Melora Hardin (photo credit: Kirstin Knufmann) has come a long way from ABC Afterschool Specials and the nighttime dramas Once and Again and Judging Amy. This singer/dancer/actress extraordinaire has released a new movie called You, which she stars in and directed. It also was written by and co-stars her husband, Gildart Jackson. You truly is a family affair, as the movie also features her mom, Diane Hardin, and her dad, Jerry Hardin, as well as her children and many friends of the family — who also happen to be famous actors (Brenda Strong, Joely Fisher and Amy Pietz).
Oh, and she just released her first full-length album, All the Way to Mars. I caught up with this busy woman recently to discuss her latest projects.
Celebrity Extra: How did the idea for You come about?
Melora Hardin: My husband wrote the screenplay. We had had that real moment in the beginning of the movie where I was nursing my daughter and planning what I was going to say at her wedding. That really happened when we had our first daughter. Gildart then had to go out of town for an acting gig and, as he would say, he “cragged” the script out in a few days. It was one of those wonderful real-life moments that inspired a whole screenplay.
CE: You are fortunate to have so many talented friends and family members to call upon to help bring this movie to life for you.
MH: Absolutely — I really am fortunate. It was definitely a family adventure. Having our kids in it and our friends, it really was quite a fun journey to take together. We used our own home for a lot of it, and we had our production offices here. We were wearing a lot of different hats at all times. It was both really exhausting and very fulfilling.
CE: Paula Cole is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. How long have you two been friends, and was she anxious to help with the film?
MH: We’ve been friends for about nine years. We met when we were both pregnant with our first children. We hit it off right away, and have been really close ever since. I told her I was making the movie, and she was really excited and totally behind it all the way. She was really happy for me. So I asked her to write the title song for me. She sings it in the movie, and I recorded a version of it for my record.
CE: What do you hope people take away from the movie after watching it?
MH: It’s a really moving movie, very life-affirming. I think it speaks to familial connection and really appreciating the time you have with your family. I am just really proud of the movie.
CE: Now tell me about your new CD, All the Way to Mars. What made you decide to cut an album?
MH: I am really proud of the record. It’s been a really amazing experience making the record. I met Richard Alexander, my producer, a few years ago, and we really clicked. He liked my original songs and really liked my voice, and I thought he was a lot of fun and gifted and talented. He had just directed Barbra Streisand’s European tour, and he’s worked with Bernadette Peters and Bette Midler and Johnny Mathis. He has an incredible breadth of experience behind him. I was honored that he thought I was great, because I think he’s pretty great.
For the past few years I’ve been singing every day and writing, and we realized we needed to get into the studio and make a record.
CE: I think a lot of your fans who know you from your acting work like The Office and Monk will be surprised when they hear that you are such a great singer, too.
MH: Most people don’t know that I can sing, so it’s exciting to be able to let people in on it. I am absolutely floored by how much people love the album — the feedback has been tremendously supportive. You don’t hear many real, grounded female-vocal records like this nowadays; it’s simply produced, not overproduced.
CE: Speaking of The Office, please tell me Jan Levinson will be popping up again soon!
MH: She is coming back. I had lunch recently with Greg Daniels, the executive producer of The Office, and we tossed some ideas around. We just haven’t landed on the what/when/why of her return, but it will happen. I miss Jan, so we will make this happen.
Melora’s film, “You,” and new album, “All the Way to Mars,” are available online and wherever DVDs and CDs are sold.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Interview: Catching Up With Melora Hardin
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Interview Outtakes, Part 3
Most of the time when I am conducting an interview with a soap star, I have more interview material than space for printing the interview. Here are some blurbs from stars that did not make it to the print version of the interview, but were too good not to publish.
Vanessa Williams (ex-Elizabeth, “South Beach,” pictured left) on the possibility of Wilhelmina and Daniel every getting together on “Ugly Betty”: “That would be bizarre. I can’t even say it’s a love/hate relationship, because I don’t think she’s ever really loved. She’s tolerated and hated him. Maybe if the show were to end and then they had the two of us get together — I don’t even know how the fans would react, but that would definitely be something completely unexpected.”
Taylor Spreitler (Mia, “Days of Our Lives”) on where she’d like to see herself in 10 to 15 years: “I just still want to be working. I don’t really care what else happens — yeah, winning Emmys and stuff like that, that’d be nice — but as long as I am working, I don’t really care.” On pursuing a musical career: “If I did do that, it probably wouldn’t be for a while. But that would be fun. I love singing, but I am kind of scared. I get nervous when I have to sing.”
Jane Krakowski (ex-Tonya, “Another World”): “Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: Tina Fey’s husband, Jeff Richman, writes all the songs and all the music on ‘30 Rock’ — the incidental music, the theme song, ‘Muffin Top,’ all the Janis Joplin-type songs we did this past season, the musical event on the season finale, etc. Jeff writes incredible songs. He is such a talented musician.”
