Football season isn’t official until The League is back on the air, and the debaucherous fantasy footballers are in the midst of their sixth season, currently airing on FXX. The show is never short on hilariously crass humor and spot-on observations of the life of fantasy football players – in fact, The League even inspired our very own league here at The Nerd Repository that the Drinks and Discourse cast all takes part in.

Katie Aselton plays Jenny on the show, and as the current reigning “Shiva Bowl” Champion, she’s been using her newfound accolades to hilariously torment her down-on-his-luck husband Kevin (Steve Rannazzisi), while in real life she’s married to co-star Mark Duplass, who plays Pete. How does Katie deal with the all craziness that has to ensue on set? On a recent conference call with journalists, she was nice enough to shed some light on life in The League and being the first female “Shiva Bowl” Champion.

[Editor’s Note: Fans of The League can click here to enter our Season Four DVD giveaway]

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Are you a fantasy football player in real life?

I have to say I knew nothing about fantasy football before this show, but part of jumping into the character was learning all about it and we, the cast and the creators, Jackie and Jeff Schaffer, and then the rest of the cast have formed a league on our own, and we play it every season. I will tell you that our trophy is called ‘The Aselton Cup’ and that is because I won it the first year.

Have you been able to win the league again since the first time?

I have not. In full disclosure, I’ve been a mediocre fantasy player ever since, but I’m kind of just like, whatever. I’ve already won. I don’t really need to do it again.

Have you found that female viewers have responded to Jenny and have found inspiration to not look at fantasy football as something only men would like or can do?

Yes, and I think it goes beyond fantasy football. I think it is really fun to see a woman who can hold her own, toe to toe, with the guys and a lot of times put them in their place. I think I like this wave of strong-minded women that are hitting television versus these sort of “adorkable” girls who apologize for themselves. I like these girls who are, whether it’s Jenny MacArthur playing fantasy football or Olivia Pope on Scandal, I kind of like these very strong ladies, and I’m super excited that I get to play one of them.

What makes a relationship like your marriage to fellow cast member Mark Duplass last?

Look, in real life do I think Jenny and Kevin are a great couple? Not necessarily. I think they’re a super great couple to watch, but if anyone ever spoke to me the way that Kevin speaks to Jenny or the way Jenny speaks to Kevin, that never works. I think what really works in a good relationship is mutual respect and good communication, and I think without those two things you have a hard time making it last.

You have great chemistry with your onscreen husband Kevin, played by Steve Rannizzisi. Any situations that were very uncomfortable early on that you had to get over?

It was never awkward when it was just me and Steve. It was only awkward for Steve, and only for Steve, when Mark was around, who is my real life husband, and we’ve been married for a billion years.

And so we came onto the show as a couple, and I think it was maybe Season Two, early on in Season Two, and Steve had to give me a kiss in the middle of a scene. And they kept yelling cut afterwards, and they’d reset it and we’d do it again, and they’d say cut again, and then finally Jackie and Jeff pulled Steve aside and they said, “Would you stop kissing her like she’s your sister? This is your wife. Kiss her.” He said, “Mark is sitting right there. I can’t kiss this man’s wife in front of him.” We’ve since gotten very comfortable with it and it’s fine, but for a while, it was sort of a funny little hurdle for him.

How did Mark feel about it? Was he just kind of laughing at the uneasiness?

Yes. It’s so not even a thing for us. People say that all the time, but when you’re… I don’t know. It’s not a sexual kiss when you’re kissing someone in a scene.

Were you and Mark cast as a package deal, or was one cast before the other?

No, we were cast together. When Jackie and Jeff Schafer were looking to cast the show, the pilot, they were sort of looking around at all different types of people who do improv. So, they went to the comedy side and that’s where they found Paul and Nick and Steve, and then, they had a conversation with my agent and Mark’s agent, and Mark and I had just come out of a film together that had a whole lot of dramatic improvisation and so they took a meeting with us together. And by meeting I mean I hosted them for dinner and applied them with a lot of tequila and they were like, “These guys are great.” The next thing I know, we were doing a TV show.

