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TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, Bridget Everett, stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins Sunday, October 27. Everett is also known for her wild, raunchy cabaret performances, in which she does stand-up and sings. In The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote about her cabaret act, multiply the mouthy, flesh-jiggling early Bette Midler by 100, give her the super-plus-size figure and fashion sense of Divine, the John Waters diva, and the manners of a Flintstone, and you've got a rough approximation of Bridget Everett. Holden also described her singing voice as a formidable instrument.
In "Somebody Somewhere," she plays Sam, a 40-something woman who's returned home to Manhattan, Kansas, to help care for her sister Holly, who is dying of cancer. The series begins about six months after Holly's death. Sam is still grieving in ways she doesn't even realize. She has no direction. She's lost track of what makes her happy except singing, and she feels like a total outsider in her small hometown until she befriends Joel. They work at the same office, which they both hate. He's gay and single. She's single, too. They share a sense of humor, have similar interests, confide in each other and love being in each other's company.
Joel reminds her they were in high school show choir together, and he always loved her voice. He's the pianist at his church and has a key. So under the guise of choir practice, he holds regular parties for his LGBTQ friends at the church. At the first one Sam attends, Joel practically forces her to get up and sing, and everyone loves it. This community of friends becomes her community.
But finding a welcoming place and a best friend in Joel doesn't heal her insecurities, like believing she is unlovable, lashing out and withdrawing from anyone who she feels has offended her. And it hasn't healed her grief. She takes offense easily, but she also manages to offend the people she's closest to. In this scene from the second episode in the series, she visits Joel and notices he has a vision board, a collage of photos representing what he wants to do and to have in the future. Joel is played by Jeff Hiller. Everett's character, Sam, speaks first.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE")
BRIDGET EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) You've really spent some time on this.
JEFF HILLER: (As Joel) Not...
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) You go to Paris. You've got an Eiffel Tower there, and...
HILLER: (As Joel) Well, just Europe. I want to go to Europe.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) OK - oh, and then, of course, everybody's hands in a heart.
HILLER: (As Joel) Community.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Great. What's that - a blender or something?
HILLER: (As Joel) It's a Vitamix. I just - I really want to have a nice kitchen.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) And, oh, what's this one? Is this you and Michael and your nine adopted kids or what?
HILLER: (As Joel) It's not nine. It's six.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Oh.
HILLER: (As Joel) And four of them are adopted. Yes.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) OK. And you want to do all of this here in Kansas.
HILLER: (As Joel) Yeah. This is where I live.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Oh. Family, prayer circles, pots with cactus - I mean, wow.
HILLER: (As Joel) I mean, what is wrong with this? What's wrong with this? I'm dreaming about the future. This is what I want.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Well, I mean, dream all you want, Joel, but this is the future. We're in our 40s, and it hasn't happened yet; has it? It hasn't happened for you. It hasn't happened for me. And that's because it's not going to happen. And it's definitely not going to happen here. Keep cutting up your pictures, but that's the way it is.
HILLER: (As Joel) We deserve to be happy.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) I'm not sure. I don't know.
GROSS: Bridget Everett, welcome back to FRESH AIR. I really love this series.
EVERETT: Hi. Thank you. I'm very happy to be here.
GROSS: Is this character a version of who you might have been had you not discovered a place for yourself in New York's cabaret world? Did you ever feel as hopeless about the future as Sam does?
EVERETT: Oh, yeah. I think I waited tables for 25 years. I worked in restaurants from maybe, like, 14 years old till I was maybe 42. And, you know, you make money, and it's great. It's nice to have a job and everything, but that's not what I wanted to do. And so, yeah, there's a lot of years where I'm like, maybe I'm just a karaoke singer. Maybe I'm - you know? And a lot of the self-worth stuff that Sam struggles with, you know, I struggle with. So we have a lot in common.
GROSS: On IMDB, you're not listed as a creator of the series. So whose idea was it to do the series?
EVERETT: Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos came up with the idea. They pitched the world. And when they were, you know, pitching it to me and Carolyn Strauss, they talked about the themes of singing and, you know, a dead sister. And then they said, and Mr. Murray Hill plays Fred Rococo. I was like, oh, man, this is like - this checks all my boxes. He's - Murray's my people. Singing is the love of my life. And I had lost my sister and didn't really know how to deal with it, so I'm like, let's just - let's give it a shot. And so once we got together to do the pilot, you know, we all - it's been a very collaborative effort sort of across the board.
