INTERVIEW AND ADVANCE REVIEW: How I Met Your Mother 100th Episode: Carter Bays and Craig Thomas talk milestone

The 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother (airing tonight!) titled “Girls vs. Suits” is one of the best episodes of the show’s 5 year run. It packs a lot of punches, including a musical number I had to re-watch 5 times (and subsequently get stuck in my head all the time), and many amazing guest stars. Tim Gunn, Rachel Bilson, and Stacey Kiebler, to be exact, who all play a role in what Carter Bays and Craig Thomas call a “celebration for the fans.”

The episode centers around Ted meeting a girl at the University where he teaches (Rachel Bilson), who we think could be the mother. And Barney wants to be with the new hot McLaren’s bartender (Stacy Keibler), but she hates Wall Street guys in suits. He has to grapple with his suit addiction (one can call it that I think), and decide between the girl and the suit.

This is the first episode where get a really big glimpse as to who the mother is. We don’t ever see her, but we somehow get to know her much better than we had in episodes 1-99. How I Met Your Mother is a comedy with a great deal of heart, and this episode showcases that in an incredible way. Ted reveals some memories about the mother, we see a relic from her past…and we come to understand more of what Ted’s love life is in the future. And then there’s the musical number. You have to wait all of 21 minutes to see it (it’s at the end of the episode), but Neil Patrick Harris can do anything, including singing on top of a taxi cab. We knew he could sing and dance but he really takes it to another level. And each cast member plays a part in this amazing suit-centric song. My guess is you’ll be humming it for the next week…it’s that good. I recently chatted with Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the brilliant creators of the show about the 100th episode, what we can expect in the 2nd half of the season, what their favorite episodes have been so far, and the aforementioned ever-so-talented NPH.

What kinds of highlights we can expect in the 100th episode?

Craig: Boy, there’s a lot — this is about the most we’ve packed in to 20 minutes and change, and that’s saying a lot. I think one of our season finales had like 83 different scenes, and while I don’t think this matches as many scenes, this is just about the most bursting-at-the-seams episodes we’ve ever done. We feel like everybody in the cast gets something fun, but the two big stories are a Ted story and a Barney story. Ted’s story is he meets someone at his university who may or may not be the mother. And I think it’s going to be a real kind of edge of your seat–oh my gosh–is this her? Has it taken 100 episodes to get here and we’re finally here…you know, I can’t say too much about that one, because I will be shot and killed by both network and studio but it’s really great. Rachel Bilson plays the part of the girl in question, and she’s fantastic. So yeah, we have several kind of fun cameos in the episode–we have Rachel Bilson, we have Tim Gunn and we have Stacy Keibler. Tim Gunn and Stacy Keibler factor into the other big story of the episode which is a big Barney story. Barney’s been with almost every type of woman in the world–every type of profession, size or shape of woman except one feather he does not yet have is a hot bartender. McLaren’s has hired a new hot bartender, played by Stacy Keibler, and Barney is driven insane–he must get this girl. It’s driven him nuts that he never got to notch that one off–the hot bartender. So Barney’s job in the episode is the pursuit of this girl, and the curveball is that it turns out she’s dated a lot of jerky Wall Street guys, and she hates guys in suits. So Barney, in his passion to try and land this girl, vows that he’ll give up suits, and it turns out to be sort of like a heroin addict deciding “okay no more of that stuff, I’m done with the heroine,” and it turns out to be pretty tricky. And Barney is faced with this horrible, horrible, horrible question — a girl, or my suits. And that’s a question no man should ever have to be faced with, especially Barney Stinson.

Did the success of Glee have anything to do with your decision to do a musical episode now?

Carter: Craig and I are huge music fans and we love making music. Our creative partnership began in a band, and so music has been something that has always been on the back burner for us for this show–we always wanted to do it–we’ve got two terrific Broadway song and dance men in the cast in Josh Radnor and Neil Patrcik Harris. We’ve got Cobie, who obviously made her mark as Robin Sparkles, and Jason obviously–he writes music for his movies. Music is a big part of the show, whether we’ve actually seen it or not. And we’ve done people singing on the show before but it’s sort of felt like this is the time — as fans of the big splashing movie/musical, we sort of felt like number 100 was a good time to make our foray into that. I think would Pam, our director, would probably kill us if we did it too often. But it feels like something — now that we’ve gotten our feet wet, we’d love to do it again. As fans of Glee, and that show has definitely made it clear that you can do a fun movie/musical type thing on television.

