image//kirstin knufmann words//shaun oppedisano
Most people know Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, the less-than-perfect corporate boss on NBC’s The Office. Admittedly, this was the extent of my familiarity with this actress/singer/director until recently. Delving in a little deeper, I realized that Melora is in fact a Renaissance woman, and quite a cool one at that. After Office hours, she’s recorded three albums, starred on Broadway, and is preparing to direct her second film. It was a pleasure getting to speak to such a multitalented and positive-minded woman.
Melora Hardin – I Dreamed A Dream
What have you been working on lately?
At the moment, I’m just working on getting this project together–a book that I’ve been trying to get now for eight years. It’s a life story… we don’t have it totally finalized, but this is what I’ve been working on right now. It’ll be the next thing that I direct.
So you’re in the first stages of that right now.
Yeah, just trying to get it together and everything. My husband will be writing the screenplay, and we’re trying to get it placed somewhere and get some funding and all that.
And you’ve been working on this for eight years?
Yes, I’ve been interested in this man’s life story for eight years.
That’s a long time! Hopefully it won’t be eight more.
I know! No, it definitely won’t be. It’s all underway now. So hopefully we’ll be shooting it in 2012.
Isn’t the world ending in 2012?
Oh, is that what you’ve heard? I guess I’ll be making a movie when the world’s ending then. That’s a good way to go out!
How did you first get into acting?
I started acting when I was six years old professionally. I come from an acting family… both my parents are actors. They said, “Okay, we’ll let her go on 10 auditions and if she doesn’t get anything then we’ll ease her out of it and she’ll never know the difference.”
And growing up in Los Angeles, you were naturally surrounded by it all.
Yeah, and plus it was just in my family. I was dancing since I was five and singing all my life. I always say I’m the bumper sticker “Born to Perform.” I’m kind of a renaissance woman, I guess. I have lots of interests.
I was going to say that!
[laughs] Oh, really? Someone just said that to me the other day and I was like, “Oh, I guess that’s kind of true!”
Well, at least that keeps you busy.
Yeah, well that’s my contribution to the world, to put out lots of creative energy and make lots of creative things.
Do you prefer acting on stage to television?
No, they’re just really different experiences. When I was on Broadway last year, being able to star on stage and dance and sing and follow the arc of the character from top to bottom was really one kind of experience. And you’re also getting the instant gratification from the audience–when they’re laughing or crying–you can really feel all that. When you’re doing a TV or movie, it’s much more piecemeal than that. So it’s a whole different skill set, and they’re both fun and exciting for different reasons.
Over the years, you’ve had a lot of different roles in many different television shows. Is it difficult to jump from role to role?
Not for me, no. The busier I am, the better I do. I enjoy having a lot on my plate. I tend to write songs when I’m on set for a film or TV show. I am used to doing a lot of things at once. I think I thrive in that environment. I think it’s the athlete, the dancer, in me. I need to feel like I’ve given 150% and I’ve got nothing left to give.
I really enjoyed that when my husband and I made an independent movie. He wrote it, I directed it, and we both starred in it. We were using our own home for the production office, often scrambling eggs in the morning so the crew had a hot breakfast. I like it when all cylinders are firing.
The film you’re talking about is You. What was it like crossing over into the directing side?
I loved it! It was amazing. I really enjoyed directing… I’ve been on so many sets with so many different directors in my life, and it felt so natural for me. I’m really looking forward to my next project, which will be another film that I direct.
So how much longer until you get Best Director?
[laughs] I don’t know! It’s great now that Kathryn Bigelow opened the door finally for women… I don’t know! But I definitely would like that.
You have an album called All The Way to Mars as well. Can you tell me about what it was like putting that together?
That was another really wonderful, joyful experience. I had been doing an act where I sang live, and I realized that my other two pervious records had not been up to where I had grown as a singer. You grow all the time obviously, as a singer and a songwriter, and I think I just needed something that was representative of where I am now.
My first record, The Meloradrama, is so filled with that 20s angst. And Purr I did in my 30s, which was much more playful, sexual, and whimsical. This one is more inclusive of all of those emotions.
What kind of music have you been listening to lately?
I always find that on my iPod I go back to my old favorites. There are times that I listen to Coldplay, KT Tunstall, James Taylor, or Shawn Colvin. And then there are times that I listen to big band music and Harry Connick, Jr., Doris Day, and Peggy Lee. Then there are times I listen to classical music. Sometimes I listen to Jazz. I have eclectic taste and sometimes just bounce all over the place.
I think Lady Gaga’s amazing. I love what she’s doing and I love her fabulous performance art.
She’s definitely something else…
Yeah! She’s just stepping it up to a new level and doing her thing. I always admire people who go for it 100%, in whatever that is.
Your role as “Jan” on The Office is definitely one of your biggest so far. Do you think you’d get along well with Jan in real life?
That’s a good question. Hmm… that’s interesting. I probably wouldn’t like her. It’s funny though, that’s a good way to ask that. As an actor, I love Jan. I have total empathy for her and all of her flaws–it’s what I most like about playing her. But in real life, if I met her, I can’t say I’d be particularly drawn to her. [laughs] I don’t think we’d be buddies!
Do you have any good stories from the set of The Office?
Oh gosh, there are some good ones. There was one early on… I can’t remember which episode it was. But there was a scene where I was still his boss and Greg Daniels, the creator and executive producer, came in after we did it a few times and said, “I don’t really think the scene is working. It’s not you guys, it’s just the way it was written.” So he told us to improvise while he worked with the writers, and we went through it three or four times. A lot of the improv ended up making it into the episode. Steve and I had a lot of fun, enjoying what we came up with.
There’s a decent amount of improv involved in the show, right?
Well, the show is scripted. But a lot of times the writers will give us a thing called a “candy bag,” where you pull out something and throw that in. Or sometimes we’ll do one where we throw it to the wind and have fun.
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To keep up to date with Melora’s films and music, please check out her official website!
