The Many Roles Of 'Glee' Meanie Jane Lynch

TERRY GROSS, host:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Now that my guest Jane Lynch costars on the Fox TV series "Glee" as the coach of the cheerleading squad, she's starting to get the recognition she deserves. Before "Glee," she was best known for her comic performances in the mockumentary "Best in Show" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and her roles in "The L Word," "Julie and Julia" and the Starz TV series "Party Down."

"Glee" premiered last May after the season finale of "American Idol" and started its first season in September. "Glee" is about a high school teacher trying to put together a winning glee club with a group of students who are mostly losers.

The glee club coach tries to be sensitive to the needs and insecurities of his students, but the cheerleading coach, played by Lynch, is mean to her girls and never satisfied with their performance. She sees the glee club as her rival and eventually even tries to take it over. Here she is confronting the glee club coach, played by Matthew Morrison.

(Soundbite of TV show, "Glee")

Ms. JANE LYNCH (Actor): (as Sue Sylvester) So I had a little chat with Principal Figgins, and said that if your group doesn't place at regionals, he's cutting the program. Ouch.

Mr. MATTHEW MORRISON (Actor): (as Will Schuester) You know, you don't have to worry about glee club. We're going to be fine.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Sue Sylvester) Really? Because I was at the local library where I read Cheerleading Today aloud to blind geriatrics, and I came across this little page turner: the show choir rule book. And it turns out you need 12 kids to qualify for regionals. Last time I looked, you only had five and a half. Here, cripple in the wheelchair. I also took the liberty of highlighting some special ed classes for you. Maybe you could find some recruits, because I'm not sure there's anybody else who's going to want to swim over to your island of misfit toys.

Mr. MORRISON: (as Will Schuester) Are you threatening me, Sue?

Ms. LYNCH: (as Sue Sylvester) Threatening you? Oh, no, no, no. Presenting you with an opportunity to compromise yourself? You bet you.

GROSS: Jane Lynch, welcome to FRESH AIR. I want you to describe your character in "Glee."

Ms. LYNCH: Well, she's kind of that inner mean girl that a lot of us have, that she's kind of right out in front. She doesn't have a filter. She doesn't have that socially acceptable way that we, you know, put how we might really feel, we'll put them into terms that, you know, are softer than what Sue would do. She's kind of right out there, and she takes great delight in her heinousness and her political incorrectness. And so that's where she gets her glee from.

GROSS: Now, you've almost developed a catch phrase. You think that's hard?

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: ?try fill in the blank.

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah. Right.

GROSS: What have been your favorite, you think, that's hard retorts?

Ms. LYNCH: My favorite one was you think this is hard, try launching a fall show in May. That's hard.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: We did that for a promo. But the first one I came up with was the?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: The first one I came up with was the waterboarding one. If you think this is hard, try being waterboarded. That's hard. And then, Ian Brennan - our writer - came up with a ton more. And I think, in the pilot, I said you think this is hard, I'm living with hepatitis. That's hard.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: So you came up with the waterboarding one?

Ms. LYNCH: I did.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: How did you come up with that? What was the context?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, the cheerleaders are in this pyramid and their muscles are shaking and I'm making them hold it and I'm standing there with a stopwatch. And on my way to work that day, I was thinking, you know, how can I mock them and shame them while they're in that horrible, stressful position?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And I started thinking about stress positions, which is what they do, you know, that's part of torture. And then I thought, oh, you know, waterboarding is much harder than this.

GROSS: How did you get the part "Glee" as the cheerleading coach?

Ms. LYNCH: Ryan Murphy and I have been friends for a while. I did an episode of "Popular" back in 1999, and we had a great time together. And I hadn't seen him in, oh, you know, almost 10 years. And I was in Vancouver doing something else. I forget what it was, and I got the script from my agent.

I was already in a pilot that year, and my agent said Ryan wants you to do this, and if you can't do to as a regular, you know, you can do it as a guest star for the pilot and then we'll see what happens.

