Kristen Johnston has spent three decades playing women who take up the whole room. (And picked up a couple Emmys along the way for doing it.) On Netflix's Leanne, back for a second season, she plays Leanne's sister, Carol: over-the-top in just the right way, funny, and maybe a little dark to Leanne Morgan's warmth. Her two Emmys came for Third Rock from the Sun, and she remembers auditioning opposite John Lithgow right after seeing his terrifying performance in the thriller Cliffhanger, a performance that could not have been more different than the one on Third Rock. And then there is Lexi Featherston, the Sex and the City party guest whose exit line became gay shorthand forever.
"My life is basically before Lexi and after Lexi," Johnston told Newsweek’s Parting Shot Podcast. Here she is on the audition that terrified her, the sitcom that made her and the single day of work she will be answering for today. Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
You're one of those performers I can't take my eyes off of. Do you feel that love from all sorts of fans? I do definitely get a lot of love from the homosexual community, and I love them right back.
The kinds of roles I'm cast in are very homosexual coded. They're very large and fun and funny and dark, so I can see why they have a thing for me. That character on Third Rock from the Sun, on their home planet, was male, right?
The way they created it, they don't have sexes on the planet I'm from, and I was definitely a very masculine vibe. I was a military officer. The point is, I think if it was filmed today, a transgender actor should have done it.
At that time, that was not really a thing they would consider. How did playing a role that unique define how you would go on to act? This is why people always talk about luck in terms of an acting career.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
