Archive

Janeane Garofalo will play nurse for CBS

Who here has ever wanted to play nurse with Janeane Garofalo? Well, consider this the next best thing. The comedian/actress has been cast as a nurse in a new, as-yet untitled medical drama for CBS.

The series is from producer John Wells, whose track record includes ER, Third Watch and The West Wing, Southland. According to Entertainment Weekly, the show follows a mobile medical team that helps people across the country through life-and-death health crises. Hmm, sounds like 911 on steroids.

Janeane will plan Angel, the team’s chief nurse and operations manager who is the “backbone of the organization” and “never loses her cool and is always compassionate toward those who need help.” And funny, she’s funny too, right? Already on board are Amy Smart as a “tough nurse” who stands up to the doctors and is also sleeping with one of them and Twilight alum Rachelle Lefevre as a “smart and confident medical road warrior” who is better in the field than the office.

Well, that sounds promising. But mostly, I’m just glad Janeane has found another TV gig. Earlier this month, she gave a frank interview with New York magazine about the difficulties and demands of working as an actress in her ’40s. She says she decided to do Nora and Delia Ephron’s new play, Love, Loss, and What I Wore because “they asked me. Which I was shocked by, and thrilled, and I wanted to do a play, and also, I wanted a job. Because, uh, as a lot of people know, unemployment is depressing.”

Awww, Janeane. In the same interview the 45-year-old actress also freely admits to loving Spanx, having Botox and losing weight.

On Spanx:

I’m committed to them, I love them, and I wear them every goddamn day. Summer, winter, fall. I’ve got them on now. … If I did not have my Spanx on, it’d be like a bunch of water balloons, or a melting candle.

On Botox:

Yeah, I’ve had Botox here [between eyebrows], smoker’s wrinkles. It didn’t work on the crow’s feet. It just didn’t take. … So I’m not going to be one of those people that’s like, “Oh, isn’t it awful. You see no movement.” Yes, I do do that and, you know, whatevs. I do it and, I don’t know, sometimes it’s looked awful. Sometimes it looks fine.

On losing weight:

…I didn’t say actresses don’t need to lose weight. Obviously, they shouldn’t have to. I still stand behind that. They shouldn’t have to, but I sold out. Total sellout, lost weight….I was heavier and it really gets you almost nowhere, you realize quickly. I mean, I got very lucky in the nineties. Very lucky. But I was usually cast as a person wherein they’re so unattractive, that it defines them. And you get sick of it after a while, and then you realize that it’s just easier. And you don’t even have to be really heavy to be characterized as an overweight actor. So yeah, I sold out, lost weight.

Like I was saying, awww, Janeane. Your honesty is refreshing, if also a tad depressing about what women past the age of 40 must do to remain employable in the entertainment industry. I’m just happy she seems to have found gainful employment (even if it’s only in the pilot stage). But I just hope this new gig doesn’t stop her from landing her dream gig, which she told the magazine is to “be on 30 Rock. I’d be willing to be craft service on 30 Rock.”

Make this happen, Tina Fey.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button