So I read it and I loved it. One of the first things it says about Sue in the script is that she may or may not have posed for Penthouse and she's using horse estrogen.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: So I was like, oh, my God. I must play this woman. And so, you know, the other deal that I was a part of fell apart. And by the third or fourth episode, I was able to call myself a regular on "Glee," and I was thrilled.

GROSS: Will you ever get to sing on "Glee"?

Ms. LYNCH: I hope so, Terry. I hope so.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I'm humming all the time on the set - auditioning. But I hope so. I did get to dance, and I really have no business dancing, so I was a little shocked that that was the first thing they gave me to do. But I'm hoping that I get to sing, and we've got nine more episodes to do, and I'm crossing my fingers.

GROSS: Now, although your job isn't to sing on "Glee"?

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: ?we did hear you sing in "The 40 Year Old Virgin."

Ms. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: And I just want to play a scene from that film. And you manage the electronics store that Steve Carell and his friends work in.

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: And you've kind of gotten wind of the fact that he's still a virgin at the age of 40, and you think you can be helpful in changing the situation for him. And that's what you're about in this scene. So this is Jane Lynch and Steve Carell in a scene from "The 40 Year Old Virgin."

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

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) My goodness, Andy. You are a terrific salesman.

Mr. STEVE CARELL (Actor): (as Andy) Oh thank you.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Gosh. You really got it down.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Thanks.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) And your numbers are good.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Thanks.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) I'm going to put you out on the floor full time.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Really?

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Yeah.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Wow. Okay.

Ms. LYNCH: Good. We're going to get you a blue shirt and a tie.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Oh. Great. Thanks.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) You know, Andy, I've been thinking about your problem. I think I might have a solution for you.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Hmm.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) You ever heard of the term (censored) buddy?

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) What?

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) It's a special friend (censored).

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) No. I haven't heard that term.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) When I was a little girl, I developed early. By the time I was 14, I had this body you're looking at. Can you imagine that?

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) I don't want to.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Well, needless to say, a lot of male attention.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) I bet. Yes.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Especially from our Guatemalan gardener, Javier.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Okay.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) You know, Javier, before he made passionate, yet gentle love to me for the first time, he serenaded me with a beautiful old Guatemalan love song.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Really? That's - that sounds nice.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) (Singing in Spanish)

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Okay.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Woo, my goodness. I think we better get back to work.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to go back to work.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Yeah.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) So, okay.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) All right. So you mull it over, Andy.

Mr. CARELL: (as Andy) All right. I will. Thank you.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Paula) Mm-hmm.

GROSS: My guest Jane Lynch with Steve Carell in a scene from "The 40 Year Old Virgin."

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: I love that scene. Especially when you sing the song that the gardener serenaded you with.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah.

GROSS: So was that song in the script or?

Ms. LYNCH: No. That - me coming onto him wasn't in the script, either, and I have Steve's wife, Nancy Walls to thank for that. It was a man's part, and she said Steve, you have too many in your movie. You should audition Jane for this part. Because I know them from Chicago. We were in Second City at the same time.

GROSS: Oh.

Ms. LYNCH: And so, in the audition, we came up with the idea that I would, you know, try to seduce him and offer to take away his virginity from him. But the song is actually from a Spanish class - excuse me - in high school. And it's a kind of a dialogue, and it has nothing to do with love. It's whenever I clean my room, I can't find anything.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Where are you going with such haste? To a football game.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: I thought I heard football at the end there.

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah, right. And I was just sitting around waiting to do a, you know, waiting to work and I started to think, maybe I'll serenade him. And then I came up with that.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And I told Steve before we started. I said I'm going to sing a little song. And he said, okay.

GROSS: Did you intentionally sing a song that has nothing to do with romance?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, I did.

GROSS: Have people noticed it? Have people who speak Spanish noticed that?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah. I mean, a lot of people - I guess my pronunciation is terrible. Even people who speak Spanish don't understand it. And also, I was taught Spanish by a woman - by a Cuban, a Cuban woman, so their Vs are always B. So when I say donde va, I say donde ba, and that threw people off completely. They didn't know what I was talking about.

