Jeff Heller
Wendi McLendon-Covey has built a steady and varied career in comedy, from her breakout role on Reno 911! to her role in the hit film Bridesmaids, and most recently, her long-running portrayal of Beverly Goldberg on ABC’s The Goldbergs.
McLendon-Covey can currently be seen as Joyce, the ambitious but eccentric hospital administrator on the hit NBC comedy, St. Denis Medical. The series, which was co-created by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer (Superstore, American Auto), follows an eclectic group of underfunded, yet dedicated, doctors and nurses who navigate caring for patients while keeping it all together at an Oregon hospital.
We spoke with Wendi as she prepared for the first table read of Season 2 to talk about stepping into Joyce’s wildly different shoes, working in the documentary-style format, and what she hopes is in store for her character in the episodes ahead.
Well, first of all, thanks for joining us.
Oh, thanks for having me. Sorry, I’m in my car. It’s our first table read of the season.
Well, that is terribly exciting.
Yeah!
Congratulations on the success of the show, and on the second season pickup.
Thank you. Yeah, we’re very, very grateful. Believe me.
I understand that you got the script for St. Denis right on the heels of The Goldbergs being canceled, is that correct?
Yeah, like four hours later.
Wow.
Yeah, literally the same day. So, I was like, “Yeah, I’ll read it, but I don’t know I’m just not in the headspace, of being able to really concentrate right now.” But I read it, and I thought, “God, this Joyce is kind of an oddball, and I think I love her. Let’s get into it a little bit and find out more.” I just found her irresistible. I’m lucky that that came my way when it did because I would have gone insane.
Joyce is very different from some of the other characters that you’re known for portraying. Is that the part of what drew you to the character?
A hundred percent. The thing I loved about her is that, unlike the smothering mom that I had been playing for 10 years, this person is not cuddly whatsoever. Don’t touch her with your germs. She has no kids. She has all fake plants and has stuffed animals because she likes to cuddle on something, but she can’t pay attention to it for very long. She’s never home. So, that was kind of irresistible to me. Something completely different than what I’ve done. Let’s launch into this and really see what I can do with it.
Are you able to find any parallels between Joyce and yourself?
Um, yeah. The thing with Joyce and the thing with me is that we see things and we want to make them better, but we have very unrealistic expectations. I’m someone who will look at my bathroom and say, “Well, I could remodel this in about three hours.” No, that’s insane. Joyce looks at this hospital and says, “You know, if I could make this a destination facility for medical care, people won’t be flying to Turkey anymore, or Mexico. They’re going to come here to rural Oregon.” No, they’re not.
The season finished on a high note for Joyce and for the hospital, which was nice. Had you finished filming the first season when you got picked up for season two?
Yes, we had. We had finished, and it looked like it was going that way. But hey, you never know in this business. It’s very, very fickle. So, we were very, very relieved to be picked up.
You’ll know later today what the next phase is for the hospital in season two, because it seems as if there might be some changes.
There are going to be some changes, because in one of our last episodes, we did get a big influx of cash. We got a big donor. And then in the very final episode, Joyce overspent that $10 million and had to start breaking promises. So today, I guess I’m going to find out where all that money went, and what we actually did do with it. But the great thing about setting it in a hospital is that there’s no end of stories to tell.
What are you hoping to see out of Joyce in season two?
I’d like to see Joyce have some kind of a small win. Just anything. I would love Joyce to be proven right about anything, just so we can see her handle that badly. Because I think if she won for any reason, she would become more insufferable than she already is. I think her saying, “I told you so,” which would be hilarious to play. I personally would love to see the backstory between her and Ron, because we do say that she and Dr. Ron were interns at the same time. So, if we ever do a flashback episode, I hope we go back to the 90s and watch Joyce and Dr. Ron working alongside each other.
I saw David Alan Grier had said that it’s possible they may have dated at some point.
It is possible. And I want to know what that looked like. In graphic detail.
Can you talk about working in the documentary format?
Yeah. You know, it’s something I’ve done before. But with this one, we were encouraged to watch the show Lennox Hill on Netflix. It’s about a hospital, and it’s got really frantic camera work. We’re trying to do that on this show. I’m glad they had us watch it because it is a little different. The whip pan is really nauseating to a degree, but it shows you the jokes that are happening between the words. So, I think that’s important, and I think that works for a workplace comedy, because there’s so much that happens with just someone looking and rolling their eyes at what’s being said. You know, the people that you’re not necessarily paying attention to when you’re the speaker. But that’s where a lot of the comedy comes from.
It still feels a little odd to work that way, because when we did Reno, we all wore mics that you could see, and that was more like cops. You’re in on the joke. With this show, we’re not sure who these documentarians are yet, and why we’re doing this. ‘m assuming it’s because Joyce thought, “Oh, well, we could sell this footage somewhere and use it in the hospital.” It feels odd to just acknowledge the camera sometimes.
I was speaking with David Allen Grier about the fact that the show is basically a giant HIPAA violation.
Yes.
And he said as long as we have Joyce, she’ll blow that off.
Yeah, HIPAA schmippa. We’re not using names.
How do you think Joyce would feel about how she was portrayed in the documentary?
I think she would say, “Wait, is that what I look like? Well, we need to get some better lighting around here. I don’t think this is showing my whimsical side.” But, in reality, that’s exactly how she is. I mean, that’s how everybody talks when they see themselves in a documentary. “Oh, no, I don’t remember saying that.” Well, the cameras caught it, so you definitely did. And you are exactly as advertised. Don’t blame the editor.
Can you talk about working with Eric and Justin?
Oh, what a pleasure. What a pleasure. Because when your showrunners and creators and the people at the top like to go home to their families that night, that means you get to go home, too. And it is really not always that way. So, it’s been an absolute pleasure to work with them. They’re very collaborative, very even keeled, and have small egos about the whole thing. They’re just happy to be here, too.
That’s great.
Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s awesome.
Well, I know you’ve got stuff to do right now, so I’m going to let you go. I really appreciate you taking the time again. Congratulations.
Oh, thank you. So good to speak with you today.
Thank you so much. Take care.
You can watch our full interview with Wendi McLendon-Covey below.
St. Denis Medical is currently streaming on Peacock.
Comments
Loading…