Jane Lynch
I've been in Chicago for every Christmas of my life.Collection: Christmas
When I was a kid, we would get McDonalds on Christmas Eve, and that was a big deal because the closest one to the south side of Chicago was a 35 minute drive away. I remember opening the bag and smelling those fries, and even now when I smell them, it reminds me of Christmas Eve.Collection: Christmas
I think humor is such a personal thing, and you put a microphone in somebody's face, they're going to say something that offends somebody.Collection: Humor
From the start. As early as - I felt I was in the wrong sex; I really did. I would go into my dad's room and put on his clothes.Collection: Dad
Charlie Sheen was such a pro.
The world, universe, God, whatever you call it, has so much more in store if you just sit back and relax and do what's right in front of you.
Standing by myself, just having everybody looking at me the entire time, is not my idea of a good time.
Once you start classifying and trying to identify your own comedy style, you've ceased to be funny.
The more I become comfortable in my own skin, I think the funnier I become.
I've actually never done standup before.
I'm an actor more than anything else.
I love doing sketches, but I don't relish being by myself. That's not something I'm used to doing.
I'm not out to conquer anything, which I think is a good thing. That's why I also think crazy, different things come my way. I really don't have an agenda, and I'm really happy not to have one. I'm just keeping it light.
I love Matt LeBlanc in 'Episodes' - he's very good. And the 'Modern Family' cast just cracks me up.
I've always sung. My dad had a song in his heart and on his lips 24/7. A lot of the time, it was the same song and the same phrase over and over again.
A lot of the songs in 'See Jane Sing!' are pulled straight from the kitchen table and my parents harmonizing together.
In Chicago, actors start up companies and get together and produce things, and there's a really rich, vibrant non-Equity theater scene out there.
I'm fascinated by Greta Garbo. My cat's named Greta, and I have a framed photograph of her from 1949.
I love Jennifer Saunders, the 'Absolutely Fabulous' creator.
I can fool people that I was educated.
I never thought I would work with Meryl Streep. I also love Cate Blanchett.
When you raise your voice in song to express what's going on deep inside of you, I think people just react to that because it's so truthful. It's so raw.
I love being in these ensemble comedy movies. I love working with a bunch of people and coming up with, you know, How can we make this moment funnier?
It has to come from a truthful place in order to be funny.
If you're contriving something, if you're making something up, it's not funny. You can tell. It's instant. It has to come from someplace real.
I looked at my mom and her life, and I thought, 'I don't want that.' I don't think my mom wanted it, either. I think my mom did want to be out there and have a career. She loved working. As soon as we were old enough to feed ourselves, she was out.
I wanted to - any chance I had to dress up as a boy, like Halloween, I would be a pirate or a ghost that wore a tie. A hobo.
I get the male thing. I like being that for a woman. But I also like being a woman, too. I like being girly.
When I'm not feeling good about how I look, I figure if I just buy the right piece of clothing, I'll feel all right.
I try to dress the bottom I have. The body I have and the bottom I have. I have the intention of looking fabulous every time, and I care about it a great deal. I'm very vain.
One of the few advantages to not being beautiful is that one usually gets better-looking as one gets older; I am, in fact, at this very moment, gaining my looks.
I was filled with angst all the time, but when it came down to it, I dove into what was in front of me, and I always did my best. I invested 100 percent. And that's what saved me.
So much of Sue Sylvester, the angry woman, came from that part of my life, wanting to crush other people's dreams and judging others so harshly, which is always just a way of deflecting your own self-judgment.
Nothing like falling in love with a dead actress to prove your sanity.
It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.
I'm like Jay Gatsby. I like to throw the party and then stand back, looking gorgeous. Stand back and watch it.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a boy. I really had gender issues.
I think the only way we can really get you to laugh hard is if we take it to a deep psychological place. It has to resonate with you on a really deep level in order for you to really do that good guffaw.
The comedians who I admire that are really good, they always take it to a deep psychological place.
I have a big family. Even though it's only three kids in our family, it's always aunts and uncles and the whole thing.
Television is really fertile ground, and it's because of platforms like Netflix and Hulu and, of course, the cable channels like HBO and Showtime.
I don't have to talk to a surgeon to play a surgeon, you know what I mean?
My parents felt judged by me.
When I look back, I think I must have been hugely motivated. I would have loved for somebody to say, 'You go for it!' I just didn't have that.
I can be kind of razor sharp in my disapproval.
It was my own internalised homophobia. I didn't want to be gay.
I didn't have a coming out moment.
There are still parts of the country where it's hard: when you realize you're gay, it's like a death sentence.
Everybody has their own way to deal with it. I don't concern myself with other people's - whether or not they want to come out, it's not something for me think about.
We're all conditioned to think we have to get to the top and be the best.