- 12 hours ago
The Emmy nominee stopped by the THR offices for a candid conversation.
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00:00Hi, this is Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter and this is Meet Your Emmy nominee
00:04and I have Jane Lynch with me today.
00:07So Jane, you're nominated for Dropping the Soap.
00:09Yes.
00:10You are the star and the executive producer.
00:12Indeed.
00:13It's an ensemble.
00:14It is.
00:14It is an ensemble.
00:16Yes, indeed.
00:16But I am an executive producer, too.
00:18Yes.
00:18And I want to talk to you a little bit about that.
00:20Because it's kind of a meta experience.
00:22It is, isn't it?
00:23Because of your character.
00:24Exactly.
00:24Yeah, yeah.
00:25Very smart.
00:26But first I wanted to talk about your nominations.
00:28That's right.
00:29You've been nominated nine times for an Emmy.
00:32You've won three times.
00:33Two for Hollywood Game Night and one for Glee.
00:36Yeah.
00:36So is this a surprise to you to be nominated?
00:39Yeah.
00:39You know, when we were doing this, the last thing I was thinking about was, oh, I might
00:43be nominated for an Emmy.
00:44You know, of course, anything you do, you don't put that, that's putting the cart way before
00:49the horse.
00:49Right.
00:50But, yeah, so it was a real, it was a surprise.
00:52I mean, obviously I knew I was being submitted for it, but it was a surprise and a delightful
01:00one.
01:01And hopefully it's going to get more eyeballs on our web series.
01:05Which is also available on Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes.
01:09Exactly.
01:09Yeah.
01:10So if you have Amazon Prime, you can get it for free.
01:12Nice.
01:13Nice.
01:13And it is, the nomination is Outstanding Actress in a Short Form.
01:17Yeah, isn't that nice?
01:18Yeah.
01:18Very nice.
01:19I like it.
01:19Have you watched any of the other short forms?
01:21No, I haven't, but I know Mindy.
01:22Mindy Sperling has been nominated twice.
01:24Yeah.
01:24And unfortunately I think it's going to split.
01:26Yeah.
01:26But we'll see what happens.
01:28No, she's, I'm a huge fan of hers and to be in her company is a great thing.
01:32Yeah.
01:33Who did you hear from following your nomination?
01:35Oh, let's see.
01:35Who told me?
01:37Oh, isn't that funny?
01:38I don't remember.
01:39I forgot that they were being announced that morning.
01:43I think my agent called me or sent me an email.
01:46Yeah.
01:47Yeah.
01:47So you've hosted big shows like the Emmys before.
01:50Yes.
01:50What's the biggest challenge that somebody like Jimmy Kimmel has in front of him?
01:54I don't think Jimmy Kimmel has any challenges.
01:56I think he pretty much has down what he does and he just enjoys it.
02:01I think for somebody who's never done it before, it's a different, like it was my first
02:05time.
02:06You don't know exactly what the job is until you're actually out there doing it.
02:10But if anybody's new at it, I know Jimmy's this year, right?
02:13So he's in an old hat.
02:15But if you're ever new at it, just know it's not as hard as it looks.
02:19It's really just about keeping everything moving and having some good joke writers.
02:23Oh, nice.
02:23That's refreshingly honest.
02:25Yeah.
02:27If you could sit next to anybody at the Emmys besides your plus one, who would it be?
02:31Well, I'm going to be sitting with Paul Witten, who is my fellow executive producer and star
02:37of the show.
02:37But I'd love to sit next to Julia Louis-Dreyfus and just kind of trade barbed comments about
02:43everything happening with each other.
02:44That's great.
02:45And what's the best part about Emmy night for you?
02:49Oh, gosh.
02:51It's being in a room and looking around and seeing all these people who you really want
02:55to meet, or who you've seen on television for a long time, who's work you admire.
02:59It's, there's a lot of joy.
03:01It's, you know, one of those things that you're, it's a rare opportunity to be invited.
03:09And, you know, you see the best of the best in my category will probably be in the creative
03:15Emmys.
03:15And that's all the technical people.
03:17And I always run into my pals from Glee, who are now on American Horror Story and the
03:24OJ Show.
03:25And, you know, they're just the best of the best.
03:29And it's great to run into them and see all those wonderful artisans and technicians.
03:34And is there anything challenging about Emmy night, just as far as functionality of it?
03:38Well, you know what, if I feel fat, it's no fun.
03:41Right.
03:42If I feel trim.
03:43Yeah.
03:44And that really, that's all it is.
03:46Really?
03:47That's it.
03:47Yeah.
