MEGAN MULLALLY PARTIES DOWN

April 2010

BY XAQUE GRUBER, PHOTOGRAPHY THADDEUS HARDEN, HAIR MATTHEW MONZON FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS, MAKEUP DENISE MARKEY FOR TIMOTHY PRIANO

You may know Megan Mullally from her many television comedy appearances whether as Karen Walker on the long running series “Will & Grace” (for which she received two Emmy Awards and four S.A.G. Awards) or her work on “30 Rock,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” or as Tammy on “Parks and Recreation” (in which she plays the ex-wife to her real life husband, Nick Offerman).

What you may not know about Megan Mullally is that some of her best work to date hits the Starz Network April 23rd in the second season of one of the funniest comedies that you probably have never seen, “Party Down.” In it, she plays the eternally peppy and bright-eyed Lydia Dunfree, the newbie outsider amongst an established team of dismayed Hollywood cater waiters. Lydia dreams of being a housewife while promoting the undiscovered talent of her thirteen-year-old daughter, Escapade.

In addition, Mullally fans can rejoice in her hilarious work as The Chief on “Children’s Hospital” (the wb.com), a web series that chronicles the ultra-horny, inept doctors in a “Grey’s Anatomy”-esque hospital. Everyone in “Children’s Hospital” lusts after The Chief, one of the least sexy characters you’ll ever see. In other words, a must-see, especially when it comes to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim this summer.

If that weren’t enough, Megan’s got a musical side that keeps her busy as the lead singer of the “thinking man’s cover band,” The Supreme Music Program which, this year alone, will perform on stages from London to Orange County.

Though raised in both California and Oklahoma, these days Mullally calls L.A. home, and she’s busier — and happier — than ever as she recently shared it all with Venice…

Venice: In preparing for this interview, Starz sent the whole upcoming season of “Party Down.” I watched every episode, and it’s truly one of the funniest sitcoms I’ve seen.

Megan Mullally:

Thanks! I haven’t even seen it yet, but I’ve never laughed that hard on a set. I had a blast on “Will & Grace” but this was as fun, and at times, maybe even a teeny bit more fun.

These cater waiter characters are all so, in their own ways, useless at catering, yet their rapport is so amusing and endearing. I’m just wishing more people watched Starz.

I know! Right now we’re trying to figure out how to get Starz for my mom in Oklahoma City. And what do you think about my $99 wig from Hollywood Boulevard?

Is that where you got Lydia’s hair?

I am so obsessed with cheap wig shops on Hollywood Boulevard.

Me too! I have an inner drag queen maybe.

[laughs] I love that! Let’s hit the wig shops when I’m back in L.A. I’ve worn these cheap, fantastic wigs for the last four things I’ve done. For the upcoming Adult Swim version of “Children’s Hospital” not only do I wear Hollywood Boulevard wigs for The Chief, but it’s a man’s hairpiece. And she’s on a walker this season, not crutches.

And yet all the other characters on “Children’s Hospital” find her sexually alluring.

I know. Everybody wants to (expletive) her. [laughs]

“Children’s Hospital” needed to get made.

Yes, it was crying out to be made. We shot twelve eleven minute episodes which was very unorthodox. The whole landscape of television is changing right now, and we don’t really know where it’s ending up. There’s this very pioneering spirit that’s happening, and “Party Down” and “Children’s Hospital” are examples of that. There’s this really exciting sense of being in on the ground floor of something new and putting together a really first class show for less money and on cable, and online.

You’re right about the changes with television since the days when “Will & Grace” was new. And with “Children’s Hospital” and “Party Down,” you’re part of that change.

It really is exciting. In Los Angeles right now there’s this great community of comedy people, and it really is a community, unlike other areas of the business. There’s this whole far-reaching group, some are from the Upright Citizen Brigade world, some are from “Saturday Night Live” or Groundlings. And then there’s this whole Rob Corddry, David Wain contingent. All these different branches of people from comedy. With this L.A. comedy community, everybody supports each other. Everybody gives each other jobs. Everybody wants everybody else to succeed. There’s nothing elitist about it. The only qualifications to be a member of this group are you have to be funny, you have to be good at your job, and you have to be nice.

I love that. It makes the industry sound more like summer camp.

It really is like summer camp. I lived in Chicago in the early ’80s, and I did a lot of theater there. There really was a community of theater actors and everybody would hang out at the same bar after the show, and everybody knew everybody and we’d all be in each other’s plays, and that was wonderful, but it’s not even to the extreme that we have in Los Angeles right now. There’s a creative generosity of spirit.

You’ve become well known in the world of television comedy. Did you think of yourself as a comedy person when you were starting out?

No, I thought I might have been relatively amusing, but I didn’t think of myself as anything to write home about. [laughs] I had to be humorous in plays and musicals, but not knock down, drag out, funny. I was never formally trained in improv. “Party Down” and “Children’s Hospital” are definitely scripted, but they have a feeling of improvisation, and there are moments of improvisation although they may not make it into the final versions. The writing on “Party Down” is very strong. John Enbom and Rob Thomas and Dan Etheridge are the three guys that run the show. John writes the majority of the scripts. We shot for ten weeks, ten episodes straight through. I love the writing. I mean the love story between the Adam Scott character and the Lizzy Caplan character is so fresh and believable. Don’t they feel like people that you know?

Absolutely. Speaking of characters on “Party Down,” does Lydia Dunfree feel like anyone you know?

[laughs, followed by a pause, then] I don’t know.

Maybe you came across women like her in Oklahoma shopping malls?

