Just like heaven

She bid farewell to small screen views last March as cult series “Glee” wrapped its final episode and now award-winning actress Jane Lynch is back on primetime TV in an all-new comedy, “Angel from Hell” premiering tonight on cable TV.
She plays Amy, a colourful, brassy woman who insinuates herself into a dermatologist’s organised and seemingly perfect life, claiming to be her “guardian angel”.
    Maggie Lawson from “Two and Half Men” and “Psych” plays Allison, the intense, driven doctor who is sure that Amy is just an inebriated, outspoken nut, until every one of her warnings proves true. As Allison tries to push her unwelcome shadow away, Amy makes her final pitch: her sole mission is to provide Allison with helpful guidance that nudges her in the right direction in life – and it’s her final chance to prove herself as an angel.
On television, Lynch starred as Sue Sylvester in the series “Glee,” a role for which she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award. She is also an Emmy Award winner for her role as host of “Hollywood Game Night.” Other memorable television roles among many are “Party Down,” “The L Word,” “Desperate Housewives” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” for which she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as “Criminal Minds” and “Two and a Half Men.” Lynch also served as host of “The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” and was this year’s host of the “People’s Choice Awards”.
We talked to Lynch about her celestial role just before the screening of “Angel from Hell’s” first episode in Thailand.

Do you personally believe in guardian angels?
I do. I can’t actually say I’ve seen a guardian angel, I don’t have any five-sense proof, but I do feel subtle energies sometimes that feel very loving and like something that isn’t within the confines of my body. So, definitely, I’ve had experiences that way and I think there’s a lot of love out there if we’re just open to it.

What kind of guardian angel is Amy?
What I find wonderful about Amy is that she is an angel and she cares very much for Allison and wants her to have a terrific life but she is also very flawed. She loves to drink alcohol, she love to eat sugar, she loves to overdo it in the sex department, but she has no shame around any of these things. She loves life, being a human being on this planet and she wishes that Allison would experiment with more of that instead of being so pent up and living by the clock. You think of angels as celestial, with choirs of angels behind them, with wings that fly and they’re usually dressed in white. Amy’s very, very earthbound and I think that’s where the dichotomy comes in for “Angel from Hell”.

The story reveals that guardian angels cannot reveal themselves and can only help from afar. Is Amy getting into trouble for breaking the rule?
Yeah, she probably will. Throughout the series we’ve had moments where she gets messages that she better clean up her act and that her corporate superiors better not find out that she revealed herself to her young charge. She’s kind of on “angel probation” and she’s got to get this right. She kind of screwed herself by manifesting herself and hoping that the powers don’t find out.

How is Amy different from your character Sue Sylvester in “Glee”?
Amy’s heart is open and her love is completely available, whereas Sue Sylvester had a suit of armour around her heart. Amy is not afraid of being vulnerable, she’s not afraid of looking silly. In fact, she relishes it. Sue Sylvester was very controlled and wanted people to be afraid of her. What I love most about Amy is her love of life. She doesn’t care what people think about her. She loves everybody and everything but she especially loves Allison. When it comes to anybody threatening Allison or being on Allison’s bad side, she, like Sue Sylvester, will do her best to obliterate them.

Do you think you’re more like Amy or more like Sue?
I think I am both of them. I aspire more to Amy – that’s for sure. I think Amy represents the best of who I am. I am a pretty protective person with people I love and I believe that in this life, for Amy in particular, everybody is deserving of love. The part of me that has that knee-jerk kind of anger that Amy also has is something that should be obliterated.

Would you consider yourself as an angel in real life?
That’s a very nice thing to say, if you think that I am. I think we all are. I was talking about this not long ago. Jamie Foxx, the actor, pulled a man from a burning car the other day. Although I don’t know that Jamie Foxx would think of himself as an angel, he sure was in that moment. I think the best of us comes out sometimes in spite of our own negativity and we do wonderful things. I think all of us could be angels.

What attracted to you to this project when it was first offered to you?
I loved the script and I especially loved the character. When you feel something right, you get excited about it and I immediately started to imagine myself doing it and imagining what this person would be like and it tickled me to death. That’s why I signed on. In fact, after reading it once, I called my agent and said, “Let’s get cracking on this and get me this part”.

“Angel From Hell” is a single-camera fantasy sitcom. How different are the dynamics from having multiple cameras?
Multiple cameras are usually taped in front of a live audience. It’s a different form. It’s more theatrical and presentational whereas the single-camera comedies tend to be more lifelike, like a slice of life. It’s a different presentation and it’s probably smaller in scale energy output than the multi-cams, which are kind of theatrical and presentational.

Do you have any personal input in the show?
Yes I do. Tad Quill, our writer and show runner, is forever asking me what I think and hat do I want to change. Amy’s very open. I’m not a writer and I’m not in the writing room coming up with ideas, but he lets me have input on that and he’s been wonderful.

If Amy had to give advice to people around, what do you think she would say?
That it’s all about fun, and it’s all about love. If you’re not having either of those things, you’ve got to find them. They’re probably right in front of you. But if you’re not doing something you love or with people you love, then make a change. Don’t think about money. Don’t think about how hard it will be. Just dedicate yourself to finding love and the funny side of everything.

Laugh a little
>> “Angel from Hell” premieres tonight at 8pm on RTL CBS Entertainment HD (True Visions 337)