Tonight on Fox’s new series Grandfathered, John Stamos stars as a narcissistic restauranteur and perpetual bachelor Jimmy Martino who finds out he has an adult son Gerald (Josh Peck) complete with a new baby granddaughter, Edie. Jimmy’s right-hand woman is his assistant Annelise, an out lesbian played by Kelly Jenrette.
A sarcastic, blunt hard worker, Annelise tries to help Jimmy through his newly minted mid-life crisis while also trying to keep the restaurant afloat by bringing in all-star clientele. And while Grandfathered is very much centered around Jimmy’s plight, Annelise is frequently by his side, keeping self-involved Jimmy accountable for his words and actions. She jokes in the pilot that it’s a job requirement that she’s a lesbian, because Jimmy is also a womanizer who can’t hep himself around a pretty lady.
We spoke with Kelly Jenrette about her new role in the sitcom while at TCA this summer.
AfterEllen.com: Will Annelise have any time for romance or is she kind of stuck with John a lot of the time?
Kelly Jenrette: Well, to be stuck with John, this is Kelly speaking, would not be a bad idea. So there is, in the next two scripts we’ve had table reads for, nothing has kind of come up. I’ve been doing a little flirting, but there’s nothing that has indicated that a relationship is on the horizon. [Note: Show creator Daniel Chun told us they plan for her to have a romantic life, but that at the beginning of the show, part of the fun is that “everyone is single.”]
AE: Is that something you want for her?
KJ: I want to see her evolve, you know, just as a normal human being–if a relationship comes up, if it doesn’t. I just want to see the evolution of who she becomes. It’s still very early so it could go either way. There were a couple of things that were thrown around in the writing room, just kind of like “Maybe she dates him” or “Maybe she dates her” or “Maybe she doesn’t date anyone.” So I’m interested and excited to see where it goes.
AE: How do you keep from being “the sassy black character”?
KJ: Right. That was one of the things I told them in the writing room, that I didn’t want to be “Uh uh!” [snaps] that girl because we’ve seen that a million times and I think even me, as an actor, I have those moments when I’m joking around with my friends, but I think it’s about being a real person, grounded, and I’m very witty and sarcastic and I feel like who Annelise is as well. So it’s just about being grounded and not going to that stereotypical thing. And everything doesn’t have to be big and nasty and sassy. It can be very dry.
AE: The comedic timing you have with the cast is so great. When you were all together the first time, did you feel like it was a magical combination?
KJ: Oh, it was amazing. That’s the thing people keep commenting on: “Oh the cast is great.” It is a dream job. Like, I could not have dreamt up a better cast to be a part of. Everyone is so warm and welcoming and friendly and supportive, and we just want to win.
AE: Are you prepared to have an onslaught of new lesbian fans?
KJ: Yes, that is going to be interesting because I, myself, am not a lesbian so it’s going to be interesting. Support is good!
Grandfathered premieres tonight at 8:00PM ET/PT on Fox.
Follow Kelly on Twitter: @kellyjenrette
