She doesn’t wear track suits every day, and she hasn’t taken horse estrogen or posed for Penthouse. But Jane Lynch says she does share some things in common with her villainous “Glee” character.
“I don’t think I could do it if I didn’t have her in me somewhere,” Lynch, who plays short-fused cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, told reporters in a recent conference call.
“It’s kind of the person who’s coming out right now who’s so upset with that damn beep!” she snapped and then laughed as a persistent beeping noise interrupted the Q-and-A session.
“(Sue’s) absolutely in me. It’s not too far from the surface, but because I want people to like me, I don’t lead with it.”
“Glee” fans will get a fresh dose of Sue snark and scheming when the wildly popular musical series returns from a four-month hiatus on Tuesday (in Canada, it airs on Global).
The spring premiere finds the “gleeks” doing a Beatles tune while preparing for regionals. Meanwhile, their teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), is battling new threats from Sue.
“She’s going to try to, and is always trying to, break up the glee club and she’s still persisting in that and engages in sexual blackmail,” said Lynch, who was told when she signed on to the show that Sue “may or may not have posed for Penthouse and she may or may not be on horse estrogen.”
“She gets Rachel to fall in love with a kid from another group and tries to break her heart in order to render her incapable of performing. She’ll do whatever it takes.”
These nine new episodes are “kind of like the first 13, but on steroids,” said Kevin McHale, who plays wheelchair-bound glee-club member Artie.
“It’s huge,” he said in a recent interview. “There are more musical numbers in every episode. Each dance number is even bigger.”
The spring return also carries much buzz over upcoming guest stars, including Olivia Newton-John, Neil Patrick Harris and Molly Shannon. The cast added to the hype when it recently appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and performed at the White House at the request of Michelle Obama.
Despite the show’s smash success, the young glee-club cast members — including Calgary-born, Victoria-raised Cory Monteith — remain remarkably level-headed, noted Lynch.
“What’s demanded of them is so great and so intense that they have to stay grounded,” said Lynch, who nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for playing Sue.
“They have to be singing and dancing and recording and they have to be always learning and their backs are up against the wall the entire time. There’s no time to breathe, there’s no time to throw a hissy fit, whereas I have all the time in the world!”
Lynch recently got a dose of what it’s like for the “gleeks” when she had to sing “Physical” with Newton-John for an upcoming episode, and prance around to Madonna’s hit “Vogue” for an instalment that’s slated to air April 20.
“The Madonna episode was one of the most ambitious hours of television I think ever attempted,” she said.
“That episode was insane,” raved McHale. “I’m so excited to see it.”
Upcoming episodes will see Sue showing her more tender side again as she pays another visit to her sister, who has Down Syndrome.
“I do like that side of her because we get to understand where she’s coming from and why she’s so heinous,” said Lynch.
“She’s been protecting this very vulnerable, loving Down-Syndrome sister.”
Sue will also meet her match, played by Shannon.
“She’s playing this character, Brenda Castle, who’s a teacher who gets fired from her last job because she was sexually inappropriate with a student, so of course we hire her,” said Lynch.
“She is an alcoholic floozy who gets up in my grill like no one else and really pushed Sue back on her heels. The only person — the only person — who can treat Sue that way.”