On July 12 (9:30PM) and July 13 (7:30PM), stage and screen star Cristin Milioti will return to Joe’s Pub with her latest show following a string of recent sold out engagement at the club and other venues including the prestigious American Songbook series at Lincoln Center. Best known to fans as “Girl” In the smash hit Broadway musical Once, as “The Mother” on TV’s “How I Met a Your Mother” and Teresa Petrillo (wife to Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in the film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Cristin brings her own irresistible blend of drama, comedy and music to the stage in her solo shows.

On Wednesday, Center On The Aisle’s editor-in-chief, Steve Schonberg caught up with Cristin to find out more about the show and what’s new for the GRAMMY Award winner and TONY Award nominee (who, by the way, was late to the call. But thanks to the magic of texting, they were able to connect about fifteen minutes later. STARS! They’re just like us!)

Steve: Cristin! So glad to chat! How are you?

Cristin:​ Oh my God… Thank you so much for texting me. I’m working out of a coffee shop because my internet’s down. I mean you just caught me on a mess of a day. Thank you for reaching out.

Steve:​ Yeah, no worries. It’s all good. I’m excited to hear about your show and to share the news with fans. Tell me about it.

Cristin:​ Thank you so much. Well, I do a couple of concerts a year. We did Lincoln Center in like 2013. I had never done a concert and a bunch of the guys from Once and actually a friend of my boyfriend, who I sort of knew but didn’t know that well [at the time], all got together. They were my band and we had a blast. We [then] started to play Joe’s Pub… It’s such a great venue. We do maybe three shows a year because all of us have crazy schedules.

How would I describe it? We do some originals but it’s mostly covers. It’s songs that have affected me in my life either from when I was little or what I’m currently listening to now as I walk around the city all the time. What I’m sort of going for when I do these shows, it’s as if people are sitting in my living room. Really intimate. I just want to get together with a group of people in a moment in time and share some beautiful music and feel the feeling.

Steve:​ Sounds great, Cristin. You know, what I love about you that you’re obviously a great actress but with your personality — it’s like you have this funky, indie energy but you’re also a Broadway star.

Cristin:​ Oh my goodness.

Steve:​Who are some of your musical inspirations?

Cristin:​ I would say Fiona Apple, who I think probably shaped me in a very deep way for sure. I think I’ve become more sure of that the older I get. She was hugely influential on me. Radiohead was really, really big for me [too]. Regina Spektor too, though I’m not singing any of her songs this time around… It’s sort of a very like eclectic mix of music. Yeah, I would say that those are the people that inspire me for sure.

Steve:​ Cool. Awesome singers and we have some similar taste there, Cristin. Love to hear you’ll be singing some of them in your concert. Sooooo…. What else are you working on now that you’re a star not just of stage but screen, both big and small?

Cristin:​ I just [wrapped] on [FX’s] Fargo in May, which was wild and so great. I love that show so much and that was incredible… I’m about to start a movie literally a day after Joe’s Pub. I’m shooting an indie film here with Holly Hunter who I just met last night and who could not be lovelier.

Then I have some stuff in the pipeline that I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about yet. I can never tell if I’m allowed to talk about them, but I do have more stuff coming up like in the fall.

Steve:​ Well, those are terrific for sure. Can’t wait. You know, I was just thinking, one thing that’s great for fans too is we’ve seen you on the Broadway stage and in great big hits on screen like “The Wolf of Wall Street” and obviously “How I Met Your Mother,” but fans can see you up close at Joe’s Pub. How does it feel as a performer that it is an intimate space and you’re not playing a character but you’re playing yourself when you’re in these kind of venues? Does it feel different for you?

Cristin:​ Oh my God. It’s so funny you say that. I was with an amazing group of friends over the weekend up in Maine for 4th of July and a couple of them are coming to see it and they were asking, “Are you so excited? How do you feel about it?” I was explaining just that, that actually these concerts make me so nervous. They are the happiest I ever am, truly 1000% like, these intimate shows are some of the most joyous of my life but yeah it’s weird to not have anything… Not necessarily hiding behind, but it’s vulnerable, especially the original songs. That’s very new for me. I usually don’t even say that they’re mine because I still am too nervous. It’s vulnerable. I think that’s also what makes it so exciting. I am used to having lines, or an accent or a wig or something. Just a person to sort of disappear into and this is just me, and it’s definitely intimidating. It’s intimidating and nerve wracking but also, I can’t reiterate how joyful it is.

Steve:​ Wow! That nervous? I’m surprised!

Cristin:​ It’s so exciting for me. I definitely don’t sleep though for four days before hand, though. This is probably the 10th time we’ve done this and I’m still like losing sleep.

Steve:​Sure, like a Xanax moment. I get it.

Cristin:​ Absolutely. Absolutely.

Steve:​ Fun fact time! I just found out yesterday that hunky leading man Aaron Lazar also went to Cherry Hill High School in New Jersey like you did, did you know that!?

Cristin:​ I did not know that!

Steve: ​Yeah, it’s like Cherry Hill High School pumped out big Broadway stars. Any thoughts on the matter?

Cristin:​ I don’t know to be honest. I had no idea he went there. That’s wild. I do know, there was another guy that went there named Matt Bush, who’s done a bunch. He did an Ed Burns film. I think if you saw him you’d be like, “Oh my God, this guy.” Him and I did theater in middle school together and then in high school together. We had a great drama program.

​Wasn’t [Aaron] also in “Wolf of Wall Street,” as well?

Steve:​He sure was!

Cristin:​Yeah, I can’t … Gosh, I don’t remember talking about Cherry Hill but I do remember riding in a van with him.

Steve:​Oh, there you go. Such a small world!

For information and tickets to Cristin’s show at Joe’s Pub, visit www.joespub.com.