Craig: And ironically enough per your question, the musical number in episode 100 was choreographed by Zach Woodley, the choreographer from Glee, and he did a phenomenal job working with Neil Patrick Harris and our cast and about 65 dancers in suits who all showed up at around 5 in the morning so Zach could kind of put this choreography on them in the dark, before we started rolling at the crack of daylight. It was a pretty impressive feat to watch, it did kind of cross paths with Glee in kind of a fun way.

Carter: And I think we like to challenge ourselves, and do things that are a little bit dangerous. There was a fun moment shooting this where Neil jumps up onto a cab. And there were a few moments where he jumps up onto the cab and does a spin and sings and it’s all in one shot, and there were a few moments on that spin, where it felt like it was like wait, is this maybe the end of the show? Is he going to fall off this cab and that will be it?

Craig: Neil’s incredibly graceful, he just amazing at nailing continuity take-to-take in any scene. But there was a little moment or two, when his shoes were a little slide-y on the top of this cab and we were watching the monitor…

Carter: You realize how fragile a TV show can be.

Craig: Carter and I happened to be watching the monitor with Gary Newman and Dana Walden the presidents of the studio, and you just saw their hearts leap up into their mouths, as one of their stars took a little slide on the top of this cab, treacherously to the edge of the roof, of course being Neil, he righted himself and nailed it. But of course there was this little moment of oh well, 100 episodes, we made it, that’s great, now Neil will die, Neil’s going to land on his head and die. We can’t complain. But it all came out well. Suffice it today, that’s not the final take we used that you’ll see Monday night.

INTERVIEW: Bridget Regan (Kahlan) from Legend Of The Seeker

I would not call myself a lover of all things fantasy (vampire, yes…fantasy, not so much). However, I thought the premise of Legend of the Seeker (based on the book series written by Terry Goodkind) was interesting. The acting was wonderful, the scenery was breathtaking, and I really found myself very interested in the story. So, maybe I am slowly revising my take on fantasy/sci-fi…and getting aboard the Legend of the Seeker train. I do adore Lost, but that’s more sci-fi lite than anything else. In any case, Legend of the Seeker returns tonight with its 2nd season premiere. I have seen it, and I can tell you it is fantastic. I recently had the chance to chat with the lovely and gracious Bridget Regan, who plays Kahlan (or The Mother Confessor), about filming, the fantasy genre, her character and what’s coming up this season.

What originally attracted you to the show?
Well, it was the role. The character of Kahlan was not like any part I had ever auditioned for or played. So, I was immediately drawn to it. I thought that she was really tough and kind of timeless, epic and theatrical which I really was drawn to. I went to a drama school and I grew up doing theater, so I quite liked that the show was kind of heightened and it wasn’t the sort of low energy, common chit-chat show, it was big and epic and exciting and high stakes and all that which I loved.

Are you a fan of fantasy?
I wasn’t at all, actually. (laughs) It was pretty embarrassing when I moved to New Zealand, because the fact that I hadn’t seen Lord Of The Rings, I thought that they were going to turn me around and not let me into the country. But, once I got into [it], I really enjoyed it. The fans are really passionate, and have really strong opinions about things, which I like. You know, we had a fan base before we even started filming the show, which was so cool and bizarre. People had thoughts and feelings about what color my hair should be and my eyes and that was totally new to me.

Have you read the books or met the author?
I have not met Terry Goodkind. You know, my parents have because they went to Comic Con in San Diego. That’s where I grew up. I’ve read some of the books. I haven’t gotten through all of them, but I’ve been skipping around. The series isn’t really following the books perfectly, and so you know, I find them really helpful. But sometimes I find it frustrating, because I’ll read something and I’ll be like ugh I really wish we would do this in the show. Or there’s an episode coming up — the one I’m going back to film right after I leave the states — is totally an escape from the book and nothing like that’s happened in it, and I’m so excited to do it because Kahlan gets split into two different bodies…almost like a yin and a yang sort of thing. One of her is the confessor in her, you know, [is] magical, has the powers and everything. And the other is just a woman. And without having both of them in check, things kind of go crazy and it’s such a cool episode for me, and I’m so excited to do it, but it’s not in the book, so you know I’m kind of thankful that we do stray because we get so many cool other opportunities.

