Exclusive InDepth InterView: Katie Finneran Talks I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, COMPANY, Sondheim, PROMISES & More

Last night, I spoke to two-time Tony-winner Katie Finneran all about her new Fox sitcom I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, co-starring Jaime Pressly, which premiered yesterday at 9:30 PM. Additionally, Finneran and I discussed her recent role in the terrific live performance film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY, co-starring Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone, and we also took a look back at her two Tony-winning Broadway roles from earlier this decade - the lauded Jeremy Sams revival of the Michael Frayn comedy NOISES OFF, as well as Rob Ashford's revival of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Neil Simon musical PROMISES, PROMISES. Also, in this extensive and all-encompassing chat, Finneran describes the feeling of reaching a career peak such as she has achieved this year - a new Tony Award, the COMPANY film and headlining a sitcom of her own on network TV - and relates how her role as a new mom has influenced her participation on the battle-of-the-generations comedy. All of that - plus, reminiscences of working on DAMAGES and OZ, roles she would like to play onstage in the future (Dolly, Mame and The Baker's Wife included) and much, much more!

I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER airs Wednesdays at 9:30 PM on Fox.

Multitudes Of Katies

PC: Stephen Sondheim just did this column last week and spoke so favorably of the new COMPANY film.

KF: Oh, he did?

PC: It truly is so fantastic - he appears to completely agree.

KF: Wow. That's so great to hear! That's really nice to hear.

PC: What was the experience rehearsing and performing and filming it like?

KF: [Sighs.] Well, I don't like to use the word mortified, but that experience was so challenging for me because I had just done the pilot for I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER.

PC: No way! Really?

KF: Yeah. Before I left to do the pilot, I got the offer to do COMPANY. And, of course, I've always wanted to do that show, but I didn't really know the show very well - but, I have always been completely in love with Stephen Sondheim. So, I said yes - I mean, how do you pass up an offer like that?

PC: You can't.

KF: But, the baby was only 6 weeks old - so, from the time that baby was pretty much born I was learning, [Sings.] "Pardon me / Is everybody there? / Because if everybody's there / I want to thank you all / For coming to the wedding. / I'd appreciate you going even more…" - you know, the lyrics for "Not Getting Married".

PC: Spot-on!

KF: Thanks! [Laughs.] So, I went to Los Angeles to shoot the pilot as I was trying to learn my lyrics and lines for COMPANY at the same time. Then, I shot the pilot for, I guess, ten days. I came back and the day after I came back - while I was still breastfeeding and still had a screaming baby all night long - I went into rehearsal for COMPANY.

PC: Wow.

KF: It was one of the most stressful experiences I've ever had.

PC: I bet.

KF: So, the day when we saw Stephen Sondheim come into the rehearsal at the Avery Fisher Hall, I was mortified!

PC: What went through your mind performing for the master himself?

KF: I was just like, "Well, it's not fair that's he's here! I have had no rehearsal!" [Laughs.] I learned my blocking from a PACE University student named Katherine - she did all my choreography and I learned it all from a video tape that they sent me on the internet. And, so, that's how I learned the show. I missed a whole week of rehearsals for COMPANY. So, it's all just a big blur for me, but, the fact that Mr. Sondheim enjoys it is a wonderful thing to hear.

PC: Some of your co-stars in COMPANY have done this column, as well. Neil Patrick Harris really loved working with you - Amy and Bobby really have the most dynamic relationship in the show, do they not?

KF: It's such a great scene - a really great scene. Yeah. It's a beautiful scene as it's written. But, again, the whole thing was just done with this veil of fear… [Laughs.]…

PC: Total terror.

KF: I was just trying to remember where I was supposed to stand and what my next line was! So, yeah, it was pretty intense - that whole thing.

PC: It really feels like a fully-dimensional performance, in any event. Aaron Lazar told me that there was a bad flu going around the cast, too, just to compound the drama.