[laughs] Yeah, totally. She just thinks everything’s going to be great. The last thing these other characters want is to be trapped in the proverbial elevator with Lydia, and she’s working on being everyone’s new best friend, but she has NO idea that she might not be their cup of tea. She’s like a cheerleader. I’m kind of like that, but I didn’t base her on anyone in particular. I do have Lydia’s optimism and idealism.

You’re an optimist?

Oh yeah. I always think the best of people.

So, after doing “Party Down,” when you’re at an event now, and the cater waiter asks if you’d like a glass of champagne, do you think new thoughts?

That’s so funny. Well, the next time I’m at an event where there are uniformed caterers, I’ll definitely look at them with new eyes.

In “Party Down” when Lydia goes to Steve Guttenberg’s house, she remembers him from “Three Men And A Baby” but thinks he’s Ted Danson, and calls him “Ted” throughout the episode. Do you think if Lydia saw you, she’d recognize you from “Will & Grace,” but think you were Debra Messing?

[laughs] Yeah, I’m sure she would. And sometimes I get Patty Heaton or Tina Fey. Patty Heaton is funnier actually because she and I were both on sitcoms in the same era.

I read that you’re developing “Karen: The Musical” based on your “Will & Grace” character.

Yes! Fox Theatrical is producing it. Casey (“The Drowsy Chaperone”) Nicholaw is directing it. Jeff Blumenkrantz is writing the score. Bruce Vilanch is going to be involved, and we’re looking for one more person to write the book – so we’re almost there. The idea is kind of a throwdown between Karen Walker and Beverley Leslie. It’s a touring show so we’d start in Los Angeles first and then take it wherever “Will & Grace” is popular.

Which is just about everywhere.

“Will & Grace” is really popular in the U.K., Australia, all over Europe. I think it would be a lot of fun to take this around the U.S. as well as those places. Nobody ever wants to keep their sitcom character going. You’re supposed to madly distance yourself from them in your life, but I think it’s funny to keep doing it. And the idea that it’s a musical is just so ridiculous that I just have to do it.

Karen would probably hate Lydia Dunfree, wouldn’t she?

Oh God, yes! And I don’t think Karen would think too much of The Chief in “Children’s Hospital” either.

Did Karen Walker ever rub off on you in any way?

Fortunately I’m not a pill-popping, gun-toting, alcoholic. [laughs] Maybe if I had to cite one thing, and it might not be just because of the character, but possibly because the process of being lucky enough to be on “Will & Grace,” a hit show for eight years, is that I grew a lot in terms of self confidence. And I learned so much about comedy.

Karen’s vocal register changed from the early episodes where she spoke in a lower register to later ones where she speaks in that high-pitch. Was that your decision?

Yeah, but it wasn’t really a conscious decision. I had always taken a lot of big chances in auditions. Sometimes I got the job and sometimes they’d just be terrified. I didn’t do the voice in the beginning with Karen because I really wasn’t sure what the character was going to be. My voice changed with the writing. Karen wasn’t as quirky writing wise at the beginning as she became later. I think it’s funny that Karen is a woman who is so judgmental of everybody else would have something so amazingly annoying about her. Just her speaking voice makes you want to throw yourself out the window. [laughs] After the first six to ten episodes, it occurred to me that the nature of the show was very farcical, and to add energy to the show and the performance, and since my regular speaking voice is sort of laconic, I just instinctively wanted to add something quirky so I just brought the higher voice in.

At the very bottom of your list of credits on IMDB it says you played a call girl in “Risky Business.” Is that true?

Uh, yeah. It’s so funny because I was like 23, and they came to Chicago to read people for the film because Chicago was really hot right then. Me and this actor named Kevin Anderson got screen-tested for the leads in Risky Business — the Rebecca DeMornay and Tom Cruise roles. They flew us to Los Angeles for two weeks. It was a big deal. They put us in a hotel, bought us clothes. Kevin Anderson ultimately was given a small role. And I was given a role of ‘call girl.’ I had two lines with Tom Cruise which got cut, and ever since then, to this day, whenever I run into any of the producers from the movie, they are so nice to me. They’ve had reunion parties. And Tom Cruise, I ran into him once over the years, and he recognized me and was like “Oh my God!” You know, the media gives him a bad rap, but I think he’s a really nice guy who remembers people’s names. It’s funny how the press latches onto certain people and —

—tears people down?

Yeah. Like when I was working with Madonna on “Will & Grace,” she couldn’t have been any nicer or more professional. She worked so hard. Really a perfectionist. She’s really all about her family and her spiritual vibe.

Madonna came across differently than you were expecting?

I didn’t know what to expect. I was keeping an open mind. Pretty much every scene that she was in was just me and Madonna. She actually had me over to dinner before we ever started shooting to get to know me a little bit. It was so refreshing. A really nice person.

Have you done stand up?

No, I never have. I feel comfortable enough to improvise within the scripted parameters, but to go out there and do stand up, that takes a special skill. I’m really good friends with Kathy Griffin. We met back in the mid- 1980s, and in the last year or two we’ve become really best girlfriends. We run around her big house and go online to find the right trashcans for her bathroom. That kind of thing. I admire her stand-up because she just brings it. I drove down with her to her Orange County Performing Arts Center gig last year — just the two of us. She drove, and I had her little list of topics in the car ride — and it was just these rough bulletpoints. And she was so calm about this show in a 5,000 seat theater. She’s not nervous or anything. She just goes onstage with a bottle of water – and the comedy just flows and the crowd freaks out.

And I have a crush on Maggie, Kathy Griffin’s mom.

Oh, total! She’s so beautiful. My mom’s 88 and Maggie is, I think, 89 or 87 – just a year apart.