You were saying before how Kahlan is such a tough character. What does it mean to do you to play her? Do you think it sends a powerful message to women?
I actually do. This season even more than last, because this season, we introduce a lot of other characters as well. It’s not just me, there are a lot of really kick-butt chicks. The light, the dark and all the mord-siths and everything. But I have a hard time playing the weak ingenue. I wouldn’t get cast as that when I first moved to the city. And I don’t even know, maybe it was because I’m pretty tall and I’m not a tiny little thing. And I thought maybe that had something to do with it. I love it when Kahlan gets to be really strong. I had a dream actually — it’s funny — I haven’t told this to anybody. I had this dream where we were doing a scene and it was a massive, big, war/fight scene. And we were fighting — Kahlan and Richard were fighting all these mord-siths, and we had these resistance fighters who were these scrappy guys. And I was all upset because they cast all these big massive guys to be the D’Harans and all these kind of small, hungry looking guys who were all weak and disheveled to be the resistance guys. None of this really happened in real life, but I dreamt it. So we’re fighting all the mord-siths, and the choreography was that we were supposed to lose. And I was supposed to get beaten, and we were supposed to get captured. And I changed the choreography, confessing all these mord-siths, making them fight with us so that we would win. (laughs) So I was refusing to lose.

Well, maybe we will see it in a future episode!
I know! I actually told one of our directors, and he laughed at me. Because in the dream I was looking over to him being like “look see, I got her, she’s on our side now!” Because once I confess someone, then they immediately change, and they’ll do anything to defend my life. So I was totally cheating.

Is there anything specific you do to get into character or does it just sort of happen when you put on the costume and makeup?
It’s amazing. I’ve never played a character this long before. But when I put on the dress and the corset, I immediately feel different. It’s not like throwing on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Everything about the costumes are really authentic. There’s no zippers, or buttons or hooks or anything. So to get in that dress it takes twenty minutes of just lacing. And it’s kind of like a ritual in the morning. And that helps. I often go back and read Wizard’s First Rule. I have it in my trailer, my old beat up copy. I have little parts marked. And I really love the sections when it’s in — because the book changes narrative — sometimes it’s in Richard’s head, sometimes it’s in Kahlan’s. I love it when it goes into hers, because it’s like a little cheat sheet, you get to get some ideas. So those sort of things. I listen to a lot of music as well. I have a lot of playlists on my iPod that I bring on set to get me in the mood.

What’s your favorite song that you listen to?
Oh my God. I really want to do an iTunes playlist! I talked to some people about that. You know it’s actually kind of dark, sad music. It’s a lot of Radiohead, and some White Stripes, too. I like the kind of aggressive, kick ass…sometimes you need that empowering sort of stuff. You know, Kahlan went through a lot of stuff last season…really, really heavy things. And so it was a lot of sad music.

Well, that makes sense. And what has been your favorite part of filming so far?
I think — I have to say, it’s really simple. But I love acting every day. It’s so simple, but that’s always what I dreamed of doing, was being an actor, since I was a little kid. And the fact that I get to wake up every morning, and do that, when I have so many friends that are really talented and are living here in New York and in LA and they can’t seem to get that break where they get to do it, so I mean that’s a joy. And playing a part that I love as much as I do is pretty cool — pretty awesome.

And you were talking about last season being pretty serious. But have there been any funny moments on set?
Oh my God, there’s lots. I actually was talking about this with Craig just a little while ago. We always want to cut up and play jokes and things like that, but we’re so pressed for time. Because we’re trying to do feature film quality special effects, on a really fast television turnaround schedule. So constantly I want to make him break and do something silly, but we feel like we have to reign it in. But a lot of the girls in wardrobe love to play pranks on Bruce Spence, and I sometimes try to get in on them. But one day, they were all waiting in Bruce’s trailer, wearing pajamas, watching “Dirty Dancing” and eating popcorn. (laughs) And he walked in and thought he was in the wrong room.