GROSS: You mentioned Murray Hill, and he plays Fred Rococo, who is a trans man in the series. So Murray Hill has been active in the New York cabaret scene. Describe his place in that part of the scene.
EVERETT: Well, he's kind of like the mayor of downtown. Everybody loves Murray. He's - you know, he's always out at night doing - hosting some show. You know, he's done a lot of work with the burlesque community. We've done a lot of stuff together. We've toured together. He's a great cheerleader for everybody. He's always bringing on the, you know, new face and giving people a chance. So, you know, his spirit - the spirit of Murray Hill is definitely in Fred Rococo.
GROSS: So when Sam returns to Manhattan, Kansas, after her sister dies especially, she feels like an outsider, that there's no place for her until she finds her best friend Joel and the LGBTQ community of friends that are his friends. When you went back to Manhattan, Kansas, from Manhattan, New York, what was that experience like for you in terms of feeling like an outsider? I mean, you went to high school there. You still had family there. Did you feel like an outsider, too? And if so, what made you feel that way?
EVERETT: Well, I was born and raised in Manhattan, and I love it. There's so much that I love about it.
GROSS: In Manhattan, Kansas.
EVERETT: Manhattan, Kansas. Yeah. Thank you - the Little Apple.
GROSS: (Laughter).
EVERETT: That's real. It's true. It's there on the Water Tower on the side of town. You know, I had a lot of friends growing up, and I was popular. But I never felt like I fit in because I wasn't - you know, I didn't have, like, traditional values. You know, it's a very conservative place, and I had kind of a blue sense of humor. And I was always getting in trouble for, you know, doing something naughty and - you know, not just, like, keg parties and whatnot but, like, for my mouth. Like, it's not the actions that I was doing. It was, like, who I was that was kind of like, oh, Bridget - you know, like, that kind of thing.
So I just - I don't know. I just felt like I wasn't - like, it wasn't where I was supposed to be, so I left. But, you know, coming back over time, I've got a new appreciation for it, and I love it. But, yeah, you kind of never shake that feeling of not feeling like you belong somewhere. And, you know, it can run the gamut for a lot of people. But for me, it was just like, oh, my God. I'm like, my personality's a problem or something. I don't know.
GROSS: Do you still feel that way?
EVERETT: Maybe not as much because, you know, we're older. And I just felt like I was constantly being tamped down. And it makes sense for how - the kind of person I was growing up in that kind of town in the '80s, in the '70s and '80s. And so when I came to New York, Murray Hill's one of the first people I met. I was like, oh, my God. This is, like - this is what I've been looking for. These are my people.
GROSS: Stage is a great place for that kind of big behavior. And you take advantage of that in the series and in real life.
EVERETT: Yeah. I guess I finally got my shot to be, like, who I wanted to be, so I really went for it and probably went a little too far. There's a couple times there when I was really, like, trying to find my footing and figure out exactly who I was onstage where Murray would be like, all right, kid. We got to sit down. It's like, you don't have to go that far.
GROSS: Good.
EVERETT: (Laughter).
GROSS: What's an example of that? ***
EVERETT: I'm not going to say it on NPR (laughter).
GROSS: Oh, all right. Then give us an example of what you do do that's pretty outrageous.
EVERETT: OK, well, I sing about different kinds of breasts, right? I have a song about it. It rhymes with cities. And the point of that song for me is that it's kind of just making light of it. It's like, it's no big deal. They're just boobs, you know? My mom used to go to the grocery store in just her nightgown with no bra on. And for as conservative and buttoned up as she was, she had, like, a really foul mouth. Her favorite cuss word, which I know you can just bleep, is [expletive]. And she...
GROSS: (Laughter) That's a long bleep.
EVERETT: I know, yeah. But she was a real character. And there was something about - like, she wanted to, like, fit in and play by the rules, but she also had this kind of off-the-rails part about her. And that's the part about her I loved. So I think the sort of lawlessness of her going to Food 4 Less, a grocery store, without her bra on - like, I just loved that. And so now I go onstage without a bra, and I just want people to not be so locked up. I want them to come and to let go. And so I do everything I can to help them feel free, because when I grew up, I didn't feel that way. And I guess I chase that feeling onstage.
GROSS: And, you know, you're a large woman.
EVERETT: Yeah.
GROSS: And some people would be covering up their bodies. Onstage, you really show it off. And you wear revealing clothes, and you use it both with pride and with comedy.