You were great as Tammy on “Parks and Recreation.” She’s such a train wreck. I love her.

[Big laugh] Tammy’s going to be coming back to “Parks and Recreation,” and she’ll be reunited with Ron.

Is there a series that you’d like to guest on that you haven’t yet?

I am obsessed with “In Treatment” on HBO. I would love to do something on that. It’s the closest thing to theater that I’ve seen on television in a long time. The writing is so great. And there are sides to me that I haven’t been able to show that aren’t necessarily just non-stop comedy. The other show I’d love to guest on is “Breaking Bad.”

My favorite show!

Me too! I love it so much.

And you’re also the lead singer in a group, The Supreme Music Program?

We’ve been together about eleven years. We just played eight shows in London in January. That was the first time that I performed anything outside of the states since “Will & Grace.” And we’re playing at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in October — not the huge stage that Kathy Griffin does, but the smaller one

Who are some of your favorite singers?

I’m not very good with being in touch with the Top 40 today.

That doesn’t matter. Just name some of the music you’re listening to.

I love Nina Simone. She did a lot of incredibly eclectic cover songs. Also Tom Waits, Radiohead, The White Stripes though I heard they’re not together anymore. Jack White’s in a new band, and she – well, I don’t know what she’s doing. The Weepies, The Decemberists, Patti Griffin, Arcade Fire, Iron and Wine, Jenny Lewis. I don’t really know any Lady Gaga songs, but I think what she’s doing visually is so cool and fearless and creative. It’s like performance art. Yoko Ono was one of my early role models. She was this great force in the modern art scene, and so avant garde, and Lady Gaga is doing that now in her own way, yet Gaga is way more popular. Yoko was never really mainstream or understood.

You won two Emmys for “Will & Grace.” Have you ever done anything interesting or unusual with your Emmy Award statues like use them as a bottle opener or a doorstop?

[laughs] No. I mean I’m thrilled that I won the Emmys and other awards, and I think it’s really awesome, but Nick and I, we don’t have any career memorabilia on display in our house. Any awards or things we’ve won are kept in a very respectful place, but not on display. Most people I know who have won Emmys have them out in their house, but that’s not really me. I just would rather stay in the moment than always be looking at an award that makes me think of another time. I’d rather look ahead. ▼

(http://www.venicemag.com/news-article/megan-mullally-parties-down/196)

Doing Cocaine on ‘Party Down’ (VIDEO)

by Oliver Miller (www.tvsquad.com)

On the latest episode of ‘Party Down’ (Fri., 10PM ET on Starz), the gang caters a big-deal Hollywood party. But will the group be able to handle the bright lights and the fame?

The catering company is hired to do a party at Steve Guttenberg’s house. (Steve Guttenberg apparently being the “biggest” movie star who was available for the show.) While at the party, Lydia (Megan Mullally) goes to the bathroom, where she finds that she has run out of “powder” for her nose.

Unfortunately, her request for nose powder is misconstrued by the Hollywood starlet in the bathroom — who ends up giving Lydia … a lot of cocaine. Lydia ends up telling a fairly drug-addled story about revenge, cars, and “fish smell” to her befuddled co-workers. At the end of the story, Lydia pauses and says this. “My mouth is dry.” Why, yes. That might be the “nose powder” talking.

‘Party Down’: One of the Best Sitcoms No One is Watching

by Jason Hughes, posted May 21st 2010 4:02PM

Jane Lynch is knocking the roof off of ‘Glee’ every week. Adam Scott just debuted alongside Rob Lowe as a most unwelcome state arbiter on ‘Parks & Recreation.’ Ryan Hansen’s comedy pilot ‘Friends With Benefits’ just got picked up by NBC. Lizzy Caplan is attached to the CBS pilot ‘True Love,’ though the network hasn’t announced its fate yet. But what do these four actors have in common?

They all are, or were, a part of Starz’ amazingly under-watched ‘Party Down.’ Lynch starred in most of the first season, before ‘Glee’ came knocking. The other three are still part of one of the sharpest ensembles on television. Megan Mullally (‘Will & Grace’) was brought in this season to try and fill the Lynch-sized hole in the cast.

The real tragedy for the series isn’t even that it’s being strip-mined for its comedic talent. It’s that nobody seems to be watching. The latest episode managed a paltry 113,000 viewers, according to TV by the Numbers, and a whopping 0.1 in the 18-49 demo. Is it because it’s on Starz?

‘Spartacus: Blood & Sand’ kind of came out of nowhere for the network, and quickly grew into a cult hit, growing week by week in viewers. It generated plenty of press and had tremendous buzz throughout it’s run. Perhaps the Friday night at 10PM ET time slot isn’t helping people find the time for ‘Party Down,’ though it does re-air several times across the Starz family of channels.

The network certainly didn’t short-change the comedy in advertising for its second season premiere. There have been print ads plastered everywhere touting the addition of Mullally to the cast. Mullally herself has been making the talk show rounds, using her “big name” status to try and bolster interest in the series. She even took some time out to chat with our own Maggie Furlong for a recent installment of ‘The Show Girl.’

Critics have been down with ‘Party Down’ from the beginning. The sharp writing, great committed acting and outrageous situations this group of caterers manage to get themselves into seems to be in an unlimited supply. And because the stories are framed around different events they’re catering, the series has managed to snag some very fun guest stars for each episode.

