All Things Considered

Meet 'Glee' Star Jane Lynch, TV's New Queen Of Mean

October 7, 2009, 5:00 PM

"Power-hungry. Ruthless. Persistent. Cruel. Delicious."

Those are some of the adjectives Jane Lynch offers up when All Things Considered host Melissa Block asks her to explain Sue Sylvester, the hard-charging cheerleading coach Lynch plays on the Fox network's breakout fall comedy, Glee.

"This woman has no inner doubt," Lynch says. "She doesn't have much reflection going on."

That, and she's got a seemingly endless supply of track suits.

"It's a lot of fun," Lynch confesses. "It's like slipping into your pajamas when you go to work — I love it."

'Yes We Cane,' And Other Sociopolitical Solutions From Sue

On Glee, Sue Sylvester's ambitions aren't confined to her Ohio high school, where she terrorizes the show's scrappily hapless glee-club losers and brutalizes her Mean Girl cheerleader charges in pursuit of a national-championship trophy. ("You think this is hard?" Sue snarled at her straining squad of pyramid-builders in the series pilot. "Try being waterboarded — that's hard.")

No, in her quest for fame and dominion, Sue has also landed a regular commentary gig on the local TV station, where "Sue's Corner" becomes the venue for spirited defenses of caning — "Ask anyone who's safely walked the spotless streets of Singapore!" — and other less-than-PC positions. "Not everyone's gonna have the walnuts to take a pro-littering stance," she warns a nervous station manager carrying a tall stack of hate mail. "[But] it's why I pay taxes — it keeps garbage men earning a living, so they can afford tacos for their family."

You just want to take her home, don'tcha?

"She's not far from the surface, let me tell you," Lynch says — just slyly enough to invite the hope that she's joking — about whether there's a bit of Sue Sylvester under her own skin.

"I don't have to dig very deep to find that contemptuous strain in myself," she says. "I just wanna live in this society, and I wanna present well, so I keep that under wraps. But boy, when I put on that track suit, it comes out."

From Fencing To Improv, To 'I Will Haunt Your Dreams'

Lynch studied theater in the masters program at Cornell University, where the training involved close analysis of everything from Shakespeare to Sam Shepard and physical training in disciplines from dance to fencing.

"That's great for strength and coordination," she says of the latter. "It is really a physically and mentally demanding sport; it's a great way to train an actor to get out of being just a nodding acquaintance with their body."

(And yes, Lynch can see Sue Sylvester fencing: "I would love to challenge someone to a duel," she says. "I'd probably poison the tip of my foil.")

Though she's worked in a few off-the-cuff one-liners — the waterboarding crack was one — the tightly scripted Glee doesn't offer Lynch as many opportunities for improvisation as she's found in, say, her work in the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest (Best In Show, A Mighty Wind) or the bad-boy comedies (Walk Hard and Talladega Nights) from the Judd Apatow factory.

And improv is in Lynch's blood: After grad school, she toured with Chicago's famed Second City troupe, where Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert were also honing their chops around the same time.

"It was one of the many resumes I sent out that week," she says wryly, "and it was the only one that bit." That struck her as odd, because a comedy career wasn't what she had planned.

"I always ended up having the funny part in Shakespeare," she admits, "but I really thought I'd be doing theater. That was my ambition for myself."

But at Second City, she fell in love with sketch comedy — "that's a different kind of improv than I do with Christopher Guest; this is kind of 'let's-get-to-the-joke-real-fast' " — and discovered that it was a form that let her indulge her love of singing without necessarily having to be great at it.

The Second City connection paid off later, too: It got Lynch her role in Apatow's The 40-Year-Old Virgin, playing an alpha female among a crew of sex-mad chauvinist man-children. That's where she delivered the line that burned her forever into the brains of countless arrested-adolescent males: "I'm very discreet," she tells Steve Carell's hapless hero, offering to relieve him of his titular status — "but I will haunt your dreams."

Settling In, With 'Glee,' Where It Feels Like Home

Until Glee came along, that tasty little supporting turn in The 40-Year-Old Virgin was one high-water mark in a career that's featured a ton of juicy character parts and guest appearances — so many that Lynch herself can't always remember them all. Once, channel-surfing, she happened on an episode of a certain coarsely funny sitcom about a certain Bundy family, and ...

"All of a sudden a very young version of myself walked out of a hotel room and said, 'You must walk my Winky,' " Lynch says, laughing. "And I went, 'Oh, my God.' I was talking about my dog, but of course the double-entendre can't be denied. So that was like, 'Oh, jeez,' and I went back in time and realized, 'Yes indeed, I have done a Married With Children.' "

After such a crazy-quilt career, Lynch says, it's something of a relief to settle into a solid, substantial part for a change.

