role in “30 rock”, and the special way in which he discovered that he was being considered.

“I remember returning to the host costumes in ‘SNL’ and the phone rang,” he said. “I’m in 30 rock and it’s like, who are these phones?

“So I picked up and I think it was Robert Carlock at the other extreme who said: ‘Hey, would you like to do this? We have a part for you,” Hamm shared, explaining that Carlock told him that the part was for “a totally normal doctor that will not be weird at all, I promise.”

Spoiler alert: things became very rare.

“The first episode you did with us, you were a normal doctor,” Fey shared. “And at the end of this arch, you have hand hooks.”

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and Jon Hamm as Dr. Drew Baird in
Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and Jon Hamm as Dr. Drew Baird in “30 Rock”.

NBC through Getty Images

Hamm and Fey have maintained their creative association beyond their days in “30 rock.”

The duo has been associated in projects such as “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, “Modern Love”, “Maggie Moore” and “Mean Girls: The Musical”.

“Tina is a very safe and capable actress, she is an incredible person,” Hamm sprouted about his “Maggie Moore” co -star in a 2023 interview with ET. “We have known each other for a long time, and I think we respect the talent and skills of the other and what we contribute to the table.”