Jane Lynch is swapping her signature red tracksuit for a nun's habit in "The Three Stooges." The 51-year-old "Glee" star plays a mother superior alongside Larry, Moe and Curly in the big-screen comedy, hitting theaters April 13.
Lynch talked to The Huffington Post about her "Three Stooges" role, Sue Sylvester and her take on the presidential election.
Did you watch "The Three Stooges" when you were growing up?
Yes, I watched them. I loved them. I loved the physical comedy. I loved the slapstick and pratfalls. They always made me laugh and continue to [do so].
Where do you stand? Team Curly or Team Shemp?
Oh my God, Curly! And I’m not a fan of Joe. Remember when Joe came in at the very end?
What was it like playing a mother superior in the movie?
As soon as I put [the habit] on, I felt like the mother superior in "The Sound of Music." It really did inform everything from then on.
Switching to your role on "Glee," did you ever think Sue Sylvester would become a pop culture icon?
No, no. I thought she was really cool and I loved how extreme she is, but you never know.
Have you ever read your lines and thought, "Oh, this is just too mean, even for Sue"?
There have only been a couple of instances where the script talks about hurting animals where I’ve said, "You know, I don’t think I can say that." Ian Brennan, who writes the book of my life, in the beginning, would put in one extra heinous line for his own amusement, just to see if Fox would catch it.
Did you feel like an overnight success after it became so big?
I’ve been at it for a long time. I did "Best in Show" when I was about 40, and that put me on the map, so I was already kind of comfortable in my own skin and had a pretty good idea of who I was. What happened with "Glee" and Sue Sylvester and me was that it was really more exciting for other people than it was for me. It’s great and I’m not ungrateful; I guess I have equanimity about it. I’m glad that this kind of thing happened to me after 40 as opposed to 20, where I might have based my own feelings about myself on what I perceived others thought.
You married your wife, Lara Embry, in 2010. How’s married life treating you?
Oh, really good. We’re having a great time and my daughter has settled in so well, loves her friends and loves being in school. We have a beautiful little suburban life.
Ever think you’d be saying "my daughter"?
No, it still feels wonderful when I say it.
Is the presidential race depressing you?
Yeah they do, how extreme they’ve gotten. It’s gotten so horrible that they’re talking about controlling what goes on inside a woman’s body and what she does with it and it’s infuriating that it’s even getting air time. I guess what’s important about it is it’s revealing that there are people out there who do believe they should be able to regulate the awesome power of a woman to have a child.