LITO Interviews Melora Hardin

Thank you to the lovely and talented Melora Hardin for granting LITO an interview!

LITO: What do you think next season has in store for Michael and Jan?

Melora: I think they will come crashing together and busting apart in their usual clumsy fashion.

LITO: What did you think when you first found out about Jan’s “big news” in the Season Finale?

Melora: I loved it and thought it was hilarious. Greg Daniels, our creator, and I, had talked about the idea months before and I loved the idea. The writers are so wonderful on The Office. They really know how to take a concept and elevate it to its most ridiculous without being slap stick.

LITO We are all big Melora Hardin fans. Can you describe your upcoming projects for us?

Melora: Well, thank you so very much. It’s always great to know that there are people out there who are enjoying me and my work. It’s all about moving the people, you know what I mean?! I return to work on “The Office” in August and then “The Comebacks”, a big FOX movie, comes out October 27. I play the ultra supportive wife who has had enough to the worst coach in history. I just finished filming “27 Dresses” with James Marsden and Katherine Heigl which is due for release next Spring. I’m doing an ACT called “At the Water Cooler” with my original songs, singing at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Hollywood, January 4,5 and 6, 2008. I just directed my first feature called, “Once Tomorrow Now Yesterday” in which I also star which will be finished late July and I’ll be taking around to festivals this year and next. And more to come…

LITO: What was your favorite episode to film and why?

Melora: I loved” Cocktails” for a few reasons. It was the first time Jan really took her neurosis to the next level and the wonderful surprise of being so embarrassed by him and then getting turned on by it all was such a gift to play. I really enjoy Jan’s duplicity of character. One minute she is feeling one thing and the very next second she’s on another Planet. She is effortlessly transported from one extreme to the next and is almost standing outside herself looking in on herself horrified. Also, JJ Abrams directed and it was my first time working with him. We went to College together but didn’t really know one another, but, he is so much fun to work with. Also, he kept threatening that T.C. (Tom Cruise) was going to drop by the set, which he never did, but, just being around the tension of that bit of excitement was fun. I also loved “The Job” because Jan is sort of the most centered and genuinely clear in that episode on the inside while she’s gone crazy on the outside. She is a great contradiction and I love playing her because of those many levels she is always working from. Also, one of my favorite directors, Ken Kwapis, directed and he is such a joy and so gets Jan, we find fun moments together.

LITO: What is your favorite Michael and Jan moment so far.

Melora: I liked when he apologized to the CEO for saying they’d slept together and then Jan kisses him at the elevator in “Valentines Day”. I also loved the moment when he thinks she’s coming to chop his head off and she tells him she is attracted to him and he says “you complete me” in “The Return”. Hilarious!

LITO: What about Michael makes him so attractive to Jan?

Melora: He adores her. She comes from a man’s world where most men find her intimidating. She is beautiful and strong and in charge and most men would find her a ball buster of sorts. Michael is like a bull in a china shop who comes barreling past all her defense mechanisms and just thinks she’s hot. And now it’s all warped but she feels attracted to his desire to have the white picket fence. She is ambitious but wishes she had a simpler life and he symbolizes that. At the same time, she really doesn’t understand why she finds him attractive. She just does.