Actress Judith Light returns to living rooms in another television show that's already garnering huge praise.
The new series Transparent is offered by streaming Amazon. It tells the story of the coming-out process of transgender parent Maura, played by Jeffrey Tambor, and the family that is affected. Light plays the Jewish wife and mother, Shelly Pfefferman, who has an outspoken personality and an affection for mustard.
Thanks to writer and producer Jill Soloway of Six Feet Under fame and a stellar cast, the story comes to life told in a time-jumping fashion through a 10-episode story arc.
Light is known for her two-time Emmy-winning role on One Life to Live and the long-running ABC comedy Who's the Boss? She has also appeared in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Ugly Betty. She has won Tony Awards for her performances in Lombardi, Other Desert Cities, and The Assembled Parties. This year, she was cast on TNT's Dallas along with Transparent.
Windy City Times: Hey, Judith. I just crammed down Transparent in two days.
Judith Light: Oh my God! [Laughs]
WCT: Your character seems like a lot of fun to play. Who is she based on?
JL: If you have seen any of the stuff in the New York Times, this is Jill Soloway's story. She is the creator and it is the story of her dad. It is really a take off on her family's story and some of her process, of course a lot of it is fictionalized and created by Jill. That is where it began. She felt strongly that she wanted to tell this very important story, not just about someone becoming transgender, but someone who wanted to live an authentic, accomplished, and courageous life. What it did to the people living around them not living this same kind of life. They were forced to look at themselves in ways they had never looked at themselves before.
WCT: How did you get the role?
JL: This is so great, I had a 45-minute Skype call with Jill. We talked about all kinds of things. Jill is so brilliant in the way that she connects with people and what she wants in the dynamic of a show that she is writing and creating.
Look: I knew the story and what it was about, and I passionately wanted to do this. I hoped she would cast me. We talked a lot about our own LGBTQ activism. We talked about us both having a Jewish history. Jeffrey Tambor and I are old friends so we talked about that. It was really about spending time and connecting with each other. We found out that we were on the same page about a lot of things in our lives.
WCT: You are doing some drag, with these wig looks on the show.
JL: I wouldn't actually call it drag. That is more what they do when they go to the camp. What we are doing with the wigs is the changing of time. Jill doesn't call it flashbacks but instead calls it his-tory or her-story within the body of the script.
We are showing you who these people really are and how they came to be the way they are. It is not that we are just talking about it. You are seeing it full on. You get the experience of where these people came from. Do you feel that when you see it? You get a powerful experience of who this family is and who they have been before.
WCT: Absolutely. It is very clever how it time-jumps throughout the series.
JL: Isn't it great? At first you don't realize it is them when they were younger.
WCT: Do you really like mustard?
JL: That is so funny! A lot of people fixate on that, too. The other thing people focus on is the tofu schmear when I say, "Who changed the standing order?"
I don't love mustard like on the show but I happen to be a fan of Dijon mustard. It is not an ultimate passion of mine if you are trying to find out more about my personality. [Laughs] It is pretty funny, isn't it? That is Jill's genius, though. That is what Shelly is focused on for the funeral. Those idiosyncratic things we all do and relate to at a time when something is deeply sorrowful for us. That is what I think is genius about it.
Of course, it makes it so funny so we are lifted out of the sorrow and we go back and forth. People who write like Jill are just extraordinary. When you get to be with a group of actors like these people that I am with we have an incredibly intense bond with each other because of the work we all did together. You see the mustard, but it has a whole lot of information behind it.
WCT: There are some locals in the cast from Chicago, such as Alexandra Billings.
JL: Hello! She is so great. There is Amy Landecker from Illinois, who is just divine. Jill is also from Chicago and her mother is a wonderful author. She writes a blog and wrote a book called The Division Street Princess, which is all about her growing up in Chicago. It's a wonderful history. They gave me all of her books and the blog to read so that was really helpful. This is not truly Jill's mother; she is a compilation of a lot of things but the book is wonderful if you haven't read it.
WCT: I have to check it out. How does it feel to be picked up for a second season of Transparent?
JL: We just found out we got picked up. Everybody is ecstatic. I am in New York and I have people come up to me on the street hopping up and down about it. That is a credit to Joe Lewis and Amazon. The new shows and the way they are doing them with new kind of cutting-edge television, being willing to do shows like this and being open to it.
When Joe Lewis read the script, he picked it up right away. They know what they are looking for. This is the people's television. They put it on last February and asked the people if they wanted to see more. People wrote back and told them that they liked it. This was when they showed the pilot. Now they show everybody the ten episodes and ask what they think. The people say they want to see more. The response has been overwhelming, so they are very smart people at Amazon.
That is how it is happening. It is a whole different kind of dynamic than when I grew up in the business and am used to. I think it works brilliantly. It is an incredibly democratic process.
WCT: I liked how I can go through them, with each episode being only 30 minutes.
JL: What is it—five hours and nine intermissions? Speaking of Chicago, I used to work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We used to come to Chicago all the time. Jeffrey Tambor and I started in repertory theater together in Milwaukee.
I adore him. We have had a long relationship together. I think that mattered to Jill, too. She knew how much I love and respect Jeffrey. I think that was how I got to be part of the show. That history is there in your relating. I think that was important to her. I know it was important to us.
WCT: When did your activism for LGBT rights begin? I saw you over 10 years ago at Pride in LA.
JL: It began many years ago when I was in a theater camp in New Hope, Pennsylvania. I was very young. A lot of people came from New York—dancers, teachers and actors. They came into that training camp for performing arts. I didn't realize until later that it was the gay men that were taking care of me. I was little and they were watching out for me. They were the ones that made sure I was okay.
At some level I never forgot that, then realized later that it was they who had been my champions and my support. When I was more actively involved in theater when I was older and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, all of a sudden they were dying and they were my friends. I saw what was happening. This country was saying it was compassionate to all people but the government wasn't even mentioning the word "AIDS." I started talking about it.
I did the movie The Ryan White Story. Ryan was on the set and being interviewed. He was asked about his experience and he said people spit on him, called him a fag and they were afraid. You know when you have those moments where you just hear something? I was just within earshot to hear that and it made me question what is going on. This was not okay.
My husband's and my closest relations of 34 years is my manager, Herb Hamsher, and his partner, Jonathan Stoller. They are my family.
I just started getting more active. I wanted to be a part of this incredible community that inspires me so much.
You are probably too young to have been around at the height of the pandemic when the community was pulling itself up by its bootstraps. We were going to funerals on the weekend or the hospitals and taking food to our friends. I watched this community become a phenomenon to me. This kindness, generosity, and support, I saw lesbians say to the gay men, "Let us help you and be here for you." I was inspired and want to be a part of that community. That is how I want to live in the world—with courage, inspiration and kindness. That is how it happened.
WCT: Amazing. When are you coming to Chicago?
JL: I don't know but I love it there. I would hope at some point soon. Herb Hamsher went to Northwestern so we have a good Chicago connection!
Visit www.amazon.com to order the streaming service. The pilot episode is currently being offered for free.