What’s it like filming in New Zealand?
Every scene that we do that’s outside, it’s all on location all over Auckland, and we’ve gone to the South Island a few times to shoot there as well. It’s really remarkable. It can be energizing as well, you know on a Wednesday in the middle of the week when you’re really tired. And I go to work in the dark usually, around four thirty. And then I come out of the makeup bus, with all the makeup on and everything, and there’s the most insane sunrise you’ve ever seen. And it’s pretty beautiful. I notice the air being so different, as soon I got off the plane in Los Angeles. I take one breath in, and I’m like wow, that did not smell nearly as fresh as it does down at that end of the world. But it’s remarkably beautiful.

And how long do you have to be away from home at a time?
Like nine months out of year. I kind of am calling that home. I guess it’s weird. Home in my cell phone is my parent’s house in San Diego, so I probably shouldn’t say that but home — I have a few. California is for sure one, New York will always also be a home, and now, oddly enough, New Zealand.

Do all of the cast hang out during your downtime?
We do. It’s actually such a small town, even if I’m not planning to see Craig [Horner], I run into him all the time. Because we live really, really close to each other. But we do hang out. We get brunches here and there. Bruce and I go to see plays when they come into town. We went and saw this Italian play together with our significant others. We hang out, we do. We have a great time together. It’s like we work really hard, and the crew is really terrific. And honestly all of my friends down at that end of the world are friends from work. The girl that was my dresser, she finally took her maternity leave, and she’s having her baby I think right now. I just got an e-mail that she was in contractions. They’re all my dearest friends down there, all people from work, and they’re gorgeous people who have a real down-to-earth outdoorsy sort of feel to them. They all like to rough it, because we do, we schlep up these mountains to work and they all are really good sports.

You were saying how there has been fan reaction to the show since before it started shooting. What has been the fan reaction to your character and the show? How was your reception at Comic Con?
Oh, I didn’t go to Comic Con. I did Armageddon, in Auckland, which is kind of like their version of Comic Con. But every time I come home, there’s just all this beautiful letters from fans and things like that. The best compliment that I get is when people say to me “You’re how I envisioned Kahlan,” or “How you played her is just how like how I pictured her,” things like that is just like wow. That’s amazing to me, because for one person to read something and another person, and then my interpretation — for me to bring it to life, that’s really bizarre and has kind of a cosmic-y, spooky kind of feel, because in your mind — when you read something, you get your own picture. And for someone to write to me and go “now when I read the books I picture you,” it’s like wow, that’s so cool.

And can you give a little teaser, without spoiling too much of what’s coming up in season two?
Hmm…well honestly I don’t really know too much further than a few episodes ahead of us. Because Ken Biller, he keeps a lot of it under wraps, he won’t let us know all the time. I think he changes it often, because I think he’s just got so many ideas. We do have a lot — we’ve had so many good guests from the states, like we have Charisma Carpenter in the first episode, and then we have Jolene Blaylock coming up from “Star Trek,” Amy Teegarden from “Friday Night Lights,” Gabriel Mann from “Mad Men.” I mean, some really great talent has come down to have a little play with us. But, it’s going crazy. I will tell you that on Tuesday, when I go back to work, I have a love scene, a sex scene, and I’m nervous…another one! This season’s been really racy, I can’t believe it, it’s really sexy and cool. I think it’s also Tabrett — because Tabrett’s new, she has some really hot, steamy scenes.

And I’m sure it’s too early to know, but has there been any word on a possible season three?
Everybody talks about it. It’s so funny, the second you finally hear you’re doing two, it’s like is there going to be three? I don’t know. The show has been sold in something like 130 some countries, so we’re doing pretty well in terms of interest all around the world, which I can imagine is quite a good sign of the studio wanting to continue. I don’t know, I think it’s just a matter of people tuning in. I know that it is hard for us, because I think a lot of our air times are up against a lot of sports and things like that. And I know a lot of people watch our show on Hulu and iTunes, and things like that, which don’t really count for our ratings on TV. I mean, I don’t really understand all this stuff that much but I do know there’s a lot of factors that go into it, other than us just having a good time. But I kind of hope we go to a third. I’m really enjoying my life down there, but you know it’s one of those things where sometimes it seems like it’s going by really slow, and then you go Oh my God, we’re halfway through the season, where’d this year go? Then it goes by really fast.

