Windy City Times: Hello, Phyllis. I tracked you down because I love The Big C.
Phyllis Somerville: Well, that’s really good. That makes an easy start, but anyway… [Both laugh.]
WCT: The show is a surprise for many, I bet. How did you become involved with the project?
Phyllis Somerville: The old-fashioned way: I auditioned for it. I read the script and really liked it. Good writing always attracts actors. I think it has really good writing. I like comedies that are a little bit dark. I like things that can be both, to laugh in the middle of some tears. That is a taste thing for me. I like that kind of theatre, movies and TV like that. When I was called to audition, Laura Linney was there to read with people.
WCT: That is rare.
Phyllis Somerville: It meant that the audition was a lot easier. To not only be reading with someone that is not only so good bur is so wonderful as well.
WCT: She is top-notch.
Phyllis Somerville: Oh, she absolutely is.
WCT: The whole cast gets such great opportunities.
Phyllis Somerville: Well, that is good too. Laura is out there all the time, bless her heart, but there is a really nice passing around of the characters. Everyone gets to step up.
WCT: Your character is not one-dimensional at all. It could have been that way.
Phyllis Somerville: Yeah, we have all seen that but they didn’t write it that way. They wrote it multidimensional so it made it easier to play it that way.
WCT: Your dog is adorable.
Phyllis Somerville: Ohhh, Thomas. His name is Thomas on the show. He’s a dear dog.
WCT: I grew up with basset hounds so I know how they are.
Phyllis Somerville: You did? I have never really been around them before. I grew up in Iowa so I was around dogs we called shepherds. They were just a mix of boarder collie and all that stuff.
WCT: Did you always want to do theatre?
Phyllis Somerville: I always wanted to do theatre but I went to school as an English major. I studied at the University of Northern Iowa. Then I went to Wayne State in Detroit and basically acted there. They had a company that we had five shows in the last month of the year, being all classics so that was good training.
WCT: You have landed some really nice movie roles such as Little Children [starring Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson], which was a powerful movie.
Phyllis Somerville: Oh, yeah; that was amazing to do. That was one of those times that I thought boy am I lucky. That was good from start to finish.
WCT: I would like to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but have not had a chance.
Phyllis Somerville: It is probably out there. Let’s hope so! [Both laugh.]
WCT: Next year you have more features coming out.
Phyllis Somerville: Let’s just say that I have done them. Most of them are done by very young directors and I am very impressed with them. They really know what they are doing and a joy to work with.
WCT: You have The Loop, Forgetting the Girl, Weakness and One Fall.
Phyllis Somerville: I played Bobby Cannavale’s mom in Weakness. In Forgetting the Girl, I laughed a lot. I had so many lines in one day, though. I said now if I get through them then I am going to turn to the young director and say, “Never do this to an old lady again!”
WCT: Talk about Forgetting the Girl! [Both laugh hysterically.]
Phyllis Somerville: Yes, so I made it through and turned to this lovely young man and said, “Don’t do that again”—very sweetly, I hope.
WCT: Anything else you want to say about The Big C? I want people to watch it.
Phyllis Somerville: Boy, that’s hard because I like it so much. I am doing a looping session for it today for episode 10. What can I say? Good writing, good acting and I am continually surprised by it. I picked up the script and I would think things were going in a certain way and then I would be surprised by the direction it would take and that is the sign of really good writing.
WCT: Well, and the whole thing with the dog smelling the cancer. I didn’t know they could do that.
Phyllis Somerville: It is true.
Right after we started working on it and John Hickey, who plays Sean, is a dumpster diver; there was an article in the New York Times about dumpster divers. For people that is a choice and what they do. There is so much food thrown away.
WCT: Is there going to be a second season yet?
Phyllis Somerville: I don’t know.
WCT: I smell an Emmy for Laura Linney.
Phyllis Somerville: Oh, I would like to think so.
WCT: Congrats on the success of the show.
Phyllis Somerville: Thank you.
The Big C is new every Monday. Visit www.sho.com for listings and details.