KF: I know! Martha Plimpton was sick! Aaron Lazar was sick, and, then, he came in with pink eye! I was like, "I don't give a crap! You think pink eye is gonna scare me now after this whole experience?" I was like, "Just hold my hand and we will occasionally use hand sanitizer - who gives a crap!"

PC: That's hilarious.

KF: It's true! It was just like being war buddies with everyone. But, yeah, it was really, really fun.

PC: Lonny Price did such a great job on it. I hope he does INTO THE WOODS next - how could he not with the casting possibilities and the fairy tale fever in pop culture right now? Would you be open to participating in that, should it ever come to be? Cinderella?

KF: Well, you know what? I don't really have the voice for Cinderella - that's more for a great soprano voice.

PC: You're right. Honestly, you are truly the ideal Baker's Wife - the lead role, essentially.

KF: Oh, God - Joanna Gleason was so awesome in that part. That's a great part. But, who would we get to play The Witch? [Laughs.]

PC: So many possibilities.

KF: My favorite line from that is, [Sings.] "A prince for… whatever."

PC: Perfect! "Moments In The Woods".

KF: Yeah - "Moments In The Woods". Yeah.

PC: What about a Jerry Herman show in your future - you would be a dynamite Dolly in HELLO, DOLLY!

KF: You know, it's so funny you just brought that up! I would love to do HELLO, DOLLY! one day. I think that would be so much fun. That's a great show - or, even, MAME would be a great show to do someday.

PC: That is rumored to be coming back - and the persistent rumor is always Patti LuPone for DOLLY.

KF: Oh, God, I mean, if you can get Patti to do any show, she's the one you want - I mean, she would be an amazing Dolly. She could be Mame, too.

PC: Definitely. You two have worked together at least two or three times - NOISES OFF and you both appeared on OZ before COMPANY.

KF: Yeah - that's right. I wasn't in a scene with her on OZ, though. So, with COMPANY, yeah - you're right.

PC: How has your relationship with her developed over the course of those projects and ten years?

KF: Well, first of all: I get Patti LuPone. I totally get her fiber, her core, her being, her soul, her humor - and the thing that I love most of all about her is that she has no filter.

PC: How so?

KF: You know exactly what she is thinking - there is not a mean bone in her body, but she will tell you exactly what she is thinking. And, her standards are extremely high. But, she has brilliant sense of humor and a wonderful sense of play. She wants everybody to be great. And, I sensed that from the first day of rehearsal for NOISES OFF - and we just got along like gangbusters. [Pause.] Loved her then - love her now.

PC: Jeremy Sams is such a fascinating and talented director, what was working with him on NOISES OFF like?

KF: Yes! Oh, he was fantastic! You know, he came with a lot of knowledge about the show - structural knowledge, because he had done it in London. So, he had a lot of ideas about what it would be, but he was also open enough to let us put our own creative slant on it and our input into it - which was really nice. He had the skeleton, but he let us, you know, fill in the cartilage and the muscle there - which was really good, because some directors would have been really stringent and strict about what they thought would work. And, of course, it won't work that way, because you need that creative vibe to come in and complete something and make it have its own magic.

PC: Especially with that show.

KF: Uh, yeah! Such a great show - and it's so meticulously structured! And, it's so brilliantly written. Michael Frayn is so talented. I mean, when you consider that he wrote a show like… I want to call it BARCELONA, but that's not the title…

PC: COPENHAGEN?

KF: COPENHAGEN! I thought Barcelona - and that's not even close to Copenhagen! [Laughs.]

PC: That show was so desolate and sparse - the total opposite of NOISES OFF in almost every conceivable way.

KF: I remember going backstage after I saw it and talking to Blair Brown, Philip Bosco and Michael Cumptsy, and, I was like, "That was brilliant! I had no idea what any of you were talking about…," and, they were like, "Neither do we!" [Laughs.]

PC: That's so funny. Eugene O'Neill to Michael Frayn; Stephen Sondheim to Neil Simon - what is it like crossing those lines from comedy to drama and from plays to musicals?