We’ve already seen Enrico Colantoni (‘Just Shoot Me!’), Jason Dohring (‘Veronica Mars’), Ken Jeong (‘Community’), Joey Lauren Adams (‘Chasing Amy’), Breckin Meyer, Allison Scagliotti (‘Warehouse 13′), J.K. Simmons (‘Law & Order’), Rob Corddry, Steven Weber (‘Wings’), Kyle Bornheimer (‘Worst Week’) and Kristen Bell (‘Veronica Mars’).

Ed Begley Jr. and Marilu Henner were at a seniors singles mixer. George Takei spoofed himself during a lavish gay wedding. Eden Sher (‘The Middle’) played a sexy teen looking to hook up at an event her parents were throwing. Last week’s episode brought us Loretta Devine (‘Eli Stone’) at an awkward funeral, while this week offers Steve Guttenberg’s birthday party. And yet, the guest actors never overshadow the core cast.

Most of them are struggling to make it in show business one way or another; they’re only stuck doing this catering job because they can’t get their acts together. Very adult in tone, the show has featured its fair share of sex and nudity, and has the language you’d expect on a premium channel. We even saw more than any of us wanted to of Ron Donald’s enormous penis during the catering of a porn awards event, but we were laughing too hard at the mishaps it experienced to be too uncomfortable.

That’s where the show succeeds. These people are miserable in this job. It’s the last thing they saw themselves doing with their lives. They’re embarrassed, most of them, to be seen by friends and former colleagues. It’s a perfect reflection of the frustrations many working Americans feel every day, only they have the freedom to act out and say exactly what all of us wish we could. They’re angry, bitter and frustrated and they take it out on every event they cater.

While Scott has technically been the lead, the character of Ron Donald, played by the hilarious Ken Marino, is a central part of what makes it work. The big question facing the series now, other than how to improve its ratings, is if it can continue without Scott, Hansen and potentially Caplan. As long as Marino is at the center of this team of ‘Party Down’ caterers, I don’t see any reason it couldn’t.

In one-and-a-half seasons he’s gone from an overzealous dimwitted team leader to a slacker phoning it in and doing his best to drive everyone around him crazy. It’s been an impressive transformation for the character, and Marino has mastered every nuance of the role with hilarious consequences. As much credit as I’ll give to the actors for bringing the brilliant writing to the screen, I think it is that writing that is the true star of the show.

It’s organic to the premise of a catering company for people to flow in and out of this low paying career option, so cast changes can be handled the same way. As long as it stays as sharp and witty as it is right now, ‘Party Down’ will remain at the top of the comedy heap. If only it could stand there in ratings as well.

Megan Mullally defends Sean Hayes after Newsweek gay-actors article

Like her character on the Starz comedy “Party Down,” Megan Mullally doesn’t seem like a woman who gets incredibly angry.

 During a phone chat from Oklahoma City, where she was visiting family, she stopped the conversation to alert husband Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson on “Parks and Recreation”) to a flock of white birds (“Unicorns!” he said).

Mullally couldn’t stay mellow when I asked her about a recent Newsweek column stating that gay actors aren’t believable in straight roles. Writer Ramin Setoodeh singled out Mullally’s good friend Sean Hayes, writing that the gay actor’s portrayal of a straight ad man in Broadway’s “Promises, Promises” was “wooden and insincere.” He also called gay Broadway star Jonathan Groff “so distracting” in his guest role on Fox’s “Glee” as a straight high school student.

“It’s just beyond comprehension,” Mullally said Tuesday. “That the article was written and the editor allowed it to go out online is beyond comprehension. They should be ashamed of themselves.

“I could talk about it for 27 hours [but] we don’t have 27 hours. I just feel like there’s nothing good to say about it. It shouldn’t have been published.”

Newsweek and Setoodeh have been roundly booed by the acting community, including Hayes’ “Promises” co-star Kristin Chenoweth, who posted a long response on the Newsweek website. Mullally, who played boozy Karen Walker to Hayes’ Jack McFarland on “Will & Grace” for eight years, defended her friend and the play.

“Just for the record, Sean Hayes is phenomenal in that show, and the show is phenomenal and the storytelling is very complete,” she said. “The love stories are all there, and he’s a phenomenally talented guy and his sexuality does not enter into or inform his abilities in any way.”

As for “Party Down,” Mullally said she had a blast stepping into the role of Lydia Dunfree, a recently divorced, rather naive mom who has moved to L.A. to help her daughter, Escapade, break in to showbiz. Lydia gets a job with the catering service at the center of the show. She joined the group of struggling writers and actors who support themselves as caterers until they get a big break.

Mullally, 51, who went to Northwestern University and worked in Chicago theaters for several years, has had her share of odd job, including as a foot model in the Windy City.

“I had size 6 feet, and so I got called to be a model for this shoe show at the convention center,” she said, laughing. “I sat in a hotel room with a bunch of Japanese guys and tried on shoes all day, which was the closest to, like, a fetish film that I’ve ever done. That was a one-day-only career.”

Mullally talked more about her Chicago adventures, “Party Down” and, no, she cannot believe it’s not butter. Come back later.

(http://www.chicagonow.com/)

Megan Mullally Talks ‘Party Down,’ ‘Karen: The Musical’

by Robin Milling

You know that lady on ‘Party Down’ with short hair and pink glasses that just seems to earnest for her own good? That’s Megan Mullally as Lydia, a Midwestern mom who moves to Hollywood to pursue her daughter’s dreams of stardom and she’s the latest edition to the band of misfits on ‘Party Down’ (Fri., 10PM ET on Starz).

Mullally’s seasoned comedic chops are nourished by her co-stars Adam Scott, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr and Ken Marino, whose behind-the-scenes pranks of leaving little gifts behind in trailer toilets feed into the insanity of the show.

