10 BEST ’TACHES
The most matchless moustaches in movies.
Then there’s that sitcom icon. Mae’s distant mother Linda is played by Lisa Kudrow. The Friends alumnus is holding court in her trailer complete, to her bemusement, with faux fireplace. “Mae had some challenges in her teenage years, and parents do get a little defensive about that stuff,” says Kudrow. “Everything with Linda is a reaction to what she thinks people are thinking about her, but deep down she does blame herself for Mae’s troubles. When it comes to her daughter, it can seem like Linda’s creating distractions to make it easier to pretend everything’s good.”
FELINE LOST
As Mae’s parents live in Canada, most of Linda’s parenting comes via Skype with husband Malcolm (Adrian Lukis). However, the couple have travelled to Blackpool to scatter the ashes of the family cat. Mae the actor is rather more excited to see them than Mae the character. A fan of Kudrow’s other renowned sitcom The Comeback, Martin describes Kudrow as “fantasy casting”.
“She manages to make the most outrageous characters so grounded and full of pathos. But she’ll also take a line and say it in an unexpected cadence that makes it 10 times funnier than it was on the page. I spent my birthday riding a ghost train in Blackpool with Lisa Kudrow. What could be better?”
The admiration is mutual. “The scripts are well observed and fun,” says Kudrow. “There’s something about [Martin] that’s wonderfully patient with a world that can react to things like sexual or gender fluidity by putting up walls. When things are discussed with open hearts and minds, that’s when we make progress. The main characters are good people trying to figure things out while they’re carrying whatever damage every human being does.”
Feel Good is not, Martin stresses, a message comedy. But she does hope that, if nothing else, it will broaden a few minds. “If you don’t see stories that reflect your experiences you can feel a bit isolated from the world,” she says. “But our dream is that people from all walks of life connect with and relate to the characters – and that by default it breaks through the barriers of any labels that might
separate us.” Gabriel Tate
‘WHEN THINGS ARE DISCUSSED WITH OPEN HEARTS, WE MAKE PROGRESS’ LISA KUDROW