'Girls Trip' star Tiffany Haddish on hanging out with Taylor Swift, choosing a new car and how else life has changed

"Girls Trip" star Tiffany Haddish says she still drives the same car.

ByABC News
December 18, 2017, 11:33 AM

— -- If you don’t know who Tiffany Haddish is by now, you will soon, she promises.

“I hope the world is [ready] because they're going to get all informed and be knowing all about the Haddish, OK? She ready,” the 38-year-old actress told ABC News for the two-hour special “The Year: 2017,” which airs on Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET. “I hope I get a nap too.”

Haddish had a breakout year in 2017, starring as Dina in the box-office success “Girls Trip.” She says she knew from the beginning she was meant to play Dina, a fun-loving woman part of a group of friends on a trip to New Orleans.

“When I first read the script, the very first time, I was [like], ‘This is me.’ … I just knew the part was for me. I just had to figure out how to get in there and get it,” Haddish said. “I would say 15 percent of Dina is Dina and the rest is Tiffany Haddish.”

Since the movie’s release this summer, Haddish’s life had undergone some changes but also stayed the same in many ways.

“I'm still living in the same place, and -- none of your damn business where I live -- but I'm still driving a Honda,” Haddish said. “I'm trying to decide if I should get myself the Tesla SUV or if I should get myself a new pair of shoes. I don't know I think I'm going to go with the Ted Bakers because they might be a little cheaper, but the Tesla though.”

And Haddish still loves using Groupon: “So what I like to do is I like to get those Groupon and I take pictures of my friends that are married and I get them to make a puzzle, like 500 pieces, and then I send it to them for their anniversary and I say, ‘Now when you're having an argument put yourselves together.’”

This year, Haddish also made history as the first black female standup comic to host “Saturday Night Live.” Haddish, who spent much of her young life in foster homes, thanked her social worker Colita Louis while on the show.

“I thought is super necessary to thank her because she basically saved my life. She got me out of that living situation, and she noticed that I had something and she got me into Laugh Factory Comedy Camp,” said Haddish. “I went to the comedy camp and it changed my whole world and I'm so grateful to her for that.

Haddish is very much open to the public about her life in foster care, which she details in her new book “The Last Black Unicorn,” and what she went through to get to where she was today.

“I obviously went through these things for a reason, and if it's not to share with other people so they can handle their situations better, well, I don't know what the hell I went through it for,” Haddish said. “I might as well share it because this the only life I got to live and who knows it might save the world.”

Haddish said this year she’s also been able have experiences she never thought possible, including meeting some new friends.

“So many awesome and coolest things have happened. I've been invited to really great celebrities houses and even eaten food that I never thought I would eat before,” she said. “Anne Hathaway sent me some flowers and I was [like], ‘She knows who I am?’ That was really nice I never met her before.”

Haddish said she and Taylor Swift even made plans to hang out at Swift’s house.

“When I met Taylor Swift, she was reciting my jokes back to me telling me how much she loved me,” Haddish recalled. “I'm going over to her house. … We supposed to be eating baked chicken and quinoa salad with kale and all this healthy stuff and talking and laughing. I'm going to hang out. It's going to be great. Taylor Swift knows I'm [all] jokes.”

Watch ABC's “The Year: 2017,” which airs on Dec. 19, at 9 p.m. ET.