The Comedy Couch - Janet Wright Interview

GUY MACPHERSON: Next season you have more scenes?
JANET WRIGHT: Yeah.

GM: Because you bring the real acting chops to the
show.
JW: (laughs) Yeah, really.

GM: No, because you have this dramatic edge with the
comedy.
JW: Yeah, I know. It's sort of like me.

GM: It's interesting because to do comedy, I hear, the
key is to act like you're not doing comedy.
JW: That's right.

GM: Just play it straight because the writing is funny
enough.
JW: That's hard, too, just to say it. I guess it
depends, though. If someone didn't have a sense of
humour and they just said it and they just said it...
It's hard to know. But the worst thing you can do is,
say you've got a line and you start going, "Hmm, maybe
I should hit that word." As soon as you do that... So
I try never to think of anything until I say it.

GM: Ah. But you have to memorize it.
JW: I just never do it out loud. I just learn the
words as much as I can. It also depends on what the
other person is doing. It's mostly, for me, anyway,
the reaction.

GM: And do you get a lot of direction from the
director saying, "No, do it this way"?
JW: Sometimes. If he doesn't like your take on it.

GM: Have you done mostly drama in your career, or have
you done lots of comedy?
JW: In film, I've done mostly drama. But I did theatre
for 30-odd... I don't know how many years. So I've
done a lot of comedy in theatre. But it's funny, I've
never done ... I did a couple. I did the last episode
of that Paul Gross, uh...

GM: Yes, the mountie.
JW: Yes. I liked that show. I did the last... I was a
mountie in that one. I've never had so much fun. It
was a really silly show.

GM: Due South!
JW: Due South. I had so much fun doing that because it
was really, really funny. I like doing comedy.

GM: Is the approach any different in drama and comedy?
JW: No. You just internalize and whatever comes out.
Of course, if you're doing something where you have to
sob. But that's easy. Crying's easy. Of course, for me
it's like, "Oh good, I get to cry!" Comedy's hard.

GM: This show must have been a huge shock to you, and
everybody, the success of it.
JW: You know, even when they said it, you go, "Oh
yeah" because it's your show. "This is a big hit."

GM: It must be hard for you, because everyone will say
"Love the show! Love the show!"
JW: Yeah, that's true. But when the producer said it's
a big hit... You know that wishful thinking? That's
what I thought right away. And then I was on the ferry
one day and this man and lady kept walking around and
I kept looking to see what was wrong and then they
came over and they said it was their favourite show.
And I said, "Really?" You know what I mean? I didn't
even know if people were seeing it.

GM: That's the thing with Canadian TV series, and
particularly comedy. It's either going to last three
weeks and nobody watches it, or it's going to last 15
years and nobody...
JW: Watches it! (laughs) I think this is better than
most Canadian sitcoms. I think in the past we always
tried to do sitcoms that are take-offs or like an
American sitcom. Because the last big sitcom, it might
be the Trailer Park Boys. I've never seen that. But
that's a different thing. But the last big Canadian
hit was the King of Kensington.

GM: And this is different, too, because it doesn't
have the laugh track or audience.
JW: No. And the thing is, we're funny people.
Canadians are funny.

GM: We have this reputation of producing the best...
JW: We've got This Hour Has 22 Minutes. I mean, my
favourite show is still SCTV. And Kids in the Hall,
all those great shows. They're more like skits but do
them brilliantly. So being able to do this, it's truly
Brent. His mind.

GM: When you read the scripts originally, you were
probably skeptical. You still thought the scripts were
good...
JW: Hilarious. What happened was, skeptical... My
agent said, "They want you to audition..." You know,
it's feast or famine in this business. So she phoned
up and said "They want you to audition for a sitcom
called Corner Gas." And I went, "Oh, you've gotta be
kidding." A Canadian bloody... How Canadian is that?
And I just went, "I'm not..." She said, "Well, the
script's funny." And I read it and I laughed my head
off.

GM: But sometimes don't you get a script that's really
good and it turns out...
JW: To suck? I think it's just the combo. It's just
one of those things like sex. The chemistry between
everybody just kinda works.

GM: Tara was saying there's no weak link.
JW: I don't think there is.

GM: But who would be the weak link if there was one?
JW: Me. (laughs) No, I don't think there is one. I
didn't know until I watched it. I didn't realize how
good people were inthe show. Because when you're
playing with people off camera, they're good, but you
don't know what the camera's seeing. I'll tell you my
favourite character. It's Davis. The cop.

GM: Why?
JW: I just love him. He's so sweet and he's so sincere
and he really tries to do a good job. He's got great
stuff this year. Lorne is so good. I just love that
character.

GM: It's an ensemble cast and everybody's given almost
equal time, I'd say.
JW: Yup. And more this year.

GM: The scripts are just as good?
JW: Yeah, you go get them and you shoot two scripts in
eight days. And you get your scripts a couple of days
before, and you have a reading. And you go, "God, how
do they keep doing it?" Because the story lines are so
odd. They're so good.

GM: Do you have a favourite moment from last season?
JW: You know, I think it's the same as Eric. When he
made his own coffin. That just tickled me. We couldn't
stop laughing.
GM: I think what next needs to be done is a theatrical
movie. Corner Gas: The Movie.
JW: Corner Gas: The Movie! (laughs) That would be
cool. But I hope this goes for a long time.

GM: Well, it's lasted for more than a year. So 25
years...
JW: That's right. 25 years. Then I won't have to work
again and I can just die.

GM: There you go. But don't die during the run of the
show. Because then they'd have to have one of the
tear-jerker shows. You don't want one of those.
JW: Oh yeah. Saying farewell to Emma or some crap. We
don't want that.