GROSS: My guest is Jane Lynch. She now costars in the Fox TV series "Glee." We'll talk more after a break.

This is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Jane Lynch, and she stars as the cheerleading coach in the Fox TV series "Glee."

Now you got what I think was your big break in movies in the mockumentary "Best in Show" about?

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: ?people who bring their purebred dogs to compete in a dog show.

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah.

GROSS: And you play a trainer who's working with a standard poodle and the owner's trophy wife, his over-the-hill?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: ?trophy wife who's had, like, a lot of cosmetic surgery has become your significant other.

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: And so here's a scene from "Best in Show," in which you're basically talking to the camera with the trophy wife, who has become very close to you.

(Soundbite of movie, "Best in Show")

Ms. LYNCH: (as Christy Cummings) With Sherri Ann, we have this fantastic friendship, too. It's really great. And we have a little bit of a family dynamic going here, and it pretty much mirrors what I grew up with. You know, my father was the taskmaster.

Ms. JENNIFER COOLIDGE (Actress): (as Sherri Ann Cabot) Which is?

Ms. LYNCH: (as Christy Cummings) The disciplinarian, which is what I do. I'm the mommy/daddy.

Ms. COOLIDGE: (as Sherri Ann Cabot) Total disciplinarian. Like, Mr. Punishment. Yeah.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: (as Christy Cummings) Oh, well, you know, and I also reward. But Sherri's responsible for the unconditional love, you know, just?

Ms. COOLIDGE: (as Sherri Ann Cabot) And the decorative ability.

Ms. LYNCH: (as Christy Cummings) Exactly. The heart and the soul, you know, which is what my mother did, and that was her job. You know, she was there for the unconditional love. And it worked for my family, you know, until my mom committed suicide in '81.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: My guest Jane Lynch in a scene from "Best in Show." Was that improvised?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes. Well, yeah. I mean, I remember I was riding in the van on the way to the location, and that's when I thought of that - about the suicide thing. Yes.

GROSS: Now, "Best in Show" was directed by Christopher Guest. How did you meet him?

Ms. LYNCH: I was doing a commercial for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, and he directed it. I did a lot of commercials like in the, you know, the ?90s in Los Angeles, and I got lucky enough to get into one of his. And he directs commercials all the time. He loves doing that. And we did a la Guffman -"Waiting for Guffman." It was improvised and everything.

And then about three months later, I ran into him at a restaurant, and he was in the process of casting "Best in Show." And, you know, he said, hey, come to my office today and, you know, by the end of the day I was, you know, had plans to go to Vancouver to shoot this. And I was thrilled, because when I saw "Waiting for Guffman," I about fell out of my seat and, you know, and down on my knees, please, please let me work this way. This is how I want to work. This is the way to do it, and this guy's got it down. So I was - it was really a dream come true - a ridiculous, preposterous dream come true.

GROSS: So what was the Frosted Flakes commercial like?

Ms. LYNCH: We were stalking Tony the Tiger.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: Myself and my husband, we're standing out in Battle Creek, Michigan - of course, we shot in Los Angeles, but it was in Battle Creek, Michigan waiting for Tony to go by. It wasn't a very successful campaign.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: But it was fun to do.

GROSS: And what other commercials did you do?

Ms. LYNCH: I'm best known, Terry, for my work in the Nexium commercial, where I'm standing on a cliff saying, I am every woman who's ever suffered from acid reflux.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And I stopped it before it destroyed the lining of my esophagus.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: So that's - I'm best know for that.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: I always wonder if you worry if you do a commercial like that that people will see you and think acid reflux. What a tragedy. You know?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And then associate my face with it?

GROSS: Exactly. Yeah.

Ms. LYNCH: You know, I was so happy to have the job and to be able to pay my rent that month. You know, it's, you know, people say why did you that stint on "Married with Children"? I was like, I jumped up and down when I got that job.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: That paid my rent.

