Bullz-Eye: As someone who has a sister myself, how weird is it to work with your brother on a project like this?

Patricia Heaton: Not as weird as working with my husband on it. [Laughs.] Too many relatives spoil the soup! No, it was great. You know, my brother and I have… Once he stopped torturing me and pinning me down and spitting on me and things like that when we were younger, we both lived and struggled in New York together at the same time. At one point we were both working at People Magazine: he was writing and I was a copy clerk. So we’ve been down the road together, and…he’s a great story guy. He has tons of stories, partly because he’s a journalist himself and he talks to people all day long, every day, and it just generates these stories in his mind. So this movie, “The Christmas Heart,” he had in his head for many years, and we’ve been trying to get it made. We’re so grateful that Hallmark gave it a home.

It’s an unusual Christmas movie, in that it’s very dramatic and there’s very serious themes in it. So it’s a little bit unusual, but I think that’s what’s going to be great about it. You’ll want to have popcorn on one hand and a box of tissues on the other. But it was great to have my brother having written it and my husband (David Hunt) and I producing it, and seeing the whole thing come off the page…we spent hours and hours and hours on the script, so when you start watching the dailies and you see it come alive, it’s so thrilling. And that’s what makes it addictive, ’cause it’s really one of the hardest things you can do, to take something from an idea to the screen. It’s a lot of hard work, but when you see it… It’s the kind of thing that really sort of lives forever.

And, by the way, Christmas movies do live forever. [Laughs.] “The Town without Christmas” is shown 18 times a year in December, and I still get these (residual) checks. I remember when we made it, we were, like, “This thing’s never gonna go anywhere,” because it was made on a dollar up in Halifax. But it was really fun…and it still runs! So there’s kind of a legacy with Christmas movies that they run together, so it’s kind of cool when you have something that you’re so proud of that you know it’s gonna get seen a lot.

BE: You’ve obviously got your own full-time gig going with “The Middle.” How hands-on were you able to be as a producer?

PH: You know, unfortunately, I was not able to go up to Winnipeg, where we shot it, but my brother Michael was. My husband and I were both in L.A. working, so we couldn’t go. But I have to say that the Canadian crews and the Canadian actors are superb, and they really know how to get things done on a dime. We shot the movie in 15 days! That’s really short. So, y’know, I watched the dailies every day that they would send back. Unfortunately, what you’re watching is what can’t be changed. Fortunately, though, my brother and A.J. Morewitz, who runs our company, were on set to sort of be our eyes and ears there.

BE: Was there any talk of you appearing in front of the camera at all for the film?

PH: Yes, but it just turned out that it coincided with my work schedule. But I’d love to do something with Hallmark, and we’re working on doing some other things for them. I would’ve loved to have been a part of it, though. And, fortunately, we got the amazing Teri Polo and Tess Harper, who really give the most phenomenal performances. I’ve probably seen the movie six times now, and I cry every single time. And this movie…I’ve known it since page one, so there’s no surprises in it for me, and I’m still moved every time by their performances.

BE: Well, I have to tell you that I’m a huge fan of “The Middle.” In fact, I review the show every week for the Onion AV Club.

PH: [Excitedly.] Oh, you do? That’s you…? Oh, thank you so much! Those are really great reviews, because you really go through it.

BE: Well, you know, I’ve got a child. And I live a very low-to-middle-class lifestyle. 

PH: [Laughs.] Oh, okay, so you’re really connecting with it. Well, I read them every week! In fact, let me make sure I send out the link on my Twitter…

BE: How was it for you to settle back into a family-sitcom role after having had a brief-ish break to do “Back to You”?

PH: Well, it was really sad, because on “Back to You” I got to wear fabulous clothes. My character’s name, Kelly Carr, was actually embroidered into all the suits that I wore. I was, like, “Wow, yay, I finally get a fashion show!” And then that got canceled, and now I’m getting put back into the Midwest, with a family who’s on the lower end of the economic scale. So I don’t know what God’s plan for me is…but it’s apparently not for me to be Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City,” I guess! [Laughs.]

Part of “Back to You” was that you want to take a role that’s different from the one you just did, so I went from being the wife on “Everybody Loves Raymond” to being Kelly Carr on “Back to You,” which was really wonderful and exciting. Kelsey (Grammer) is a terrific person and actor. But when the script for “The Middle” came along, I immediately thought, “I’m not going to do a mom again,” but then I read it, and it felt extremely different from “Raymond.” And I had not done a single-camera comedy before, and I sort of wanted that skill set in my quiver. And as long as I could get used to the hours…I mean, it’s 12 to 14 hours a day, and I still have four kids! But it’s interesting that my children’s school schedules are such that they’re gone from seven in the morning ’til usually six at night, so they’re almost gone the same amount of time that I am. So it really worked out well that, when they were younger and they needed me there, I could have them on the set with me every day on “Raymond.” And now, when I’m working these much longer hours, they’re also working long hours, too, in their own lives, so I’m not missing too much of their lives. And the great thing about television…and I was talking to Teri about this…versus being in movies, you’re home. You come home every night and can have dinner, you have your weekends, you get some hiatus weeks off. So you can almost have a pretty normal family life!

BE: Over the course of the show to date, you’ve seen the car dealership slowly slip into the background. How have you felt about that? Certainly the home scenes are consistently hilarious. Do you enjoy being able to focus more on the family.

PH: Uh-huh. I think when the creators imagined the show, they have elements in it, and they explore those elements and see what really takes hold. And you sort of gravitate from one place to the next, and as the actors start to fill out the characters, you start to figure out what works and what seems to be resonating. Because the kids and Mike are so well-written and are so well-acted, of course, by Neil Flynn, Eden Sher, Charlie McDermott, and Atticus Shaffer, the writers and I think the audience was more interested in the family. So that’s why you tend to go there. And I think Frankie may have a change of workplace this year. I also noticed we weren’t going to Ehlert’s quite as much, and I think that’s because the characters had gotten so full, and we’ve gotten to know them so well and have started to explore different aspects of their lives at school or whatever, that it was just a natural progression to be more with the family.

BE: In fact, I think I’ve said in reviews a couple of times, surely they’re on their way to sending Frankie back to school or something. There’s got to be some way that they’re going to weed out the car dealership altogether sooner than later.

