It is impossible not to root for her
“Like any good, closeted young lesbian of the ’70s, I developed a raging crush on Ron Howard,” says comedic actress Jane Lynch early in her witty new memoir, Happy Accidents. Obviously from there she could only be destined for greatness — but first, she had to jump through a lot of emotional hoops.
Lynch begins with her childhood in Illinois, where she always felt different, fantasizing as she watched Disney movies about being, “the heroic prince; not the weak, girly, pathetic princess who always needed rescuing, saying, “I had no interest in being saved by a guy on a white horse.” As a teenager, along with the realization she wanted to become an actress, she also developed a deep appreciation for beer — her favorite was Miller Lite — and eventually she became an alcoholic. She was in denial about her sexuality throughout college, until an affair with a professor, but even then she struggled with the notion of whether she deserved love.
Funny and driven on the outside, tortured and self-loathing on the inside, Lynch went from college to graduate school to New York to Chicago to Hollywood. Along the way, she managed to quit drinking, accept her sexuality, and recognize her gifts as a comedic actress. The more emotional material couples nicely with her charming tales of interactions with such celebrities as Anson Williams (Potzie from Happy Days), Harrison Ford, and Christopher Guest, who she met when he directed her in a series of Frosted Flake commercials. (Guest went on to direct her in her breakthrough role as an overbearing dog trainer in Best in Show.)
Lynch narrates the book as it’s written: in an unfussy and direct manner, even though the experiences and feelings are complex. Her struggles and triumphs feel very real and relatable, and it is impossible not to root for her. So when she finally gets her part as the sharp-tongued Sue Sylvester in Glee, and snarls, in character, in her reflection in the glass of a trophy case on set, we snarl right along with her.