Michael Urie NPR Interview

Ugly Betty gets a little highbrow street cred (wait – that’s an oxymoron!) with this Michele Norris interview of Michael Urie on NPR.

They talk about the character Marc’s beginnings, how Vanessa Williams made it possible for Urie to shape the character from a temporary throw-away into one of the show’s main characters.  Urie has told this story many times before, and still shows a great deal of humility and gratitude to Vanessa.

There is a great deal of discussion about Justin (and Marc’s mentor relationship with him).  They replay that wonderful scene with Patti LuPone in episode 1.18, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, in which Marc finally comes out in response to his mother scoffing at Justin. 

Then they talk about tonight’s episode, 4.06, Backseat Betty, where Marc gives Justin advice on how to handle bullies. 

"Marc’s advice is to befriend the cheerleaders, because the cheerleaders are the mean girls, and the mean girls lead to popularity," Urie says. "And if he’s with them, he won’t get messed with. And so that’s what he does."

There is also a fascinating exchange about Justin serving as a role model, and how the show treats gay characters in general. 

“And they’re not just a joke anymore," says Urie. "They deliver the punch lines, but they are not the punch lines."

Marc may oftentimes BE the punch line,  "but not for being gay, for being silly. We don’t make gay jokes on the show. … They’re smarter than that. And we’re not catering to an audience who thinks jokes like that are funny."

There is a video sneak preview on the interview page that I haven’t seen anywhere else (sorry, I can’t embed it) – it involves Marc and Justin in what will probably be the most interesting story line tonight (and strangely, the least hyped).

The page has some on the interview, but you really must listen to the audio – it goes in depth, and has that wonderful All Things Considered tone to it. (Click ‘Listen to the Story’)  Go check it out.

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com