GROSS: One more question about "Best in Show." There's a line that's really funny. This is like six months after the dog show, and you and the Jennifer Coolidge character are a genuine couple now.

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: And you're talking about how you founded a magazine called American Bitch, the magazine for lesbian dog owners, and there's a couple of mockups of the cover behind you. Was that yours, that line?

Ms. LYNCH: No. No. Chris came up with that. That was Chris Guest's invention, the "American Bitch" magazine. Yeah.

GROSS: I'm sure people repeat that to you all the time.

Ms. LYNCH: They do. People come up to me all the time. And, you know, I forget about it and someone will say, you know, I subscribe to American Bitch. And I'm like, oh. And I'm wondering what they're talking - and then I remember. Oh, yes, Of course. Of course.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: Now since you played a lesbian in ?Best in Show,? did people - in that sense that was the movie that people really noticed you in, in terms of movies.

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah.

GROSS: So did people assume that you were lesbian because you played one?

Ms. LYNCH: No, no, not at all. No, no, I don't - you know, I don't think so. I don't think that happens so much. I think you can play a character and people don't confuse you that- perhaps you're that way in real life. I mean, nobody asked Jennifer Coolidge if she was one either. I don't think.

GROSS: But in this case you are.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MS. LYNCH: But in this case I am, yeah.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: So, was it an, kind of, inadvertent coming out for you? Were you already out in the industry?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, I wasn't really known in the industry before ?Best in Show,? and I didn't think twice about portraying a lesbian. Again, I jumped up and down when I got that job. Yeah - you know what? I didn't think too much about that at all. I never hid who I was. I also didn't lead with it. I don't feel like the need to walk into a room and say, you know, as a gay person, I need to have this, this and this. So, it - and nobody really seemed to care. And if I lost work or if I lost opportunities because I was gay, it happened behind my back and I didn't know about it. I've had it really easily - easy, you know. It's been just very accepted and nobody seems to care.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: You said that you had your first gay relationship when you were 20, but it took 11 or 12 years to actually come out to your family.

Ms. LYNCH: Right, right.

GROSS: Were you out to yourself before you turned 20?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, yeah. It was reluctant - it was the last thing in the world I wanted to deal with. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to be. I'm one of those people who like to tow the line. I don't - as much as I, you know, love being an actress, I don't like calling attention to myself in that way. I don't want to be different. I'm not a rebel. I just want to be like everybody else. So, it was, you know, kind of a reluctant realization in a: Oh, God. Really?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: So, yeah. And it took me - you know, I think if I came out to my parents when I was 18, it would have been a different story. It might have been harder. But when I was 31 and finally came out, you know, via a letter I wrote them, it was great. It was wonderful because we were starting to be estranged to each other because they didn't know about a very fundamental part of who I was. And so, it was a good thing and it - you know, there was no drama around it. It was really kind of a lovely moment where we all came together and said, you know, of course this doesn't mean anything, you know, we still love you. And it was, you know, it was actually a wonderful moment.

GROSS: Why were you uncomfortable telling them for 11 years?

Ms. LYNCH: I think it was my own homophobia, my own internalized homophobia. You know, I didn't want to be gay. I wanted to be - I wanted an easy life. And you know what? I am gay and still have an easy life. So, anybody out there who is afraid like I was, just know that there's - you know, come to Los Angeles or Chicago or New York and people will love you.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MS. LYNCH: It's no big deal.

GROSS: Why did you write a letter to your parents instead of telling them in person?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, I went to a therapist - and this is a ruse that therapists get away all the time. They say, write a letter and you don't have to send it. And usually you - with, you know, having that pressure off of you. The letter was quite good, quite honest and I was very proud of it. And I felt like I explained myself very well and how I was feeling and then she said, you know, it's up to you if you want to drop in the mail. And I did - dropped it in the mail.

GROSS: Did you feel like that was a courtesy in a way, writing a letter, because that way your parents didn't have to react with you in the room, they could?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes. Oh, absolutely.

