Thursday , March 28 2024
Glee’s Jane Lynch talks about the latest episode, her character Sue Sylvester, and shares her Super Bowl XLV prediction.

Jane Lynch Talks About Glee’s Big Super Bowl Episode

Glee finally returns for a special episode after Super Bowl XLV this coming Sunday. Jane Lynch, who plays fan favorite Sue Sylvester, talked during a conference call earlier this week about the upcoming episode, which she described as “on steroids and writ large,” the different sides of her character, and how playing Sue Sylvester influences today’s girls.

It’s always a big deal for the show that gets to follow the Super Bowl every year, and this year Glee is taking the bull by the horns for it’s biggest episode, yet. Lynch commented on the two opposite TV forces coming together this Sunday.

“Football is very masculine and basically, to me, anyway, a metaphor for war. You’ve got your air game and your ground game. And you’ve got these “light in your loafers” guys, and I’m talking about even the straight guys, singing and dancing. I think it’s a terrific world we live in and I love seeing these two things come together,” she said.

The cast of Glee started filming the episode after the holidays, yet were seen only a couple weeks ago shooting footage during New Directions’ half-time performance. Lynch told us that it was all for additional footage.

“This is a big episode. It’s kind of like the Madonna episode. It’s like the episode we for four months, like it drags on that long. I think we started actually after the holidays, but we needed to pick up a couple of really quick reaction shots during the “Thriller” song. They were really quick and fast, and everybody had to get back into everything. You know, the zombie makeup, etc. So, it was a big deal for two shots,” she explained.

This season on Glee, the audience has seen two different sides of Sue Sylvester; the side where she’s terribly mean and is shooting off some of the funniest one-liners on the show, and she has also shown a softer side when visiting her sister in the rest home. Lynch filled us in about which side of Sue we would be seeing Sunday night.

“Sue Sylvester is a little bored with her routine, even though she has kids riding around on BMX bikes and jumping through fire. And this one routine with Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” she wants to top herself, so she finds out there’s a human cannon in town, she buys it, and wants to shoot Brittany out of it,” Lynch said.

“[Figgins] doesn’t allow it, and she has a hissy fit. She has two hissy fits where she just rips two rooms apart. So, it was definitely Sue Sylvester on the warpath.”

Lynch did comment that she likes playing the different sides of Sue to show some variety with her character.

“I like for Sue Sylvester to be firing on all cylinders. I don’t like to stick to one thing for too long, and the writers make sure of that, which is great,” she said.

“She’s a human being. She has all different colors to her. But, as long as I keep it rooted in some truth, anything can really work. I have to keep it as truthful as possible at any given moment, whether I’m ranting or helping somebody out.”

She later discussed what she thinks is the motivation behind Sue’s disdain for the Glee Club. It seems that Sue may not be entirely the token bad guy that she comes off as.

“[Sue’s] looking for that next fight, and sometimes it’s that fight to get these people to stand up for themselves, instead of being so weak and wussy. And other times, yes, it’s to destroy the Glee Club], because they threaten her spotlight in the Cheerios that she works so hard to make a world-class cheerleading squad. She doesn’t want anything in their light, but I think she’s always looking for a formidable enemy,” Lynch explained.

“I think she also has a fondness for Will and for who he is and how he’s genuinely a good person. In moments, she hates him for it and other moments, she has great admiration for him.”

Playing Sue on Glee has allowed Lynch to somewhat become a role model to the young women who watch the show, in the sense that Sue is always pursuing what she wants to accomplish. Lynch talked about this, and the advice she would give the 17-year-old version of herself.

“I hope that girls see what’s possible for them, that they don’t have to play a stereotype. Sue is not a stereotype. See that you don’t have to be anything anybody tells you that you have to be. You can find these really crazy characters out there, and that there’s more possible for you than maybe you’re led to believe,” Lynch said.

“I would tell myself to not suffer. Don’t sweat it. Don’t try to control things and just let your life happen. Show up, do your best everywhere you go, but there’s no reason to beat up on yourself. That’s what I would say.”

And of course, being that Glee is following Super Bowl XLV this Sunday, Lynch was asked to share her prediction who she thinks will win the big game

“I say Green Bay, because I’m from the Midwest, but really, I don’t care. I hope that somebody wins and is happy about it.”

You can see Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester when Glee returns this Sunday, February 6 after Super Bowl XLV at 10:30 ET / 7:30 PT on FOX.

About Kirsten Coachman

Kirsten Coachman is a writer and editor from the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit her long-running music blog, Wait...WHAT, at waitwhatmusic.net. Follow Kirsten Coachman on Twitter: @KirsCoachman

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