I know you were saying you weren’t really a fan of fantasy before you started this project. So what would you tell viewers who might not watch a lot of fantasy — why should they tune into this show?
Well what drew me to it was, I guess you could say, the romance: the relationship of Richard and Kahlan. I mean, to me it’s like Romeo and Juliet. It’s the sort of forbidden love thing. And I really think that’s part of the show, more than sort of magic and wizards and things like that. Maybe to some people it could be distracting, but I really find it to be kind of like, just an escapism sort of thing, where you get to go home, and forget about your day, and just kind of go into this other world — literally. It’s not reality.

What other projects do you have coming up?
I did a film in between the two seasons called The Best and The Brightest, and it’s with Neil Patrick Harris, and Amy Sedaris and Christopher McDonald, and Bonnie Somerville. It’s a really fun, great movie. I’m actually going to do ADR for it this afternoon, and I haven’t seen it yet so I’m really excited. That will be coming out sometime in 2010.

Be sure to tune in TODAY for the 2nd season premiere of Legend Of The Seeker. Check here for your local time and station!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Matt Czuchry (Cary Agos) of The Good Wife

The Good Wife is a drama based around Alicia Florrick (Juliana Margulies), whose husband Peter (Chris Noth) recently resigned as Attorney General of Cook County because of a prostitution scandal. It definitely has a ripped from the headlines feel in that if you follow New York politics at all, it sounds a lot like the Eliot Spitzer scandal. In any case, Alicia goes back to work for a competitive law firm and each episode centers around a different case. I enjoy procedurals, but sometimes I find them rather mundane. However, The Good Wife is incredibly interesting, and very different from other law shows out there. The characters are quite unique and I definitely want to see how all of the relationships play out. Matt Czuchry (you may know him as Logan Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls) plays Cary Agos, a junior associate who is competing with Alicia for the one spot in the law firm. I recently got to chat with him about his character, what makes The Good Wife so unique, and what’s coming up this season.

So tell us a little more about your character Cary. He’s super competitive.
Yeah. He’s very ambitious. He’s willing to do what it takes to get to the top.

What originally drew you to this character?
You know a lot of different elements first drew me to the project. The script was great. I loved the script as a whole. I loved the people associated with the project: the producers Ridley and Tony Scott, David Zucker. The director was Charles MacDougal, liked him a lot. And the cast that they were putting together. So there’s a lot of elements. And specifically with this character, when I sat down and talked to them about it, they said we kind of want this guy, when he comes on screen, the audience is not sure who he is, what his motivations are. Are they good or self-serving? And I thought that would be an interesting thing to play.

Are you anything at all like Cary or are you totally the opposite?
I would say this character is very goal-driven and I’m very goal driven. I’m very much a type A personality, where I plan things out. I think where the character and I are different is–Cary will at least where he is right now in his life, is willing to use any means necessary to achieve what he wants and I’m not that way. I care about other people’s emotions and feelings over my own personal goals.

Well that’s a good thing (laughs)
(laughs)

Your character is sort of the thorn in Alicia’s side. Does this rivalry continue as the season goes on?
It has so far. The episode that we’ve been doing–it’s kind of a back and forth on that, where they have to work together. Actually, the next episode that we’ll see on Tuesday night, they’re actually working together for the same goals. So, we’re going to see a little bit of that. And we’re also going to see the competition as well. So it’s kind of both sides of that.

On Gilmore Girls, you play Logan who is sort of a privileged, no cares type of guy. And now you play Cary. Was it hard to get into this role to play such a different character from Logan or any of your other characters?
Well, you know that show finished 2 years ago, so most of my work and emotions and thought I put into that particular character, having finished it two years ago, are kind of in the past. But you know, any time you’re taking on a new character, it’s at first, in the first couple of episodes if it’s TV, or in the beginning when you’re working on it in rehearsals in a movie, you’re trying to find your way. You’re still trying to find your way, to who this character is. So in the beginning, those first couple episodes, just trying to find the degrees as far as how genuine is he here, how much is he hiding here, how much is he completely just screwing somebody over here…(laughs)…so finding those degrees in the beginning are tricky because you haven’t had much time with this character but with each episode, you get in the groove and you understand who this person is based on having more time living inside his skin.

