Cozy Up to The Class' Queen of Snark!

Hard-pressed to be overlooked amidst the sprawling ensemble of CBS' The Class (now airing Mondays at 8:30 pm/ET), Lizzy Caplan plays Kat, the not-so-twin sister of meek little Lina and (someday perhaps romantic?) foil to Jason Ritter's Ethan. TVGuide.com got on the phone with the actress to see if her snark is worse than her bite.

Lizzy Caplan: [Distracted] Somebody sent me a very strange YouTube video. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Is it someone doing something with an animal?
Caplan: No, it's none of that. It's this weird child or little person kind of break-dancing in India or something.... It's very strange  but quite entertaining.

TVGuide.com: I'll trust you on that. So on The Class, you're playing a not very nice person and I like that!
Caplan: Yeah, it's pretty fun!

TVGuide.com: Is there anyone that you base Kat on, or any sitcom actress that you "channel"?
Caplan: There are definite aspects of my personality that are in the character, though the negativity and sarcasm is obviously brought out a lot more. But as far as basing it on other sitcom actresses, not really. I try to do little homages to different people, but I dont know if anybody picks up on that. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Much is being made this season of the large ensembles on several new TV shows. Does everyone at The Class feel like they're getting their fair share of screen time and laughs?
Caplan: I think everybody definitely gets their fair share of laughs. Since we started, we were told that we wouldnt be in every episode maybe, or in some episodes we'd have one or two lines.... Most of us have been in every single one, but we've definitely all had lighter episodes.

TVGuide.com: I feel sorry for the gal playing your sister [Heather Goldenhersh]. Is her character really going to be in a wheelchair for six months?
Caplan: Yep, she's in the wheelchair for the whole first season. She kind of likes it, though. It's like a security blanket.

TVGuide.com: Now it would seem that your and Jason Ritter's characters might hook up at some point....
Caplan: I don't see that really happening in the first season. We definitely have other love affairs that happen. [Kat and Ethan] were friends for a long time, so I dont see anything going down soon.

TVGuide.com: You two run each other the wrong way so constantly though, it seems begging for the typical sitcom-y "release."
Caplan: Yeah, but we want to build that up for as long as possible.

TVGuide.com: Who on the cast have you become particularly close with?
Caplan: Everybody hangs out with everybody, which is very strange for a cast this large and this young. We're all cool and down to earth and not caught up in this maniacal business at all.... Everybody really, really likes everybody else. I went to New York over hiatus and Lucy Punch (Holly) and Heather Goldenhersh were there and we hung out a lot, and after tape nights we go out together with all our friends.... Nobody is ever alone in their dressing room, they're always in someone else's room or outside hanging out. It's a really, really close-knit group.

TVGuide.com: Each of you has a distinct style of line delivery and humor. Who on the cast makes you laugh most?
Caplan: Honestly, no bulls--t, but everybody. Everything that everybody does I'm completely impressed by. Maybe thats because we're in this honeymoon period now, where everybody is madly in love with everybody else, but when we do run-throughs or rehearsals and this is apparently very rare for sitcoms everybody sits around and watches everybody else.

TVGuide.com: Out of the assorted TV and film characters you have played, which has been closest to your actual self, and which was the biggest departure?
Caplan: I try to bring elements of my own personality to every character I've played, but I think I'm pretty similar to the character I'm playing now. The biggest departure would have to have been Freaks and Geeks' Sara, who was this sort of subordinate and shy girl.

TVGuide.com: Having been in Mean Girls, do reporters try to pump you for Lindsay Lohan gossip?
Caplan: Constantly. Reporters, people on the street... everybody.

TVGuide.com: So... what juicy morsel have you been saving just for me?
Caplan: I honestly have no gossip. She and I dont hang out.

TVGuide.com: But on that same note, you must be psyched for [Mean Girls scribe] Tina Fey's new show.
Caplan: I am. I saw the [30 Rock] pilot, and it's really funny. It's really cool for her. She's so amazing, obviously.

TVGuide.com: Do you keep in touch with your "sisters" from Related?
Caplan: I do, with all of them, actually. We kind of became sisters on that show, so now we're stuck with each other!

TVGuide.com: Kiele Sanchez joined the cast of Lost this season.
Caplan: I know, it's awesome. I couldnt be happier  although I dont like that she's in Hawaii. But Jennifer [Esposito] just came back to L.A., so she, Laura Breckenridge and I are all meeting Kiele for dinner.

TVGuide.com: On Smallville, you guest-starred as a mutant who could transform herself into anyone else. Who would you change into, if you had that ability?
Caplan: I would transform myself into [Classmate] Jon Bernthal. He's invincible. With a little dash of [90210's] Gabrielle Carteris, you know, for softness.

TVGuide.com: You share a birthday [June 30] with Fantasia Barrino, Vincent D'Onofrio and Mike Tyson. Which of those three would you most like to have dinner with?
Caplan:Mike Tyson  if he was chained up!

Send your comments on this Q&A to online_insider@tvguide.com.