"I wanted to do something where I could hang my hat," Lynch says. "The nature of the work I've done lately has been three or four days here, there, and I travel a lot. I haven't had a character arc — I've basically just had scenes here and there. So when I got the opportunity to do Glee, I was absolutely thrilled. They've given me a life, they've given me a back story; the character gets affected by things."

Affected, but not changed — not too much.

"No, no no no," Lynch says. "There will be no changing and evolving or growing. There will not be a lot of ... hugs given, at any point, by Sue Sylvester."

Lynch herself, though, will admit to embracing the change that comes with being a central player in a show whose recent ratings suggest it might have some staying power.

"It's really fun to come to the same place to work every day," she says. "I've brought a pillow. And I have a candle in my trailer. You know, a blow dryer. And a little coffeemaker. It's really nice to set up shop — I'm really glad to be home, and I hope this lasts a good long time."

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Transcript

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

And I'm Melissa Block.

Wednesday nights on Fox television, a wickedly funny cheerleading coach named Sue Sylvester totally rules.

(Soundbite of TV show, �Glee�)

Ms. JANE LYNCH (Actor): (As Sue Sylvester) You think this is hard? Try being waterboarded. That's hard.

(Soundbite of whistle)

(Soundbite of music)

BLOCK: The show is �Glee,� a subversive musical comedy, and Jane Lynch, as Sue Sylvester, steals just about every scene she's in. Most likely, you've come across Jane Lynch, a character actress, six feet tall, short blonde hair. She's been in countless TV series: �Two and a Half Men,� �Boston Legal,� �CSI,� and in tons of movies. She was the poodle handler in the Christopher Guest's mockumentary �Best in Show� and the sexually charged store manager in �The 40 Year Old Virgin

(Soundbite of movie, �The 40 Year Old Virgin�)

Ms. LYNCH: (As Paula) I'm very discreet, but I'll haunt your dreams.

BLOCK: And here she is again in �Glee,� warning the glee club teacher to stay in his place.

(Soundbite of TV show, �Glee�)

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) Let's break it down. You want to be creative. You want to be in the spotlight. Face it, you want to be me. So here's the deal. You do with your depressing little group of kids what I did with my wealthy, elderly mother: euthanize it. It's time. Now, I'll be happy to offer you a job as my second assistant on Cheerios. You can fetch me Gatorade, launder my soiled delicates. It'd be very rewarding work for you.

BLOCK: That's Jane Lynch as the cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on the show �Glee.�

Jane Lynch, how do you describe your character when you try to explain her to other people?

Ms. LYNCH: Power hungry, ruthless, cruel, delicious, self-confident. This woman has no inner doubt. She doesn't have much reflection going on.

BLOCK: And she has what seems to be an endless supply of Adidas track suits.

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, indeed. And they get Nike as we move on.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Because Fox is big with Nike, so we kind of share the Nike-Adidas thing.

BLOCK: Oh, I see.

Ms. LYNCH: And by the end of the - I have about 14 track suits in different colors. As you've seen, I've got a hot pink one. We're going to see a neon green and gray that'll be coming up in a few episodes.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: It's like slipping into your pajamas when you go to work. I love it.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: Well, Sue Sylvester gets a regular slot on the local TV station.

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

BLOCK: It's called �Sue's Corner.� This feeds into her sense of glory.

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

BLOCK: She is, in one episode, a strong defender of caning.

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, indeed. Well, it works. Look at the spotless streets of Singapore.

BLOCK: Yes we cane.

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm. Yes we cane.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: She's also a great advocate of littering. Mm-hmm.

BLOCK: Yeah, let's play the scene. The station executive is bringing in a big, pretty hefty wad of hate mail.

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

BLOCK: She's done a commentary in favor of littering. And here's how she defends herself.

(Soundbite of TV show, �Glee�)

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) Well, Mr. McClung, your station didn't hire me because I was yellow. Not everyone's going to have the walnuts to take a pro-littering stance. But I will not rest until every inch of our fair state is covered in garbage. It's why I pay taxes. It keeps garbage men earning a living so they can afford tacos for their family.

Ms. LYNCH: What a sweetheart.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: You just want to take her home.

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah, you do. Everybody needs a nice Sue Sylvester in their home.