Why did they not make you a couple?

You know, honestly, we had come out of a movie that we had done together we were playing a couple. So, the idea of not playing a couple was really pleasing. And, you know, they had already really thought of Steve in the role of Kevin, and this is where we all just fit in.

Would you like to see Jenny have another gal to hang around with, or perhaps even join the league?

I do. I want it so bad. Look, we’re halfway finished shooting. I haven’t seen the rest of the season, but we’ve had a lot of great male guest stars come on. I haven’t had a girlfriend yet. I really would love it.

If you could cast someone in the role, who would you cast?

Oh, man. I don’t know. I feel like there are so many cool girls out there I would love, but you know whose work I’m really loving lately is Constance Zimmer. I think she is really fun and also just mutually sassy. I think I would love to have just anyone, because any femininity at all would be great.

How much of you is in the character of Jenny?

Oh, boy. I feel like Jenny is a huge part of me. I think she is the part of me that I sort of censor in real life, but Jenny gets to say it all because in that world you can. She’s my crazy competitive spirit coming out and she’s my mouthy spirit coming out, but I think I may be a little bit softer than her. I like my kids a lot more than Jenny does and I respect my husband a lot more than Jenny does Kevin, but I do think that Jenny and Kevin do have a good thing. They’re really funny and they do care about each other, and I do appreciate seeing that relationship, but yes, I think she’s just sort of an exaggerated version of me. She’s like me turned up to 12 on the dial.

Would you be friends with Jenny in real life?

I think I probably would have been friends with her in college. And then we probably grew apart. I think there’s maybe a reason why Jenny doesn’t have any girlfriends.

The show is heavily improvised, which creates some great moments. Are they any non-scripted moments from this season or overall that stand out for you?

I think the funniest improv moment in the history of the show was “toilet kitchen,” which just came from a day player who didn’t speak great English and looked at the toilet in the middle of the kitchen and said, “toilet kitchen.” And everyone just sort of held onto that, and we still talk about it and there’s actually an episode that we just shot that you’ll see soon that we reference “toilet kitchen” again. It’s something that we just can’t let go of.

There’s some very funny stuff coming – it’s so hard because there’s so much stuff coming up that I can’t talk about, but there’s a lot. The majority of our show is improvised. We’re given outlines with a description of the scene and sometimes there are some lines within that description, but for the most part, the dialogue is all improvised. So, it does all feel very fresh and spontaneous because it is.

So, you know, there’s always things that will just make me laugh. It’s hard to think of just one, but “toilet kitchen” is one that really sticks out in my head.

Will the show be able to address the current public troubles of the NFL?

We definitely will. We don’t leave any stone unturned, and as unfortunate and horrible as all this has been for the NFL, it does give us a lot to work with. Yes. I have a lot to say about this and I can’t wait to dig in. I hope I do have the opportunity to say something.

Why do you think The League plays so universally well for both men and women?

I think there’s a lot of fantasy fulfillment. You know, I think Jenny is like the dream wife. To have this wife who loves fantasy football and loves to hang out with the guys and loves to have sex with her husband, that’s kind of what every guy sort of wants. Right?

Then for the girls, to have Jenny who totally shit talks with the guys and puts them in their place and is great at fantasy football. And as far as the guys’ dynamic, they get to talk as much smack to each other as they want to and I think they’ve always got an answer for everything, and there is a bit of wish-fulfillment in seeing that. Where it’s like, that’s the kind of group of friends I want to have. I want to have that sort of life and really, we very rarely ever see them at work, so that’s great too. They’re just always hanging out watching football.

Are there any terms or catchphrases from the show you find you’re using in real life?

I find myself using “frittata” a lot. Which is probably totally inappropriate.

If the show somehow continued for 20+ seasons like The Simpsons, would there be a point you would have to walk away?

I certainly think that there’s a point where we get too old to be telling these jokes, realistically. You know, you don’t need a 45-year-old woman calling someone “dick cream.” That’s just weird.

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The League airs Wednesdays at 10pm, exclusively on FXX.