Call Answered: Leslie Jordan Interview: 13 Things You Didn't Know About This Comedy Genius
Sep 13, 2009
Emmy Award Winner Leslie Jordan is known for playing Beverley Leslie on NBC's Will & Grace, the nemesis of Megan Mullally's Karen Walker.
A few months ago I met Leslie at the New York City stop of A Sordid Comedy Affair tour. In hopes of getting to meet him after the show, I pre-wrote him a letter talking about my website and included a list of questions for him to answer. At the event, I asked him if he would be interested in doing an interview together for my website.
He very happily said yes, and I gave him the letter with the list of questions. Much to my delight, I just received his answers!
In this interview, Leslie answered my call to reveal:
- His inspirations
- Who he still wants to work with
- His proudest moment
- Any strange or unusual talents he has
- So much more
Adam Rothenberg and Leslie Jordan at A Sordid Comedy Affair NYC June 20091. Who inspired you to become a performer? My very first theatre professor at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Dr. Fred Beringer, who once told me, "Leslie, you are capable of genuine artistry, but you are so lazy as an actor you will probably end up out in Los Angeles on some silly sitcom and the world will never know your true talent." Oh well...
2. Who is the one person you haven't worked with that you would like to? Dolly Parton.
3. Who do you consider to be your hero? Truman Capote.
4. What has been your best experience in a show? Best experience on stage is doing my one man show My Trip Down the Pink Carpet which I performed in 45 cities last year and is slated to open Off-Broadway in October 2009 (Update: My Trip Down the Pink Carpet will now begin performances Off-Broadway on April 14, 2010).
Leslie Jordan
5. What has been your worst experience? Worst experience was years ago stepping into a play that was already up and running...I wanted to bring my own "rhythms" to the piece but the cast seemed really peeved that I wasn't just replicating the work of the previous actor, it was a real quandary.
6. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that one one knows about? I can fart out "The Star Spangled Banner."
7. Is there ever a time you thought about quitting? Almost every day...I think it is the nature of what we do...every job that I finish, I think is my last and I will never ever be hired again...but in the words of Martha Graham it is what ..."keeps us marching and more alive than the others."
8. Favorite kind of shoes? My black Bostonian tassel loafers.
9. Favorite holiday? I travel eight months out of the year, so my life is a vacation...but a true vacation for me is time off spent in my loft in Hollywood near The Grove.
10. Favorite website? Rentboy.com
BONUS QUESTIONS:
11. Superman or Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman
12. What's your proudest moment? Winning the Emmy for Will and Grace in 2006! Especially proud that it was for a show that did so much to move our quest for Equality as gay people ahead. Never underestimate the power of COMEDY!!!!
13. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? The strangest thing has happen to me over the last five years. I do not dream the way I used to. My dreams used to be filled with longings and very angst ridden. I dreamed a lot about having stormy relationships with famous people. I dreamed a lot about pets from my past. In those dreams I had forgotten to take care of my pets and they were sick and dying. I dreamed a lot about driving a car while drunk. Or, after being clean and sober for many years, I would dream that I had somehow gotten loaded and was desperately trying to hide it from everybody.
But as of late, I seldom, if ever dream. It is the oddest thing. It is almost like my mind is completely at rest. I sleep like a rock and the only time I dream is if I eat pizza really late at night!! Perhaps it is because I am now LIVING ALL MY DREAMS!!!!
Leslie Jordan
%20(2).jpg)