KF: Boy, I'll tell you: I really feel that the thing that I love the most about my career is that it is so eclectic. You know, I've gone from so many genres and so many different mediums and I love that most - that people have always given me the chance to do vastly different things. It's so exciting and so challenging - and, that's the thing I think I love best about my career; nobody's ever told me that I could only do one thing.

PC: Do you feel this year is a career high for you? Is it particularly thrilling to have a freshly-minted Tony Award, a lead role in the COMPANY film and your own Fox sitcom?

KF: You know, it's so funny - it always feels kind of like a high to me, no matter what I am doing; but, yes, you are right. When a lot of people are watching and you are a little bit more celebrated, it always feels like, "OK, well, this is really nice!"

PC: To say the least.

KF: But, to answer your question: yes. I mean, I have a good time with whatever show I am doing. When somebody says to me, "What's your favorite job you've ever had?" I say, "Whatever I am doing right now." It's a glorious time, though - and I have a new baby son; he's going to be 10 months old.

PC: Congratulations.

KF: Thank you! And, having just come from PROMISES last year and then given the chance to do COMPANY and knowing that Mr. Sondheim enjoyed what I did - it's all very thrilling. It's a great time right now - yeah.

PC: And I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER gives you some new opportunities to shine on a national scale.

KF: Yeah, the sitcom is very different from everything else I have ever done. It is very broad and fun and it's really a throwback to the old, comforting sitcom genre - which I love.

PC: I've seen the first few episodes - it's so LAVERNE & SHIRLEY.

KF: [Screams.] Yes! That's exactly right, Pat! That's what I hope it is - I hope it's like LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. I hope it's comforting and fun and silly and effortless and joyful and a little, you know, tongue-in-cheek, and, maybe, a little bit edgy, too. I hope that people find the same comfort in our show as they found in LAVERNE & SHIRLEY.

PC: It definitely has that vibe.

KF: It's totally dating myself saying this - the kids don't know what LAVERNE & SHIRLEY is these days! But, it's LAVERNE & SHIRLEY if they had 14-year-old girls. It really is.

PC: The show fully embraces the presence of modern technology and what a huge role that plays in teenagers' lives. The kids know more than the parents quite often these days.

KF: It's crazy! And, they do! You can't even lie to your kids anymore because they can find out immediately if you know what you are talking about! It's intimidating - it's very intimidating.

PC: As a new mom, are you already planning out how you will deal with the internet and smartphones and everything?

KF: I am. I definitely am. You know, I started reading to my son - hardcore - when he was 10 weeks old. He would sit there like a blob and I would read to him. And, now, every single morning we have reading time. And, he's 10 months now - and he can go through ten books! He's a voracious listener - he loves listening to the stories and looking at the pages. And, I really want to keep up that sort of unplugged time as far as I can - I mean, he loves nothing more than putting the iPhone in his mouth. So, it's already starting, but I am hoping to keep that face time and unplugged family time a priority in our lives - because nothing replaces that.

PC: And by facetime you don't mean the iPhone app FaceTime.

KF: [Laughs.] I do not! I do not. I mean mama's face. Mama's face.

PC: Tell me about doing your episode of DAMAGES - starring in the movie version of the case of the first season as Glenn Close's character, Patty Hewes, no less.

KF: I loved doing DAMAGES, but, no, she was actually not in my scene. The scene I did, I was with Ted Danson and Craig Bierko…

PC: Your recent COMPANY co-star.

KF: Yes! Craig, my COMPANY co-star.

PC: Was it fun to film? DAMAGES is one of the finest shows on TV - ever.

KF: Best. Show. Ever. I agree. I am actually a friend of one of the Kessler brothers - the creators and writers of the show - and they are just incredible writers.

PC: Season 4 was the best ever, in my opinion.

KF: Yes, wasn't it so good? Ugh, and Chris Messina?!

