Curb Your Enthusiasm fans remember Cheryl Hines for eight seasons as Larry David’s wife Cheryl, a role in which she received two Emmy award nominations. For the last three years, Hines has been stuck in the suburbs on the ABC comedy Suburgatory playing the always delightful Dallas Royce. Hines took some time out of her busy schedule to talk about tonight’s all new episode, her hilarious web series We Need Help, and her appearance on an episode of Friends.
TV Overmind: Hi. How are you doing today?
Cheryl Hines: I’m great. How are you?
TVOM: I’m doing well thank you. On this week’s episode of Suburgatory, Dallas is going to be dating herself. Can you tell us a little bit about how she came to that decision?
Hines: (laughs) She hired a matchmaker for Dahlia. Dallas has been concerned about [her]. She decided to see if there was someone good for herself. When she is describing to the matchmaker the type of guy she is looking for she doesn’t really know.The matchmaker realizes that Dallas doesn’t know who she is without a man and advises her to take herself out.
TVOM: How does everything work out with that?
Hines: (laughs) Dallas realizes that she doesn’t really like herself that much.
TVOM: On no.
Hines: I know. She realizes that she only dresses the way she thinks a man wants her to dress so she decides to give herself a make-under. It’s not pretty.
TVOM: Was the matchmaker able to find someone for Dahlia?
Hines: Dahlia is very specific about what she is looking for. The matchmaker finds that guy that is exactly what Dahlia describes.
TVOM: Is there any chance of us seeing a reunion between Dallas and George?
Hines: Dallas and George will be running into each other. They still live across the street from each other, which is good. There will be some moments when they’re together and that connection is still there.
TVOM: That will be interesting to see.
Hines: Yeah. It’s going to be interesting (laughs).
TVOM: You, Ana Gasteyer, and Chris Parnell are all alumni of the Groundlings.
Hines: That’s right.
TVOM: Are you able to do any improvisation on the show?
Hines: We do a little bit. The show is so well-crafted. It is not like we can just go off [script] because it is all connected. All the stories and dialogue [are] connected to other character’s stories and dialogue.
TVOM: It seems like you would have a lot of fun on set.
Hines: We have so much fun. When we go to work, we stand there and go, ‘Can you believe we’re here at Warner Brothers at this beautiful back lot shooting Suburgatory?’ We know that we are so fortunate and living the dream. It is a miracle for an actor to get a job that you love. It is pretty amazing.
TVOM: Another one of your projects I wanted to talk about is your web series We Need Help. How did you get involved in that project?
Hines: I was a personal assistant for a really long time.
TVOM: Really?
Hines: Yeah. I worked for Rob Reiner.
TVOM: How was that?
Hines: It was fun and crazy and stressful (laughs). I loved Rob and I loved his family. They were all very good to me. I got to see the underbelly of the assistant world and it really made me laugh when I wasn’t stressed about it. I thought it would be a good show. The guy, Max Loeb, who plays my assistant was actually my assistant for a little while. He is also an actor. We decided to shoot We Need Help and put it on Yahoo! It was a collection of stories and ideas that all came from a kernel of truth.
TVOM: Is it fun playing an exaggerated version of yourself?
Hines: It is. It is very fun. Rachael Harris and I said we were afraid to go to the airport together because we are sure it would cause a scene. Max is standing there [saying], ‘What do you mean?’ Just the idea that these two think they are so famous that they are going to stop traffic at LAX is fun to play.
TVOM: Are there going to be more episodes in the future?
Hines: I hope so. We are talking about it right now.
TVOM: It is so funny. I was cracking up watching it.
Hines: Thank you. I am so glad to hear that. I’m proud of that show. I think it’s very funny.
TVOM: I was watching an episode of Friends the other day. I did a double take and said, ‘That’s Cheryl Hines.’
Hines: I did one episode of Friends. To this day, I have not seen it. Did I have like two lines?
TVOM: Yes, it was during the closing credits. You were sitting in Central Perk.
Hines: Yes! Yes! That was me.
TVOM: How was that experience?
Hines: It was amazing because at the time Friends was the biggest show there was. I was a huge fan of the show. I had auditioned for that show probably three or four times before and I didn’t get the part. To actually go and audition and then shoot it was really exciting. It was interesting too because it was shot in front of a live audience and that’s a different experience. The cast was so nice. It was a lot of fun.
TVOM: What would you say if the craziest thing a fan has ever said to you?
Hines: I was at Sundance and a husband came up to me and said, ‘You are my celebrity crush and I have permission from my wife to do it with you if the opportunity ever came around.’ His wife is in the background waving to me. I said, ‘Well, this is going to be an interesting weekend. I can’t wait to see what happens.’ I liked that they were both on board with the idea. That was an interesting one.
TVOM: That is all the time we have. Thank you, Cheryl.
Hines: Thank you.
Suburgatory airs Wednesdays on ABC at 8:30PM/9:30PM Central
For more information on Suburgatory, visit their site by clicking here.
You can check out We Need Help anytime on screen.yahoo.com/we-need-help
[Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images]
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