Michael Easton (John, “One Life to Live”) on playing vampire Caleb Morley on “Port Charles” from 2001-03: “That was so much fun. We had a lot of fun with that. That story line had passion and humor, and so many things that you don’t often get. We were very fortunate to get such good story lines.”
Melora Hardin (of “Gilmore Girls” and “Once and Again”) on filming the feature film “You,” her directorial debut: “It is quite a family affair. My husband wrote it, I directed it, we co-produced it, and we both star in it with our children and my parents (both actors, my Dad is well-known character actor Jerry Hardin). We also work with lots of good friends, who are also wonderful actors, like Brenda Strong (“Desperate Housewives”), Joely Fisher (“Till Death”), Allison Mack (“Smallville” and Amy Pietz (“Caroline in the City”). We made the film in 18 days with our own money and in our own home, as well as many locations donated by friends and family. One of my best friends, Paula Cole, wrote the title song for the movie, and lots of other great musicians contributed to our fabulous soundtrack.”
Friday, April 17, 2009
Interview: Melora Hardin Is a Jack-of-All-Trades
Fans know Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, the strictly business/slightly kooky former love interest of “The Office” boss Michael Scott. This multifaceted actress — who has appeared on nighttime dramas (“Once and Again” and “Judging Amy”), classic family shows (“Little House on the Prairie” and “The Love Boat”) and feature films (“Thank You for Smoking” and “27 Dresses”) — has two surefire hit movies out this spring: “Hannah Montana: The Movie” and “17 Again.”
Has Melora prepared herself for the legions of screaming tweens that she is sure to run into? Melora explains: “There really is a national phenomenon with Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana. It’s so fabulous to be a part of a project that gets that much attention and is destined to be a blockbuster. My character, Lorelei, is the foreman of Hannah’s grandmother’s farm, where Hannah goes to find her roots when her father thinks she is getting too big for her britches.
“Billy Ray Cyrus’ character falls for Lorelei immediately, and we have a nice little romance that blossoms. It was nice to play somebody who is so salt of the earth, and what you see is what you get. She’s a country girl with no ulterior motives. When you know Jan (from ‘The Office’), it’s nice to see me, Melora, as someone different. That’s part of why I was so interested in the role. I can relate to her earthiness and her straightforward nature.”
All of these extracurricular projects were fun for Melora, giving her a chance to show different sides of herself as an actress. “I love Jan very much, but I don’t know how much we are alike, really. I guess in some ways we are. Whereas Lorelei and I are alike in a lot of ways. And the character I play in ‘17 Again,’ Principal Jane, I would say is virtually nothing like me, but she is adorable and such a great character. I love the story line that Tom Lennon (of ‘Reno 911’ and ‘The State’ fame) and I carry. It’s a very funny through line in the film.”
Melora is no stranger to funny, having played Jan Levinson on “The Office” since 2005. Regarding Jan: “She is just so wonderfully inappropriate, it’s just such a pleasure to do that all the time. I love the way her seams are always showing and unraveling before our very eyes. As an actor, you really have nothing if you don’t have flaws to play. She’s always surprising the audience, and thus, she is always surprising me.”
A classic Jan scene was during the dinner party, when she pops in Hunter’s (her former assistant) CD and dances inappropriately seductive to it, therefore encouraging Jim to steal the CD when he and Pam leave. I asked Melora what she thinks Jan’s reaction was when she discovered the missing CD. “That is a great observation! You know, she would have been upset, but she might just let it go, thinking that it would be nice for somebody else to enjoy the great music, to get Hunter’s music out to the people.”
For those of you going through Jan withdrawals, Melora assures me that “while I won’t be filming any more scenes this season, next season I will be there.”
Aside from being an actress, Melora is first and foremost a mother and wife. She was in New York City recently to help with the Mom’s Roundtable Discussion, which was sponsored by Splenda.
“We were discussing concerns and interests of moms, mostly related to the health and well-being of their families. We talked about how to do that through food, and just how to enjoy the simpler things in life in these crunched economic times: baking, cooking and eating family dinners together.”
For those interested, you can go to Splenda.com for more details, recipes and ideas for healthier living for you and your family. And don’t miss Melora in “Hannah Montana: The Movie” and “17 Again.”
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Melora Hardin Has a Sweet Tooth
(click on image for bigger picture)Photo credit: Andrew Bicknell
Melora Hardin (of The Office and Once and Again fame) was in NY the week of March 30th hosting a mom’s round-table event with top experts from around the nation to discuss sweet and simple solutions that every mom can use to enhance her family’s lives. During this unique and informal forum, round-table members collaborated to arm moms with smart (and easy) answers to those five-second decisions they make every day. Participants offered original tips and ideas that they use to solve the daily challenges they face, ranging from health and nutrition concerns to fun, engaging cooking and entertaining approaches.
Tune in tomorrow for more on Melora and her current projects, including the movies Hannah Montana: The Movie and 17 Again.