PC: What a performance - maybe my favorite ever on the show. So powerful.

KF: Chris Messina - you wanna hear a tidbit?

PC: Please!

KF: In Season 5, Chris Messina is back!

PC: Season 5 is going to be incredible, then!

KF: He is back and you may see a little interaction between him and Rose Byrne's character.

PC: Rose Byrne's career is blowing up, as well - due in no small part to BRIDESMAIDS.

KF: Oh, my God! She was fantastic in that movie! So, so funny.

PC: You can say that again.

KF: Another funny tidbit: we have Wendy Mclendon-Covey on our show this week!

PC: The COMPANY bride and the BRIDESMAIDS bridesmaid together at last.

KF: Oh, she is just so funny - and I have some really great scenes with her this week. She will be back again, for sure.

PC: The scene with you and Jaime in the principal's office with only one chair was hilarious.

KF: Right! Right. So silly.

PC: I'd love to see her on the show even more.

KF: You will. You will.

PC: She wasn't in the second episode.

KF: Oh, you will be seeing more of her, for sure! Don't worry. In fact, her character is going through a divorce, so we all sort of try to be friends - and her character is so mean, but Wendy is so brilliant. It was so much fun. It was really, really fun to do.

PC: Tell me about Jaime Pressly. You two have such great rapport.

KF: Well, Jaime and I have a very open comedic relationship - Jaime is just the greatest friend and she is so much fun and she is so funny; we have a really sisterly relationship. So, I always turn to her and say, like, "Was that too far? Did I do too much?" [Laughs.] And, she's like, [Jaime Pressly Imitation.] "Yeah, I would bring it back a bit if I were you." Or, she'll say, "No. That was perfect."

PC: What about working with Kevin Rahm?

KF: Kevin Rahm is sort of like our comedic pedometer - we can always check with him to find out how to make something funnier. He is the loveliest guy. He was on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES for a long time and he was on JUDGING AMY.

PC: Of course.

KF: He is so delightful and such a gentlemen. He is a real class act - and so great at comedy, as well.

PC: The three male leads as well as you, Jaime and Wendy - along with the two daughters - make it almost an ensemble show. Will it be more of an ensemble piece as it goes on? The pilot focuses primarily on you and Jaime, but less so in Episode 2.

KF: You know, it goes back and forth. The focal point is probably Jaime and me, but, not always - sometimes it is and sometimes it's not. I like to think of it as an ensemble, really. The girls have a lot more as the episodes come up and sometimes the guys get a great focus - it sort of depends. But, yeah, I like to think of it as a great ensemble.

PC: It's multi-camera, right?

KF: Yes.

PC: Is it filmed live?

KF: Yeah, we tape in front of a live studio audience.

PC: That is very rare these days - I actually thought it was an over-the-top laugh track, but I guess that proves the show is really landing since it is a live audience at the tapings.

KF: Yeah - it's real laughter! But, yeah, the laugh track - I am not a huge fan of it, but it's what the genre sort of calls for.

PC: Totally. Speaking of which: do you remember playing to any stone-faced audiences in PROMISES, PROMISES at any point - nights where the jokes just didn't land?

KF: You know, I gotta say: the structure of what Neil Simon wrote for Sean and me - not for us, but for the original book - is so well-done and the scenes are so well-structured that we were really lucky that it landed most nights. But, yeah, there is always that time where it seems like the audience has smoked something before the show and something is just off. [Laughs.]

PC: Par for the course as an actor.

KF: Or, if something horrible just happened on the news and you can't possibly laugh. That always happens. That's normal. That's just live theatre for you!

PC: Tony Goldwyn said the production was a real joy to work on when he did this column.

KF: Oh, my God! We had the best time! It was just so much fun. I was pregnant for most of it, actually, so I got to sleep during the whole first act and then get ready to do my business.

PC: What was that like having a one-scene role in the second act that pretty much steals the show every single night?