BLOCK: Do you ever find you start thinking like her, that you, you know, if something comes up, then you flip into Sue Sylvester mode in real life?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, she's not far from the surface, let me tell you.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I don't have to dig very deep to find that contemptuous strain in myself. I just - you know, I want to live in this society, and I want to present well, but - so I keep that under wraps. But, boy, when I put on that track suit, it comes out.

BLOCK: Well, you do, you chew on these one-liners like they're just a tasty snack. Here's one of my favorites.

(Soundbite of laughter)

(Soundbite of TV show, �Glee�)

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a satellite interview. That's lingo, again, for an interview via satellite.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: You know, I don't improvise very much in this show, but I did make that one up.

BLOCK: You made that one up?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, I made that one up. I will claim the ones I made up.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: You studied classical theater in college, right?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah. Oh, I went to Cornell University at the - in the masters program there, and it was pretty well-rounded and holistic. But we did a lot of, you know, fencing and dance and analysis and, you know, Shakespeare and Moliere.

BLOCK: Fencing?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah, fencing. That was really good. That's great for strength and coordination. It's not easy to do that. It is really a physically and mentally demanding sport. And it's a great way to train an actor to get out of being just a nodding acquaintance with their body.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: I could see some fencing working its way into �Glee.�

Ms. LYNCH: Wouldn't that be fun?

BLOCK: I think.

Ms. LYNCH: I would love to, like, challenge somebody to a duel.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: Why do I think you would win?

Ms. LYNCH: Oh, yeah. You betcha I would. I'd probably poison the tip of my foil.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: So after, you went on to Second City, the improv and comedy troupe out of Chicago.

Ms. LYNCH: I did. I toured with them. It was one of the many resumes I sent out that week, and it was the only one that bit. I always ended up having the funny part in Shakespeare, but I really thought that I'd be doing theater. That was my ambition for myself. And I ended up getting this job and touring all over the place. And I fell in love with sketch - not so much improv. That's a different kind of improv than the stuff I do with Christopher Guest. This is kind of let's-get-to-the-joke-real-fast. And so, I wasn't great at that. But I loved sketch.

BLOCK: You know, you have done - I was looking at your list of stuff that you've been in both on TV and in movies. I mean, �Two and a Half Men,� �The L Word,� �Boston Legal,� �Friends,� �CSI,� �The West Wing� - it goes just on and on. Do you ever have this happen where you're, you know, I don't know, in a hotel somewhere watching�

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

BLOCK: �channel surfing, and there you are, and you've completely forgotten that you did that?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes. I did a �Married with Children,� and I flipped by it. All of a sudden, a very young version of myself walked out of a hotel room and said, you must walk my Winky.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I went, oh, my God.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I was talking about my dog, but, of course, the double-entendre can't be denied. Yeah, so that was kind of like, oh, jeez, and I went back in time and realized, yes, indeed, I had done it in �Married with Children.�

BLOCK: You'd forgotten.

Ms. LYNCH: Completely forgotten.

BLOCK: And I guess it'll happen more and more, right?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah, probably.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: (Unintelligible) with memory loss and�

Ms. LYNCH: Oh, I know, and I'm just on the verge of menopause, and I'm just losing all sorts of things. I can't even tell you what I had to eat for breakfast. I can't even tell you if I ate breakfast.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BLOCK: When you think about the projects you've done, and you've bounced around from so many shows to movies and back, is it strange for you, first of all, to find yourself doing something that has such staying power that�

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah.

BLOCK: �that you're filming so many episodes for?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah. You know, I wanted to do something where I could hang my hat. The nature of the work I've done lately has been, you know, three or four days here, there, and I travel a lot. I haven't had a character arc. I've basically just had scenes here and there. And so, when I got the opportunity to do �Glee,� I was absolutely thrilled, you know? And they've given me a life, they've given me a back story, the character gets affected by things. And, of course, she doesn't change very much.

BLOCK: You don't want her to evolve.

Ms. LYNCH: No. There will be no changing and evolving or growing. There will not be a lot of hugs given, at any point, from Sue Sylvester. But it's really fun to come to the same place to work every day. I've brought a pillow. And I have a candle in my trailer and, you know, a blow dryer and a little coffeemaker. It's really nice to set up shop somewhere.

BLOCK: But do you miss the fluidity and the flexibility of�

Ms. LYNCH: No.

BLOCK: �dancing from project to project?

Ms. LYNCH: No.

BLOCK: No.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I don't miss it at all. I've done it.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I'm really glad to be home, and I hope this lasts a good long time.

BLOCK: Well, it's great fun to watch.

Jane Lynch, thanks so much.

Ms. LYNCH: Oh, thank you, Melissa.