PH: Right. But she needs to be working, because they need the money, so we’ll find something. But it’d be great if I’d either go back to school or get another job…or maybe do a couple of things. You know, what’s great about the way they write the show is that it sometimes takes a couple of episodes to resolve an issue. Like the dishwasher.

BE: Uh, yeah, our dishwasher was going out right as that storyline kicked in.

PH: It did…?

BE: Yep. So thanks for that.

PH: [Laughs.] So, yeah, I think it’d be fun to see Frankie sort of searching for a job for a few episodes before landing in the right place. I don’t know if that’s what going to happen, but we’ll see.

BE: Do you have a favorite episode of the series to date? Or more than one?

PH: I have some favorite scenes. In fact, we were just nominated for a Humanitas award for last season’s opening…

BE: …when they were coming home from Aunt Ginny’s funeral (in “The Map”)?

PH: [Smiles.] Yes. The car scene. You know, we love car scenes as a cast, because we don’t have to worry about blocking, they shoot them pretty quickly because they only shoot them in one direction, so you don’t have to worry about them re-lighting so much. But it’s also fun to just get a chance to do a…that’s a very long scene. It was probably about 15 pages, or something like that. So just to have a really long discussion… And it just bounced back and forth so well between the different family members, like a real family talk, and went in all these different directions. I just thought it was so satisfying as an actor to shoot that scene. So that’s probably one of my favorite episodes. I also love anything that Sue’s involved in. You know, I’ve always said that if we ever get an Emmy nomination, it’s gonna be because of Eden Sher.

BE: If she doesn’t hurry up and get one…

PH: I know! There has to be some sort of protest if she doesn’t get one.

BE: I am 100% behind that.

PH: I think part of the issue is that there’s a lot of product out there. So we’re competing against a lot of different people, and there’s a lot of shows in the comedy category that don’t necessarily jump out at you and scream “comedy,” so…it’s a little odd. It’s sometimes like comparing apples and oranges in the comedy category, so it’s tough.

BE: Well, I feel like “The Middle” has been perpetually underrated since it first started.

PH: I agree. But I also am so grateful that the critics keep saying that. [Laughs.] And keep our name out there in the process!

BE: Do you find it hard playing Frankie as self-centered as she so often comes across?

PH: [Bursts out laughing.] Okay, you’re the first person who’s said that Frankie’s self-centered. That’s such a…it’s probably because you’re a guy. I see Frankie as completely selfless, and I think if you think she’s self-centered, it’s because she worries about everything, so… [Hesitates.] What about her do you find self-centered?

BE: Okay, well, maybe self-centered isn’t the right word. But she gets so obsessed with things…

PH: She does get obsessed. [Laughs.]

BE:  …often getting caught up in them to the point that sometimes she’s not even paying attention to the person or thing responsible for starting the obsession in the first place. If that makes sense.

PH: Okay, right. That’s different. That’s not self-obsessed. But I would definitely agree with you that she does get obsessed about things. And I think that early on in my parenting, I was obsessed with doing things for the kids and trying to make sure that this was happening and really being controlling and thinking I had to make all these things happen in my kids’ lives for them to be successful human beings out in the world. And as I’ve gotten older and just more tired… [Laughs.] I’ve just sort of realized that my children have a certain set personality that no amount of my interfering is going to change. There are certain things that you can do to sort of open them up to different experiences and see if they respond. I think that’s the most parents can do. “I notice you like to read. Try this.” “I notice you have really good hand/eye coordination. Try this.” That’s the most you can do as a parent, I think. And once I started realizing that, I was able to relax. Frankie hasn’t realized that yet. I think she knows that her family’s at quite a disadvantage financially, and she knows that she and Mike aren’t the greatest parents, and their kids aren’t going to be doing dressage or whatever.

The thing I really relate to is that they’re very busy, and they can’t be driving the kids all over the place and showing up for everything. I’ve had that in my life. I remember we had four kids in AYSO Soccer, and what it meant was all day Saturday and all day Sunday we had to sit and watch completely talentless kids run around on a soccer field. [Laughs.] And my husband, who’s British, could not stand it. He’s, like… [Adopts a British accent.] “Look at what they’re doing! The coaches, they’re ridiculous!” And we just said, “Nope, we’re not doing it.” We pulled everybody out. Same with baseball. We pulled everybody out of Little League. The kids didn’t really want to do it, anyway. And as a result, our kids are big, fat couch potatoes who only play video games. [Laughs.] So see how that worked? Really successful. So I totally relate to the Hecks in that I just can’t be that kind of parent…and yet I feel guilty that I’m not that kind of parent.

BE: Lastly, I’ve read how everyone brings their own ideas to the writers for possible story ideas. Is there anything from your own life that’s made into an episode?

PH: One of the most obvious ones was during the first season. For some reason, I thought it would really add a lot to our family to host an international student from Japan. My son was studying Japanese at the time at his high school, so they had asked if they had any parents who would be hosts. And that happened once when I was growing up, the people across the street had these Italian guys stay at their house, and I thought, “That’s one of my clearest memories from growing up. I want to recreate that for my kids!” A lot of things that parents do is because they’re trying to create memories for their kids. That’s why they involve them in all these activities. So we did that, and I just remember every day coming to the set, going, “Omigod, this Japanese kid’s just standing in the corner staring at us, and he doesn’t speak any English.” So I said, “Can you imagine if the Hecks…”

I mean, I think my life is pretty good, but when this kid’s staring at us, I’d start feeling like we’re the ugly Americans, and everything we do is awful. Can you imagine if someone came to the Heck house and watched how they operated? I said, “We have to have them have an exchange student.” So that was really taken from that. And the young man who stayed with us, who was a lovely guy, came and visited the set, so they experienced firsthand how he just kind of stood there and never smiled. We have pictures of him, and he’d just… [Offers frozen stare.] So we did that episode with Matthew Moy (who now plays Han on “2 Broke Girls”) as the Japanese exchange student, and it was just so much fun. Matthew is such a wonderful, funny actor.

Bullz-Eye: With your performance on “The Middle,” you’re quickly developing a reputation as one of the most fearless comediennes on television.

