JoBeth Williams – Marry Me

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been working on?

A) I just got in from a half hour show for TBS called “Your Family Or Mine.” I’m a regular on the show. It starts airing next summer. It’s based on an Israeli show that was very, very popular with the same name. It’s about a young couple who have kids and each episode is at one or the other set of parents’ house (the in-laws). I play the mother-in-law of the character played by Kyle Howard and my husband on the show is played by Richard Dreyfuss. My daughter in law is played by Kat Foster. It’s a really fun show and we are in the middle of shooting it. We’re in the middle of episode four.

Q) We’ll also be seeing you more recently in “Marry Me.” Please tell us the premise for the show and about your character Myrna.

A) That is a one camera half hour show comedy and it is written by David Caspe and his wife Casey Wilson plays the lead (Annie). Ken Marino plays her fiancée and my character is about to be a mother-in-law. They are not married yet. They have been together for six years and are now engaged. I’m one of those mother-in-laws who doesn’t want to give my son up and so I’m pretty competitive with this girl that he is going to marry. It’s a lot of fun because my character is a little bitchy. We just did a Thanksgiving episode where they say they want to do it for the first time because I’ve always done it before. I say, “Oh fine,” and then I do everything I can to undermine her. It’s fun and it is a very cute show. It’s a very hip show. I think the writing is really modern and really current. I think it is something that people in their 20’s and thirties will relate to.

Q) Was there anything you added to the role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I may have thrown in a couple of lines. Annie calls me a “bitch” at one point and I sort of bring that up later to her. It’s fairly free form on the set. Of course there is a script and you are expected to follow the script, but if you come up with ideas and jokes that you think will work they are very open to it. So, I’ve done a little bit of physical business (as we call it) where you do actions or stuff that have added to it. I haven’t improvised a lot of lines that they used.

Q) The show is made up of great comedic actors. What is it like working with Casey Wilson and Ken Marino?

A) They are fantastic! They are both really funny. Ken is so charming and he is sort of my caretaker. When we had to shoot at night in Los Angeles, we shot in downtown LA for the pilot at night. There were drunken guys walking by and it was sort of weird and it was cold. Ken would always give me his jacket and made sure I had a place where I was comfortable and not nervous about the people walking around. He’s a delightful guy. Both he and Casey and the whole cast are all very inventive. They will try lots of different things and surprise you, which I really love as an actor. I love when another actor surprises me because you really have to work off that and really be in the moment with them. I think that both of those actors really bring a lot of improv experience and comedy experience that makes the show really hilarious.

Q) What is it about “Marry Me” that will make it a fast fan favorite?

A) I think the writing is really smart. I think it is really observant about relationships today in 2014 and what it is like for people to try to make a marriage, which we all know is not easy. It’s the pitfalls we all fall into and the issues we deal with like your future in-laws and trying to take on somebody else’s family and make them your family. It’s how your friends react to that. The situations really make me laugh. I think David is such a clever writer and has surrounded himself with some actors that are very hip and really know how people think now, how young people think now and the kinds of difficulties and the kinds of language. It just feels very current to me and I think people will relate to that.