17 Sep 2011 03:32:27
Lynch took a long, varied path to stardom on "Glee" — her biggest role to date — and recalls her struggles and triumphs.
From hawking electronic flea collars on the graveyard shift of a home-shopping television network to playing Carol Brady in a live rendition of the Brady Bunch, Lynch has done it all. Now she's the winner of a Golden Globe and Emmy for her role on the Fox TV series, and was selected as host of this year's Emmy Awards.
Her road to fame was bumpy, including moving back in with her parents at 25, struggling with her sexuality, battling alcohol addiction and later, having a tough time finding steady acting work and love.
Lynch takes her challenges in stride in the memoir, which sheds new light on one of TV's biggest stars. Lynch delights in recounting her past, even when the topics are tough — her body, her alcoholism, her sexuality. Everything she's experienced in life she considers a "happy accident" and this glass-half-full optimism fuels her book.
She knew from a young age growing up on Chicago's South Side that acting was her destiny. She tried to map her way, even writing to Vicki Lawrence and asking to be cast on her show.
But, Lynch writes, despite all her mapping and planning, "Providence was able to sneak in there and lead me to exactly where I needed to be next." That includes her chance encounters with director Christopher Guest that led to her first big break as a tough, no-nonsense lesbian dog trainer in his movie "Best in Show."
Anyone reading the book will know where Lynch is now — playing one of the most delightfully mean, naughty and amusing characters on television.
But attention "Glee" fans: The TV show craze that truly launches Lynch to stardom appears in the last third of the book. So stop whining, as Sue Sylvester would say. There's a lot more to Lynch than insults and tracksuits.