Eden Sher: Wow, thank you! I appreciate that. I’ll try to limit the growth of my head after a compliment like that. [Laughs.] When people say that, though, I’m not sure how to take it, because it doesn’t seem…I feel like if you’re not going big, if there’s any sort of fear in the way or if there’s any thought process that gets in the way of being funny, you’re not going to be funny. So I don’t really consider it to be a special thing. I’m just doing my job!

BE: Well, you’re certainly not afraid to “Sue it up” as far as your appearance goes, but you also seem to be game for any and all physical comedy gags.

ES: Yes! Yes, I am, because I say the sweatier I am, the more bruised I am, the dirtier I get, the funnier it probably will be! [Laughs.] Because, I mean, you know the scene when I’m practicing to be the mascot, with the cardboard box on my head? I have realized this: falling or hitting something or physically hurting yourself is always funny. In real life or TV. Always is.

BE: So do you have any formal training as far as physical comedy goes?

ES: Uh, you mean aside from being clumsy and accidentally hurting myself? [Laughs.] No! I mean, I’ve taken acting classes forever, but I’ve actually never even taken a class that’s strictly comedy. I’ve taken improv classes before, but not a comedy class, per se. Do they offer physical comedy classes? Is that actually something they do?

BE: Not being an actor myself, let’s say, “Sure, they do!”

ES: [Laughs.] Well, either way, I’ve never actually taken one.

BE: DeAnn Heline has confirmed that it was actually you who went careening across the countertop in “The Test” last season, but did you do the swing set face-plant in this year’s season premiere (“The Last Whiff of Summer”)?

ES: That was not. I tried to do it, and I just…it was too dangerous. But it did take awhile, because it’s actually the stunt girl you see walking to do it, too, and it was quite an ordeal having to help her master my walk. [Laughs.] I had to show her how to walk like Sue! But I will say, because this is something you don’t even see my face for, that the mascot face-plant…? That was me in the suit. That was actually me.

BE: Is that a regular occurrence? How much of what we see the mascot doing is you inside the suit?

ES: Anytime I’m doing anything physical other than standing, it’s me. All of the dancing stuff, that’s all me.

BE: Regarding to the physical transformation, what’s involved in the process of turning Eden Sher into Sue Heck?

ES: Well, first of all, I appreciate you noting that there is actually a transformation required! But it’s actually helped me to retain my anonymity a lot, because either people aren’t expecting it, or…I usually get, “You know, you look a lot like that girl on that show? Have you seen it?” It’s not actually that extensive of a process, because it’s mostly a case of coming in with dirty hair…oh, but I’m revealing too much. [Laughs.] Seriously, though, what happens is that I usually don’t wash my hair, because they have to flatten it out and make it a little stringy-ish. Or stringier than it usually is, anyway. And then they don’t put any makeup on me. They kind of fill in my eyebrows to make ‘em a little bushier. And then they just put the braces in, and that’s pretty much it.

BE: You’ve obviously revealed, if perhaps unintentionally, that there’s a bit of Sue in you at all times, but do you have any sort of Sue mindset that you try to get into before filming?

ES: That’s a good question, but…I think I actually think much less about it than people give me credit for. It sort of was a revelation during Season 1, when I was getting too act-y about it and I would kind of try to justify every single step of the way. There was a turn I had to do – I think it was in Episode 8 – where I had to flip from extreme sadness to extreme jubilation, as Sue often does, and I was having a lot of trouble executing the joke because I was trying to justify it in my head. I was, like, “I don’t understand how someone could be that sad and then go straight into being exuberant. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not real. I can’t do that. I can’t do it!” The director was, like, “You are thinking about this way too much. There is no justification. There is no actor justification. There is no, like, intellectual justification for why someone would be that way, because there is no justification for why someone would ever be that way. That’s just how she is. That’s just how it’s going to be. If she’s sad one second and then exuberant, that’s how Sue is, and…just accept it.” And I was, like, “Oh, my God, this is a lesson for life!” [Laughs.] Sometimes you can’t rationalize something. It just is. And since then, I don’t think about getting into Sue or why she does the things she does. I just sort of let it be and let it go.

BE: Yet at this point, now that you’ve been doing the character for so long, you probably know her well enough at this point that you actually could rationalize why she does the things she does.

ES: Totally. It was weird when, last year, I realized that…it just sort of clicked. I really kind of got the character. Like I said, I still don’t really do anything, but there’s definitely now a distinct difference between when I’m acting as Sue and when I’m just being myself. A lot of Sue has come to light just through acting it out, not through thinking about it.

BE: How did you find your way onto the show in the first place? Was it a standard audition situation, or did they know you from your earlier work on ABC’s “Sons and Daughters”?

ES: I don’t think they did. It was a very standard audition. I actually didn’t even meet with the producers until, like, four auditions in or something. I had a bunch of pre-reads, so I kept going back under the impression that these were callbacks, but they 100% were not callbacks. They were also bringing new people in that they hadn’t seen. So I was getting increasingly insulted, but my manager was, like, “No, just keep going back, they want to see you.” And I was, like, “No! They don’t want to see me, because they still want to see more girls. They want to see other girls, and I don’t even think they like me, because they’re still bringing back other people. So, no, I’m not going back!” And finally my manager said, “Okay, this one is a real callback, it’s with the producers, would you just go?” And I went…and they seemed to hate me! [Laughs.]

I was going, “I’m not doing this right, they don’t like me, this is stupid, I’m never gonna get this job…” Plus, all the other girls were, like, 12 years old, and I was 17 years old at the time. But my manager said, “They like you! Just keep going back!” And finally the number of 12-year-old girls started to dwindle, and by the time of the actual screen test, it was between me and two 11-year-olds. And at that point, I was, like, “Okay, if they want a younger girl, they’re gonna go for the younger girl,” so I sort went in there going, “All right! This is me! Let’s see what we can do!” And I left the screen test feeling like, “Okay, well, I bombed that one. Oh, well.” And then I got the call about an hour later, saying, “You got it! They loved you!” And I cheered. [Laughs.] “All right! I did it!”