EVERETT: Yeah. I think it's sort of all that stuff I was talking about with my mom. My friend Larry Krone makes all my dresses. We call him the House of Larreon. And we like to lean into the size of my body and the shape of my body. And he's always like - he's like, you know, you have an incredible body. He's always, like, really building me up. And so when there's something that, like, a low cowl that may, like, slip and something pops, you know, that makes us laugh. It's not like, oh, I'm trying to be sexy or provocative. It's more just like, oh, my God, that's so funny (laughter). It just nothing's meant to take itself too seriously. But what I do take seriously is making people feel good.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Bridget Everett. She stars in the HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins Sunday night, October 27. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE INTERNET SONG, "STAY THE NIGHT")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Bridget Everett. She stars in the semiautobiographical HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." She plays Sam, a 40-something woman who's returned to her hometown Manhattan, Kansas, to take care of her sister Holly, who's dying of cancer. The series begins about six months after Holly's death. Sam is still in Kansas but feels like a total outsider, until she becomes part of a circle of LGBTQ friends who are also outsiders.
So you and your character Sam are capable of a wide range of types of singing. And you can do, like, really beautiful ballads but also, like, really belt it out and give it everything. And I want to play examples of that from the series. So we're going to hear two songs back-to-back.
EVERETT: OK.
GROSS: And the first is a beautiful, quiet ballad. And this takes place when you see your old high school singing teacher for the first time because you want to develop your voice, and you want to take singing lessons. And she's seeing you for the first time in years and wants to hear how you sound now, so she asks you to just sing something that you love a cappella. So that's the first song we'll hear, and the song is called "That's All." It's an old standard.
And then the second song is what you choose to sing at one of the so-called choir practices that's really just a party for a circle of LGBTQ friends. And that song is going to be "Piece Of My Heart," which Janis Joplin - she was not the first to record it, but she really made it famous. And it was a real showstopper for her, and it's one for you, too. So first the ballad "That's All" and then "Piece Of My Heart."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE")
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller, singing) I can only give you country walks in springtime and a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall and a love whose burning light will warm the winter night. That's all. That's all. There are those, I am sure, who have told you they would give you the world for a toy. All I have are these arms to enfold you and the love time can never destroy. Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Yeah. Yes.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller, singing) Yeah, and didn't I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can? Honey, you know I did. And each time I tell myself that I think I've had enough. And now I'm going to show you, baby, that a woman can be tough. I want you to come on. Come on. Come on. Come on and take it. Take another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah. Take it. Take another little piece of my heart now, darling, yeah. Have a - have another little piece of my heart now, baby. You know you got it because it makes you feel good.
GROSS: Do those two songs represent different sides of who you are?
EVERETT: Yeah, absolutely. "Piece Of My Heart" is from my karaoke days. That used to be a song that I would - I'd go to this place, The Parlour, on the Upper West Side, which is now closed. But I would go there every Sunday night with my friends. I would sing that on top of the bar, rip my shirt open, and then...
GROSS: Yeah, you rip your shirt open at the end of the song in the series.
EVERETT: Yeah. Oh yeah, that's right. I guess, you know, you can't shake the - (laughter) I mean, you can't shake it out. That's just something that stays with you.
GROSS: So you do enjoy revealing what's underneath (laughter)?
EVERETT: Well, it's also just like - yeah, it's about, you know, ripping yourself open. The shirt is, like, sort of a dumb metaphor for, like, how I want to be outside of my skin, outside of myself. That's what it feels like. And then "That's All" is - you know, I love that song. And for me, singing and music is my ultimate love story. You know, it's how I feel most connected. It's how I feel alive. And I love the beauty of it, and I also love, you know, the ripping-the-shirt-openness of it. And I think it can - you know, it represents all sides of how we feel.
GROSS: In the series, there's family members who you are alienated from and friends who become like family. I think something like that has been experienced by many people who are probably hearing us now. Your character Sam's best friend is Joel, the only person outside of her deceased sister who Sam thinks ever really looked out for her. He's gay and single. Sam is single. So Sam and Joel become very close, but then Joel meets a man who he falls in love with, and they become a couple. But Joel doesn't tell your character, Sam. When you find out from someone else, you're really angry. Joel calls and texts, but your character won't respond? He finds out that you're going to be at a diner with a mutual friend, so he goes there to try to see you, or I should say, your character, Sam, to apologize and to tell you how much he misses you. Your character Sam speaks first.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE")
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) I'm so mad at you, Joel, and I don't want to be, but I can't help it.
HILLER: (As Joel) I'm sorry, Sam.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) You have a boyfriend and you don't think I can handle it, so you just don't tell me.