The actress who may be best known as the bodacious Karen Walker on ‘Will & Grace,’ chatted with TV Squad to talk about her new role on one of the most critically-acclaimed, ratings-challenged shows, ‘Karen: The Musical,’ Children’s Hospital’ and a sing-off with ‘Party Down’ alumna Jane Lynch.

What is your role on ‘Party Down’?
It’s my new favorite show. I’m playing a dorky screwball caterer Lydia in the company called Party Down. [She] is this clueless, bright eyed and bushy tailed woman from the Midwest who comes to Hollywood with her 12 year-old daughter Escapade who is going to be a star. This season we’re catering backstage at a def-metal concert and we’re catering an orgy. I have a crush on every person in that show including Lizzy Caplan. I would literally make out with any of those people although that would be kind of disgusting because three of them are in their 20s and I’m 51!

How would you describe the look of your character?
I bought this $99.00 wig on Hollywood Boulevard because I don’t exactly have comedy hair these days because it’s long and straight. I like to say it’s Jane Kaczmarek’s ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ look circa 1950s. It’s this short bob with this little flip up on the ends and I just love it. She also wears pink eye-glasses because you know, she’s just so hip.

What are some fun behind the scenes stories that you can share?
This is a cast that loves to prank each other and I had so much fun working on this show. We were shooting in this park and Ryan [Hansen] who plays Kyle Bradway picked up this duck in the pond. He just has a way about him — I mean he could a back-flip from a standing position — anyway, he pins the feathers down on this duck, managing not to get bitten, takes it out of the pond and leaves it in Adam’s [Scott] shower in his trailer!

Can you imagine seeing this white duck with an orange beak in your shower!? When Adam saw it, I want to say that he screamed like a girl. Another raunchy thing the guys do with each other I’ve named the Poop-Off, because they leave behind little gifts in the toilet in each other’s trailers and let it sit there for days until it ripens to a disgusting point. It’s a good thing they never do it with the girls.

Did you ever work in the food industry?
I was horrible at waitressing. I worked at a restaurant back in the day and failed miserably because I never got the orders right and I’m sure that I dropped food on someone’s lap. Waitressing is a really hard job and I also have a new found respect for caterers after hosting this event for White House Project Epic Awards where I introduced Meryl Streep. I couldn’t help but stare at them since I now know what’s involved with catering after being on ‘Party Down.’ I think they thought, “Why is that crazy Karen from ‘Will & Grace’ eying me for?!” Their food was a lot more upscale than ‘Party Down’ since we’re on a low budget. I think their hors d’oeurves are really radishes on a toothpick or on triangular pieces of bread because you can’t really see what the food is on TV so they can get away with it.

Do you have other television projects in the works?
The great thing about ‘Party Down’ is I did 10 episodes and then did ‘Children’s Hospital,’ that will be on Adult Swim. It’s kind of like a spoof of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ where all the doctors are having affairs with each other and just make-out everywhere. I play this sexy chief of the hospital and everybody just wants to f**k me! It’s so politically incorrect because it’s a children’s hospital. Since Jane left ‘Party Down’ to do ‘Glee,’ I would love to do Glee and maybe be Jane’s nemesis on the show. We could have a sing-off!

Looking back how has ‘Will’ & Grace been received in your home town?
They won’t let you watch any gay things in Oklahoma City and they won’t let you be gay in Oklahoma City and they’d probably cut out the characters of Jack and Will and call the show, ‘Karen.’ Actually, they (NBC) wanted me to do a spin-off. They talked to me about it as early as the fourth season. That was kind of the plan and then around the sixth season they were like, “Oh no, we want you to host a daytime talk show instead.” I did the talk show and that didn’t work out. I wanted to do a different kind of show not just with celebrities because Ellen (DeGeneres) was already doing it. I wanted to talk to every day people about their stories. So I wasn’t disappointed when it didn’t work out because that is not the show I wanted to do in the first place. You really learn more from the things that don’t work.

What happened with the Off-Broadway show ‘Lips Together, Teeth Apart?’
Thank you for asking, but I’d really like that to come out organically about what happened, but I will tell you that I’m doing ‘Karen: The Musical’ which will be a bus and tour show with Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) from ‘Will & Grace.’ We’re still in the process of writing the book but the working concept is Karen goes to see a Broadway show and has no idea about how to be in it but is suddenly interested in her own musical. So it would be like a show within a show with big musical numbers. Jeff Blumenkrantz is doing music and lyrics. Leslie is a perfect fit because he is very involved in Broadway and I think that Karen Walker and his character were so much fun together that people would want to see it everywhere ‘Will & Grace’ was popular. We’re taking it on the road, even overseas, so I’ll be on tour like Aerosmith!

(http://www.tvsquad.com/)

Have fun with Megan Mulally tonight!

Watch tonight another hilarious episode of Party Down and have fun with the new character Mad Megan Mullally. She plays Lydia Dunfre, a sweet and innocent woman who goes to Hollywood to realize the vision of his daughter Escapade, to be the new Hannah Montana.

Tonight on Starz!

Megan Mullally lands on Starz to ‘Party Down’

By MICHAEL CIDONI Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES—Megan Mullally is no party animal. And yet the “Will & Grace” Emmy winner has found a new home on the sitcom “Party Down,” which just began its second season on the Starz cable network. The series follows struggling Hollywood writers and actors supporting themselves as caterers.

“My character, Lydia, comes in as a breath of fresh air,” said Mullally in a recent interview from New York City. “She bursts onto the scene from the Midwest with her 13-year-old daughter Escapade, who is going to be the next Hannah Montana.”

