Michelle Obama: I View Myself as 'The Average Woman'

Michelle Obama takes the cover of Variety magazine’s latest issue.

Here’s what the 52-year-old First Lady had to share with the mag:

On doing Carpool Karaoke: “First of all, I was riding in a car with someone else, without the Secret Service. So right there, [I was like], ‘Let’s keep driving!’ I think we drove around the South Lawn about 100 times.”

On being involved in pop culture: “What I have never been afraid of is to be a little silly, and you can engage people that way. My view is, first you get them to laugh, then you get them to listen. So I’m always game for a good joke, and I’m not so formal in this role that there’s very little that we can’t do that people won’t appreciate.”

On being the First Lady: “I view myself as being the average woman. While I am first lady, I wasn’t first lady my whole life. I’m a product of pop culture. I’m a consumer of pop culture, and I know what resonates with people. I know what they’ll get a chuckle out of and what they think is kind of silly. And whenever my team approaches me with ideas and concepts, we’re usually like, ‘Is this really funny? Are people going to understand it?’”

For more from the First Lady, visit Variety.com.