KF: I'll tell you something: it was heaven! My dressing room was pretty much, if you will, a toilet and a secret door - the door went out to the first box on audience left.

PC: How cool is that?

KF: Yeah! I got to go out and watch the show anytime I wanted to. So, I got to be, like, in my pajamas and in my robe and slippers, and, then, walk out and sneak in and watch the show. And, if no one was there, I could sit in the chair - like I was the queen! [Laughs.]

PC: With your two Tony Awards.

KF: [Laughs.] I saw that show so many times - and loved it! It was just so fantastic and so much fun.

PC: You were like the ghost of Mrs. Belasco haunting the box!

KF: Totally! That's who I was - Mrs. Belasco, the ghost. [Laughs.]

PC: You dance at the end of the I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER pilot, so I have to ask: will there be singing in any upcoming episodes?

KF: You know, I do a little singing - I do a tiny bit of ["The Way We Were"]. So, yes - occasionally they will have me sing. It's just silly, though.

PC: Marvin Hamlisch has actually done this column, since you mention his song.

KF: Oh, he did? I love it! I remember I asked how much the song was and it was very expensive, so I was like, "I better sing this song well!" [Laughs.]

PC: Would you like to pursue doing a solo album in the future?

KF: You know what, Pat? I love singing and I think I have a really nice voice, but I don't think I have an unbelievable singing voice. I think I have a great character voice. I love characters songs and I love to fit into a story. I love singing through a character's journey. So far, the bug has not bitten me for wanting to do a solo album. I thought about putting together a one-woman-show, but I am not really sure if I am geared towards that right now. You know, I went to see Patti LuPone's one-woman-show down in Los Angeles recently and she was just so brilliant - with a voice and an instrument like that, it just calls for one to do a show like that. I am not sure if that interests me just yet - maybe eventually, though. [Pause.] You know, I want to hear people sing like Sherie Rene Scott and Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara and Donna Murphy - I want to hear those people sing. And, I want to hear myself sing, like, great character parts.

PC: Your voice is so ideally suited for animated films, it seems.

KF: Oh, I would love it! I actually worked for two years on CHICKEN LITTLE - I played Goosey Lucy - and, then, I was cut out of the film! [Big Laugh.]

PC: What a shame!

KF: Yeah, but I loved the experience - I love all that kind of stuff. I just love to do character things, though. I think I have a lovely voice, but I wasn't blessed with an outrageous vocal instrument.

PC: Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.

KF: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those women can just, like, rip down the walls of a theatre. I'm happy that I can just tell a great story - and I am very blessed that I can do that with my voice and that I have a vocal range that allows me to do that. But, I'm not sure if I want to hear my voice on an album. [Laughs.]

PC: The new PROMISES, PROMISES cast album is the best representation ever of the show on record, as far as I am concerned. Better than the original.

KF: Yes. It's a great representation of the score - just beautiful. I agree.

PC: Is there a chance you will all re-team and you will appear on Craig Zadan and Neil Meron's SMASH at some point?

KF: Oh, you know what? I would love to do SMASH. Those guys are so fantastic and I became close with Craig, especially, while we were doing the show. We are in touch and we would love to work together again, so if something comes up I would love to do it.

PC: What do you think of Fox's tent-pole attraction, GLEE?

KF: Oh, I love it! I actually missed it last night - but, I Tivo-d. I love GLEE. I think it's so positive and so fantastic. I love all the different types of people that are on the show and what it celebrates. I think it is so important that it is around for young kids. It's just the greatest. You know, it's so exciting for me because, if I was a young kid and I had that to look up to, it would just fill my days. It would help me get through all those hard times so much easier. I feel like a kid again watching it.

PC: It's bringing such national attention to theatre.

KF: That's exactly right. I wish I had that to focus on when I was younger - if I could have just seen that on TV it would have been amazing.

PC: Tell me about your new film COLLEGE SUCKS.