BE: Your onscreen parents were both well-established sitcom figures: Patricia Heaton from “Everybody Loves Raymond” and Neil Flynn from “Scrubs.” Did you find it intimidating to be paired with them? Or were you even a fan of those shows?

ES: Oh, yes. “Everybody Loves Raymond” was a show that my family watched. “Raymond,” “Seinfeld,” and, uh, “Felicity.” I’m not sure how appropriate it was that we watched “Felicity” together, but those were the shows that we watched as a family. So I went in, and I was, like, “Okay, I’m not going to be intimidated, this is gonna be just fine.” And it was the same with “Scrubs.” I loved Neil, loved The Janitor. And I tried. I really tried not to be intimidated. But if you can tell anything from this conversation thus far, you can probably tell that I’m not really what you’d call a chill person. [Laughs.] So I tried my best to be super-chill, but I doubt I was. But thankfully they were super-nice from the get-go and really warm and welcoming, so it was all good.

BE: You and Charlie McDermott and Atticus Shaffer all seem to get along well off-screen. How did you guys first start bonding?

ES: I don’t know, we just…instantly fell into that brotherly/sisterly dynamic. I think acting with someone, you automatically are putting yourself in the position to be vulnerable, and I think that’s really the key to getting close to someone fast. If you’re both in the position to embarrass yourself, then you’re both gonna be more empathetic towards each other and you’re just gonna feel closer as people. And with Charlie, we’re really close in age, and we just realized that we’re both really cool people. [Laughs.] So that helped. And Atticus…I mean, he was just a super-cool little kid!

BE: It’s got to be rough on him this season, with his voice changing.

ES: Uh, yeah. I would not have wanted to go through that onscreen. [Laughs.] But he’s handling it like a pro!

BE: Sue’s evolved over the run of “The Middle,” thankfully, but in the early episodes of the series, were you ever concerned that she was being portrayed as a complete loser a little too much?

ES: Well, I wasn’t concerned, because I was playing her, and Sue wasn’t really all that concerned about it, so it was an easy thing to not think about. [Laughs.] But I definitely got concerns from my friends and family, who were, like, “How hard is it to play this girl that’s always losing?” “It’s fine. She doesn’t care, so I don’t!”

BE: Has it ever bothered you that she might seem too clueless? Not that there’s anything wrong with being perpetually optimistic, but there are moments where it’s, like, “I know this is a comedy, but in the real world, she’d be eaten alive!”

ES: It’s never really bothered me, but I can understand that. I mean, there are certain things that Sue does where I’ve gone, “Okay, this is too naïve even for Sue. This is pushing it a little bit.” But I think you have to suspend disbelief for a little bit. Like, with the French-kissing bit, it was a little bit…I was, like, “Okay, she’s 15, she’d probably know what French kissing is.” [Laughs.] But for the joke, it sort of worked. In that sense, though, yeah, I was a little concerned that she might be being portrayed as a little too innocent. As far as the losing goes, though, no, I’ve never had a problem with that. It’s actually way easier to be optimistic than you think, even as a teenager. Because you can control it. If you’re a happy person, if you can see things through that lens, then you generally do.

BE: What would you say that you’ve brought to the character of Sue that you can specifically say, “That was my contribution”?

ES: Well, there are a few things. One of the lines that they’ve sort of written in regularly now…it was the first time I just felt so good about the way I’d delivered something, but the line was written simply as Sue asking, “Really?” And…I don’t know, but I just decided to say it in a really funny way. And a few episodes later, they wrote in the script in italics or whatever, “In classic Sue style, ‘Really?’” And I was, like, “What?” They said, “Yeah, the way you said it before, that was just perfect.” That’s just something I kind of do in real life, so that was great.

Also, Sue’s victory dance? I am proud to take credit for that dance. Only because it seems so ridiculous that you’d be, like, “Wow, who made that up? I can’t imagine how they would’ve choreographed that…” And I’m proud to say that no one did, because I do that in real life! [Laughs.] We were thinking what would be the best way for Sue to be super-excited, since she’s already super-excited all the time, anyway, and I was, like, “Well, I don’t know, but this is what I do when I’m super-excited.” And I launched into the dance, and they were just, like, “Done. You got it. We’re going with that.”

BE: Were you disappointed that Sue’s most recent boyfriend, Matt (Moisés Arias), only lasted for a few episodes before moving away, or did the whole idea of a romantically-successful Sue comprise the integrity of the character?

ES: I was a little disappointed, mainly because Moises is, like, the coolest guy. So, yeah, I was disappointed that I didn’t get to work with him for longer, but, no, I don’t think it compromised the integrity of the character. [Laughs.] But at the same time, it…well, it was what it was, but I did sort of think it got played out. Which unfortunately happens in TV.

BE: But they’ve been very good about not overusing the characters of Sue’s friends, Brad and Carly, thankfully.

ES: Yes! In fact, I’m actually on set right now and just finished filming a scene with Brock (Ciarelli), who plays Brad. It’s nice that they’ve let Brad in particular be more of a character rather than a caricature, which I’m super pleased about.

BE: Actually, my AV Club review of “The Hose,” I made particular note of how pleasant it was to see Brad turn up without the recurring “Sue doesn’t realize he’s gay” gag.

ES: Yes! Oh, my God, I totally, totally agree. In fact, I…well, I read the script, but I tend to forget about scenes that I’m in, let alone the ones I’m not in, so when I watch the episode, it seems like new. [Laughs.] But when I saw that episode…well, for one thing, it was odd to actually watch that scene and not be in it, because I’m usually the one filming with Blaine (Saunders, who plays Carly) and Brock. But it was just such a perfect Brad scene, with him talking about all the different ways he was available to chat and nothing to do with anything about him being gay or whatever. It was just perfect. I love that direction.

BE: You may not be able to speak to this if it’s already in the cards, but do you think the “Sue doesn’t realize he’s gay” joke is played out? Not that it hasn’t been funny, but at this point, it seems like we’ve really got to be on the cusp of Sue going, “Oh, my God, you’re gay!”

ES: Yeah, I think it’s something that…it’s a scene that will probably continue in some fashion, but I agree that the latent gay jokes are kind of played out, just because…well, I mean, they’re in 10^th grade, they’re not complete idiots…someone’s got to say something. It can’t just be flying under the radar anymore. [Laughs.]

