She’s Best in Show: The Fabulous Jane Lynch Hits Broadway

Could Sophie Lennon return?

Lynch feels an affinity for Sophie, the raucous, famous stand-up comic she plays on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — a character whose attempt at a serious Broadway career is as calamitous as Lynch’s is triumphant. “Sophie has one persona onstage that’s very free and funny and crass and confident,” she says. “Offstage, she’s quite brittle and thin-skinned and puts on airs in order to direct people away from that very soft underbelly.” Lynch says she can relate to Lennon’s frail sense of self. “Both parts of that persona are alive in me,” she says, “but the frail part isn’t as frail as it was when I was younger.”

The connections between Fanny and Midge 

Despite the half century separating the protagonists of Funny Girl and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Lynch nonetheless sees the two as having a lot in common. “It’s about a woman trying to stay true to herself,” she says. “They tell her you can’t do this because you don’t fall into this mold. Each of them — Fanny and Midge — refused.” So does Lynch’s character, Rosie. “She has a thriving business doing what men traditionally do, owning a bar, a place where people come to dance at night. She knows what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world — she just plows forward, like her daughter. The fruit don’t fall far from the tree.” ​

Jane Lynch (left) and Ken Marino in "Party Down."

Colleen Hayes/Starz/Courtesy Everett Collection

She’s bringing back Constance Carmell — but not Sue Sylvester

After a 12-year hiatus, a revival limited-series season of cult comedy favorite Party Down is in production, with Lynch as the spacey, optimistic actor-turned-caterer Constance. “I always wanted to go back and play Constance Carmell again,” she says, only now the character is a rich widow with her own theatrical ambitions. Lynch thinks if they were to revive her memorably bullying cheerleader coach character Sue Sylvester on Glee, “it should be at a new high school. It was such a big hit, because kids and adults love that idea of people coming together to raise their voice in song and having each other’s back. It’s a great recipe.” That said, will Sue ever join a Glee reunion? “Can’t see it happening,” she says.

Gayle Jo Carter, the former entertainment editor at USA WEEKEND magazine, has interviewed newsmakers for AARP, USA WEEKEND, USA Today, Parade, Aspire and Washington Jewish Week.