Rachel Dratch talks joining the Spice Girls for her first Dunkin’ ad – The Boston Globe

“It almost sounds like a ‘SNL’ sketch in the best way possible,” Dratch told the Globe in a Zoom interview. “I love when ads don’t feel like ads, they just feel like you’re watching a comedy sketch, and that’s exactly what this felt like to me, so I was instantly psyched.”

Ahead, Dratch opens up about her first Dunkin’ collaboration, becoming a Spice Girl, and if she’d want to team up with Ben Affleck’s DunKings.

Q. It’s a bit of a rite of passage for New England stars to get the call from Dunkin’. As a New Englander, how excited were you to collaborate with Dunkin’ for the first time?

A. Oh my gosh, I was so excited. Anytime you get some job out of the blue, you’re psyched. But then when I heard it’s with Dunkin’, I was really psyched. It just sounds like a cool thing to do, especially being from the Boston area, the hometown company, and they just seemed like a fun brand. And then when I heard the premise of this commercial, I was like, “Instant yes!”

Q. You get to play Pumpkin Spice, the forgotten member of the Spice Girls in this. How much fun was it to work with Emma and Geri and, in some small capacity, be a part of the Spice Girls family?

A. It just made it extra funny to me to be seated next to the real Spice Girls and them acting like normal people, and I’m this obnoxious person. Their accents are real and mine was literally all over the map of England, I’m sure. But that part was fun too, trying to do a British accent. You think you can do it, and then you’re like, “Oh wait, I’m in front of real British people right now, I need a dialect coach.”

And then the costume, which was designed by my pal Michael Fusco, it was just so fun and funny. I love when you put on a costume and it just does like 80 percent of the work for you, basically. It just kind of screams comedy and diva pop star at the same time. All that tied together just made it very fun. It didn’t feel like work at all.

Q. How do you think Denise and Sully, from your “Boston Teens” sketches on “SNL,” would react to you getting a Dunkin’ ad?

A. Wait, that’s so meta. I got to think about this. I want to say Denise would be happy for me because she lives inside me too. I don’t know. I’m sure Sully and Denise frequent Dunkin’, that they probably hang out in the [switches to a Boston accent] pahkin’ lot of Dunkin’ to get their ordahs.

But it’s funny that you say that because when I first heard I had a Dunkin’ commercial, I thought it’s going to be a Boston thing right? And then found out right away it wasn’t. But yeah, the whole Spice Girls aspect just made it really fun.

Q. What makes Pumpkin Spice stand out from the other Spice Girls?

A. Pumpkin Spice the woman, let me get into her mind-set here, let me go really method. I mean, she cares about music, but she cares more about lattes. And eventually, her love of lattes took over. Pumpkin lattes, that is. And she had to chuck her music career for pumpkin spice lattes. But then she does have ideas about maybe integrating the two, which are instantly shot down by the others. But yes, she’s a complex character on her own pumpkin spice journey.

Q. Whether it’s with sketches on “SNL” or teaming up with Dunkin’, has it been fun over the years being able to to bring that Boston side of you out?

A. Oh yeah, I love New England. I love Massachusetts, [switches back to a Boston accent] I mean, that’s from the haht, bro.

But I love Massachusetts. I go back a lot. All my friends from high school are there. My mom’s there. I was just in Cape Cod, I got to dart away to Cape Cod. I’m doing this to get the accent there, but I really mean it, [switches once again to a Boston accent] it’s where my haht is — for real, sincerely.

Doing anything Boston related, even when we did the sketches back on “SNL,” we would throw in the nicknames of my high school friends and throw in little locations and teachers and stuff. It’s fun to make fun of what you grew up with.

Q. Aside from pumpkin spice lattes, what’s on your New England fall bucket list this year?

A. Well, I’m in a show right now. … I’m kind of stuck here in New York, but I did just get to go to Cape Cod, like I said, where I hit my favorite ice cream spot. But if I were to get to New England, I mean, I just love seeing the foliage, not to be cliché. That’s my favorite thing. It’s just getting that visual, because there’s nothing like the fall foliage or walking through the leaves on the sidewalk. That just brings me back to being in elementary school, walking to school with the crunching leaves and all that. And just the fall New England smells in the air — like a Dunkin’ pumpkin spice latte. But yeah, I guess it would just be the sights and smells of nature up there.

Q. Do you envision teaming up with Ben Affleck and the DunKings ever? What do you hope for the future with Pumpkin Spice?

A. Let’s put it this way [back to a Boston accent again]: from your mouth to gawd’s ears.

I should be talking in a British accent for this, but my Boston accent is better than my British accent. No, I mean I would love it. They were super fun, obviously have a great sense of humor about [switches again to a Boston accent] mahketing.

That whole thing with Ben Affleck, they have fun around the brand, so I love doing anything fun, comedy related, so of course that would be amazing. But for now, I’m psyched that this is coming out, and I hope people find it funny.

Interview was edited and condensed.

Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.