Mullally, 51, had her share of odd jobs before breakout Broadway roles in the mid-’90s, and then playing boozy Karen Walker on “Will & Grace” from 1998 to 2006.

“One time I got hired because I wore a size-6 shoe,” the L.A. native recalled. “So I got hired to go do the shoe show, which was down at the Convention Center. And what it consisted of was me … (Mullally hesitates) … in a hotel room … trying on shoes for … a bunch of Japanese guys,” she added, laughing.

The odd, if more lucrative, jobs continue for Mullally, who can be seen dancing around a supermarket in lavish TV and online commercials for a butter substitute.

“And how gorgeous did they make me look?” Mullally asked. “I felt like the best I’ve ever looked was on a butter commercial!” she added, laughing.

Karen Walker will live on in the stage show “Karen: The Musical,” currently in development. Mullally said she also will be returning 

to another sitcom, “Parks and Recreation,” where she made a guest appearance last year as the ex-wife of the character played by her real-life husband, writer and actor Nick Offerman.

“I’m really lucky, because Nick and I are homebodies, strangely enough. We’re not Hollywood-y at all,” she said. “Like I wonder, when I see a reality show that’s set in Los Angeles with really tan women with giant boobs that do a lot of drugs. ‘Where are they?’ ‘Cause I’ve lived there for 25 years and I’ve never seen them. We have a normal life and we just kind of keep it on the down low.”

NEWBIE ALERT! Lydia, oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia? (played by Megan Mullally)

 ’ll admit it: I wept openly when I learned that cast member Jane Lynch had moved on to a gleeful new television pasture. And—in a moment I’m even more ashamed of—I doubted, just for one one-millionth of a second, that things could ever be the same.

But, like Henry (and the song) says, I told myself “Don’t stop believin”… and the Party Down gods did not disappoint.

As you’ve seen and heard from the trailers, the always-fabulous Megan Mullally will join the S2 ensemble as Lydia, the new cater-waiter on the block.

And, in another example of the Party Down gods rewarding me for my undying love, my bigwig pals at Starz agreed to drop the restraining order and show me a snippet from their recent interview with the fabulous Ms. MM.

Check it out:

Starz:
Tell us how you got involved with the show.

Megan Mullally:
I watched the show last year. I found out about it through a friend of mine. And, my husband and I started watching it. It’s such a good show. It’s just really, really good writing and really great storytelling, great cast, great characters, and it’s really funny. So I kind of fell in love with it. I was really excited when they offered me a part on it this season.
Starz:
Tell us about your character on Party Down.

Megan Mullally:
I play Lydia Dunfree. And Lydia has moved to Los Angeles recently, with her 14-year-old daughter Escapade, who is an aspiring star. Lydia has gotten a job with the catering company just to pay the rent. And, she’s just really determined to make Escapade’s dreams come true. She’s not a pushy stage mother. She’s just a really well-intentioned but very determined mom.

Starz:
Does she like working for Party Down?

Megan Mullally:
Oh, yeah. I think she likes everything. She’s a very positive, optimistic person and very passionate, you know, like her emotions change from one moment to the next. She’s very enthusiastic.

Starz:
And how does she interact with those in the cast? Who is she playing off of the most so far?

Megan Mullally:
Well, I think one of the things that’s funny in the first episode of the season is I’ve been working at Party Down, and it’s just been me and all guys. And then the character of Casey comes back. So it’s another girl. Lydia just takes this instant shine to Casey and just thinks Casey is the greatest thing that ever happened. And, of course, the character of Casey is the least huggable. I mean, a very likeable character, but she’s not somebody that you would instantly just approach and touch and smile at and, you know, coochie-coochie all over. So it’s pretty funny.

Starz:
Is there any, improv at all on the show?

Megan Mullally:
We are improving off of what’s written. We’re not having to rework or revamp drastically anything that’s written ’cause the writing is really great. It’s just that sometimes, when you’re in a take and you’re in the moment, if you let it be loose, it can be a lot funnier.

Don’t miss the season premiere TONIGHT at 10pm ET/PT or watch it now by clicking here.

Megan Mullally Talks ‘Party Down’ and Returning to ‘Parks & Recreation’

Yes, Jane Lynch has gone off to more ‘Glee’-ful pastures, but thanks to new star Megan Mullally, the second season of Starz’ buzzworthy comedy ‘Party Down’ (premieres April 23, 10PM ET), isn’t missing a single drop of the funny.

Mullally, the two-time ‘Will & Grace’ Emmy winner, joins the Party Down catering crew — as Lydia Dunfree, a recently-divorced mom who has moved to Los Angeles so her daughter, Escapade, can become the next big kid star. Yes, that’s right, Escapade … sounds like something Mullally’s Karen Walker would name her kid.

And speaking of the scene-stealing ‘Will & Grace’ character, Mullally will also soon bring her iconic TV alter ego to theater stages. ‘Karen: The Musical’ is currently in development, and Mullally talked to AOL TV about Karen’s return to pop culture (and the Karen spin-off series that could have been), her ‘Party’ days, her gig as the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spokeswoman, guest-starring with hilarious hubby Nick Offerman on ‘Parks and Recreation’ and which ‘Saturday Night Live’ star she helped discover.

Congratulations on the ‘Party Down’ role … you fit so perfectly into the cast. How did your role come about?
Thanks! I’m so excited about it. They just called me out of the blue. Jane Lynch, who I’ve known for a million years, did the first season, as you know, and then got ‘Glee,’ and it never occurred to me that they would come to me and offer me a role, to kind of fill that same … function that she did, although it’s a different character. They just offered it to me, and I was like, “Yeah, yes, yes!” [Laughing] You know? Could not have accepted any more quickly. And it was blast. The cast is just so much fun to work with. They’re all so good at their jobs and so fun off camera. And the writing is amazing, and it was just really fun. They just bang it out 10 weeks in a row, 10 episodes, straight through.

