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What you don't know about Jane Lynch |
by Jenny Stewart
When director Brad Silberling promised actress Jane Lynch an introduction to Meryl Streep on the set of the film "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," Lynch was both excited and terrified at the prospect of finally meeting her idol.
It would be a brief hello: Streep had just finished her last day of shooting and a car was waiting to whisk the megastar back home to her family. As Streep approached, Lynch nervously put out her hand, but Streep, having none of it, pushed it away.
"Meryl pushed away my hand and she hugged me instead!" Lynch told PlanetOut in a recent interview from her car. "She hugged me, then she gave me a kiss and told me she was a huge fan of 'Best in Show.'
"And you know, I didn't expect that at all. I was prepared to bow at her feet, so for her to do that was just incredible. And she held my hand while we talked. I remember watching "Sophie's Choice" in graduate school and being just devastated by her, by that kind of acting. So for her to do that -- to me? It was a huge moment for me. It was almost too incredible."
While Lynch may have been shocked that Streep was a fan, it's not surprising at all to anyone familiar with Lynch's work. Whether she's ad-libbing in Christopher Guest films (that's also her in "A Mighty Wind") or guest-starring on various TV shows and in feature films, Jane Lynch is quickly becoming one of Hollywood's most memorable scene-stealers -- even if people don't know her name. In fact, the mention of one of her roles almost always elicits the same response: "Oh, that's Jane Lynch? I love her!"Lynch's role as competitive lesbian dog trainer Christy Cummings in "Best in Show" was indeed a breakout. The unknown actress did more than hold her own amongst seasoned comedic actors like Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, she actually managed to steal scenes with an intuitively hilarious, often ad-libbed performance ("We started this magazine, 'American Bitch.' It's a focus on the issues of the lesbian purebred dog owner."). Lynch has a refreshingly down-to-earth sensibility and a quick wit that seems to ooze out of each of her performances -- a unique quality not all actors have, and which she makes look easy. So how does she do it, the Jane Lynch thing?
"I am fascinated by what people think they're pulling off," Lynch says. "We try to present ourselves in a certain way in the world, and some of us are better at it than others. I mean, we all wear these masks to protect ourselves, you know? Even when we walk into a room and just try to be special, like 'Look, I just walked into this room, look at me,' it's how we do it. That fascinates me."
She met Guest when he directed her in a Kellogg's TV commercial. (Little-known fact: Guest is a prolific commercial director. Those ESPN commercials? All him.) When she ran into him by chance a year and a half later, Guest offered her the "Best in Show" gig. "He said, 'Oh, come to my office, I'm working on something and I have an idea for you.' So God, I am so glad that I went to that restaurant on that night!"
Five years later, Lynch is one of the hardest-working and most respected supporting actresses around. This past year, she's had recurring comedic guest roles on both "Two and Half Men" and "Arrested Development," serious stints on "CSI" and "Veronica Mars" and, yes, that is her playing Amelia Earhart in the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese film "The Aviator." And that's just part of her year.
Currently Lynch can be seen in the comedy short "Promtroversy," in which she plays a perversely intense former homecoming queen who makes it her personal crusade to stop a lesbian couple from attending a high school prom.
In the new ensemble feature "Surviving Eden," Lynch plays Maude Silver, a coke-sniffing mess who dresses a bit too young for her age. And she also just finished Margaret Cho's new movie, "Bam Bam and Celeste." "I play a backwoods mountain type woman who falls for Margaret who, though not gay, falls for me because I treat her like a real lady."
In her upcoming three-episode stint on "The L Word," Lynch takes another serious turn, playing Joyce Wishnea, a lesbian attorney representing Tina in her separation from Bette.
"This woman is what is called 'old-school butch,'" she says. "She wears the men's suits, men's ties, and she smokes a pipe. And (this part is my take on it) she sees herself in a male role, as the great savior to the women.
"We kind of figured she was the kind of person who's been in a series of relationships that are in that pattern where she picks up some poor little thing, gets her on her feet, and then she becomes her assistant! She likes her little wifeys!"
So is Lynch out? "Well, I guess. I mean I just spoke at an HRC party," she laughs. "But I've never held a press conference for fear no one would show up! But of course I want to be an actor more than I want to be a 'gay actor,' and I've been very lucky -- I don't just play gay people. There are lots and lots of different people in this world, and I'm interested in all of 'em."
An early celebrity crush was on a woman and a man. "Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. Both at the same time!" she laughs. "When 'Grease' came out, I practically imploded. I would buy one ticket and then see it five times in a row."
But Travolta and Newton-John weren't her first celebrity crushes, a point Lynch quickly clarifies. "Prior to Olivia and John, I'd had a thing for Ronnie Howard that was so ... huge. He actually came to Chicago when I was about 12 and he did a radio interview. I called in, he took the call, and I taped it and everything. It was such a big deal. He told me to stay in school and keep persevering. In fact, my crush on him was so big that that when I came out to my mother, the first thing she said to me was, 'What about Ronnie Howard?" You loved him!' And I did."
Apparently, the actress doesn't have much time to fantasize about celebrities these days. When asked which female actress she'd most like to star opposite in a same-sex love story, she drives off the road -- literally.
"Oh my God!" Lynch says. "Can I think just a moment? I'm pulling over, because I will need time to come up with a good one. OK, I'm on the side of the road now because I need time to think. OK, my eyes are closed, I'm thinking." A good minute passes. "Oh no, I can't think! I'm going to e-mail you, because I want to think of a good one!"
It can be two.
"Two? Oh good! Thank you for that."
Two hours later, I get the e-mail:
Great talking to you today. Onscreen one-on-one: 1. Jennifer Saunders; she's brilliantly funny, smart and she's got a way about her. 2. Stepfanie Kramer (that's how she spells her first name according to the Web) from the '80s series 'Hunter.' Love, love love her look, tough but all woman. Spied her in a coffee shop recently and she's still got it going on. Be well!
J
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