Jane Seymour Chats About Her Guest-Starring Role On TBS’s “Men at Work”

Things are heating up on TBS’s Men at Work next week as the ever sultry Jane Seymour makes an appearance. In the episode airing Wednesday, Feb. 12th, Milo (Danny Masterson), meets a high powered, elegant book publisher (Seymour)…but, it’s not his writing she’s interested in…

We had the opportunity to catch up with Jane Seymour to talk about her upcoming guest appearance on Men at Work, her time on the set, what she enjoyed about the character, and what else she has in the works for 2014. Read the full interview below:

JANE SEYMOUR: It was a lot of fun. They were great guys and it was, it was a really funny episode. And, of course the producer/writer, Breckin Meyer, is someone I’ve worked with many times on Franklin and Bash where he’s an actor and it was really wonderful to see the work he was doing as a writer. It was very funny. Great role. And the guys are a hoot.

JS: It’s sort of a role reversal really. You know, normally, you see the man who seduces the woman to get her, you know, gets the woman to be seduced to get a job and then kind of, you know, this whole casting couch thing. It’s a sort of a role reversal of that.

I thought it was, it was fun. You, know, the whole idea of him wanting to be a writer and thinking that by sleeping with her he was going to get his dream come true and her pointing out she just thought it was a game and that writers actually write. I thought that was fun.

Q: Now did this all come about because of your role on Breckin Meyer’s Franklin and Bash show?

JS: I think so. You know, Breckin asked me if I’d come and do something on his show and he wrote a wonderful fun character for me which is quite different from the one I play on his show. So, and I love doing comedy. So he, and he knows that I do a lot of comedy these days. So that’s how it came about.

Q: Do you find that a lot of people still recognize you from your role on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman?

JS: Oh absolutely. And all over the world. It’s in, I think a hundred countries now. You know, when President Gorbachev comes up to me and goes oh Dr. Quinn, Dr. Quinn, you know, you realize that the show probably had even more of an impact in other countries than it did in America.

And it’s nice to know that something that positive is, you know, a wonderful American export really.

Q: Do you also still get people coming up to you because of your role in Battlestar Galactica. I know there’s a big fan base for that.

JS: If I go anywhere near a Sci-Fi Convention, yes. I actually, Battlestar Galactica, I was only ever in three episodes. I was in the original, in the first one which was also a movie shown in movie theatres after it had been on television which is very unusual.

And then in the original I actually died but they reshot it when I wasn’t there and kept me looking as healthy as possible and then came back to me and wanted me to do the series which I declined. And then eventually the compromise was that I did, I think two episodes in which everything I would ever have done in the series happened in two episodes.

So I, you know, I think I flew a spaceship and God knows what else I did but honestly I think I’ve only ever seen it once. I don’t, I don’t remember it terribly well except that I remember really enjoying working with Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict who were lovely and Loren Greene, of course.

Q: What appeals to you the most about the comedy genre as an actress?

JS: I like to laugh. I love good comedy. And I just, you know, comic timing and comedy is one of the hardest things to do. So, you know, it keeps me on my toes. It’s really cool when you can make people laugh and when, and you can, you know, you can time it out correctly. I have a great sense of humor and I, you know, I enjoy sharing it with people.

Q: Do you feel there’s any type of formula for good comedic T.V.?

JS: I don’t know about formulas. All I know is if I read something really funny, I’d like to do it. When I read Wedding Crashers I was just, you know, falling over laughing at some of those scenes and I just said I’ve got to do this. It’s completely irreverent and very, very funny.

And I think Men At Work, I thought that was really funny. It’s a great fun character. And as I said on Franklin and Bash, they always give me really interesting and fun things to do.

And, you know, comedy is heightened reality really. And just kind of looking at circumstances from a different perspective. So I love, I love the idea that I can do both. I can do drama and I can do comedy and sometimes I do pieces that are dramatic but they have comedic moments, you know.

And like in music, you know you can have the hard loud stuff but unless you have the quiet stuff or the kind of quirky stuff, you know, you don’t, you don’t appreciate it. You know, you need your lights and darks. So I love the idea that I can be a versatile actress.

Q: What attracted you to this particular guest role? What, was there a specific line or was there a specific person that you wanted to be working with?

JS: Breckin actually. It’s his show and he said I’d love to have you on it. And he said I’ve written this, I’ve got this episode that I’d think you’d be perfect for. And I read it and I went yes, I can play that. And I’m a big fan of (Danny) and he was great fun to work with.

So and actually it was interesting because between the writers, the director and other people on the show and it’s, you know, it’s three cameras so it’s, you have a live audience. There were a lot of people I’ve worked with on other, on other comedy shows. So it was fun for me. It was like old times.

Q: Do you feel that you’re being typecast into the roles especially of older women now and if you are do you or why don’t you enjoy it?

JS: I do enjoy it but each role I play is a different kind of character. And I’m doing other things as well that have nothing to do this at all. I mean I played a grandmother with a grey wig on in the American girl movie which was beautiful, Saige Paints The Sky.

And I’ve got a movie that I just finished with Malcom McDowell in which I very definitely play someone of my own age who’s, it’s as far away from, you know, what I do in Men At Work or Franklin and Bash.

So, you know, each role’s different and I love the idea that I can play lots of different kinds of roles and that sometimes I can play looking glamorous or younger or sexy or evil or, you know, complicated or broken, whatever. It’s acting. It’s just, it’s what I enjoy doing.

Q: Are you planning on guest-starring in any of this coming summer’s episodes of Franklin and Bash?

JS: . They’ve actually offered me two, two episodes…this season. So, yes. So I’ll be coming back and doing two episodes, I believe.

I’m a big fan of the show too and of the guys and I think it’s, you know, it’s wonderful that Breckin managed to go out and do his own thing as well. Really fun.

And actually Malcolm McDowell who’s also in that show, I just did a movie with him, a wonderful movie call Bereave so I’m very, I’m very grateful to Franklin and Bash because it’s generated lots of other fun things to do.

Q: You kind of touched on how you like the comedic side of acting. Do you have a lot of younger fans that come up to you because of that and ask if they can call you Kitty Cat?

JS: Absolutely. All the time. It’s really funny. I, wherever I go, especially if I walk past any kind of bar that has a lot of young guys in it. Yes. It’s very disconcerting but yes, Kitty Cat has become quite (a Monica) really where, and you know, sometimes I’ll get in an elevator and a lady of my age will come jumping in and just say my children say your name is Kitty Cat. What does that mean? I go, you better ask them.