GROSS: ?kind of think it over and think of what they wanted to say, and not be like on a spot or shocked and?

MS. LYNCH: Exactly. And I don't know that I could have gone eye to eye and had this confrontation. That would have been very difficult. It would have probably, you know, been the very courageous way to do it. It would have been the brave thing to do, but, you know, I didn't have that much courage around it and writing a letter was easier.

GROSS: You know it's so interesting to think of you not having the courage to talk to your parents because every character you have ever played that I have seen?

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: ?has such chutzpah.

Ms. LYNCH: I know.

GROSS: Particularly your character in ?Glee,? but that's?

Ms. LYNCH: Right.

GROSS: ?I mean, that's one of the things that you do on screen in the roles that I know.

MS. LYNCH: Mm-hmm.

GROSS: You're really out there.

Ms. LYNCH: I kind of walk through the world presenting myself as that person, but I'm - and that's why I like playing that kind of person because I don't feel - I don't have that much of confidence. I don't have that much sexual confidence that a lot of my characters have. I don't have that much confidence to walk into a room and kind of announce who I am and shame everybody else around me - not that that's a good kind of confidence to have. But I'm fascinated by people who are able to do that. And because I'm six feet tall, I do have a lot of physical energy and when I walk into a room - I - people do kind of turn around and look. And I notice when I'm at a party, if I start to say something I think - you know, an opinion - the room kind of gets quiet.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And people listen and I'm like - oh, my God. I'm making all this up.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MS. LYNCH: But there's something about - I have kind of an authoritative energy, which I don't completely own, and I'm not completely confident in.

GROSS: My guest is Jane Lynch. She co-stars in the Fox TV series ?Glee.? We'll talk more after a break. This is Fresh AIR.

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: My guest is Jane Lynch. She co-stars in the Fox TV series ?Glee,? as the mean-spirited coach of the cheerleaders. Earlier, we were talking about coming out.

Was it helpful to you when Ellen DeGeneres came out on her show?

Ms. LYNCH: Yes, yeah. I think it was helpful for all of us. And I think that's one of the reasons that I walk such an easy path. She, you know, blazed it for us. And I know she was kind of reluctant to do that, too. I think it was a big deal when she came out and it really kind of, you know, it rocked the world and - I mean, look where she is now. She's got this great show and all these Midwestern ladies are there, dancing with her. I just - I think it's a great thing that she did.

GROSS: So, at what phase of your career were you in when Ellen came out?

Ms. LYNCH: I was - it was when I was doing voiceovers in commercials. You know, I was just a work-a-day actor making a nice living in a, you know, nobody-knew-my-name type of place, you know. I hadn't done ?Best in Show? yet.

GROSS: Voiceovers, what were you doing?

Ms. LYNCH: I did lot of commercial voiceovers. I did, you know, for like Safeway. I would do - I did announcer copy and then I would do stuff for radio, you know, with some, you know, with a partner - partner reads, as we call them. I made my living in voiceover for about five or six years and I would do the occasional on-camera commercial or the occasional guest spot on a sitcom. But mostly I did - I was, you know, making my living as a voiceover person. I loved it. It's a great gig. It's a great job.

GROSS: So, what kind of characters were you supposed to represent?

Ms. LYNCH: I kind of have a stock old lady voice.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I have kind of a stock Midwestern mom voice.

GROSS: Can you give us a taste of them?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah. Make sure you put some tomatoes on the sandwich.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: That's kind of a south side - and then I always did this with my voice, kind of, like - kind of, an old lady kind of thing and I use it even - I repeat it even in, you know, when I do guest spots on sitcoms. I have like two tricks, Terry.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: And I just roll them out.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: Now you grew up in a suburb of Chicago. How did you know you wanted to act?

Ms. LYNCH: I think I was born wanting to act. There wasn't anything in my environment that inspired me. I was in a, kind of, a typical Midwestern Irish-Catholic family and, you know, it's not like we were doing - you know, we weren't in a show-business family or anything like that. I was addicted to television. I knew I wanted to act in television. And then, you know, when we started doing pageants and plays in school, I loved doing that. And I knew that's what I wanted to do.

