"Oleander" and Downtime
In this episode titled "Oleander," we gather for a meal at one of the hottest new eateries in L.A. The food is great, and the people are
very cool. I love doing the group restaurant scenes because you get a nice taste - pardon the pun - of each of the characters and how they all relate to each other. Plus, when we're not rolling we get to catch up and try our best to crack each other up.
Melanie Paxson gets the award for the best, most embarrassing story. It didn't happen to her but to a friend of hers, and it took our breath away. All I can say is, it involved a girl, a guy and a city. Sad that I can't go into detail, but I fear Melanie might sue me. This is the thing about blogging... I start to write just for myself and then I realize
millions of people are reading my blog.
Millions! And I need to be really careful about what I write. It's very precious.
I worked on
Evan Almighty last summer and I loved when we were shooting, but I also loved when we had downtime. When you're working with some of the funniest people around (
Steve Carell,
Ed Helms,
John Michael Higgins,
Wanda Sykes,
Wayne Wilderson,
Maile Flanagan,
Jeremiah Birkett), it's fun to just sit around and swap war stories. But on
Evan, John Michael Higgins took things up a notch. Michael is an amazing musician and music composer/arranger. He would grab a few of us at a time and form quartets (soprano, alto, bass and tenor). He would teach us - line by line, note by note - what the arrangement of the song was. I, being the musical-theater nerd that I am, lived for these "sessions." I'm not so sure Michael lived for me participating in them, but I was gonna sing come hell or high water. Every now and then, if the others weren't singing, they'd hear from the honey wagons the faint almost exquisite sound of jackasses harmonizing. Just for the record, Wanda never sang - she was forced to listen a few times, I think, but she never sang. PS.
Evan Almighty is due to hit theaters on June 22!
Speaking of hitting (OK, that was a very lame segue), in this episode Danny and I find we've been hit on, or have been the hit-ee, of the same person. I know, just when you thought you had Cooper all figured out, she throws you a curveball.
Constance Zimmer guest-stars and she's hilarious. While she was shooting our show she had just joined the cast of
Boston Legal, which is another one of my favorite shows. We were so lucky to get her before she became the property of
David E. Kelley.
I'm going to New York this week to do some press and to participate on a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival! I will be chatting with
Mike and
Juliet of
The Morning Show this Friday morning (check your local listings!) about
Notes from the Underbelly and about my fear of getting different frames for my glasses... really important stuff, guys. The glasses part not so much, but the
show: very important. The panel I am doing will be Sunday, April 29, at 4 pm. (Where I'm not exactly sure... check out tribecafilmfestival.org.) It's titled "Look Who's Laughing." I'm very honored to be asked to be on this panel because the ladies doing it are truly hilarious. Scheduled to attend are
Debra Messing,
Susie Essman,
Rachel Dratch and
Samantha Bee!
Jay Roach is moderating, which really excites me, and I believe there are still tickets left! So check it out if you get a chance, but more importantly, thank you for watching
Notes from the Underbelly and please tune in this Wednesday, April 24, at 8:30 pm/ET on ABC. I have a really good feeling that we will take
American Idol in the ratings this week.... I don't know, call me crazy, but I have a really good feeling. Or at least tie
Idol. Right?