03:47My time can be ruined if I don't feel good about, if I feel bloated.
03:52That's, that's all there is.
03:53If I feel nice and trim and then I can really enjoy it and be in the moment.
03:57But if I'm like, my spanks are so tight.
03:59That would be fun.
04:00Yes.
04:01Absolutely.
04:02That was refreshingly honest too, wasn't it?
04:04Very, very much so.
04:06What's the best Emmy party to go to?
04:08I don't go to them.
04:09Oh, you don't?
04:10I'm not a party person, but let me think.
04:12One year, Jon Hamm and Amy Poehler had a party at the Soho House called the Losers Ball.
04:19And luckily they lost that year so we could keep that name.
04:22That was a blast.
04:23Yeah.
04:24You could not go in if you won.
04:25You weren't allowed.
04:26So only Losers.
04:27That's great.
04:28So I was welcomed in.
04:29That was a lot of fun.
04:30We danced on the dance floor.
04:32I brought my sister.
04:33I had two nieces with me and here we are dancing with Jon Hamm and he's such a goof and
04:37it was
04:37really nice.
04:38It was a lot of fun.
04:39That's cool.
04:40So let's talk a little bit about dropping the soap.
04:42Yes.
04:43So this could be the most cost efficient Emmy nominee because you told Out Magazine that
04:49you each made $100 a day to work on this.
04:52Yeah.
04:52And I think we probably kicked it back too.
04:55I think I might have kicked it back anyway.
04:57Yes.
04:58Yeah obviously you're not doing it for the money.
05:00Right.
05:00And it was one of those really cool projects where we got everybody.
05:03We got really great people.
05:04Not only actors like we had John Michael Higgins and Missy Pyle and a bunch of other people
05:08that you'll recognize them.
05:09But we all of our crew people they all did it for like a nickel.
05:14And we did it fast and funny and furiously and quick setups.
05:19We shot things really fast and I think for comedy anyway that's the best way to go.
05:22And so it was you know a real joy.
05:27Obviously money had nothing to do with it.
05:30It's more out of friendship.
05:31Yeah friendship.
05:32It was like a bunch of friends getting together to do a really funny well written soap opera
05:38about you know about how soap operas are basically circling the drain these days.
05:42And this is a particular one trying to stay relevant.
05:45Trying anything.
05:46Anything.
05:46Vampires anything.
05:47Exactly.
05:48Ear eating diseases.
05:50Whatever it takes.
05:53So yes you were saying that you shot this fast and furiously.
05:57Can you describe the longest day on set?
06:00I think they were all pretty long.
06:02I think we went 12, 13 hours every day.
06:04So they kind of all blend in together.
06:06But by the end of it you know as the executive producer at that point they let me just be
06:11an actor.
06:11For the most part you know the executive producer thing I didn't have to do anything really except show up.
06:16There were you know like Paul worked really hard.
06:18Kate and Mandy worked really hard.
06:20So that we could just show up and act.
06:22So for me it was just fun.
06:24But I know those guys were pooped.
06:27And then of course there's post you know months of post.
06:30And it was a lot of work but like I said it's a labor of love.
06:34And it's so good.
06:35I hope everybody will watch it.
06:37I particularly love the camera work.
06:38It's just like you said fast and furious.
06:41It is and you'll notice that when we're shooting the soap opera itself it's shot like a soap opera with
06:46the exact same lighting.
06:48And then when we go to the behind the scenes antics it's with the shaky camera.
06:53Not where you'll get sick to your stomach watching it.
06:56But it just feels very real and very spontaneous and desperate.
06:59It reminded me a lot of Arrested Development.
07:01Oh good.
07:02Well that's a lovely thing to be compared to.
07:05So I want to talk about your meta character because you're an executive producer playing an executive producer.
07:09Playing an executive producer.
07:10Can you tell us about Olivia Vanderstein?
07:13Well she's named after my dog who just passed away by the way, Olivia.
07:18Olivia is a cutthroat.
07:20She laughed all the way through Sophie's Choice is how she's described.
07:25She has a real mean streak.
07:27She's really dark.
07:28See if this sounds like somebody in the White House right now.
07:30She revels in chaos.
07:35She loves turning people against each other and kind of sits back and lets people think like you're my favorite.
07:41No, you're my favorite.
07:42She loves when things fall apart so that she can swoop in and take control.
07:46And she wants to keep this soap opera relevant and if she doesn't, no skin off her nose, she'll move
07:51on to something else.
07:52But she's going to do her best to really shake this up with product placements, ridiculous storylines.
