Lynch’s range shines in ‘Glee,’ ‘Post Grad’

McClatchy Newspapers

LOS ANGELES — Few actors have r sum s as diverse and extensive as Jane Lynch’s. Just look at her latest work:

She plays Julia Child’s sister in the film “Julie & Julia,” a tyrannical cheerleading coach on the new Fox TV series “Glee,” the snarky psychiatrist on “Two and a Half Men,” a wild party-caterer on the cable series “Party Down” and a mom in the new film “Post Grad.”

There’s no great secret to how she’s amassed so many acting credits.

“I basically take everything that comes to me,” Lynch says during an interview to talk about “Post Grad” set to open in theaters Friday. “I love it all. I guess I have been really lucky that I haven’t gotten any turkeys.”

A big draw is the actors or directors she’ll get to work with. The attraction of “Post Grad” was the chance to get to work with Alexis Bledel, Carol Burnett and Michael Keaton.

Lynch’s Carmella Malby is the mother of Ryden (Bledel), a new graduate who has had her life planned out for years. Those plans don’t go exactly they way she anticipated. Keaton plays Ryden’s supportive father and Burnett her cantankerous grandmother.

Lynch doesn’t question her current acting good fortune.

“I don’t know why it is happening except if you are looking to fill a small part and you want it to be a little special — if I can say that without sounding like I am showing off — then I am kind of a good person to go to,” Lynch says.

She’s enjoyed bouncing through all of the projects, but now she’s happy to be part of a show such as “Glee,” where she could have a job for years.

The series about a ragtag high school show-choir will launch in September but has gotten major buzz since the first — and so far the only — episode aired in May.

“I’m having the time of my life. I am acting in the role of a lifetime. And the words they have written to come out of my mouth are some of the best heinous things I’ve ever said in my life. I could not be happier,” Lynch says.

Despite Lynch’s lengthy acting career, people often don’t know who she is until her credits are mentioned. She says she’s never offended when she meets someone who doesn’t know her name. The problem is when the onus is put on her to help them remember by running through the list of all of the TV and film appearances she has made until she finds one the person has seen.

She thinks “Glee” could change that. And she’s excited about the character.

“I find it fascinating that a lot of people walk through life that way, thinking they’re really something and they can be that mean. And I guess I’m attracted to that on some level,” Lynch says.

“I don’t think it’s first and foremost in my personality, but it’s a lovely, delicious thing to call upon, and I love doing it, obviously. I think it’s reached a pinnacle with Sue Sylvester. She has to be the most scheming, unashamed, entitled person I’ve ever played, and I’m just adoring it.”

The only downside for landing the “Glee” job is that Lynch will no longer be able to trade quips with Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men.” She’ll miss the deadpan humor written for her character.

Lynch likes great writing but has shown she’s comfortable improvising in Christopher Guest’s movies “For Your Consideration,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Best in Show.”

She also toured with The Second City comedy troupe and played Carol Brady in “The Real Live Brady Bunch” stage show.

The freedom she gets from improvisational comedy comes with some fear:

“There is a challenge and a liberation when it is all on you. That can be scary, and it is also really exciting.”