HILLER: (As Joel) Sam.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Do you have any idea how stupid that makes me feel?
HILLER: (As Joel) I'm sorry.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Why doesn't anybody think I can't handle anything? I can handle it - God, first my sister and now you.
HILLER: (As Joel) Wait. What happened with your sister?
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) No. You don't get to know. Maybe I wouldn't have been OK, OK? Fine. But I thought that we had the kind of relationship that if there was something that was that important to you, that you would want me to know, that you would want to share it with me. But you didn't; did you?
HILLER: (As Joel) We do have that kind of relationship.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) No, you're keeping secrets, and I don't want secrets.
HILLER: (As Joel) I just didn't think you would understand.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Oh, understand what, Joel? What?
HILLER: (As Joel) I do love what we have together, but we can't provide everything for each other.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Oh, my God. I don't want you to be my boyfriend, Joel. I just don't want you to leave me.
HILLER: (As Joel) I'm not going anywhere.
EVERETT: (As Sam Miller) Well, it can't be the same now. It's not going to be the same.
HILLER: (As Joel) No. I guess not.
GROSS: That's a scene from "Somebody Somewhere," the HBO series that begins its third and final season October 27, and we heard my guest, Bridget Everett, in the role of Sam and Jeff Hiller in the role of Joel. Have you been on both sides of that experience - the person who gets a boyfriend and then also the person who has a best friend who either, you know, finds a boyfriend or a girlfriend or gets married or who has a first child, and you feel excluded, and you feel like your relationship with that person can't ever be the same?
EVERETT: Well, I think that I've more really only been on the Sam side, and, you know, I think it's taken her so much to open up, you know? She's not like other people. A lot of people can collect people or meet new people and easily assimilate to that feeling. But Sam is paralyzed by new people and new emotions and new feelings, and she's found somebody that has opened her up, and now she's terrified of losing him. And I - but I understand his side of the thing. He's just, like - he's in his bubble, and he's falling in love, and I understand that.
But, you know, I think for Sam - and it's sort of central to the show, actually - is that for some people, romantic relationships aren't the goal. Sam just wants to be loved and wants to have her person. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a romantic relationship. And I think that usually in TV and film or in theater or whatever it is, or in music, like, it's about boy meets boy, boy meets girl, girl meets girl, whatever the scenario is, and that's the ultimate, you know, that people fall in love. But this is it for Sam. Joel is the person and she's - and it's hard for her to find that person and then see them - that she's not going to be the primary focus of his life. It's...
GROSS: And she's...
EVERETT: She's sloppy about it. She's very sloppy about it, and I think that that's fine.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Bridget Everett. She stars in the semi-autobiographical series "Somebody Somewhere," which begins its third season on HBO Sunday, October 27. We'll be right back after a short break. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE")
LABELLE: (Singing) Somebody somewhere has all the answers to the questions in our minds. Somebody somewhere has grown impatient with your reasons and your crimes.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to my interview with Bridget Everett. She stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." She plays Sam, a 40-something woman who's returned to her hometown, Manhattan, Kansas, to take care of her sister, Holly, who's dying of cancer.
The series begins about six months after Holly's death. Sam is still in Kansas but feels like a total outsider until she becomes part of a circle of LGBTQ friends, who are also outsiders. The story is about grief, friendship, how friendship has changed when your best friend becomes involved in a romantic relationship and you feel cut out, anger management, insecurity and trying to figure out what you want out of life when you're in your 40s and other people seem to have already figured it out. "Somebody Somewhere" begins its third and final season Sunday night, October 27, on HBO.
So Sam moves back to Kansas to take care of her older sister, Holly, who's dying of cancer, who you've been referring to because you also had a sister who was dying of cancer. And you returned to Manhattan, Kansas, where you grew up, to take care of her.
EVERETT: No, I didn't. I didn't.
GROSS: Oh, you didn't return there?
EVERETT: No, no. This - I did have a sister that died of cancer, and she was in California. And...
GROSS: Ah.
EVERETT: In fact, I was waiting tables at the time. I, you know, barely had two pennies to rub together, and I couldn't go see her at the end. And I've kind of never forgiven myself for it, so this is a way to honor her in a way that I wasn't able to before.
GROSS: Were you able to tell her why you couldn't go?
EVERETT: Well, there was a point at the very end. You know, they wanted me to talk to her 'cause she was kind of refusing, you know, treatment stuff, and they thought that I might be able to have some influence on her. And, you know, she was just in so much pain, and it didn't - she didn't want to talk to me, you know, after I was like, you know, let them help you, whatever. Anyway, then I asked the nurse. I said - you know, 'cause I talked to a friend who was going to get me a ticket out there. And, you know, she just said that (crying), you know, it wasn't worth it 'cause she wouldn't know who I was anyway. So I didn't go.
