L.A. has the largest jail system in the country.

You got people that been in jail just like one time and their life can't get nothing because of whatever mistake they made.

I stole some ground turkey because I wanted to feed my family. We was hungry.

Off the Block. Stories tracing the path from city block to cell block and back.

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From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, It's The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell.

So I guess it was about 21 years ago this year that my guest, Molly Shannon, first, came to our attention on Saturday Night Live, where she created characters, including one very familiar to KCRW listeners.

I won't go into too many details, but yeah, yeah, good times, good times.

I like your impression.

It's the only impression I can do.

And she left, I guess, 15 years ago to pursue a terrific career in film and television.

She made a great breakthrough when Mike White was here for the film, Year of the Dog, in 2007.

Her first big film in Sundance.

She's back this year with a film Other People.

First of all, Molly, it's so great to have you here.

Oh, thank you for having me.

It's so nice to be here with you. What an honor for me. Well, an honor for me because I guess I think of you as an actress in terms of somebody who approaches every role you played seriously.

I mean, there's no sort of overspill where you let people know what they should think of the character,

which can often be the case with actors who come from sketch comedy.

There's this sort of thing where they let you know it's okay to judge what they're playing, and that's not something you've ever done, is it?

No, I think I always approach comedy from a dramatic point of view.

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