‘Will & Grace’ cast on comeback
As soon as Eric McCormack stepped into the old “Will & Grace” kitchen, he was Will Truman again.
Debra Messing said she still feels like Grace Adler, but these days, she has to physically warm up before stepping into that persona. Megan Mullally said finding Karen again was “like riding a bike.” For Sean Hayes, rediscovering Jack McFarland was “like waking up out of a coma, maybe — a Jack coma.”
However they came back to their characters, all four actors say it’s surreal that, 11 years after wrapping its award-winning run, “Will & Grace” is making an unprecedented return to prime time with its original cast, director and creative team. The rebirth of “Will & Grace” begins Thursday (in the US).
About a year ago, co-creator Max Mutchnick said that as the contentious campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was reaching a fever pitch, he came up with a sketch for the “Will & Grace” foursome.
Making that 2016 video was “the first time in 11 years that the four of us were in the same place at the same time,” Messing said. “And within 20 minutes, we were fondling each other.”
The 10-minute “Vote Honey” short quickly racked up millions of views.
“The weirdest thing about all of this is that it doesn’t feel weird,” Mullally said. “It just seems like, ‘Of course we’re here.’ And we just went away for the weekend and came back on a Monday. I mean, honestly, it’s crazy.”
She said it was also “freak happenstance” that all four actors were available, given that all have worked steadily since the show wrapped.
Coming back to the show has been invigorating, Hayes said, because he was able to check his producer mentality at the door.
“You remember what a wonderful life being an actor is,” he said. “As a producer, you’re constantly thinking on so many different levels on everything: about money, the directing, the lighting, taking care of everybody’s problems and building the machine that is a show... It’s nice to not have to deal with any of that.”
McCormack said shooting “Will & Grace” after working on “Traveler” is like having dessert after dinner.
“This feels like coming back to your parents’ home and your bedroom is unchanged and you’ve still got your Queen posters on the wall and your stereo still works and you’re allowed to be 16 again,” he said.
Though politics may have inspired the series’ return to NBC’s prime-time schedule, the news moves too fast for the show to be of-the-moment topical. An early episode made a reference to Steve Bannon, who was out of the White House before the tape was even edited.
Instead, Will, Grace, Jack and Karen will be dealing with the same kinds of issues the actors playing them are facing in real-life: The challenges of aging and embracing lives that may not have turned out quite as planned.
There are jokes about technology and dating, he said, and even explorations of mortality, noting that several actors who appeared in the original series have since died.
Popular guest stars will be returning: Bobby Cannavale, Harry Connick Jr., Jane Lynch and Andrew Rannells.