GROSS: What you went through must have been really difficult because, you know, you're playing the part of someone whose sister recently died, like, just months ago. At the same time, your mother died while you were making the series. And at the same time, while you were making the series, one of the lead actors, Mike Hagerty, who played your father in the series - he died. So, like, you're playing the role of somebody who's still grieving.
EVERETT: And my dog, by the way (laughter).
GROSS: Yeah.
EVERETT: So it wasn't a great run (laughter).
GROSS: Yeah. So I'm just wondering what that was like for you to play somebody who's grieving and to be having really fresh wounds of grief.
EVERETT: You know, it was actually nice because it was - you know, the set and the world and all the people in the show are so - they're, like, the kindest people that you want to be around, and they are respectful of your feelings and your emotion. And my family, who I love - we don't really talk about things necessarily. So I never really talked that much with him about my sister or my mom or my dad. And then Mike died. That was a whole different kind of hell because when I met him, we had this instant connection. You know, when he came in to read for the part of Ed, who plays my father on the show, I just started crying right away because I was like, oh, my God. This - he just walks in a room, and he's one of those people you just feel safe around and you love, and you feel comfort. And he's funny, and he's, like - you know?
And so when he died, we were getting ready to film Season 2, and we had written quite a bit for him because he was so great in Season 1. And we had such a great connection. And so it was very hard on all of us. But we've tried to keep his memory alive through the show, whether it's, like, having his truck in the shot or - there's a scene in the final episode that's for him. You know, there's just - I think being around such a supportive group of people helped get me through a lot of the grief.
GROSS: And you were sharing some of the grief, too.
EVERETT: Absolutely. We were all doing it together. And also Poppy, my dog who was there Season 1 - and I had to put her - this is such a - this is so much darkness. But, you know, other than singing, she was the other love of my life, and I had to put her down on a Sunday afternoon and go back to work on Monday morning. And everybody - you know, we all love our dogs and our animals, and people knew how difficult that was. And people just - you show up to work. People make you laugh, and they get you through it. And, I mean, if I would have been at home alone, just sitting in my apartment, staring at the walls, who knows what would happen? But being around all those people, working, making a show that we really love doing and being a part of a group of creative minds that kind of all were in sync - it was really wonderful, actually.
GROSS: In the series, your parents live on a farm. In the real world, your parents divorced when you were young. And from what I've read - and correct me if this is wrong - that your father, Donn James Everett, was a Republican in the Kansas State House and in the Kansas Senate.
EVERETT: Yeah. And then he was also, at some point, mayor of my hometown. So was my brother Brad - so, you know, political dynasty.
GROSS: I always feel for the children of politicians who are used in campaign ads and on the stump when they're making speeches...
EVERETT: Oh, yeah.
GROSS: ...And have to go up and be, like, perfect children at the convention.
EVERETT: We have one - I have in my house my - it's a framed picture. It's, like, my mom and dad and all six of us kids, and we're all riding bikes. I think I'm in some - either my dad's arms or something. And we're all riding down our street that I grew up on, Fairview in Manhattan. And, you know, it's, like, this whole image of family, and that just was not what was happening behind closed doors. But...
GROSS: What was happening behind closed doors?
EVERETT: You know, just fighting and infideling (ph) - your classics.
GROSS: (Laughter) Did what you do onstage ever become an embarrassment to your family?
EVERETT: I think in the early days, I...
GROSS: 'Cause it's so raunchy?
EVERETT: I worried about that, so that's why I kept it from them - you know, largely try to keep it from them. And eventually, my friend Pilo (ph) was like, your mom really should come and see you. And, of course, I didn't really have much money. So he flew her out to New York, and she came to see me at Joe's Pub, and she just loved it. And I really underestimated. It was, like, such a waste of time. It's always what I do. I sort of get in my own way and think people aren't going to like something and blah, blah, blah. It's just such a waste of time.
I brought her up onstage, actually, to sing "Hello, Dolly!" 'cause she'd always wanted to be on Broadway and she wanted to be Dolly. And I have, like, a really terrible recording of everybody just up on their feet yelling, Freddie, Freddie, after she sang. So in a way, she got her "Hello, Dolly!" moment. But then afterwards, she came backstage, and she just looked at me, and she said, you know, that was really wonderful, Bridget. And then she said, that was freedom in motion, and, you know - still the best compliment and probably the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me.