BE: Did you feel the transition of the show as it kind of started to phase out the parent-workplace stories and started to focus in more specifically on the family?

ES: I didn’t think about it until… [Starts to laugh.] It was last season, when I realized that I had not had a day off in, like, months. From January to April, I just didn’t have a day off at all. And I was talking to some of the writers, and I was, like, “Yeah, what happened to the Elhert days?” There were days that would be just a Patty (Heaton) day, and they’d film at Elhert’s and I’d get to sleep ‘til 9 AM. What happened to that? And they explained it to me. They said, “We felt that the family stories were way stronger, and we’d much rather give you an A-line story than use the time to get Bob and Elhert onscreen. We’d rather give you or Charlie or Atticus your own A-line story and not go there. We realize where the gold is.” [Laughs.] So I was, like, “Ohhhhhhh, okay! I’ll take it! I may not get a day off, but that’s a major compliment, so okay!”

BE: As the father of a daughter, I’ve particularly enjoyed the way the Mike and Sue relationship has been evolving over the course of the show’s run.

ES: Oh, my God, I am such a baby: I cry every time Sue has a storyline with Mike. I cry when I read the episode, I cry after I’m done filming the scene, I cry when I watch the episode. [Laughs.] So I’m so happy that you also appreciate that relationship, because it’s my favorite relationship on the show!

BE: Watching Sue and Mike in the car as he attempts to teach her how to drive, that’s just so spot-on with the relationship between my daughter and I.

ES: Oh, really? [Laughs.] The freak-out. Oh, that was a fun time.

BE: One thing that’s interesting, however, is how their relationship veers somewhat dramatically at times, from Mike being completely oblivious as Sue is trying desperately to express her love for him to…well, to bring it back to “The Hose,” when she’s freaking out about the size of his paycheck, he’s very aware of how she feels and we see the sensitive side of him that doesn’t come out very often.

ES: Yes! I agree. But I think it’s pretty reflective of a normal father/daughter relationship in that way. Sometimes his sensitivity will sort of shine through, like when he saves the cat. But not always. [Laughs.]

BE: A couple of obligatory questions. First, who have been your favorite guest stars?”

ES: Oh, my God, I mean, there’s no question: Whoopi, Whoopi, Whoopi. [Laughs.] Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi “Movie Star” Goldberg. She is a godly woman. Whoopi Godberg…? She was fantastic, and I think she had a really good time working on the show, too. It was a good opportunity for her, and then the actual experience of it for both of us was, I think, a positive one. I can only speak for myself, but we emailed a little bit after, and she seemed to enjoy it herself, so… I was certainly super-pleased, anyway!

BE: How has Norm MacDonald been to work with on the show? He would seem to be the complete antithesis of a family-sitcom guy, but I know he’s got that history with DeAnn and Eileen ( they were all writers on “Roseanne”).

ES: Yes, he… [Starts to laugh.] That’s a good observation. He is awesome. An awesome human being. I talked with him a lot, mostly about…oh, what is his name? Wittgenstein! We were talking about what is real, what is true, and we talked about that for a long time. But that is a very astute observation about him not being, like, a real family-sitcom type. He’s a little bit of a loose cannon, but in the best way possible.

BE: This may coincide at least partially with your Whoopi answer, but do you have particular favorite episodes that were Sue-centric?

ES: Yeah, (“The Guidance Counselor”) definitely is one of them. And also the one in Season 1 where I got to kung-fu fight. That was mighty fun.

BE: Which is funny, because I just revisited that episode in conjunction with Brooke Shields coming back on the show.

ES: Oh, yeah, that was Brooke’s first episode! Yeah, Brooke’s another one where it’s just, like, “Oh, my God, you are such a chill person. Why are you so perfect? You need to leave!” [Laughs.]

BE: Now for a few flashbacks to your pre-“Middle” career. To start off, I’m curious what this credit of “Caterpillar Girl” is all about.

ES: [Laughs.] Oh, my God! Okay. Funny story, actually. That was my first job ever, and it was a short film that I did, but the director is a TV director now who’s pretty well known. Her name is Jamie Babbitt, and she directed a few episodes of ‘The Middle’!

BE: Now, I guess the question is, did she recognize you when she walked onto the set? Or did she already know that you were on the show?

ES: I doubt she would’ve…if she hadn’t known my name, she might not have recognized me, because I was, like, nine or ten when I did the thing. But I was going, “Jamie Babbitt? Why do I know that name?” So I Googled her and saw that one of her first projects was “Stuck,” and I just started freaking out, going, “Oh, my God! I was in ‘Stuck’! That’s Jamie from when I was nine!” And when we were at the table read, she sort of stuck her hand out and introduced herself, and I was, like, “No, Jamie, I don’t know if you remember me, but I did ‘Stuck’!” And she said, “Oh, my God, of course you did! Of course you did! I remember you! Yes!” And I don’t know if she was trying to play it cool or if she actually didn’t remember, but it was still sweet that she remembered me eventually. [Laughs.] And it was great. I was, like, “This is so crazy!” And she was, like, “Yeah, it is…but that’s the industry!”

BE: It’s funny to look back at “Weeds” and see that there are two future ABC sitcom stars in there: you and Allie Grant (of “Suburgatory”).

ES: Oh, I know! And we’re on the same night!

BE: What was the experience of “Weeds” like for you, given that it was a high-profile show and a pretty early role in your career?

ES: Yeah, it was a, uh, pretty different experience. [Laughs.] All sets are different, but I think that one…I was particularly green, and everyone else comparatively had worked so much more. It was very easy to get inundated. I had a great time, it was definitely a learning experience, but I was far less comfortable then than I am here now and likely will be on future jobs.

BE: Now if we could just get Alexander Gould to show up as your boyfriend on “The Middle.”

ES: Oh, my God, I love Alexander Gould, and I would love for him to be on this show.

BE: I know “Sons and Daughters” was at least partially improvised, but did that extend to you and the other younger members of the cast?

ES: Yeah, it was actually pretty… [Hesitates.] Well, I don’t want to say it was wholly improvised, because there was an outline, but the actual words that people were saying changed from take to take, and that did apply to all actors. Of course, for the really little ones, it didn’t, because they could barely speak at all. [Laughs.] But, no, I was able to…it was sort of weird, actually, because “Weeds” I had booked right after “Sons and Daughters,” and I really did not understand the role of the script supervisor. Because this woman kept coming up to me, correcting me, and that’s a pretty word-perfect show. As most are. People think a lot of shows are improvised that really are not. But I remember that I’d be corrected on one little word, and I actually turned to someone and was, like, “Who the hell is this person? All I missed was one word!” And they’re, like, “That’s the continuity person, the script supervisor!” “But continuity…doesn’t that mean that they make sure you pick someone up with the same hand, or you lead with the right foot rather than the left?” “No, they correct you on the lines.” I had never experienced that! I’d only ever experienced improvisation! Which is crazy, when you think about it.

BE: I’d think “Sons and Daughters” would’ve been both a great training ground as well as an incredibly intimidating experience.

ES: Well, no, actually. If I did it now, it would be very intimidating, but because I’d never experienced anything outside of that, I didn’t even question it. I wasn’t scared. Also, Fred Goss and Nick Holly are two amazing people, and they did this really intelligent thing, which was, before we started filming, to have a weekly cast meeting / improv session where we would just sort of…it was sort of just talking, but we sort of built our characters from the ground up that way. We would do scenes and we would improv, and then they would go, “Okay, now do it but have this end goal.” And we’d do it again, and…it was enlightening. It was a little mini improv course, and it was very helpful.

BE: I presume it served you well on “Party Down.”

ES: Well, yes, but that’s one of those shows that’s shockingly more scripted than you think. They do love to play around. It’s much looser than, say, here on “The Middle.” But it’s definitely a scripted show. And I say that because I think the writers deserve a little bit more…not that people don’t respect them, but people just assume that the actors are coming up with a lot more jokes than they really are. [Laughs.]

BE: You and Ryan Hansen got to share a tender moment, as it were.

ES: Yes, we did…and it was so awkward. [Laughs.] Because he was way older than me. And also married. And I was 17 and had a boy friend at the time. And we were both just, like, “Oooooookay, let’s do this!”

BE: I may be the only one who feels this way, but Sue’s obsession with teen pop stars on “The Middle” could almost be a callback to your one-off appearance on “The Middleman.”

ES: [Bursts out laughing.] Oh, my God! Did you see that episode?

BE: I have the complete-series set, I’ll have you know.

ES: Oh, my God. Yes, that was…wow, I sort of forgot about all of my past jobs! [Laughs.] This is so refreshing! I get to talk about something other than what I’m doing right now! Yeah, that was fun. That was super-fun.

BE: I’m curious how you ended up on an episode of Sonny with a Chance. Not that there’s anything wrong with the series, but given the shows you’d done up to that point, it just seems like an odd choice to do a Disney ‘tween-com.

ES: Yes. It does, except for – a moment of honesty here – when someone offers you a role, unless you’re super-busy, you generally don’t turn it down. [Laughs.] This is why I ended up doing an episode of a Disney Channel show this summer, too. It was sort of the same thing, where I was offered the role. I didn’t have to audition or anything, and I just thought, “Okay, this’ll be a few days of filming, I know the people that I’m working with…it’ll be fun!” And…I will leave the story at that. That’s what I thought going into it, and…done with story.

BE: That’s quite all right. And all I will add is that I have talked to at least one other person who did an episode of “Sonny with a Chance” (Bobby Slayton), and he did not leave his story at that, so it’s possible that you had a similar experience to his.

ES: [Laughs.] I would just like to say that, as a rule, the people were so nice. They were such lovely people working on that show, and just to be sure it comes across in print, I am being completely sincere.

BE: Lastly, there’s a credit on your IMDb page for “ImagiGARY,” which Charlie McDermott has both written and directing. If you could offer any details about that project whatsoever, that’d be great.

ES: Yes! I am down to promote this, because it was such an amazing experience. Yeah, Charlie and another one of my best friends, Nate Hartley, wrote this movie. I was involved in the process of them writing it for the last two years, and with every new draft, I was, like, “Okay, I call this role!” And Charlie wanted to direct it himself and wanted to film it in Pennsylvania. It’s this awesome coming-of-age story about a kid – played by Charlie – and his first week of college, just experiencing crazy loneliness, so he re-imagines his old imaginary friend from childhood. And I play the amazing, sure-to-be-critically-acclaimed role of Drunk Girl. [Laughs.]

BE: Wow! That was only listed as “rumored” by IMDb!

ES: [Laughs.] That should not be rumored, because that is fact! And is it also on there that I produced it?

BE: It is. In fact, I was just going to ask you what the experience was like to work behind the camera for a change.

ES: You know, it wasn’t quite as involved as…like, I actually wrote and directed a short film myself in April, and that was pretty stressful. I think Charlie took the brunt of the stress on this. But I was definitely able to help with some of decisions, and I was giving a lot of notes. It’s a lot of note-giving. That’s what producing is. [Laughs.] It’s interesting, though. And watching Charlie…it’s so stressful! I think I’d like to do more behind the camera eventually, but it is a far more stressful position than being an actor, I will say that!

BE: Well, I think that’s about it, except to reiterate that it’s really been great watching you evolve along with your character on “The Middle” over the course of the show’s run to date, and I’ll say it again: you really are a fearless comedienne.

ES: Oh, man, thank you so much! And thank you for this awesome interview! Seriously, these were great questions.

BE: That’s what I get for reviewing the show every week on the AV Club: I’ve actually ended up knowing what I’m talking about.

ES: You really do know what you’re talking about, though. It’s only when I have a really good interview that I realize that there’s really a difference between good interviews and bad interviews. [Laughs.] I try to be really forgiving of those people asking questions, because I know it’s hard, but not until I have a really awesome interview do I go, “Wow, there’s such a difference between someone who knows what they’re talking about and someone who doesn’t!”

BE: Well, I’ll take your praise if you’ll take mine.

ES: Absolutely. Mutual respect! [Laughs.]

Bullz-Eye: First off, let me just tell you what a pleasure it is to talk to you. I’ve been a fan for many years.

Chris Elliott: Oh, well, thank you. I just don’t hear that enough. [Laughs.]

BE: In my case, it’s no exaggeration: when I was in high school, I sent off for tickets for “Late Night with David Letterman.” Granted, I had graduated by the time I actually got them, but, hey, at least I got them.

CE: Oh, my gosh. That’s pretty funny. So did you actually wait four years for tickets?

BE: No, but it was more than a year: I sent them off during my senior year, and it was well after graduation when they finally arrived.

CE: Wow, that’s pretty amazing. But it proves that you were a hardcore fan. Do you remember who was on the show when you went?

BE: Absolutely: it was Jane Pauley and Bruno Kirby. I also remember that they did Shoe Removal Races that night, with a podiatrist squaring off against a shoe salesman.

CE: Ah, yes, that was an excellent episode. [Laughs.]

BE: You were actually just on Letterman’s show a few nights ago. It sounded like you may have taken a bit of flour into your lungs.

CE: [Laughs.] I started to smell like cookies after I was under the lights for a little while. But I thought it came off all right. It’s always fun to go back there, and I hate coming back on there as myself in any form. This interview is okay because I can’t see you. [Laughs.] But I don’t like coming on and just talking as myself, so I always come on with something.

BE: The “Downton Abbey” thing was great, too.

CE: Yeah, I thought that came out great.

BE: So let’s talk “Eagleheart.” One of the most surprising things about the series, at least to me, is that you don’t actually get a writing credit on the show. Not that you don’t have some input, given that you’re a consulting producer, but…

CE: I’d say these guys have my voice down. I knew that when I met with them. They were huge fans of mine, and, honestly, I didn’t want the extra work. [Laughs.] And at the same time, y’know, they changed the pilot quite a bit to suit me, and what I do – and Adam Resnick does this, also – is sort of take a pass at the scripts when they’re done with them and change a couple of jokes here and there, and if something’s not quite in my voice, I just kind of paraphrase what I would be saying, and that sort of thing. I’m sort of at the point in my career where writers that are working in the business sort of grew up knowing about me. At least the ones that are fans of mine, anyway. And they’re really capable of writing for me. It wasn’t always that case. Early on in my career, it was pretty much Adam and me just trying to establish this voice.

BE: Of course, it makes me wonder if people sometimes come to you with something utterly off the wall, saying, “Well, ‘Cabin Boy’ was so nuts that I figured you’d be into this.’

CE: Yeah, I think I get that a lot. It’s interesting: some people put anything weird in the “weird” category and think, “Oh, Chris’ll do that because it’s so weird.” But you’re right. Certain people, like yourself, get why certain things are funny-weird as opposed to just being strange. That’s a different breed. I think I do get lumped in a lot with “he’s just off the wall, he’s crazy.”

BE: On paper, “Eagleheart” would seem to be more or less just a “Walker: Texas Ranger” parody, but it’s definitely been evolving into something more.

CE: Yeah, it was sort of that when it first started. That’s what the pilot was like. It was gonna be this half-hour show…you probably already know this, Will, but it was gonna be a show within a show, like “Walker: Texas Ranger,” and then behind the scenes of that show. We shot that pilot, and then within it were also examples of what the actual show we were doing was like…and Adult Swim actually liked the fake show better than all the behind-the-scenes stuff. [Laughs.] So that’s what they picked up: the fake show.

BE: Have you been happy with the show’s evolution?

CE: I’ve been very happy. I mean, right from the start, I thought it was gonna be fun, but it really did sort of evolve into this very surreal and very comfortable place for me to work. I mean, like you said, it seems like I’m a writer on it because it’s all my kind of humor. Jason Woliner, who directs all of them, gives the shows a very film-like look to them, which makes them stand apart, and then Andrew Weinberg and Michael Koman, the writers, along with Jason, are a cut above, I think. We all came from kind of the same background to a degree. Andrew and Michael were “Conan” writers. So the sensibility was always the same.

BE: Speaking of Mr. O’Brien, I haven’t actually seen the Season 2 episodes yet, but I understand he has deigned to make a cameo.

CE: Yeah. He was really hard to get. [Laughs.] A lot of contractual obligations for that one. Basically, there was one sticking point that was really hard to get over, which was that he didn’t want to do it. But once they got through that…

BE: Bud Cort apparently turns up as well.

CE: Yes! Bud Cort, Conan O’Brien, Ben Stiller makes an appearance. It’s a star-studded cast this year.

BE: As a “Breaking Bad” fan, I’m thrilled to see that Dean Norris is going to be appearing as well.

CE: And he’s really funny. Really, really funny. And a great guy, too.

BE: How did Mickey Rooney find his way into Season One?

CE: Uh, I wasn’t in that meeting. [Laughs.] It kind of happened without my knowledge. That was an episode where they needed an actor who had a good wattle underneath his chin. An older actor, because the premise was that there were all these older people who were doing sound effects on television, and apparently the sound effects were made by the neck wattles. And Mickey Rooney…we had a lot of people come in and audition for that, and apparently Mickey Rooney had the best wattle. Apparently. [Laughs.]

BE: As an old-school Letterman fan, I could ask you about dozens of things about “Late Night,” but first and foremost has to be your Marlon Brando impression. To my mind, the banana dance is nothing short of iconic.

CE: Well, that’s nice to hear. And you’re not alone. Yeah, it was pretty popular back in the ‘80s. I think that and the Truffle Shuffle were the big dances back then. [Laughs.]

BE: Being that Brando was as eccentric as he was, did you ever actually hear from him about the impression?

CE: No, but we actually did… I think I got his phone number at one point, and I remember actually calling and getting to a maid or somebody… [Starts to laugh.] I asked to speak to him and said who I was, and the line went dead after that. So I never actually spoke with him. And then I do remember him doing an interview, I think with Connie Chung, and she asked him…not specifically about the Brando impersonation, but she asked him, “What do you think about David Letterman?” And he didn’t answer. He just made a grotesque face. That may have been a reaction to my doing him on the show. I don’t know. I like to think that it was.

BE: Is it strange to find yourself now the middle Elliott, generationally speaking, given that your daughter (Abby Elliott) is now on “Saturday Night Live”?

CE: It’s really nice, but it is odd. Anyone at 51, I think, is starting to look back a little bit with a bit of astonishment at how fast time goes, so it is odd. I think it would be odd if… Both of my daughters are in the business, and I think it would be odd if they were doing anything else. I now have a 24-year-old and a 21-year-old, but the fact that they’re actually doing what I did when I was at their age is even weirder. And it must’ve been weird for my dad, too.

BE: And how is your dad doing?

CE: He’s doing well, thanks. He just turned 89 a couple of days ago.

BE: It’s fun being able to look on YouTube and see clips of some of the “Bob & Ray” stuff.

CE: It is. I do that every now and then myself. [Laughs.] It’s amazing to me how much I have in common with my dad and our comedy, because on the surface it does not look the same at all. But especially when Bob and Ray were starting out, some of the stuff they did was pretty bizarre and off the wall, and I realize that, yeah, that’s obviously where I got it from. I was thinking the other day that…I think if I worked at a radio station when they were first starting out, I would’ve been drawn to their sense of humor right away. I would’ve tried to be on their staff. And they probably would’ve been drawn to me in some way. They would’ve made me the goofy record-puller in the studio. [Laughs.]

BE: Abby’s obviously doing very well on “SNL,” but given that you had the chance to work with your father on “Get A Life,” were you disappointed when the pilot you did with her, “You’ve Reached the Elliots,” didn’t take off?

CE: Yeah, I mean, I actually thought that was a good pilot. It’s…ever since “Get A Life,” it’s been hard for any network to sort of see me doing anything but what I did on “Get a Life.” And at the same time, they don’t want me to do what I did on “Get A Life.” [Laughs.] So that’s doubly hard for me. I mean, back then, six years ago, the idea of playing a dad but playing him like a grown-up Chris Peterson, seemed like, “Okay, this is the best of both worlds.” But ultimately I think it’s hard to imagine that guy from “Get A Life” having kids. [Laughs.]

BE: Speaking of “Get A Life,” has there been any movement on seeing it released as a complete series on DVD?

CE: It is going to be coming out. I’m not entirely sure when. I think probably in the fall…? But, yeah, it will be actually coming out…finally!

BE: Do you know who’s putting it out? Is it Shout Factory?

CE: It is Shout Factory.

BE: I knew it had to be. [Laughs.] That’s awesome. Now if we can just get “FDR: A One-Man Show” back out there…

CE: That was out there once upon a time. I think it was on tape when it came out. I don’t think it ever went to DVD at any point, unfortunately. But, of course, I continue to travel the country performing it… [Laughs.]

BE: Of course. Have you done any special features for the “Get A Life” set yet?

CE: We’re going to. I guess the end of April we’re going to go out and do those. Commentaries and that sort of thing.

BE: As you can tell, I’m a little psyched.

CE: Oh, good. No, I’m glad! I think it’s time that fans like yourself can get it. I don’t know why, really, that it’s taken so long.

BE: To touch on “Cabin Boy,” I also must tell you that I’ve got my daughter to the point where, whenever she sees a sock monkey, she asks, “Would you like to buy a monkey?” And she’s only six, so she’s clearly damaged for life.

CE: [Laughs.] Yeah, that’s one of those catchphrases that’s entered our culture, thanks to “Cabin Boy.”

BE: I also write for the Onion AV Club, and we just had a piece on there where the film was inducted into the New Cult Canon.

CE: I saw that! Yeah, that was nice to see. I’ve always said that I stand by that movie. I think Adam did a great job directing it. Every time I see it on TV, I’m amazed at how interesting it looks and how bizarre it is. At the time it came out, it was just vilified, but it seems to have grown on people.

BE: Setting aside the obvious answers of “Cabin Boy” and “Get A Life,” is there any other project you’ve worked on over the years that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved?

CE: Oh, that’s a good question. You mean something that actually was made that then was not appreciated as much?

BE: Right.

CE: Just about everything. [Laughs.] I know that sounds like a broad answer, but just about anything that’s been initiated by me or by people close to me for me…it’s not that it hasn’t been appreciated. I always feel like I’ve been very lucky, and I have a hardcore following, but I think that most of…just about everything I do is met with a certain amount of bafflement by the general public. [Laughs.] And I think that’s a good place, actually, for me to be: just slightly on the outside of the mainstream. And I’m perfectly comfortable being there.

BE: To get really obscure for a moment, I talked with Stephen Collins last year…

CE: Oh, yeah!

BE: …and we talked briefly about your work on the series “Tattinger’s.”

CE: That’s funny. Geez, that’s going way back. That was, like, my first outside television gig other than working for Dave. Yeah, he was in that, and…who else was in that? Blythe Danner! And I remember that Gwyneth Paltrow was a little kid, and she was running around on the set when we were shooting “Tattinger’s.” [Laughs.] But that was really fun. Those guys were fans of mine from what I was doing on “Letterman,” and they let me be this goofy character. I think in general that’s where I’ve fit in the best: when I’m the odd next-door neighbor or the odd brother or something like that. “Get A Life,” actually, was always kind of…the concept of that show, essentially, was that it was built around a bizarre secondary character from any other normal, more or less mainstream sitcom. In the real world, that character would’ve been on, like, the old “Newhart” show or something. With our show, we followed him home and saw him living with his parents.

BE: I know we’re up against the wall, but, lastly, I just wanted to touch on your voice work over the years. You said in an AV Club interview a few years ago that you were never fond of the work you did on “Dilbert,” but is there anything you’ve done that you’ve been particularly proud of?

CE: Um…I’ve never liked my voice. [Laughs.] Unlike my dad, who has this beautiful radio voice, I’ve always thought that I had a whiny, adenoidal voice, and it’s really hard for me to listen to it on its own. So I don’t enjoy doing voiceover-type stuff. Also, I don’t think I’m any good at it. I don’t think that’s where my expertise lies…if I’m even an expert at anything. [Laughs.]

BE: Well, you’ve doing very well with “Eagleheart.”

CE: Well, thanks. Again, this is my comfort zone: playing a complete moron in a really crazy, violent show. [Laughs.] It’s what I was born to do.