07:57We add aliens to the storylines where everybody has to abandon the city via a luxury cruise liner.
08:02Yes, a yacht.
08:03A yacht.
08:04And they get stuck on an island and the plots get crazier and crazier and the actors who have been
08:10on this show,
08:10especially Paul Whitten's character and the two, there's a love triangle.
08:15And they've been on the show forever and they will have no life after.
08:20They will have no means of income.
08:21They're like in their late 40s and maybe even in their early 50s.
08:24And if this show goes away, they have nothing.
08:27So they're desperate, just desperate.
08:29And they'll do anything Olivia says and she loves that.
08:33So a lot of good comedy derives from desperation, doesn't it?
08:38Yes, yes.
08:39Because we all know we'll do anything.
08:40When we have our eye on some prize or something we have to hold onto, we'll do anything.
08:45And subject ourselves to such humiliation to hold onto it.
08:51So I was going to ask you if Olivia's character is based on any executive producers you know or have
08:58heard stories about.
08:59I've heard stories about executive producers like that.
09:02They kind of come in to kind of blow things up, like show runners.
09:09And of course I'm not going to say any names.
09:11Oh, sure.
09:11First of all, I'm in menopause and I can't remember anything.
09:14So I wouldn't anyway.
09:17But yes, and it's not just in Hollywood, of course, but it is rampant in Hollywood.
09:22But I must say, from the shows that are great that are on TV now, I've met a lot of
09:28these show runners because we're at the award shows together.
09:31They're fantastic people.
09:33And they're just so nice.
09:35Vince Gilligan is one of the nicest people in the world and he's made two of the best television shows
09:41ever.
09:41And they're so dark.
09:43And he's just this light guy.
09:46I mean, someone may prove me wrong, but from what I can tell, I mean, I love the show runners
09:52I got to meet.
09:53Yeah, yeah.
09:54So maybe you're pulling your inspiration from other things, like you mentioned somebody in the White House perhaps.
09:59Yeah, there's a lot of that going on.
10:01You know, kind of this, how much humiliation will you take before you leave?
10:07And so that's a question I guess all of them are asking themselves.
10:11Yeah, it seems like just today people would be asking themselves that question.
10:15Yeah, but there are a couple people asking themselves that right now.
10:19So your career spans 30 years.
10:22Oh, come on, does it?
10:23I'm sorry.
10:23I'm sorry to tell you, but it's true.
10:25Okay, no, that makes sense.
10:25You've had an amazing career.
10:27I was about 27.
10:28That makes sense.
10:29Yeah.
10:30What are you most proud of?
10:31Well, I don't know that I have pride so much.
10:34I think if there's anything, it's, you know, I show up to play.
10:40I don't show up to work.
10:42And I've done that the whole time, even before, you know, I started getting a lot of work,
10:47which was not until I was around 40.
10:49You know, I was doing a lot of theater, and I was doing commercials and voiceovers, and I was very
10:53happy doing that.
10:54I mean, you always have your eye on some prize, but I was always very happy because I was doing
11:00what I love.
11:01So I don't know that I have any pride around any of it.
11:03I feel almost like it was not of my doing anyway.
11:06It was like I was, you know, hit with the lucky stick, and I was smart enough to go,
11:11Oh, I'm supposed to be here now?
11:12Okay, I'll go there.
11:13And, Oh, I'm supposed to be here?
11:14Okay, I'll go there.
11:16Did you get any good advice during your careers that you'd like to pass on?
11:20No, I didn't.
11:21I didn't get any good advice.
11:22I never asked for it.
11:23Nobody ever offered it.
11:24Yeah.
11:26But when people ask me, I always say I have nothing to offer you except that your path is going
11:31to be your own.
11:32But a lot of times, you know, you think you need to be, go a certain way.
11:37Like for the longest time, I thought I was going to be a theater actor, and I ended up getting
11:41into Second City, the touring company.
11:43And that was not at all, you know, in my conscious mind anyway.
11:47And that ended up blowing up my entire concept of who I thought I was in terms of an artist.
11:54I ended up loving sketch.
11:56I loved putting on a different wig for every character.
11:58I loved singing the silly songs.
12:00I loved the audience.
12:01I didn't love the improvising so much.
12:03I grew to love that.
12:05But I guess the thing is, whatever rolls in at your feet, check it out before you say no, except
12:11for like porn.
12:11That's a no-brainer.
12:13Don't do the porn.
12:13You don't need it.
12:14But whatever rolls in at your feet, take a look at it because it's probably there for a reason.
12:19Mm-hmm.
12:19Do you make very precise choices about what projects you put on?