GROSS: Maybe she was ready at that point in her life...
EVERETT: Yeah (laughter).
GROSS: ...To appreciate what you were doing. Maybe if you'd brought her to Manhattan earlier, to Manhattan, New York...
EVERETT: Yeah.
GROSS: ...Earlier, she would not have been ready.
EVERETT: Well - and I went to Kansas City, and I also did a show in Lawrence. And, you know, my mom, as she got older, got a real foul mouth on her. And I have a song, "What I Got To Do To Get That [expletive]?"
(LAUGHTER)
EVERETT: It becomes a sing-along. And, you know, at the end I just, you know, get everybody singing - women singing, now the men singing, now just my mom. And then she would sing it, and everybody would be quiet. And she just brought the house to its knees every single time.
GROSS: Oh, that's hilarious.
EVERETT: ...And then later in life, when she would go around her nursing home, she would sing it to the nurses and stuff and, like...
GROSS: My daughter wrote that song.
EVERETT: Yeah. Oh, absolutely - you know, not, my daughter is on HBO, 'cause she wasn't sure what was going on at that point. But she could still remember the hook of "What I Got To Do To Get [expletive]?" (laughter). And what are they going to do? You know, they can't say anything 'cause she's - what's she going to do? She's in a wheelchair. She can't walk.
GROSS: All right, let me reintroduce you again. If you're just joining us, my guest is Bridget Everett, and she stars in the HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins Sunday night, October 27. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE HADEN SONG, "EL CIEGO (THE BLIND)")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Bridget Everett. She stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO series "Somebody Somewhere," and the third and final season begins Sunday, October 27.
Well, your mother was a singing teacher. I don't think she taught you, but...
EVERETT: My mother was a music teacher. She taught - my mom taught in - she was a public school teacher, music teacher. And she also taught after-school lessons - you know, violin, piano, whatever, guitar, everything. So she did not teach me, but she insisted that we all take piano lessons. And what's great about having a music teacher for a mother is that she thought that me wanting to be a singer was totally OK, and she really supported it. And even as I was waiting tables all those years, she, not unlike my sister, was - well, you know, I remember I got some - I booked a festival in Australia. And I called my mom, and she said, look at that. You're going across the world because of your singing, you know? Just, like - yeah.
GROSS: What did she think of your voice?
EVERETT: She loved it. She was another one like - you know, when I would sing if I didn't get the lead part in the musical, she thought I got robbed (laughter). She loved my singing, but really, we liked to make music together. My brother Brock can play just anything by ear on the piano. He's so talented, and he's very funny. And we actually, the three of us, all love NPR. We love public radio, and my...
GROSS: We appreciate that.
EVERETT: (Laughter) In fact, this is a little story about my mom that I think is really funny. My - so my brother, many years ago, called - it was Mother's Day, and he called public radio, our local public radio station, and asked them to dedicate a song to my mom. He wanted to play her favorite song. And so he's on the phone in Lawrence, I think, and she's in Manhattan, Kansas. And they're like, OK, this one is for Freddie Everett from your son Brock, blah, blah, blah. And they play "My Funny Valentine," which is her favorite song. And at the end, they're sitting there, and Brock says, well, Mom, what did you think of that? And she said, well - you know, smoking her cigarette - thoughtful, cheap but thoughtful.
(LAUGHTER)
EVERETT: And that is my mom (laughter). So that's our connection to public radio - one of them.
GROSS: That's hilarious. I love it. I love it. I don't know if I should ask you this about your mother or not. So your mother was a drinker.
EVERETT: Mm-hmm (ph).
GROSS: Should I go there or not?
EVERETT: Yeah. It's fine.
GROSS: Your mother was a drinker, as is the mother in your series, and I'm wondering what kind of responsibilities that put on you and what kind of questions you had to ask yourself about what to try to do about it when she was - you know, when the drinking was really getting out of control.
EVERETT: Well, when - my mom's drinking was honestly always out of control, but I just thought that that's the way life was. And then when I was in college or when I was living in Arizona, it really got bad. Like, she stopped going to work. She locked her doors - you know, that kind of thing. And then my brother and sister came and got her and took her to rehab. So they were the ones who really took action. For me, I just kind of thought that was how it was going to be. I don't know. That's not a great answer, but it's the truth.
GROSS: Was she drinking when you were young and depending on her?
EVERETT: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. She - you know, we used to - we still say it to now. Fill it to the rim, Roger. She would have us go, you know, take her glass and fill it with scotch, and, you know, she'd say, fill it to the rim, Roger.
