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. If you haven’t seen Leslie Jordan live in person, be sure to catch him in “A Sordid Comedy Affair” on September 19 in Dallas, TX at the Majestic Theatre along with series creator Del Shores, and fellow stars Jason Dottley, Rue McClanahan, and Caroline Rhea. For more on Leslie Jordan visit: http://www.thelesliejordan.com/
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 and worst 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.** 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. **(Update: “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet is now in the works for a February/March 2010 Off-Broadway opening).
5. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that one one knows about? I can fart out “The Star Spangled Banner.”
6. 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.”
7. Favorite kind of shoes? My black Bostonian tassle loafers.
8. Favorite holiday? I travel 8 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.
9. Favorite website? Rentboy.com
10. Superman or Wonder Woman? Wonder Woman