You’ve already shot the whole season?
Yeah, yeah, we did them all. And it was really fun to do. Since the whole conceit of the show is that it’s a catering company, every week is so fun, because they come up with such funny ideas for the events that we’re catering … we’re catering backstage at a death metal rock show. We’re catering an orgy. We’re catering Steve Guttenberg‘s 50th birthday party. We’re catering Jane Lynch’s New Age wedding. It’s just like they have the best ideas, and so then it also is great, because you get great guest stars to come on.

So Jane Lynch is playing herself in the wedding episode?
No, Jane Lynch is going to come back as her character from the first season, and she’s marrying this brilliant old guy, this much older man, and they’re having a very new age wedding. So she’s wearing these flowing garments, and there’s a lot of beads and a lot of scarves, and she’s really chill, and it’s really funny.

We get to know your character in bits and pieces throughout the first few episodes … the name of her daughter, Escapade, is hilarious. It sounds like something that Karen Walker would have named her daughter.
I know! [Laughing] Totally, that is a very good point. Oh, my God, it’s hilarious, although I don’t think Karen Walker would be [around] Lydia … I don’t think Karen Walker would even hire Lydia or allow her in her home. Escapade is going to become the next Hannah Montana. And she actually is, as we find out a little bit later, she actually really is talented, and Lydia is never a pushy stage mother. She just wants the best for her child, and so a lot of Lydia’s focus in the 10 episodes is that she’s trying to find a man. She wants a man who makes a good living and has a nice home, so that she can get set up with Escapade in that house and then just get going driving Escapade to all her auditions … Lydia is looking for a man, and she’s not very particular. She basically likes any man who has a house.

You mentioned ‘Glee’ earlier … that seems like a perfect show for you to be a part of, too. Would you guest star?
Yeah! I mean, they never offered me [a guest star role], but if they did, I’m sure I would do it. It seems like it would be a blast to do. I know that there’s two ways to go, because they’re probably aware that I sing. So that’s one way to go, and then the other way to go is to do something with Jane, just play some crazy like, you know, nemesis of hers or something. I love her, and I love working with her, too. She’s awesome.

Your husband, Nick Offerman is one of the funniest guys on TV right now. You two had such great chemistry when he guest starred on ‘Will & Grace,’ and then this season when you played Tammy, the ex-wife of his Ron Swanson on ‘Parks and Recreation.’ Any chance that you’ll be returning to the show?
I am returning! I am. And yes, how great is Nick Offerman on that show? I mean, he’s amazing. He is just so happy right now, and there’s no actor that’s ever been any happier or more grateful to have a job, I’m telling you. And yes, Tammy is coming back, and she’s coming back, I think, at the beginning of next season, and it’s not going to be pretty. [Laughing] It’s going to be like the other [episode]. It’s going to be really pretty, and then not so pretty.

So this might become a recurring thing throughout the series?
I think it’s an ongoing thing because she’s the head of the library department, and the library department is the absolute arch nemesis of the parks and recreation department. So there’s all kinds of fodder there for lots of throwdowns between the two departments, as well as between Ron and Tammy.

Where is ‘Karen: The Musical’ at this point? Is it definitely still happening?
Yeah, it is! It’s in development. We have a producer, we have a composer, we have a director. The only thing is, we’re just trying to finalize who the book writers are going to be, and that’s getting really close now, and as soon as that’s done, then we can start writing. So that’s getting really exciting. And it’s going to be a touring show. We’re going to start in Los Angeles, and then we’re just going to do it wherever ‘Will & Grace’ is popular, which is kind of cool, because we can do it all over the States, but then we can also go to other countries, because ‘Will & Grace’ is very popular in the U.K., Australia, South America …

And do you have any specifics in mind, plot-wise? Is Leslie Jordan, as Karen’s frenemy Beverley Leslie, still involved?
It’s a traditional book musical … and it’s going to involve a fight to the death between Karen Walker and Beverley Leslie. While we’re singing. [Leslie] was kind of the obvious choice [to co-star], because he’s got so much theater experience. He’s done a lot of theater, but he’s also done about five really hilarious one-man shows. And so he knows the stage. He’s a stage guy, and he’s so fun to work with. His timing is amazing, and he’s super-funny.

Karen really was the breakout character of the show; was there ever any talk of doing a Karen spin-off?
There was, actually. There was a Karen spin-off that was supposed to happen, and then [NBC] launched ‘Joey.’ And then they started to think maybe that wasn’t such a great idea, after all, and they decided that they wanted me to do that talk show. So that’s how it all played out, and it’s fine that it worked out the way it did. I think that they might have approached Sean [Hayes], but I don’t think Sean wanted to do it. I don’t know for sure, but I do know that there was definitely a Karen thing, and it was all kind of mapped out. It was going to be sort of like an ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ show, with Karen and all of her servants. And I had pitched it to Martin Short and Alec Baldwin — and this is pre-Alec Baldwin even being on ‘Will & Grace,’ much less ’30 Rock.’ And they were both interested. Martin Short was going to play the butler, who was secretly in love with [Karen], but she didn’t really know, and then Alec Baldwin was going to be my jet-set playboy love interest.

Ah, so you recognized Alec Baldwin’s comedic genius before anyone?
[Laughing] Well, I don’t want to brag, but what can I say?