GROSS: You had to contribute to her drinking by filling the glass.
EVERETT: Oh, yeah, yeah, and then, you know, help her get up the stairs to bed. And, you know, when it was just my brother Brock and my mom and me and, you know, everybody else had grown up and left the house, we would go to taco Tuesday, and she'd have a bunch of margaritas. And, you know, Brock would drive us - drive her home. And, you know, she just kind of - in the end, she was probably a narcissist of some kind, but she just was lawless about everything in life, and her ***
EVERETT: ******** And her drinking - you know, until - she just - when she went to rehab, she just - that was it. She just stopped. She's like, I lost a taste for it. But her life was really out of control because of drinking.
GROSS: Did that contribute to any feelings you had of being, like, uncared for or unloved?
EVERETT: No, I think that probably stems more from my relationship with my dad. Even though she drank a lot, she made us laugh and, you know, spent so much time with us. She came to every single swim meet, everything, every concert, every - you know, sitting in the front row. And she was very supportive. She just had a - she just drank way too much.
GROSS: I want to get back to your voice. So you studied voice in college at Arizona State University. You had a full scholarship. Opera was one of the things that you studied. Do you love opera?
EVERETT: I do. I do. I...
GROSS: So do I.
EVERETT: You know, it's not as trendy as it used to be (laughter).
GROSS: When was it trendy? I think I missed that.
EVERETT: Oh, no. I know.
GROSS: Oh, oh. OK. That was a joke. OK. I thought I missed something.
EVERETT: No, no. I love it. I went to the opening night of the Met Opera last year, which was really incredible. And, you know, it's just - to be able to sing that way is - for me, it was - it didn't - was not compatible with my lifestyle.
GROSS: What do you mean by that?
EVERETT: Well, I used to - in college, when I was singing that way, you could still smoke in bars. Like, I don't smoke, but if you go to bar - and I like to go to bars - I would lose my voice because I'm so sensitive to smoke. And if I drank, you could hear - like, the clarity in my voice would change. And I was like, man, I don't want to be all - I don't want to live a life like this. So I found a style of singing that was more suitable to my lifestyle, which is however I sing now. But I do - you know, I love classical music, and I love, you know, just the richness of an operatic voice. But it's not for me anymore. I had to hang up those cords.
GROSS: But what did you learn from opera that you can still take with you?
EVERETT: Discipline and that it's - you know, it's - you have to care for your voice. You have to warm up. You have to cool down. You have to - you know, it's like any other muscle. You want to stretch it. You want to care for it. I wish that I took care of my insides and the rest of my body the way that I care for my voice. I'm always, like, drinking way too much water. I'm always running for the toilet. But, you know, I know that's going to help me - my voice stay healthy (laughter) because when I can't sing, when I lose my voice for - if I get a cold or for whatever reason or I've over-sung or something, it really sends me into a spiral and kind of, like - and it's just not worth those depths that I go to 'cause it's like, oh, what if I can never sing again? It's the only thing that makes me happy.
GROSS: I often lose my voice when I have a cold. It turns into laryngitis, and that can last for a couple of days or for a week. And I...
EVERETT: Yeah.
GROSS: ...Always think, like, well, it'll come back. And another voice in my head goes, how do you know?
EVERETT: How do you know - exactly.
GROSS: What if it doesn't?
EVERETT: You know, for people like us who need their voice to pay the rent, it's like - you know, it's a big deal. And it's not just the paying the rent of it. It's because I love it and I need it.
GROSS: There was a period years ago when I'd get a cold, start to lose my voice and I'd still be smoking on the air. And this was in the days when you could have an ashtray and a cigarette...
EVERETT: Oh, my God.
GROSS: ...In the studio. Yeah. And I thought, what are you doing?
EVERETT: Do you still smoke?
GROSS: Oh, no, I gave it up years ago...
EVERETT: OK. Yeah.
GROSS: ...Many years ago, decades ago. And that's what helped me give it up. I thought, like, this is sick. If you're smoking and losing your voice at the same time, that is really destructive.
EVERETT: Yeah, totally.
GROSS: Yeah.
EVERETT: My mom used to smoke in the car with the windows rolled up. And it was just - it was a living nightmare. I just - the smell makes me really sick to my stomach.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is Bridget Everett. She stars in the HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins Sunday night, October 27. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN CALE AND BRIAN ENO SONG, "SPINNING AWAY")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Bridget Everett. She stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins Sunday, October 27.