12:24I am now.
12:25And I'm not afraid to say no.
12:28Let's put it that way.
12:30I used to say yes to everything because I had kind of a desperation to work all the time, whether
12:36it was for free or for money.
12:39And now I don't need that so much.
12:43That fire is gone.
12:44That fire to, you know, what's next?
12:47Yeah.
12:48Is there anybody who you still want to work with that you haven't been able to yet?
12:52No, because I always get, I mean, I never thought I'd work with Meryl Streep.
12:55I played her sister in a movie.
12:57Yeah.
12:57So I stopped, a long time ago I stopped with the goals and gosh, I hope I get to.
13:02I must say though, when I was in Chicago, Lori Metcalf, the actress, was at Steppenwolf and I used to
13:09go watch her.
13:10And I thought she was just great.
13:12And then of course she, you know, blew up as Roseanne's sister on Roseanne.
13:17And then I just saw her on Broadway in Doll's House 2 and it was just, she's so good.
13:22Yeah.
13:23And it was really, you know, there are very few people that I sit back and go, oh my God,
13:27that's wonderful.
13:27Well, that's not true.
13:29But she was, yeah.
13:31She was one of those people.
13:31Yeah.
13:31And Chris Cooper who acted with her too.
13:33Oh yeah.
13:33And I forget the name of the other woman who was with them.
13:35But yeah, they were, it was fantastic.
13:38Wonderful.
13:38It was really great to sit back and watch beautiful theater.
13:42So I have something that we have been doing with the Emmy nominees called First Best Last Worst.
13:47Okay.
13:48So it's just four questions.
13:50Okay.
13:51The first acting job that made you think, I've made it.
13:54I've made it.
13:57I did a McDonald's commercial in Chicago.
13:59Yeah.
14:00And I was playing a mother too.
14:01I was like 21 years old and I was playing the mother of a 16 year old.
14:04Yeah.
14:05And I was like, oh my God, I'm doing a McDonald's commercial.
14:07I've made it.
14:08That's great.
14:10Best story you have from the set of Dropping the Soap.
14:19Oh my God.
14:21Isn't that crazy?
14:21I can't think of one.
14:22The scene I do with Paul in my office where he does not know if I'm being truthful or if
14:30I'm playing him.
14:32And if you just watch his reaction, he's one of the best reactors I've ever worked with.
14:38And we have this scene where the whole time both of us are like, but what comes out of our
14:43mouth is just kind of normal everyday.
14:45You know, so I'm happy to work with you, that kind of a thing.
14:48And we're both completely in different places.
14:51Did you have a lot of breaking on set?
14:53Nope.
14:53Not a lot of breaking.
14:54It was really, that's why, you know, it was so good.
14:57I mean, if I do say so myself, we were so dead on and in it.
15:02Yeah.
15:03It was a joy.
15:04Great.
15:05Last time you were recognized in public.
15:07Oh, probably on my way here.
15:08Yeah.
15:10You are very recognizable.
15:11At Kings Road getting my coffee.
15:13There you go.
15:15Worst audition experience?
15:17I was sitting on the back of a couch and I fell and they didn't even notice.
15:20The person at the camera, not unlike you, kind of sitting there bored.
15:26No.
15:26They didn't even notice.
15:28And also I did a, you know what?
15:29I don't think that happened to me.
15:30I think that happened to somebody else.
15:32I'm claiming a story.
15:33I do that all the time.
15:34Oh my God.
15:34I claimed it as my own.
15:35Let me, let me come up with another one.
15:37In fact, I think my friend Rick Hall told me that.
15:39Rick, I apologize.
15:40I just claimed it as my own.
15:42That did not happen to me.
15:43It happened to Rick.
15:44What happened to me is I did the real live Brady Bunch on stage and then the Brady Bunch
15:48movies kind of grew out of that because Sherwood Schwartz came to see us and he decided
15:52to do the movies.
15:53So we kind of take credit for that.
15:55But I went to audition for the movie that was kind of taking off of what we did on stage
16:00for two years and the casting director after I did one take, I was just going to play like
16:05a mother at an airport.
16:07She said, she stopped the camera and said, do you know what we're trying to do here?
16:09I was just like trying to tell me how to act this thing that we originated.
16:14Oh no.
16:15That was terrible.
16:16You know what we're trying to do here?
16:18Yeah.
16:18We do.
16:20Do you have any advice for actors when they go out on their auditions?
16:24I always, well I do actually.
16:26I always look at it as a performance.
16:28I never go in half ass.
16:30I'm not only off book, I'm completely off book.
