Jane Lynch wings in for Angel from Hell sitcom
NEW YORK — “A nice match,” says Jane Lynch, referring to herself and her new sitcom role. “Made in heaven, if you will.” Heaven, indeed. On the CBS series Angel From Hell (Thursdays at 9:30 p.m.), Lynch plays Amy, a spirited but scatterbrained oddball who barrels into the life of Allison, a sweet but neurotic young doctor played by Maggie Lawson, insinuating herself as a self-styled “guardian angel.” ( Angel From Hell also stars Kevin Pollak and Kyle Bornheimer as Allison’s father and brother.)
Is Amy really on a job from God?
Or is she a boozy, jobless nutcase from the streets?
In the process, Lynch stands tall (all imposing six feet), keeping Allison bemused as to just who Amy is.
Lynch admits to being a bit bemused, too.
At a recent interview in New York, Lynch reports that once her series took flight, “with every new script I read, I said, ‘This is TOO crazy!’ ” Like when Amy stops on a street corner to consult with a traffic light, which she recognizes as a fellow angel in trafficlight disguise.
“The most important thing for me in playing her: stay in the heart. Amy’s mission is to really love somebody, and let her KNOW she’s loved. No matter how weirdly Amy behaves, she’s SO committed to this woman Allison!”
“I grew up in a Southside suburb of Chicago,” says Lynch, 55. “It was idyllic. But I was plunked into a family that was not artistic, and didn’t know how to deal with my emotions. I could be pretty volatile, especially when I didn’t feel understood, which was 99 per cent of the time. ”
“There I was as a kid: a closeted homosexual who wants to be an actress. … Wanting to act was something I was wired with when I was born. I never thought I would have success or celebrity, although I did want that. But what I wanted more than anything was to work.”
Lynch attended Illinois State University. Then she entered Cornell University, where she pursued her master of fine arts degree.
“When you get out of school, you just go where the wind blows: Here’s an audition, there’s an audition. And before you know it, you’re where you’re supposed to be. And that was Second City,” where Lynch was hired for the touring company.
After that, she scored lots of work onstage and in TV and films, though nothing launched her as a star. “There was a part of me that said, ‘Ohhh, when’s the ship gonna come in for me?’ But then I would think, ‘Why SHOULD I get a ship?’ And once you get over that, in comes your ship!”
Her “ship” was a commercial for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes that was directed by Christopher Guest, who then remembered her when casting his 2000 dog-show mockumentary, Best in Show.
Another high-profile job: joining Steve Carell in the 2005 comedy hit The 40Year-Old Virgin.
And then, of course, she stole the show, and viewers’ hearts, as track-suit-clad meanie Sue Sylvester in the high-school musical series Glee.