When I went on stage to talk to Katey Sagal after the “Sons of Anarchy” panel for the Television Critics Association, she said, “Hi, honey.” And then animated hearts poured out my ears.
I don’t know if any of the other reporters could hear her over that. This would be the last TCA panel for “SOA” as it enters its final season tonight on FX. Sagal already lined up a new TV gig as the narrator on NBC’s comedy “A to Z,” and “Futurama” is making a comeback… at least for one episode of “The Simpsons.”
And also, Katey Sagal called me honey. Did you get that part?
CraveOnline: Have you done the voices for the “Futurama/Simpsons” crossover yet?
Katey Sagal: Oh yeah, we did do those voices. We absolutely did. I don’t remember it now, though. We did it a while ago.
Was it fun to see Leela again?
Oh yeah, it’s always fun to see Leela. I can’t believe Leela’s gone. I love Leela.
Did it feel any different doing it in the “Simpsons” universe?
No, it wasn’t different at all. No, no, no, no. It was fun.
How do you feel about “Sons of Anarchy” ending? What are you going to miss about it?
Oh, I’m going to miss this amazing character, the amazing writing. This is rare when you actually have one that succeeds. I’ve had one other really long, successful show and now I have this. Well, “Futurama” was too actually. Yeah, it’s always sad but it also feels appropriate to end it at this time. I think the story’s been told and I’m with Kurt. I really think that this is the appropriate time to end it.
Do you know how it’s going to end?
I don’t. No, no, no, I don’t know how it’s going to end.
If it was up to you, how would it end?
If it was up to me, I’d get on a bike and ride outta town. Gemma would finally ride a bike herself.
“Married with Children” ran for 11 years. Is there any comparison between ending over a decade and ending seven years?
It’s all the same. You really bond with people. This was, once again, “Married with Children” was a show that nobody thought would succeed. There wasn’t even a network so it was a fluke. This was a show too that lots of people didn’t even want to support or have put on a network. So that’s always the fun part, when you’re like, “See?” This was the right thing to do. But no difference in time, I would say.
When you did the scene where Gemma is lying to Jax in the pilot, did you get knots in your stomach like we did watching it?
It’s all that way this season, yeah. So she explains to Juice, she didn’t know what the deal was and now she’s got to take care of everybody. So in true Gemma form, she’s made the adjustment so that it really looks like if she goes away to jail, then who’s going to take care of those babies. Period. So I think it’s the mind of a psychopath sort of. I did a lot of reading about people that have done heinous things and then go on and live their lives, and lots of people do. Lots of people do.
The fork scene was so brutal, what was it like for you to film that?
It was really hard. Well, when you do any scene like that, it’s very choreographed. The harder scene to watch was him finding her. Oh, that was just brutal, but we had a dummy of Maggie. The fork got stuck in the dummy’s head. It was horrible, making those noises, it was terrible.
What souvenir do you want from the set as a memento?
That’s a good question. I may take some of Gemma’s shoes.
Have you autographed any forks for people?
I get ‘em in the mail. They send them to me in the mail and I get them.
Will it be possible for Gemma to be redeemed in the viewers’ eyes by the end of this season?
I think people will love Gemma regardless. I thought they would hate her after the fork episode. I cannot tell you how it increased my likability for a lot of people, but I think Gemma, I’m not sure what the endgame is going to be for her. I can’t imagine it’s comfortable, living or dying. So I think it’ll be a satisfying ending. She’s trapped. I don’t even know what redemption would look like.
Does it go back to the very first season where you whacked that girl with the skateboard? Didn’t people love that?
Oh yeah, they did love that. People love Gemma. They really do.
Is it difficult to play Gemma living with this knowledge that she’s done this?
It is difficult. My whole question over the hiatus, and I’ve tried to talk to Kurt about it. We’ve sort of had conversation, was how do you look at your grandchildren? How do you do this? So I read this great book over the summer called The Secret History. I was reading it as I was sort of formulating, because it’s a book about these kids that commit this murder and then one murder leads to another murder and they’re all living within it. They just kind of justify. So it really does flip you into the mentality of people who do heinous things that then function, and the lies they tell themselves. So that is her situation. She really does believe that the truth would be worse than living a lie. But you’ll see. We’ll see as the season progresses what that does to a person.
What do you want to do next? Would you do another series right away, or work on music?
Well, I just got a couple of good films that I’m going to start. Kurt wrote a movie called Southpaw, so I have a couple scenes in that. And then I just got a really nice movie called Bleed for This that I shoot in November. It’s a boxing movie and I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to talk about it yet. I would definitely do another series, absolutely.
What would you want out of your next TV series? Would you want something lighter?
What I really know is I love the cable model. I love 13 episodes. I love that. It gives me time to be with my seven-year-old and my older kids. I’m really spoiled by this great writing so we’ll see. It’s going to be tough.
What do you play in Pitch Perfect 2?
I play Hailee Steinfeld’s mom. She’s the new girl in the a cappella choir. I play her mom.
Is it a singing part?
I do sing a few lines, yes.
With losing Ron Perlman and Maggie Siff, what has it been like not seeing all the original regulars?
Well, Maggie actually just came to the set last week and brought her new baby, so that was great to see her. We haven’t seen Ron but I’m sure he’ll come around for the end. We’ll see everybody. It’s kind of the nature of this show. Everybody’s got an X on their forehead.
Is being the narrator on “A to Z’ not a big commitment?
I don’t know yet. For the pilot, it was three or four hours just getting the voiceover right. I don’t know. We’ll see, but any time you do voiceover gigs, it’s cool. It’s not a huge commitment.
What are your best memories of James Garner on “8 Simple Rules?”
Oh, I love Jim Garner. Yelling at him for smoking. Jim was a fantastic addition to that show and really provided a soulful center when we really needed one. After losing John [Ritter] it was just so hard to fill that household. David Spade did a certain amount but then when they brought on Jim it really rounded things out. I love Jim Garner.