There are a ton of law dramas on TV right now. I love the Good Wife, but what do you think makes this show so unique?
Well I think that people right now are watching the show because they’re invested in the storylines and the characters. You look at Alicia’s storyline and you can kind of say, if you were in her shoes, what would you do? And even though you may not have had personal experiences that she’s had, you can understand those difficult choices that she has to make, so storywise that’s very relatable. And what Juliana is doing with that character, what Chris Noth is doing with his character, are very believable and interesting. And there’s a lot of different characters, and each of the characters bring something different to the show. I think that Alicia brings something that’s different than what Cary brings, and Kalinda (played by Archie) brings something different than what I bring, Josh Charles’s character Will is very different from Christine Baranksi’s character although they’re both partners. So I think that you have very specific characters who bring different things to the show. And I think that the storylines that go along with that is why people are enjoying it so far. Don’t you think?

Yes, I think so. And what has been your favorite part of filming the show?
This is the first time that I’ve ever been associated with a new show. So, kind of, going to Vancouver and doing the pilot, and then finding out that we got picked up. I had to move to New York for the show, and it comes out, and wondering how it’s going to do, and now it’s going well. All these moments are new to me, and you really do become invested in the show, and you become invested in your fellow castmates in a way it’s like they’re your family. So that’s been the most enjoyable, because it’s been very much like a family.

What would you like to see for your character moving forward?
I just want to keep the audience guessing and keep that going and building on that. I’d like for him to do some shady stuff here and there, even more so, but in some ways, it’s for the greater good. I think just continuing–right now the show is so new, and these storylines are just kind of beginning. There’s still so much room to go with Cary as far as keeping the audience guessing. So that kind of idea, I just kind of want to build on that and take it even further.

And, I know you can’t spoil too much but can you give us a little teaser of what’s coming up this season, specifically for your character?
Right now, each of the storylines that keep getting dropped are really just kind of being further and further played out. I can tell you the last couple scripts have been really good. The last one we got was really good. This next episode coming up on Tuesday night, I’m excited to see myself. Directed by a great director, Rod Holcomb who actually won the Emmy for directing the last episode of ER. And he won they Emmy on Sunday night, and we went to work with him on Monday. So that was pretty cool. He’s a fantastic, fantastic director. So I’m excited to see how this episode comes out. And this episode is the one I told you about where Alicia and Cary are kind of on the same page. So, I’m excited to see how that all turns out.

The show itself and Alicia’s storyline is sort of a ripped-from-the-headlines kind of thing especially relating to New York politics. Are there going to be any more of those familiar cases on the show?
I think that they want to make it, most importantly current in the sense of especially the things that you’re seeing for example with the kids, the family life, about how now — whether it be the internet, how that impacts people socially. One example there, one of the future episodes, there’s a little mention of cloning. A little spoiler there. So I think what the writers really want to do is they really want to make it current. And so I think that they’re going to continue to do that with the law firm itself and with the storyline involving when we have court cases. Just really current.

And is there anything you would tell viewers as to why they should tune into The Good Wife? I mean, I watch it but…
Thank you, thank you for watching it. Well you tell me, what would you say? Why do you like it? Why would you tell someone to watch the show, and I’ll build off that.

I think I would say that it’s definitely more unique than many of the law, procedural shows on TV and all the characters are interesting. And I want to tune in to see where Alicia goes, where Cary goes, where things go with the law firm, and how the relationships play out.
Yeah, I would say that if you like procedural shows where there’s cases that have a beginning, middle and end, and those are shows that you gravitate towards, then this is going to be something that you connect with. And on top of that, I think that once you connect to that, you’re kind of going to be like “oh, this is exactly the kind of the show that I like, but there’s also added elements of these different characters in the family drama aspect and the ripped from the headlines aspect of what would you do if you were in a public situation that you wanted to keep private.” So I think that if you like procedurals, you’ll connect to it and then at the same time be like “oh man, I definitely have to put this on my DVR because it’s awesome and at the same time, something new that I haven’t seen before.”

Be sure to tune in tonight for an all new episode of The Good Wife at 10 pm on CBS.

INTERVIEW: Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester) from Glee

I don’t think I can say enough good things about Glee. It is just a wonderful show with an incredibly talented cast and an absolutely incomparable creator. Each week, I look forward to the ongoing war between various cliques, the drama, and of course the tear-inducing musical numbers. I recently had a chance to chat with Jessalyn Gilsig who plays Terri Schuester (Will’s crazy wife that everyone loves to quote and sometimes hate). I think she is one of the most interesting characters on the show, and I love the scenes where she is featured. We talked about Ryan Murphy (the aforementioned creator), what the future holds for Terri and Will, and what she was like in high school.