You play a version of yourself in the series. Is that fair to say?
EVERETT: Mm-hmm.
GROSS: You've been in other films and played somebody who may resemble you, but it's not you in the way that this has, like, very direct connections to your life. What's it like to kind of play yourself in something that's also fictional?
EVERETT: Well, I like it because I'm not a trained actor. And if there's something that emotionally resonates with me, it's easier for me to relax and connect to the scene. I also like it because I feel like the character of Sam is somebody that you don't really see. And she's got a lot of problems and a lot of flaws, and, you know, she's, like, a plus-size woman in middle age. And I don't know. There's a lot I love playing about her and getting to represent her. But for me, I don't know. I'm just like, it's so unbelievable that I'm talking to you right now about a show that I am a part of on HBO. Like, I just - and that I play a part that's perfectly suited for me. This will never happen again, and it's really incredible.
GROSS: In terms of your acting, you've learned how to cry on camera when your character needs to cry.
EVERETT: Yeah. But I think it's like - it's not like, I want to cry in the scene. It's more when - I'm just trying to understand where Sam is in that moment and just let it rip. And sometimes there's a scene, and I think I'm going to cry, and I don't cry. And then there's a scene where, you know, it's sort of unpredictable. Like, there was a scene in this season. I was like, oh, I think this is going to be such an emotional scene for me, It just wasn't at all. The other character is crying. But, I mean, I was emotionally engaged, but I just wasn't crying. And then there's other times when you're overcome with emotion in the scene.
And I think it's just trying to - what I've tried to do through the whole experience of the show, from the writing to production to the acting of it, is just be as present and as honest as I can be. I really struggle with that in real life. I feel like I'm constantly, like, uncomfortable where I am, and I have a hard time expressing myself. I really wanted to take the opportunity of this show to live in it. And if that meant crying, great. If it meant fart jokes, great. But I was all in.
GROSS: So it sounds like you learned to be more emotionally accessible in terms of being receptive to other people and accessing your own emotions through playing yourself in the series.
EVERETT: Yeah, I think that's a hundred percent true because I've learned so much doing this show, and I've learned from not just playing Sam and writing the different characters. But I've - you know, I have learned, by being Sam, who struggles with self-worth, that - I've learned that maybe I am enough. And maybe I deserve this, and maybe this moment was because I earned it.
GROSS: So HBO, at the end of the month, will start the final season of "Somebody Somewhere." It's the third and final season. How did you and everybody else decide that this is it, this is the final season?
EVERETT: Well, the fact that we even got a pilot felt like a miracle. And every time we got greenlit for another season, it felt like a miracle. It's a small show with a small audience on a small budget. And we have a very loyal and loving audience. And some of our biggest fans are at HBO, and they have been very supportive of us. And as far as, you know, behind the scenes, we wrote every season like it was a moment in time and never knowing when the show would be over. So it's - this is the end of this iteration. But, you know, maybe we'll do a movie one day. Maybe. Who knows what's next? - because for me, the characters still live on, and I know that their stories are not done and - you know, ready to tell more when it's time.
GROSS: Are you still doing your cabaret act?
EVERETT: I'm playing The Beacon on Thursday night, and there are probably just a few tickets left if you want to come and see it (laughter).
GROSS: I wish I could.
EVERETT: Well, maybe a listener would (laughter).
GROSS: Well, I want to congratulate you on the series. I really love it. I wish I was friends with the people on it. I mean with the characters - not that I wouldn't mind being friends with you.
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: But, you know, they're all such, like, interesting, complex and, you know, flawed but wonderful people.
EVERETT: Well, I hope that you enjoy the new season. I think it's the best season yet. I'm so proud of the show. And we really appreciate you having me on and talking about it 'cause we want more people to see it.
GROSS: Bridget Everett stars in the HBO series "Somebody Somewhere." The third and final season begins this Sunday, October 27. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, we'll talk with New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser about her article "Purchasing Power." We'll also talk about Trump's new crypto venture. I hope you'll join us. To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at @NPRFreshAir.
(SOUNDBITE OF OSCAR PETERSON TRIO'S PERFORMANCE OF RICHARD RODGERS' "MY FUNNY VALENTINE")
GROSS: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director is Audrey Bentham. Our engineer is Adam Staniszewski. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producers are Molly Seavy-Nesper and Sabrina Siewert. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. Our co-host is Tonya Mosley. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF OSCAR PETERSON TRIO'S PERFORMANCE OF RICHARD RODGERS' "MY FUNNY VALENTINE")
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