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Debra Messing Tells Us Her Favorite Will & Grace Episode Ever! Plus, Smash Scoop!
Published on: 26 August, 2012 (0) Comments!Alas, my back-to-school days are over, so waking up extra early yesterday to head to PS 15 Roberto Clemente Elementary School in NYC seemed like a nostalgia-flavored treat. As if that wasn’t exciting enough (it’s the little things, people), I was headed there for an interview with none other than Debra Messing!
Debra was at PS 15 to unveil Post-it Your Words Stick With Them, a program that highlights the power of a handwritten note and asks parents and teachers to share their notes of encouragement to kids throughout the school year. Plus, Post-it partnered with AdoptAClassroom.org to donate much-needed school supplies. Awesome.
I talked to her about the program, Smash, her obsession with Whale Wars, and more. Check it out!
What got you involved with this program?
I just really believe that personal notes on a regular basis to your children makes a difference. I love hiding Post-it notes in my son’s books and backpack and on the refridgerator to let him know that I love him, to tell him to have fun, to have a good day. It makes me feel like I am supporting him, and hopefully it makes him feel during the very, very busy day that I’m with him, even when I’m not with him. Also, I am so proud that the beneficiary of this initiative is Adopt A Classroom, where much-needed school supplies are given to schools and teachers all over the country who can’t afford them.
So, if you wrote a Post-it to your son right now, what would you write?
Laugh hard today.
We can’t wait for Smash to return! What’s new this season?
Just lots of changes; lots of new cast members. Jennifer Hudson was just on last week, and she is wonderful to work with—hearing her sing live is just a gift. And there’s lots of surprises!
I heard your Will & Grace co-star Sean Hayes is coming to Smash!
I am beyond excited that Sean Hayes is coming. It’s going to be a giggle-fest.
So, what’s your all-time favorite episode of Will & Grace?
It’s called “Das Boob,” and it’s the exploding water bra episode. For me, it was classic Lucille Ball.
Now on to a mini-Obsessed questionnaire! What’s your current obsession?
My current obsession is 1stdibs.com. It’s a website that has estate jewelry, old, old furniture, fashion… and everyday you go on and there’s something else that’s on there. It’s a visual inspiration for me. I love it.
The TV show you’re obsessed with?
Oh, Whale Wars. I’m completely obsessed with it; I’ve watched every season. They are so heroic. It’s exciting; it’s just the perfect show.
The movie you’re so obsessed with you know every word?
It might be The Way We Were or The Lion King!
What’s been your craziest Hollywood moment so far?
I think walking into the bathroom at the Met Ball and seeing Vanessa Redgrave smoking a cigarette at the sink. [laughs]
Next time you have time to yourself, what are you going to do?
Read. Right now I’m in the middle of a book called Canada, and I’m loving it.
Hidden Blessings: What Irene taught me about HIV Prevention (Video)
Published on: 21 July, 2012 (0) Comments!A video from Debra Messing’s trip to Zambia:
Emmys 2012: Debra Messing Aims to Turn ‘Smash’ Into ‘Must-See TV’
Published on: 20 June, 2012 (2) CommentsTelevision has been around for roughly 65 years, and, during most of that time, “star” was a title that a TV actor had to earn through hard work, peer recognition, and, yes, Nielsen ratings. Today, though, it seems as if it is applied to every person who appears in a pilot or on a reality show — certainly by their representatives, but also, less understandably, by journalists. The impact of this is that it has become considerably harder for the general public to single out the few individuals working today who would actually meet the old standards; in other words, to distinguish the true stars, if you will, from the wannabes. Some examples, though, are beyond dispute, including that of the actress whom I interviewed for about 40 minutes last week at her apartment in New York City.
Debra Messing is a TV star if ever there was one. She has been acting on TV pretty much non-stop for the past 17 years, first on Fox’s Ned and Stacey (1995-1997); then on ABC’s Prey (1998); then, most famously, on NBC’s Will & Grace (1998-2005); then on USA’s The Starter Wife (2008); and now on Smash, another “Peacock Network” production. Her work has garnered her five Emmy nominations for best actress in a TV comedy — more than anyone else in history save for Kirstie Alley, Bea Arthur, Candice Bergen, Patricia Heaton, Helen Hunt, Jane Kaczmarek, Mary Tyler Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Isabel Sanford, Jean Stapleton and Betty White — and one Emmy statuette, for her work on the 2002-2003 season of Will & Grace. (She could score another Emmy nomination this year in the best actress in a TV drama category for Smash.)
And people like watching her: Will & Grace, which became a staple of NBC’s now-legendary Thursday night “Must See TV” lineup, was TV’s highest-rated sitcom among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 from 2001 through 2005, with individual episodes regularly ranking among the 10 highest-rated of the week (the season 2 episode “A Chorus Lie” attracted a series-high 25.3 million viewers) and four of its eight seasons finishing among their respective year’s top 20 highest-rated shows. Smash, meanwhile, was TV’s third highest-rated new drama this year, and first among all dramas that aired in the 10 p.m. hour, while also finishing atop the list of all NBC dramas among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. (To be sure, credit for both shows belongs not only to Messing, but it is also quite possible that neither show would have been greenlighted in the first place without Messing’s participation.)