KF: That is a film Brian Herzlinger is doing - I did a movie called BABY ON BOARD with him and he asked me to be in COLLEGE SUCKS and I said yes. I think that was two years ago! [Laughs.] He's a great guy and he is a great, fun director, but I am not filming that right now. I'm not even sure if it's in production - either that or I've been recast.

PC: It's about vampires, correct?

KF: Indeed. Indeed. I haven't done that genre yet, so it's about time!

PC: Do you have any other movies coming out or going into production?

KF: Nothing really. I was busy having a baby and that has taken up the last year.

PC: And COMPANY will be opening in Europe soon. I think it's the best filmed Sondheim production to date, personally.

KF: Wow. That's so great to hear. We saw it at the first screening of it. I still have flashbacks!

PC: What happened?

KF: My hands were sweating; I was holding onto my husband - because it was all such an intense experience. I mean, I was breastfeeding during it when we filmed it! I was so nervous I wouldn't remember my lines. I thought they would probably have to bring me off in a stretcher because I was going to have a nervous breakdown! [Laughs.]

PC: Major pressure.

KF: It was such an intense time for me during the making of that film - so, when I was actually watching the film, I was so nervous that I couldn't even focus on what was happening. All I remember is Neil Patrick Harris was amazing. I couldn't actually focus on what was happening, though, so I have to see it again.

PC: It will be out on DVD and Blu-ray next year, so you will have your chance. It was such a hit in theaters - they ended up doubling the amount of showings.

KF: Amazing. So amazing.

PC: You and Neil and Kristin and Idina are really proving musical theatre actors can work in all three mediums. It's wonderful to see.

KF: Yeah. Totally. Totally.

PC: Tell me about working with Marc Lawrence and Sandra Bullock on MISS CONGENIALITY 2. Marc is such a great guy.

KF: Oh, Marc is a great writer! He works a lot with Sandra Bullock, so every meeting that I had with him was with he and Sandra. They were both so, so lovely to me. I would love to work with them again. He's a great writer and I really enjoyed him. I almost got cast in a couple of things that he did, but they wound up choosing someone else. He was always such a gentleman and such an accomplished, great writer that I would be more than happy to work with him again.

PC: So, how far along are you on filming I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER?

KF: We are up the eleventh show right now.

PC: And the whole season is 13 episodes, correct?

KF: 13. 13. Yes.

PC: And the full season is planned to be 13 and not 22, I assume, since it is mid-season?

KF: We'll find out more after they see how our numbers do. We will find out in a week or two.

PC: X FACTOR is a great lead-in.

KF: So great. So great.

PC: I can't wait to see what you do next! Do you see a return to Broadway when you are on hiatus or sometime soon?

KF: You know what? I would love to go back to Broadway. But, right now, I love this sitcom job. It's a fun, great, heavenly job to be doing right now - especially raising a family and working with the people I get to work with. But, if something comes up soon on Broadway, I'd love to do that, too.

PC: Last question: I know you are a self-professed goddess - the Charlie Sheen term - so, is Jaime Pressly a goddess, too?

KF: [Laughs.] Yes! Yes - Jaime is a total goddess. And, she is a goofy goddess! You wouldn't think so, but she is totally goofy - she is so much fun on the set. We have so much fun together and we have a real sisterly respect and love - and, gosh, she was just so funny on [MY NAME IS] EARL. I am so pleased and proud to work with her. We just have a great time together and I hope you feel that when you watch the show.

PC: I hope there is a 1980s flashback of you two in your high school days coming up soon.

KF: We actually do have a flashback coming up!

PC: No way!

KF: Yeah, I am definitely a little bit chunkier in the flashback and Jaime has really long hair, but we do have a flashback coming up.

PC: So, you play yourselves in it?

KF: Yeah, we play ourselves, back then!

PC: Now, that's something to look forward to, for sure! This was awesome, Katie. I really appreciate it and congratulate you on all your huge success.

KF: Oh, you're delightful, Pat! This was perfect. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful evening. Bye bye.