It is unseasonably hot the afternoon Amy Schumer arrives at New York's Central Park dressed in workout gear, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, her blonde hair tied in a low ponytail at her neck.
"Hope you like Lyme disease!" she deadpans as we set off toward a shady spot. While we walk, two things become clear: 1) Though the past year has brought a dizzying spate of good fortune, Schumer remains resolutely unsparing and unguarded, and 2) this is not going to be a stroll.
Powering forward, Schumer, 35, reflects on her recent past. "It's such a blur. I don't even remember what I've just done. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate all this. I don't have it down. I. Do. Not."
I remind her of some highlights: Her HBO stand-up special, Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo, directed by Chris Rock; the $140 million grossed by her debut film, Trainwreck, last year; her dramatic role in the upcoming military PTSD film Thank You for Your Service; a fourth season of her award-winning (including two Emmys and a Peabody) show, Inside Amy Schumer; and, most recently, filming a yet-untitled mother-daughter comedy with none other than OG icon Goldie Hawn, whom Schumer lured out of quasi Hollywood retirement to costar.
Here, a few highlights from her interview, on newsstands July 19:
On a recent sex dream she had about friend and Girls actress Jemima Kirke: "It was so awesome. I almost told her about it. Then I thought maybe Lena [Dunham] would get jealous. So I didn't."
On what she was like growing up: "I was always self-effacing, self-reflective. I hated feeling I was just like every other girl on Long Island. Looking at my clothes and my hair. I was very aware of not wanting to be the same as everyone."
On being in love: "Being in love is the scariest thing in the world. You want to f-ing cry and scream. I can't handle it. Every time we say good-bye, I think, This will have been a nice last week together. Or I tell myself nothing is real and he's going to leave me and tell me he never loved me. I feel so bad for him. How exhausting it must be dating me."
"I feel so bad for him. How exhausting it must be dating me."
On her first sexual experience: "My first sexual experience was not a good one. I didn't think about it until I started reading my journal again. When it happened, I wrote about it almost like a throwaway. It was like, And then I looked down and realized he was inside of me. He was saying, 'I'm so sorry' and 'I can't believe I did this.'"
On the election: "This election, Trump, it's so upsetting. I did some stand-up at Hilary's [Clinton] birthday party, and I'm in the same room as her and Bill and [New York Senator] Kirsten Gillibrand, and they were not worried about Trump at all. I've just been holding on to that for dear life."
On dating Ben Hanisch: "I feel like Ben is the first guy who's really been my boyfriend. There are guys who, if they heard me say that, would want to punch me in the face, but yeah, it's the truth."
Read the full interview and see more pics in the August issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands July 19. And for a little behind-the-scenes action to hold you over, see Schumer at her cover shoot here: