Fox’s Girls Night Out

By starrymag | June 18, 2014

By: Laurie Allred

All of Fox Network’s female powerhouses joined for a panel the evening of Monday, June 9th for “Fox’s Girls Night Out.” The panel featured the starring ladies of their hit shows, which included Mindy Kaling (“The Mindy Project”), on-screen cheerleading coach Jane Lynch (“Glee”), executive producers Liz Meriwether (“New Girl”) and Heather Kadin (“Sleepy Hollow”), stand-up comedian and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Chelsea Peretti and voice-over actresses Alex Borstein (“Family Guy”) and Yeardley Smith (“The Simpsons”).

 

 

Jane Lynch

 

According to Lynch, the cast of “Glee” is currently filming their final season. On the subject of Cory Monteith, she stated, “There’s a huge gapping hole.” The cast does; however, keep a photograph of his character Finn Hudson in the choir room. “We see him every day,” Lynch said.

 

Chelsea Peretti

 

Peretti grew up with Andy Sanberg in Oakland, California. She said she grew up doing both stand-up and acting, saying, “The two complement each other very well.” Peretti said she “enjoys being a lone wolf” when it comes to stand-up comedy, but also enjoys doing comedy in an ensemble like on a television show.

 

Mindy Kaling

 

When asked what the best part of her job is by a fan on Twitter, Kaling stated, “I get to make out with a lot of good-looking guys.” On the subject of the second season of “The Mindy Project” being better than its first, she said, “I personally think the show was better earlier than other people do,” she said. Kaling went on to discuss the lack of females in the industry, stating to ask yourself “Why not me?” when looking to enter the industry. “Businesses don’t know what they want – you have to bring it to them.” 

 

Liz Meriwether

 

Meriwether attributes working with Prince as the best moment of her life. Meriweather said originally Prince turned down their request to appear on the show. However, by the third season, everything changed and Prince’s people called. Meriwether was then told, “Prince was a fan of the show.”

 

Heather Kadin

 

Kadin began her career in television by sending her resume to every single production office in Los Angeles. She worked at ABC during its “glory days,” helping out on the sets of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” and “Desperate Housewives.” She calls Fox’s new hit show “Sleepy Hollow” logistically challenging to film.

 

Yeardly Smith

 

Yeardley Smith said she never thought she would make a career in voice acting. She jokingly said, “I wanted to rule the world.” She stated that when she was younger, kids used to make fun of her voice, but years later Smith turned her voice into a career. Smith was cast as Bart and Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons” in 1990. She credits the success of the show ( the longest running show in American primetime television) to the fact that the show does not do any studio or network notes. Smith shared, “You don’t want too many chefs spoiling the soup.”

 

Alex Borstein

 

Borstein has been with Fox for 17 years and started her career in comedy on “MadTV.” She said that in the past, she was willing to do anything to be successful in the industry. Borstein noted, “I was a whore. I would do anything.” On the subject of Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,: she said that he was sometimes frustrating to work with, but he had a finely tuned eye and ear which contributed to the success of the show.