I adore Glee.
Yay! Thank you so much!

What originally drew you to the role of Terri?
Well, first of all, Ryan Murphy. Because I had worked with him on Nip/Tuck. And that was one of the best experiences as an actor I’ve ever had in my career. He really challenges you as an actor, and he really pushes you, and he really puts a lot of faith in actors to be able to — I think go further than they’ve ever gone before. Certainly for me on Nip/Tuck. You know, for obvious reasons…things I never thought I’d do. (laughs) But also just emotionally and character-wise and comedically. Every script was just this amazing emotional gymnastics. So that first of all: I was like great, I’d love to work with Ryan. And for me, the opportunity to do a comedy is something that I’ve been itching to do for many years now and also if I was going to do that–which is kind of a big risk for me–to be able to do that with Ryan, who I know so well, and then so much of the crew that I was familiar with from Nip/Tuck was kind of a dream scenario I would say.

There has been a lot of different reactions to your character Terri. What do you think of her?
(laughs) Oh my God, it’s so hard being Terri. It’s so lonely. I mean, it was the same with Gina [her Nip/Tuck character] I guess. No, I understand her. I feel like you know, we’re all a bunch of crazy people just navigating the planet and I feel like we all make really stupid decisions that we then sort of spend the rest of our lives trying to you know, make sense of, or apologize for, explain. I think she’s arrested, you know, I think in many ways she’s still in high school. And so much of high school is about scheming. You know, if I do this, and she’ll do that, and won’t it be perfect. We’ll have babies. It’s so high school for her to say “If he believes that I’m pregnant, he’ll never leave me.” And that’s basically as far as her plan has — you know, as deep as she thought it through. It’s also like–you have to be, as an actor, if Terri wasn’t hard to swallow, then the fact that Will is flirting with another teacher would make him unsympathetic as a character. So I have to be, kind of unpleasant, so that everybody can support that relationship. It’s kind of like a self-sacrifice for the bigger picture.

Have you gotten any interesting fan reactions to Terri?
Oh my God, it’s been so mixed that I don’t even look anymore. People get so angry. It’s a comedy, it’s a TV show. People get really upset about it. It’s fun for me the morning after because a lot of people will quote her to me. Like today, I got this email on my Facebook that was like my favorite this line this week — it was my line about how I had a big crush on the Karate Kid (laughs). So, she definitely has some great gems of lines and people like to quote those to me. And I think there are just a lot of people who think she’s a nut job, basically. Which I guess she is. But it’s fun to play those parts. You kind of want to be the person who stirs up controversy. It keeps the show interesting I think.

Yeah, I definitely think it makes the show more interesting that way.
Yeah, otherwise, they’re all so adorable. Will’s so cute. Emma’s so cute. And then you’re at Disneyland.

You don’t want to be at Disneyland every year of your life.
You don’t want to live at Disneyland. I mean, maybe you do want to live at Disneyland, but Terri’s not going to make that call for you. (laughs)

Are you good friends with Jayma? Is it hard to be mean to her on set?
It’s really fun. I love it. We joke so much about it. It’s so fun. All the crew gets into it. Like the day that we had the scene that already aired in Vitamin D where I come to her office and tell her to step off my man…the crew was so excited. They were like “oh my God, here comes the cat fight, the show down.” And even Jayma and I in the makeup trailer start taking our opening shots. That just makes it so much fun, when we’re all in the dynamic of the show.

Talk a little bit about your relationship with your sister on the show. She gives you some crazy advice.
I know. Well she’s great, because I think she makes Terri seem normal. So I’m really grateful to [the actress] Jennifer Aspen because she’s such a nut job that suddenly Terri looks like she fits in with everybody else. I guess it’s kind of that same high school thing. Terri just adores her big sister. She thinks that she has access to some kind of logic, and her life seems to be functioning, and she has a house, and she has kids and she has a husband whose devoted to her. So sometimes, you do get advice from friends and the little voice in the back of your head says “wait, that doesn’t sound right,” but it seems to be working for her, so maybe I’ll try it. Again, you know, Terri’s analytical mind is under-developed.