GROSS: What TV shows were you addicted to?

Ms. LYNCH: ?The Brady Bunch? was the big one.

GROSS: Oh, you got to do a parody of ?The Brady Bunch.?

Ms. LYNCH: Yeah, right, the stage show. So, that was just a - yeah, that was fun. The real, live ?Brady Bunch? and I played Carol Brady in that. And, you know, everyone who is in that show with me in Chicago, we were all raised on the ?Brady Bunch? and we are all obsessed with the ?Brady Bunch.? And so it was really fun and cathartic for us to act that out.

GROSS: What was most cathartic about it for you?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, it had this kind of sappy, you know, very overly sentimental and really bad comedic combination, you know? And even at the time when I was watching - and I knew it wasn't great television.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I knew it wasn't a great comedy. But it was soothing and it had this wonderful family where if you threw a little temper tantrum and you ran up into your room, you know, a second later, there will be a soft knock on your door. You know, you want to talk?

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: That was just very soothing. And we all found, you know, here we were like 25 years old and talking about it going, yeah, I was a fan of it, too. And it was kind of, you know, you didn't want to admit that maybe you watched ?The Brady Bunch? and were still addicted to it. So, it was really exciting to put it on stage and actually, you know, act that out and do the sappy comedy and do the - over-sentimentalize stuff. It was really fun. It was a real high point.

GROSS: So, as we record this, ?Glee? has been renewed - is that the word - for another nine episodes, but you're not?

Ms. LYNCH: We have been picked up for the back nine, is the technical term.

GROSS: Thank you.

(Soundbite of laughter)

GROSS: But you're not shooting right now. So?

Ms. LYNCH: No.

GROSS: ?what you do? All the - so many actors are in this position. What you do in that downtime when, you know, your career is going really well? You've got a great role, but you've got this kind of down period where you don't - where you're not actually working. What do you do with your time?

Ms. LYNCH: Well, I'm in New York right now doing a staged reading of a Nora Ephron play called - Nora and Delia Ephron play called ?Love, Loss and What I Wore.? So, I'm here for a month doing that.

GROSS: Oh.

Ms. LYNCH: And I'm busy all day long doing press for ?Glee? and press for that. I have been just - I have been crazy busy, more busy than, you know, than I've ever been before in between jobs. But those times in between jobs in the past, I would start just to do some more voiceover work. I'd start on, you know, auditioning for voiceover stuff. I just try to keep myself busy. I go to lunch a lot. I drink a lot of coffee.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. LYNCH: I'm very social when I'm - you know. And it just turns out that, you know, errands and everything else, you end up filling the day. I, very rarely, am sitting around, going, oh my God. What am I going to do with myself?

GROSS: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, Jane Lynch, thank you so much for talking with us.

Ms. LYNCH: Sure, thank you.

GROSS: I wish you continued success.

Ms. LYNCH Thank you. I appreciate it.

GROSS: Jane Lynch co-stars in the Fox TV series ?Glee? as the mean-spirited coach of the cheerleading squad called the Cheerios. Here she is in a scene in the teachers' lounge, where she's just surprised some of the faculty by bringing them lattes.

(Soundbite of TV series, ?Glee?)

Ms. JAYMA MAYS (Actor): (As Emma) What's with all the lattes?

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) Oh, Emma, I just felt so awful that Figgins cut the coffee budget to pay for a nutritionist for the Cheerios.

Ms. MAYS: (As Emma) Yeah, I heard you guys went, like, $600 over budget on that.

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) My performers didn't get on Fox Sports Net last year because they ate at Bacon Junction.

Ms. MAYS: (As Emma) Since when are cheerleaders performers?

Ms. LYNCH: (As Sue Sylvester) Your resentment is delicious.

GROSS: You can download podcasts of our show on our Web site, freshair.npr.org and you can follow us on Twitter at nprfreshair.

I'm Terry Gross. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.