NBC’s casting of Megan Mullally as Karen Walker helped redefine her career as well as helped improve the show’s ratings. Mullally’s unique and iconic voicing of Karen was a needed comedic addition to Will & Grace. For most of Mullally’s four-decade career, she has performed in more productions for television than in film.
Mullally was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 12, 1958. The actress also has a successful career as a singer. Mullally formed and is part of the band Nancy & Beth. Here are 9 things you didn’t know about Will & Grace’ Megan Mullally.
1. The TV Show You Know Megan Mullally From
Television audiences from the late 90s to mid-2000s will remember Will & Grace as one of TV’s funniest and most successful sitcoms. Megan Mullally’s character was the funniest on the show. Mullally’s Karen Walker character was Grace’s (Debra Messing) assistant. For a long time, it was difficult to separate Mullally from the high-pitch voiced Karen. The NBC sitcom ran for 11 seasons with a total of 246 episodes. Mullally’s character appeared in all but two episodes.
2. How Megan Mullally Got Started In Acting
Megan Mullally started taking ballet classes when she was six. She attended New York City’s School of American Ballet and performed ballet in High School. Mullally studied English Literature and Art History at Evanston’s Northwestern University. However, Mullally began to act in theater plays at the end of her sophomore year. She soon became a regular, appearing in eight shows weekly by her junior year. With more commitment to her acting gigs, Mullally dropped out of the University to pursue an acting career.
3. Megan Mullally Helped Discover An SNL Actor
Saturday Night Live is one of America’s most successful comedy sketch TV shows. With different comedians and comic acts, the stakes are always high to be hired as a cast member. However, Megan Mullally helped put a good word to SNL producer Lorne Michaels for Bill Hader. Mullally first saw Bill Hader in a sketch comedy improvisation show in Los Angeles. Hader was delivering a performance with other members of the Second City class. She convinced Lorne Michaels to give Hader a chance to audition for SNL; the rest is history!
4. Megan Mullally’s Work In Theater
With experience performing in regional theater plays, Megan Mullally made her Broadway debut in 1994. It was a Broadway revival of the musical Grease, which was first performed on Broadway in 1972. She shared the stage with actor Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1995). In the play, Mullally played Rosemary. Mullally has also performed in Off-Broadway productions like Annapurna from April to June 2014. She shared the stage with her husband.
5. Megan Mullally Has Worked With Her Husband More Times Than You Think
Megan Mullally is married to Nick Offerman, an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. Offerman is Mullally’s third husband, with James Thomas Hines as her first and Michael A. Katcher as her second. Mullally has worked with Offerman and appeared with him in several films and television shows. Some include Will & Grace (1998), Childrens Hospital (2008), Smashed (2012), The Kings of Summer (2013), and You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015).
6. Movies Megan Mullally Was In
Megan Mullally made her film debut in 1983 as a Call Girl in the teen sex comedy-drama Risky Business. Mullally played Jessica Lollar in Last Resort (1986), Jennifer Klink in Speaking of Sex (2001), and Patty Plummer in Stealing Harvard (2002). In 2022, Mullally appeared in two movies as Stacie and Angie Evans in Summering and Crush, respectively. Mullally has also voiced several characters in animated films. Mullally’s first voice role was for Adele in Teacher’s Pet (2004). She voiced Trudy in Bee Movie (2007) and Linda Loughran in Hotel Transylvania 2.
7. The Nominations & Awards Megan Mullally Has Received
Megan Mullally has received accolades from major and miscellaneous award associations. Mullally has received four nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, all for her work in Will & Grace for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. Mullally has received eight Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, winning two in 2000 & 2006, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2015. Mullally has also received 12 nominations at SAG Awards, winning four.
8. Other TV Shows Megan Mullally Was In
Will & Grace may have been Megan Mullally’s biggest TV series as a main cast, but she has guest-starred and had recurring roles in other TV shows. Some of them include Seinfeld (1993), The Naked Truth (1997), How I Met Your Mother (2006), 30 Rock, and The Simpsons. Mullally hosted her show, The Megan Mullally Show, which aired from 2006 to 2007. She was part of the cast of The Ellen Burstyn Show, Rachel Gunn, R.N., Childrens Hospital, Party Down, and Breaking In.
9. What Megan Mullally Is Doing Next
Mullally’s upcoming movie, First Time Female Director, is in the post-production stage. Not much is known about the movie’s release date, but it will star its director, writer, and co-producer, Chelsea Peretti, as well as Amy Poehler. In television, Megan Mullally will play Alecto in the upcoming Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.Hotel Transylvania