You and Sue (Jane Lynch) recently teamed up to get in the way of Will and Emma’s relationship. Will there be any Sue and Terri scenes in the future?
I hope so. I think that there should be, I really do. I think we’re united in our cause. We might have different motivations but I think that we’re both seeing the same world. So I would love it. Especially because Terri has a history in cheerleading. So I’m hoping that gets exploited with Sue at some point.

Can you give us a little teaser of the rest of the season–what might happen with Quinn’s baby and Terri’s storylines?
There is like–the way I’ve been thinking about it–is there is a reckoning. I mean the great thing about Ryan is he kind of bends things off — like that’s impossible, that could never happen, that’s beyond–he sort of sends things off into the ether. And then he always lands the plane. So it will land. And we will step into reality, and there’s going to be a reckoning. There just has to be. So it gets pretty intense, as we go deeper and deeper into the season.

I’m sure you get asked this a lot, but do you think we’re going to see Terri in any musical numbers?
(laughs) I do get asked that a lot. I haven’t sung yet. And I don’t know, I’m so curious. I heard that they have a lot of great stuff for the back 9. And I kind of want to know if I sing, and I’m kind of terrified to find out. But you know, I think she’s got a song in her. We’ll see. It’s intimidating. Every week, I watch it and I see the musical numbers and I’m like Oh my God, these kids are unbelievable. It’s definitely intimidating.

Do you think you’ll be a part of the concert tour?
(laughs) I don’t know. I don’t think anyone’s asking “Where’s Jessalyn’s solo?”

(laughs) I’m asking that!
Thank you, thank you! Maybe we’ll start a little campaign.

Definitely.
I mean, it’s so great. All of it. It’s just–our presence on iTunes, the fact that there is a concert, and all of it. It’s just this amazing stage for the show. I’m open to any challenge. Again, with Ryan, your best way to approach your job is to just say yes and have faith that he’ll protect you. And he always does. And you always end up doing things you never thought you could do. So if I’m asked, I’ll just say yes, and follow their lead.

Sounds good to me. And what were you like in high school? Can you relate to these characters?
Yes, very much so. I was an art geek. I was most comfortable in art class and in theater class, so that’s when I felt most like myself. And then when those classes would end, and you go back out into the hall, I was uncomfortable. I found high school kind of hard. And I knew that when I was in the arts, that was when I felt like I could be myself and I was accepted and understood and I could feel a real connection with other people. So in that way, I really relate to the show. I think it really speaks to the high school spirits. Whether or not you’re in the arts or the sciences or sports or whatever it is, you hope to find that club that speaks to you.

Definitely. And also, Terri hated her job at Sheets N’ Things, for good reason. Do you have any good stories from your worst job?
I was a chamber maid in a hotel. And I just remember–I couldn’t believe how people leave their hotel rooms. I had no idea. It was almost as if they’re entire visit–the goal of the visit was to just leave something disgusting for me. And the first night I stay anywhere, I always tip the housekeeping, because I just want to send a message–like respect. Because that was seriously so brutal. I don’t know if I’ll ever get those images out of my head.

Ugh.
Yeah, it was nasty. People don’t care. They just leave and they don’t care. Or even sometimes people were still staying there. And I think, I’m probably going to bump into you and you’re still not self-conscious about this?

You should feel bad about yourself.
Yeah! Aren’t you even like a little bit embarrassed?

What else do you have coming up? Any chance you are returning to Heroes?
I don’t know! I hope so, I want to go back. There’s so many great fans for that show. They were so great about my character, Meredith. I would like to go back, but I haven’t heard anything. I have a little independent film coming out called “Fifty-Nothing.” And I’m in the Stepfather [which premiered last week]. And then, we’re lucky–we’re going back in January. So I’m kind of at that great moment where I’m suspended between jobs, and I can just enjoy my daughter. I’m so grateful for that. It’s so rare.

Thank you so much.
Thank you. I’m so glad you like the show. I hope you can forgive Terri.

I love Terri. Maybe I’m one of the few…
You might be alone in the fan club, but I would love to have you.

We will form a 2 person fan club.
Awesome! (laughs) Thank you so much!

Glee returns on Wednesday, November 11th with all new episodes on FOX.