Get your own Free Home PageAOLiveMC1: Welcome to America Online, Patricia Richardson.
Question: How did you get started in television? By the way, you're fantastic on "Home Improvement."
LifetimeTV: I got started doing theatre in NY for thirteen years first, and I did three TV series before "Home Improvement." Thanks for the compliment!
Question: Patricia, this is Brian here. I just want to know what is it like to work with Tim Allen?
LifetimeTV: I knew that question was coming! It's fun. He works really hard and has a fairly decent sense of humor.
Question: Your character on "Home Improvement" is liberated. Are you like that in real life?
LifetimeTV: More liberated! Not married.
Question: Do you enjoy starring in "Home Improvement"? I love the show!
LifetimeTV: Yes, I do! Thank you very much.
Question: Pat, you had quite a career going for you in New York? Why the decision to go to L.A.?
LifetimeTV: Because my first son was born, and my husband at the time and I were tired of not making any money and having to leave town all the time to work in L.A.
Question: What is "Sophie and the Moonhanger" about?
LifetimeTV: "Sophie & the Moonhanger" is about a woman named Sophie and her relationship with a man named Holt (played by Lynn Whitfield and Jason Bernard). She works for my character, her name's Bonnie. They're black, in the South in 1955, and my husband is in the KKK. Sophie and I are actually very good friends, and I get involved in a conflict with my desire to keep my family together, and I desire to keep her family safe from my husband and his goons.
Question: Hi Pat! You've been in some wonderful plays. Which one is your personal favorite?
LifetimeTV: That's really hard to say. I did a few Beth Henley plays in NY. "Miss Firecracker Contest" -- there was a movie of that with Holly Hunter, who was in the play with me in NY. My part was played by Mary Steenburgen. I did a play called "Loose Ends" by Michael Weller with Kevin Kline. And "Gypsy" with Angela Lansbury.
Question: Do you have any other projects in the works in the very near future?
LifetimeTV: Yeah, getting through the day! Not to be flip, but I am looking for something to do in the summer when "Home Improvement" comes down in April. I just don't know what yet. I'm way too picky, which is why you should all watch this movie. I turned down about 400 other television movies in the four years before this one.
Question: When did you start acting?
LifetimeTV: I was in high school at the end of a really terrible production of a really terrible play in a girl's school. And I was a male cop. But when I was a junior, we moved to Texas, and I got involved with a really good theatre company there. Then I was really in love with the whole idea of acting.
Question: Are you afraid that you might be most remembered as being on "Home Improvement" instead of your other contributions to entertainment?
LifetimeTV: Yes, I'm sure that's what's going to happen. And it's ironic. I wanted to avoid having to be identified primarily as someone else's appendage.
Question: Patricia, I'm a huge fan! How many and what sex kids do you have in real life, and what's it like being surrounded almost entirely by a male cast?
LifetimeTV: I have three kids. A ten-year-old boy, five-year-old twins -- boy and girl. Being surrounded by an entirely male cast is sometimes great and sometimes annoying.
Question: What is it like to work with Jonathan Taylor Thomas?
LifetimeTV: Oh, please.
Question: What was it like working on such a controversial film?
LifetimeTV: Very interesting. We shot it in the south and had to shoot KKK scenes. We had some trouble finding extras that would participate in them. Although we had one man show up and say he was in the KKK and knew all about it. We didn't use him.
LifetimeTV: Back to the Jonathan question: if I were twelve years old, I'm sure I would be as thrilled as all of you are. He's a very bright boy and very sweet. Entirely normal. And very short!
Question: Hey Patricia, is there as much comedy off camera between takes as on camera? :)
LifetimeTV: Yes, often there is. It makes my job a lot easier! There are a lot of funny people on the show Rick and Earl are witty people. And the writers provide for lots of fun schmoozing!
Question: What do you watch on TV?
LifetimeTV: Very little. I don't have time. Since I got involved going online, I spend a lot of time e-mailing people instead of watching TV. That is, of course, when I'm not working or dealing with my children.
Question: Pat, how do you keep from laughing at the great lines on the show?
LifetimeTV: We've already been saying them for five days when we get to the taping. We're only hoping at that point that they're going to work!
Question: Any plans for live performances--i.e., Broadway-- in the foreseeable future? LifetimeTV: I would love to go back to NY and do a play. All my children are in school in CA, and they rarely open a play in the summer in NY. Maybe someday when I'm really old! I'll todder onstage and fall over!
Question: How much longer will "Home Improvement" be on?
LifetimeTV: Everybody but me is signed to do seven years, which is two more after one. There may be an eighth year. I have to decide if I'm going to sign on for those.
Question: Does it ever get frustrating that Tim Allen gets all the attention?
LifetimeTV: Yeah, sometimes. And sometimes it's a huge relief.
Question: Who do you admire the most?
LifetimeTV: You mean in the world? In my life? That depends. If you mean other actors, there are millions. But I'm too cynical to have too many heroes!
Question: When will your new movie premiere on lifetime?
LifetimeTV: Monday, January 15, at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Please, please watch so I get to do more of these!
Question: Pat, when will we see Earl Hindman's full face? He's got a great voice, does he sing?
LifetimeTV: Everyone is very determined about that. He sings wonderfully! You will never see his face -- if we can help it -- in the show!
Question: Hi, Ms. Richardson, have you gotten any offers to appear on other shows?
LifetimeTV: Yes, occasionally. I just don't have time. During my weeks off, I try to spend catching up with my real life. By the way, the spelling and typing of this is not my fault! But if I were doing this, it would be way worse!
Question: Hi, Patricia, love the show. How did you get the part?
LifetimeTV: I was signed to do another series for Disney/ABC right after I gave birth to my twins. And then when my twins were three months old and I was a huge fat pig nursing them, they canceled the show I was going to do and told me that if I did "Home Improvement," they would let me out of my contract early and pay me a bunch more money! It was only five days of shooting. I was sure it wouldn't survive. So I said yes, having never auditioned. I had no idea I would be doing this for so long.
Question: Patricia, what did you personally get from doing "Sophie and the Moonhanger" on Lifetime?
LifetimeTV: A chance to work on a great script and with great actors. A chance to do a big part on film -- which I hadn't done. A chance to go into a new role I had never explored. And the first chance I've had in five years to be alone occasionally.
AOLiveMC1: We have time for one last question.
Question: I saw some work you had done earlier in "Quantum Leap." Was that a fun experience?
LifetimeTV: That was really fun! Scott and I are really good friends. Six years ago we did a series for CBS called "Eisenhower and Lutz." Thanks everybody! This is really fun! Tell everybody you know to watch "Sophie & the Moonhanger" on Monday, January 15, at 8 PM ET/PT.
OnlineHost: All good things must come to an end. Time is up for this event.
AOLiveMC1: Thanks for being here, Patricia Richardson. And thank you to our audience members for joining us.
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