Call Answered: Leslie Jordan Interview: 13 Things You Didn't Know About This Comedy Genius

actor broadway emmy award winner film movies off-broadway play regional theatre television theatre tv writer Sep 13, 2009

Coming 2024 Holiday Season:

Read a behind-the-curtain story as to how this interview came to be in my soon-to-be-released book, Behind The Curtain: The Mistakes, Lessons Learned & Triumphs of Interviewing Celebrities.

Emmy Award Winner Leslie Jordan is known for playing Beverley Leslie on NBC's Will & Grace, the nemesis of Megan Mullally's Karen Walker.

I just received Leslie's answers to my interview questions. I am so excited to share them with you below!

In this interview, Leslie answered my call to reveal:

His inspirations
Who he still wants to work with
His proudest moment
Any strange or unusual talents he has
So much more

If you haven't seen Leslie Jordan live in person, be sure to catch him in A Sordid Comedy Affair on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, TX at the Majestic Theatre along with Sordid Lives: The Series creator Del Shores, and fellow stars Jason Dottley, Rue McClanahan, and Caroline Rhea.

Adam Rothenberg and Leslie Jordan
A Sordid Comedy Affair NYC June 2009

1. Who inspired you to become a performer? My very first theatre professor at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Dr. Fred Beringer, who once told me, "Leslie, you are capable of genuine artistry, but you are so lazy as an actor you will probably end up out in Los Angeles on some silly sitcom and the world will never know your true talent." Oh well...

2. Who is the one person you haven't worked with that you would like to? Dolly Parton.

3. Who do you consider to be your hero? Truman Capote.

4. What has been your best experience in a show? Best experience on stage is doing my one man show My Trip Down the Pink Carpet which I performed in 45 cities last year and is slated to open Off-Broadway in October 2009 (Update: My Trip Down the Pink Carpet will now begin performances Off-Broadway on April 14, 2010).

Leslie Jordan

5. What has been your worst experience? Worst experience was years ago stepping into a play that was already up and running...I wanted to bring my own "rhythms" to the piece but the cast seemed really peeved that I wasn't just replicating the work of the previous actor, it was a real quandary.

6. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that one one knows about? I can fart out "The Star Spangled Banner."

7. Is there ever a time you thought about quitting? Almost every day...I think it is the nature of what we do...every job that I finish, I think is my last and I will never ever be hired again...but in the words of Martha Graham it is what ..."keeps us marching and more alive than the others."

8. Favorite kind of shoes? My black Bostonian tassel loafers.

9. Favorite holiday? I travel eight months out of the year, so my life is a vacation...but a true vacation for me is time off spent in my loft in Hollywood near The Grove.

10. Favorite website? Rentboy.com

BONUS QUESTIONS:

11. Superman or Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman

12. What's your proudest moment? Winning the Emmy for Will and Grace in 2006! Especially proud that it was for a show that did so much to move our quest for Equality as gay people ahead. Never underestimate the power of COMEDY!!!!

13. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? The strangest thing has happen to me over the last five years. I do not dream the way I used to. My dreams used to be filled with longings and very angst ridden. I dreamed a lot about having stormy relationships with famous people. I dreamed a lot about pets from my past. In those dreams I had forgotten to take care of my pets and they were sick and dying. I dreamed a lot about driving a car while drunk. Or, after being clean and sober for many years, I would dream that I had somehow gotten loaded and was desperately trying to hide it from everybody.

But as of late, I seldom, if ever dream. It is the oddest thing. It is almost like my mind is completely at rest. I sleep like a rock and the only time I dream is if I eat pizza really late at night!! Perhaps it is because I am now LIVING ALL MY DREAMS!!!!

Leslie Jordan

More on Leslie Jordan:

There are many actors who guest star on television series, but there are only a handful that make their stints as memorable as Emmy Award Winner Leslie Jordan. As "Beverley Leslie" on Will & Grace, the nemesis of Megan Mullally's "Karen Walker", Leslie Jordan lit up the screen every time.

That comedic fire follows Leslie everywhere he goes...other memorable guest starring roles include Privileged, Ugly Betty, Boston Legal, and Reba. Leslie has also delighted television audiences as one of the stars of Sordid Lives: The Series as "Brother Boy" (a role which he created in the film Sordid Lives).

For his stage work, Leslie is an Ovation, Garland, and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award Winner for his role as "Preston Leroy" in Del Shores' hit play Southern Baptist Sissies. His solo shows Like a Dog on Linoleum, Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far, and My Trip Down The Pink Carpet (which is based upon his best selling book) have played to sold-out houses around the country.

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