I also read something about you helping Bill Hader land his spot on ‘Saturday Night Live’ … how did that happen?
Yeah! That is just the funniest story. I just saw him the other night, because we went to see the show, the one that Tina Fey hosted. And I saw him, and he’s always so sweet every time I see him. What happened was — it is kind of a crazy thing — my husband and I live in Los Angeles, and my husband’s brother was taking an improv comedy class at the Improv, and he was in a little group that would do little shows every now and again as part of their class.

So we went to one of the shows one night, and there was this guy in the show … I was like, “OK, the guy is a superstar!” He didn’t even have an agent. He was like 23. No agent, nothing, never done anything. So [after class], we had all gone out for a bite to eat, and I met him, and I talked to him for a total of maybe 60 seconds, and I said, “Hi, I’m Megan.” He’s like, “Oh, yeah, I know.” And I was like, “This is a really weird thing to just say right off the switch, I don’t even know you, but would it be weird if I called Lorne Michaels about you?” And he was like, “Uh, no!’” And so, like a week or two later, I called Lorne Michaels. And it’s not like I’m best friends with Lorne Michaels … I don’t really know him that well. I mean, he’s kind of intimidating. I had only hosted ‘SNL’ once. [But] I called him, and I said, “Blah blah blah, here’s the story, I think this guy is a superstar, I think he’s totally perfect for your show,” and there was a pause … and Lorne said, “OK, well, we’ll fly him out. He better be good!”

[Laughing] And I’m thinking, “Oh, sh**!” Yeah, OK. I never thought of that angle, you know? Like, what if this guy, who is so talented, gets to New York and totally clams up and has a bad day, and then Lorne Michaels is billing me for plane fare or something? Fortunately, it all worked out so great, and Bill has just done incredibly well, as you know, and is the nicest guy in the world. And, I’m from Oklahoma City and he’s from Tulsa, and his wife, Maggie, wrote for ‘In the Motherhood,’ which I was on … there are so many weird things where we’ve all, like, circled around and around each other.

I love your I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter commercial, and I just noticed the contest they’re running on their website: the winner gets to meet you and spend the day with you in Los Angeles. What will you do? And is the thought of having to entertain this stranger who probably will know a lot about you weird or scary?
You know, I don’t know, because they didn’t really tell me. I just said, “OK, I’ll spend a day with …” I mean, I think I basically kind of spend an afternoon with somebody, maybe go to lunch or go to the mall. I don’t know. Whatever they want to do probably is what we’ll do. And I think it will be fun. I mean, believe me, I’ve met so many fans over the years, and I’d say 99.99 percent of the time, everybody is so cool and nice and really great. And only very, very rarely do you run into somebody who you think, “I’m not so sure about this one!”

Do they usually feel like they know you, because of Karen?
Yeah! You know, because it’s comedy. So it’s not like they’re a fan of me because I played Hitler in something. They’re a fan of comedy, and so it’s nice. It’s nice to be known for comedy, I think, because sometimes I think if you’re a dramatic actor, and you’re known for playing Jeffrey Dahmer, that’s a bummer!

(http://www.tvsquad.com/)

Megan Mullally is prepared to ‘Party Down’ in new role

Megan Mullally caught the acting bug while performing with the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Ballet.

The Metropolitan Ballet is now known as Ballet Oklahoma. And Mullally is best known for her two-time Emmy and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award-winning role as Karen Walker on “Will & Grace.”

“I was in the ballet company for five years, from the eighth grade until my senior year,” said Mullally, who lived in Oklahoma from age 6 until she graduated from Casady High School in 1977.

“The only leads I would get were the story ballets where you had to act a little bit. And I was like, ‘Ooh, I like this acting part.’ The toe shoes maybe I could leave behind, but the acting part was fun.”

Mullally, who won her Emmys for the second and final seasons of “Will & Grace,” returns to prime-time television as a new cast member on “Party Down.” The show that follows a group of Los Angeles caterer waiters yearning for a shot at stardom begins its second season at 9 p.m. Friday on Starz (channel 350 on Dish Network, 390 on Cox Digital Cable, 527 on DirecTV and 902 on U-verse).

Jane Lynch starred in the show’s first season, but she left to do the Fox show “Glee.” Mullally, 51, was pleased when the show’s producers offered her a part.

“My husband and I had watched Season 1 and got obsessed with it,” she said. “They wrote a different role for me, but I’m still fulfilling that same function that Jane had vacated.”

Mullally plays Lydia Dunfree, a single mom from the Midwest who moves to Hollywood to help her 13-year-old daughter achieve stardom. Lydia is delighted to be working alongside “entertainment professionals,” and she is eager to get advice about “making it” in showbiz.

“She is just bursting at the seams with good will,” Mullally said. “And because I felt like she is really dorky, I picked up a $99 wig on Hollywood Boulevard for the character. I felt that would be her idea of the hippest, most cutting-age new hairdo imaginable, whereas it really is like Jane Kaczmarek circa 2002.”

Filming is complete on all 10 episodes for Season 2, which includes a guest appearance by Lynch in the finale.

Now Mullally has time to work on another series she and her spouse enjoy. She will guest star on “Parks and Recreation” as the ex-wife of her real-life husband, Nick Offerman (he plays series regular Ron Swanson).

“There was an episode in November called ‘Ron and Tammy’ that chronicled the very tumultuous relationship between Ron and his ex-wife,” Mullally said. “And there’s going to be more sparks flying, because we’re shooting a couple more episodes soon.

“I’m a little biased toward ‘Parks and Recreation’ because my husband is on it. But next to it, I feel like ‘Party Down’ is the best comedy show on TV.”

( http://newsok.com/)