"Get the picture?" The dweeb stares forlornly at her. "I think you missed a piece;' he finally says woodenly. She glowers. "Did E" Grabbing one of the larger apple fragments from the desk, she slowly and triumphantly eats it. Welcome to the hilariously entertain- ing world of Lynch-the former Illinois State School of Theatre undergrad who went on to become one of the funniest and most success- ful TV and movie performers in the world of contemporary showbiz. After starring in half a dozen smash-hit motion pictures, including 2000's Best in Glee's bruiser Jane Show and the 2008 blockbuster comedy Role Models, the 50-year-old Lynch now ranks as Lynch got started one of the most accomplished screen stars in Hollywood. at Illinois State Having nailed down a shelf full of act- ing awards-including a coveted 2010 Emmy by Tom Nugent and a Golden Globe earlier this year for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the could be the funniest scene ever pre- Fox chart-buster Glee-Lynch has become an sented on television. entertainment supernova. But she's a star who In this classic screamer from the current remains singularly unimpressed by her own TV mega-hit series Glee, superstar actress-co- success. median Jane Lynch '82 (while playing a tyran- Although she's deadly serious about her nical high school cheerleading co ach named acting, Lynch maintains a refreshingly light- Sue Sylvester) confronts her nemesis-actor hearted outlook on the subject of her own Matthew Morrison (playing a dweeby Spanish achievements, while frequently guffawing out teacher who's just agreed to serve as director loud at the thought of her own undeniable of the school's glee club). stardom. "So you're starting a glee club?" barks the Take that thrilling moment in Los Angeles six-foot-tall Lynch, looking thoroughly pugna- last August, for example, when they handed cious in her gleaming, cobalt-blue sweatshirt. Lynch one of television's most striking sym- The dweeb nods uneasily. bols: the gleaming silver trophy with the word "Let me demonstrate something for you," Emmy carved across its glittering surface. says Sylvester. A moment later, she's placing The euphoric Lady Jane told a worldwide TV an apple on her desk. Then, while glaring audience, "I'm an actor, and we do it because fiercely at the dweeb: "This is the self-esteem we're compelled to do it. We have no other of your average glee-clubber. choice- or marketable skills." "And this ... [while lifting a huge trophy Just before thanking "my wife Lara"- from a nearby shelf] is me-the international- she's very proud of her same-sex marriage to ly ranked cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester." Florida psychologist Lara Embry last year- Using her trophy as a hammer, she crush- Lynch triggered roars of laughter by also es the defenseless apple into fragments. thanking the Illinois folks who brought her up.
M ay 2011 [LLIN(}(S STATE 9 "I want to thank my parents on the South 30 years. When remembering her, Lynch ad- Side of Chicago for raising us:' she clamored mits to some very mixed feelings: "She was a to surging applause. ''Yeah, South Side! I scary presence, but you wanted her attention, want to thank my parents for raising us to the and you wanted her to approve of your acting. sounds of musical theater, and for being so Sometimes, when people ask me today if I'm unintentionally funny." 'channeling' somebody from my past [while Lynch was born and raised in Dolton, just playing tyrannical characters such as Sue Syl- south of Chicago, as the daughter of a hard- vester in Glee], I think of the Dragon Lady and working banker and a homemaker. They gave I wonder if that might be true." her a keen appreciation for Broadway musical Another major influence at ISU was long- comedy and the joys of unbridled laughter at time directing professor Don LaCasse, who Illinois State productions the dinner table. remembers Lynch as having "a lot of talent are among Jane Lynch's A born entertainer with a knack for and a lot of presence" in his theatre classes. earliest acting credits. Scenes from two, below, breaking her friends up with zany one-liners, "Even back then, Jane was a really funny gal," are from Lysistrata and Lynch descended onto Illinois State's campus he said, "as well as a very hard-working stu- The House of Bernardo in 1978. It wasn't long before she fell under dent. I wasn't at all surprised later when her Alba. the sway of legendary acting career really took off." ISU theatre professor Having departed Normal in the summer Jean Scharfenberg. of 1982, Lynch went on to earn a master's "She was wonder- degree in theatre at Cornell. What followed ful," Lynch recalled in a were several years of struggle in which she recent interview, while earned her "chops" as an actress with a natu- describing the terror ral talent for comedy. An imposing presence, that the ISU "Dragon Lynch radiated fearlessness and soon proved Lady" inspired in her acting to be enormously effective in roles that called students. "She wore layers for an aggressive, in-your-face female with a and layers of clothing, and redwood-sized chip on her shoulder. she had a big voice. When By the late 1980s Lynch had already this woman walked down debuted on the silver screen with a mini-role the hall, the kids would in a "body-switching" comedy entitled Vice part like the Red Sea!" Versa . She did stage work in the Windy City, The late Scharfenberg remains an iconic including a scintillating 1991 performance figure who taught drama at ISU for more than as Carol Brady in the Chicago Annoyance
10 ILLtN()IS STATE May 2011 jjSHE'S ACTUALLY THE SW ETEST WOMA YOU COUL EV RMEE •"
A high school is the Theatre presentation of The Real Live Brady setting for Glee, which Bunch. Lynch also spent several years win- dipsticks, and dweebs in the school's "show stars Lynch as Sue ning major laughs and making some impor- chorus." As such, Glee is the perfect vehicle Sylvester and Matthew Morrison as Will, left. tant showbiz connections with Chicago's for the scowling, sneering, maniacally bellig- Second City improvisational comedy acting erent persona created by Lynch. Music is a staple of the show, as members troupe. Morrison, Lynch's costar on the show, of the glee club "New Next came a minor role with Harrison says she's not at all like the gruff, butt-kicking Directions," center, Ford in the 1993 film The Fugitive, followed by Sue Sylvester that Glee fans have come to perform in each episode. what most Hollywood historians now clearly loathe and adore. "She's actually the sweet- Lynch has captured describe as her breakthrough picture, Best in est woman you could ever meet," he said in a many accolades for her performance, including Show, for which Lynch played an outrageously recent interview. "She's so great...I crack up an Emmy, right, and a pushy personal dog handler. in her face a lot [during rehearsals]. When I Golden Globe. After that 2000 triumph on the big heard that we were going to improvise [during screen, Lynch's career took off. By 2006 she taping of the show], I was terrified. But over would be starring opposite Will Ferrell and the last year, she's raised the expectations I with fellow Redbird Gary Cole in the side- have for myself." splitting parody of the NASCAR world, Ask Lynch to reflect on her astonishing Talladega Nights: The Ballad ofRicky Bobby. success in showbiz and the laughter-loving Her comic star had reached its zenith. Nobody comic actor will reply by pointing out that in Tinseltown was very surprised when she she's managed to succeed as the coach of the wound up double-billed in 2009 with film leg- Glee "Cheerios" cheerleading squad almost in end Meryl Streep in Nora Ephron's cinematic spi te of herself given she "can't sing or dance" paean to master chef Julia Child, Julie & Julia. a lick and never could. The next step was to parlay Lynch's soar- "I have to start 10 rehearsals earlier ing comic stature into a TV series that would than everyone else," she says with a jab of decimate the Nielsen ratings, which is pre- typically self-deprecating humor, "because cisely what happened with Glee. The show is I'm no dancer, for sure. But I do enjoy it. It built around a fictional, small-town Ohio high really is the most wonderful job-even if I school where the football players-and their have to work harder than everyone else at the viciously aggressive cheerleading coach Sue dancing!" Sylvester- do their best to terrorize the dorks,
May 2011 [I,LINOIS STATE 11