At 28, Jane Lynch Began Letting Go Of Her Fears

For many 20-somethings, a move to New York City can mark the beginning of a transformative period, of self-searching or creativity. Not so much for Jane Lynch. “[It] ate me alive,” she tells Bustle.

So in 1988, the then-28-year-old aspiring actor found herself moving back to her hometown of Chicago and returning to her comedy roots. She doubled down on stand-up and joined the famed Second City troupe, where she overlapped with Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Tim Meadows, Bonnie Hunt, and Mike Myers — just to name a few. “At the time, of course, they weren’t that big a deal,” jokes Lynch, who’s now 64.

Offstage, Lynch was going through a personal transformation. For most of her life, she’d struggled to find romance as a not-out lesbian. “I was going to gay bars. Every once in a while, I get lucky, but I was in no position for intimacy at that time,” she says. But around 1988, that started to change.

“My aunt gave me a book called The Seat of the Soul, and I think that started to loosen the density of my life,” she says. “I started to open up in a new-agey, magical way. I started to have less of the fear that kept me in a little cage, unable to have intimacy, and to deal with the depth of my own feelings.”

As she let go of her anxieties over the next five to 10 years, the opportunities came rushing in. Lynch landed roles in beloved films like Best in Show (2000) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), and soon became a household name with her Emmy-winning portrayal of Glee’s cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. She’s proud to have done “a little of this, a little of that” for her whole career, she says, from starring in Oscar contenders like Julie & Julia to winning more Emmys as host of Hollywood Game Night.

Even Broadway came calling: More than three decades after leaving New York, she returned for 2022’s Funny Girl revival — before her Glee co-star Lea Michele stepped in.

Now, she’s coming off Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short’s Only Murders in the Building, in which she plays Charles’ (Martin) stunt double — and Season 4’s murder victim — Sazz Pataki. That said, she’s not counting out a return from the dead. “[Sazz has] been a ghost already,” she points out. “We don’t want to just squeeze me in for a gratuitous reason, but I told them that I’m here for them.”

Below, Lynch dishes on her favorite ’80s pastimes, working with Meryl Streep, and the advice she’d give her 28-year-old self.

“I was cute as sh*t because I was young and I didn’t know how cute I was.”

You had your first film role in Vice Versa in 1988. What do you remember about that movie and being on a film set for the first time?

I wasn’t touring anymore by the time Vice Versa came out. I only toured for about a year, although it felt like the longest year of my life. I remember the audition, because I overacted. I should have been yanked, but [the producers] were so delighted. They said, “You have such a severe cast about your face, but your face is so soft and young.” Nobody’s said that to me lately.

It was a really big deal. Some of the actors I knew from Chicago commercials [or] the theater, but the big Hollywood stars were Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage. In fact, [Savage] directed Party Down, so I had a nice little reunion with him.

What pop culture were you consuming at the time?

It was the days of cassettes. I didn’t listen to the radio. It was VH1 and MTV. I would go to bars and watch music videos. I was very into the Eurythmics, R.E.M., U2, and they all had great videos, and there were more one-hit wonders. I remember the Eurythmics videos were always crazy and fun. That was my night out, drinking Long Island iced teas and watching videos.

What about fashion? Did you have a signature look?

First of all, it was the ’80s, which I think is an ugly era. But I was cute as sh*t because I was young and I didn’t know how cute I was. I was a J.Crew person. I was wearing the argyle sweaters and the little Peter Pan collars, and athletic-wear was starting to be the thing, too.

You were at the beginning of your film career. Did you feel pressure when you were choosing roles, then or later on?

I never looked at it that way. I’ve spent more time in my life, even up to now, just hoping to get the next job. I never had a plan or goal. If I give myself credit for anything, it’s the ability to flow and to look at what’s right in front of me and go, “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” If you’re too in your head — and I saw a lot of my fellow actors do this — it’s a brew of fear, insecurity, and fear of missing out.

I had something in me. My grandmother, who came from Ireland, called it “gumption.” You got to just get up and do it. It’s like, “Feel the fear, but do it anyway.” That was something that was naturally wired in me, for which I am immensely grateful. You’re not going to say yes to porno or something — there are some people who do porno who aren’t hurt by it; God love them, do it — but some people are so desperate to say yes to everything. There has to be a discernment, and I had a healthy discernment. Now, I was never asked to do porno.

You know, I hadn’t planned on asking about that. I’m glad the agent wasn’t like, “Hey.”

I was asked to go down to some warehouse and roller-skate in it, and they would photograph me for a calendar. I was about 25 and just wanted a job. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I was this little dykey girl, and I didn’t look right for it, but I was going to do it. But something did stop me and say, “You’re not going to get this. They’ll be pissed that you really can’t roller-skate, and do you really want to go down to a warehouse on the far South Side and skate in the warehouse?” I stopped myself.

Looking forward a bit, was there ever a moment when you felt like you’d made it?

When I did Best in Show, I started to be known by my name as opposed to “that girl in that thing.” That was a big change. I jumped in terms of my career. I got more work. I didn’t have to audition. I was cast because they said, “Get her, Jane Lynch.”

You once joked that you had a crush on Ron Howard, whom you just worked with on Only Murders. What was that full-circle moment like?

It wasn’t a joke. In my memoir, Happy Accidents, I had almost a whole chapter about him and John Travolta. When I came out to my mom, she said, “What about Ron Howard?” I was doing Jimmy Fallon’s show when my book came out, and Ron happened to be at 30 Rock, so he surprised me. He said, “I don’t understand your crush because [you’re] gay, but I appreciate it, and thank you.” Of course, it was a lovely reunion back on the set. We had a lot of great talks. He’s that same way Sazz is; he sees the beauty in everything, and he sees the best in everyone.

How was reuniting with your Julie & Julia sister, Meryl Streep, on Only Murders?

It was great. That was a big moment for me, being in that movie and showing up on set. I came in the day before I started work and watched Meryl do her thing. That’s how I had worked on the character of her sister. Julia Child was 6’2”, and her sister was 6’4”, and this is in the ’50s in Paris where everybody’s 4’3’. I knew that these characters were really big and effusive. To see Meryl do that, I showed up the next day and felt like I was able to be in the same world with her.

And one last question: What advice would you give your 28-year-old self today?

Stop worrying. Everything is not a problem. I would sit in front of her and go, “The lack of a relationship, it’s not a problem. The fact that you are worried about money and your next job, it’s not a problem. The worrying itself is not a problem. It’s OK.” Because I don’t think I could talk her out of worrying. I would just say, “Worry is OK. How you’re living your life is absolutely perfect.”

That sounds like the kind of advice Sazz gives Charles.

I always felt I was doing something wrong, so I’d just say, “There’s nothing wrong with your life. You’re absolutely perfect. You don’t have to change a thing.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.