16:34I've incorporated it into me so they're going to see the absolute best of what I can do.
16:40I'm not going to hopefully have to look at the page.
16:43And you can't be in between.
16:44You can't be half memorized because then you're not doing it.
16:47I'd rather read it cold or be completely at performance level.
16:51And no matter how the script is cut up for your audition, give it a beginning, middle,
16:57and an end.
16:58And make the writing sing so that the writer's like, hey, I'm great.
17:03That's some really good advice.
17:05So you were also one of the stars of The L Word.
17:08Yeah.
17:08What are your thoughts on the revival?
17:10I think it's fantastic.
17:11Yeah.
17:11I hope they'll ask me back.
17:13I think it's just great.
17:13I think it ended too soon anyway.
17:15I didn't think it was time for it to end.
17:17But it's good though that it goes away and then we meet them ten years later, right?
17:20It's like ten years now.
17:22I'm thrilled.
17:23Yeah.
17:23Yeah.
17:23Wonderful.
17:25So just a few more questions before we wrap up.
17:28So the reviews have been really good for your new project.
17:31Yes.
17:32Project Manhunt.
17:33Manhunt Unabomber.
17:34Unabomber, yes.
17:35You play Janet Reno.
17:36I do.
17:36Amazing.
17:40Yeah, August 1st.
17:42And where will you be watching this?
17:44The Discovery Channel.
17:45And also on the Discovery app too.
17:47The Discovery Go app.
17:49I do not know the fear and threat pushing aside.
18:00I knew who Janet Reno was and I was actually .
18:06But I was...
18:08She was pretty cool.
18:09Yeah, she was really cool. Well, she was the first woman. She was about the fourth person
18:14Clinton put up for that job because each nominee kept being flawed in some way. Remember Nanny
18:19Gate? I know you're way too young for this. So we found this six foot two woman basically
18:24in the Everglades wrestling alligators and brought her and she was a prosecutor and brought
18:31her to Washington and, you know, you could say a lot about the mistakes she's made like
18:38Waco was, you know, loss of life and everything but she is one of those people that, you know,
18:45she had to make the tough decisions and she would, you know, feel the remorse and apologize
18:51and continue to do her job in spite of that and with the Unabomber case it worked out.
18:57It took a really big risk allowing that manifesto, Ted Kaczynski's manifesto, to be published
19:03in two major newspapers, the Post and the Times. I think it was the Post and the Times. And
19:09that's basically negotiating with terrorists. So something you're not supposed to do. But
19:15it ended up mission accomplished and that Kaczynski's brother recognized some of the thoughts
19:20and the writing style and he was found and, you know, still behind bars. So it took 20 years
19:26to crack that case and the Unabomber, our show, focuses on Jim Fitzgerald who was the FBI agent
19:32who came up with this unique and revolutionary way to profile criminals and it's what led
19:38to the arrest of Kaczynski.
19:42And how do you feel like, how do you feel that the show, like, fits into her legacy?
19:47Well, I think it's great that, well, you know, first of all, I'm not very present in this.
19:51I'm kind of sprinkled through it, throughout it. So it's not really focused on her. But,
19:57you know, I think there are, she left a lot of fans. You know, she just passed away right
20:02before we started shooting. A lot of people on both sides of the aisle have terrific respect for
20:08her. And, you know, and she was completely independent. She went where the facts led her.
20:14She was a really good leader in that she had a kind of a patient, kind, yet very firm way
20:22about her. But she had great respect for the Department of Justice and for justice itself.
20:27And, you know, she was really something. So I hope I captured some of that.
20:31A good role model for today.
20:33Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I'd love to have another Jen at Reno and the Department of Justice
20:38would be really wonderful.
20:39That would be wonderful. Well, Jane, do you have any predictions for what's going to happen
20:44on Emmy night?
20:45I don't because I'm just not up on it. I'm sorry. I do not watch enough television anymore.
20:51It's almost like there's too much and it's too good. It's all too good. There's a lot of stuff
20:56out there and I don't watch it. I watch House of Cards, but I usually binge watch it. And I've
21:01only
21:01watched like the first three because what's happening in our politics is kind of better.
21:05It's true. If it weren't so damn scary, you know.
21:09It is true.
21:10It's crazy. It's like I go to watch a House of Cards and I'm like, let me check deep Twitter
21:14first. See what's going on in deep Twitter.
21:17I love it. Jane Lynch, thank you so much for being here.
21:20Thank you. This was great.
21:20The show is dropping the soap and we will see you on Emmy's night.
21:23Oh, I can't wait.
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