¬ANE LYNCH
t’s not often that a female
TV character bursts onto
I our screens and into our
affections with such
pomp, energy, attitude
and ferocity as Sue Sylvester in TV
phenomenon Glee (Mondays, 9pm, E4).
But then there’s not many people like
Sue Sylvester, or Jane Lynch, the
unflinching actress who plays her.
A Rottweiler in human form, Sue
Sylvester, McKinley High’s twisted
cheerleader coach, isn’t the protagonist
of the US show about a choir of misfits
and popular kids (the ‘Glee’ club), but
she’s quickly become the show’s
breakout star thanks to her acerbic
tongue, devotion to her ‘Cheerios’, the
troupe of cheerleaders she coaches,
hatred of the show’s real protagonist –
do-gooder teacher William Schuester
(Matthew Morrison) and her neverending
supply of Adidas tracksuits.
Described by critics as a “sublime
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MEET THE
FU NN I ES T
WOMAN ON TV
Acid-tongued cheerleader coach
Sue Sylvester is TV’s
newest icon. Stylist meets the
woman behind the rainbow
tracksuits, Glee star Jane Lynch
ANYTHING BUT TRASH TV:
LYNCH (FAR RIGHT) WITH
THE CAST OF GLEE
villain”, The Times has named her one of
TV’s Top 10 bitches ever. And despite
the distinctly un-American, un-PC
nature of Glee’s script (Sylvester’s lines
involve her shouting, “Wheels!”, “Gay
WORDS: SARAH MAY
Kid!” and “Asian!” at her students), even
Glee’s home nation – the same nation
that fined CBS £366,000 when Janet
Jackson flashed half a breast in the
2004 Super Bowl break – has embraced
her. In fact, influential US magazine
Entertainment Weekly has commented
that Sue, “may be the sharpest-tongued
character on network TV.”
For those of you who’ve not seen
Jane in action, it’s no exaggeration to
say that her creation is the funniest
female character on TV. A one-woman
put-down machine, who will do, to quote
Lynch, “anything it takes to win”, recent
episodes have seen her destroy the
cheerleading career of pregnant student
Quinn, attempt to break up the marriage
of her nemesis Will and repeatedly try
to bring down his cherished Glee club.
But like any good villain she has the
occasional, essential touches of
humanity – who could fail to be moved
by the sight of Sue reading to her
Down’s Syndrome sister Jean or falling in
love then getting rejected by TV
anchorman Rod Remington.
But what of the 6ft,
49-year-old actress behind the
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