'Abbott Elementary': Lisa Ann Walter cried over this 'Godfather' alum's Christmas cameo
Spoiler alert! The following story contains details about Wednesday's hourlong "Abbott Elementary" (now streaming on Hulu).
Bring out the struffoli and cucidati.
It was an "Abbott Elementary" Christmas on Wednesday's two-part episode of Quinta Brunson's hit ABC sitcom, where teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) hosted a holiday dinner for her vociferous Italian kin. But when she believed her racist uncle had died in an upstairs bedroom, Melissa was faced with a darkly hilarious predicament: Should she tell the family first, or wait until after the lavish feast she'd been stressing about for weeks?
The new episode gave viewers emotional insight into Melissa, a wisecracking Philadelphia native who's eager to please her judgmental Italian mom (Talia Shire, of "The Godfather" and "Rocky" fame). Walter, 61, is gearing up for her own Christmas celebrations, which always include watching "A Christmas Story" and playing Cards Against Humanity with her four kids. She tells us about "Abbott" and more:
Question: How does Christmas in the Walter household compare to the Schemmentis'?
Lisa Ann Walter: There's definitely as much chaos. It depends on who's there, how much the piss is being taken out, but we're all pretty funny people, so generally there's a lot of teasing. There’s going to be some gossip, and a lot of food. It’s very similar, honestly, I felt very at home on that set. There's a lot of pictures of my actual family everywhere. I was grabbing Talia Shire like, “Look, these are the original Sicilians who lived in Brooklyn.” We were comparing notes about where our families lived – it was awesome.
Were there any nuances of an Italian family Christmas that you appreciated most? Did you offer the writers any suggestions?
I’m the go-to for slang, so I made them a little glossary of options to use throughout the episode. Everyone’s favorite was “bachagaloop” (meaning: dummy). They hired a food stylist for this episode who was Sicilian, but they were also really great about coming to me and saying, “What would you cook with here?” There were things that were out that I wouldn’t use, like whole round tomatoes. I was like, “No, I use cans of Cento tomatoes. Put out some parsley and garlic I can chop.” When you’re concentrating on the jokes or the emotion of the scene, it has to be second nature.
If there was a Venn diagram of Sicilian and Philly pop culture, Talia Shire would be dead center. Did your family or friends freak out that you got to work with her?
All of them did. I wish my mother was still alive so that she could see it. She would say, “Oh, they got someone really thin to play her mother.” I burst into tears when Quinta told me. I mean, she’s royalty. This is the person we watched at my house every Thanksgiving as a little girl. My family played “The Godfather” nonstop, because it’s very much people fighting and screaming, and that’s an Italian holiday! So I felt really lucky to have her; she’s warm and lovely, and we got along immediately.
As funny as this episode is, it's also extremely relatable how Melissa feels she isn't good enough and needs to prove herself. What did you find most moving about this storyline?
There’s always at least one person in every family who feels like they’re never given enough credit. Melissa already feels like she let them down: She was supposed to stay married and have kids, so there’s this extra pressure to pull off this big dinner with everybody there and the table set beautifully. It’s something I’ve done for decades: I started doing the family dinner when I was 13, because my mother worked and my parents were divorced, so I took it on myself to take care of everybody else. A lot of times around the holidays, you feel like you’re not seen or appreciated. But that’s the way families are sometimes; the grudging compliment that Melissa’s mother gives her is enough to make Melissa feel like she won Christmas. And I feel that in my soul; it's very real and authentic.
Lately, we've gotten to see a softer, more vulnerable side of Melissa. How do you feel she's grown since Season 1?
There have been little signs of it from the beginning, from the “Art Teacher” episode to (this season's) “Class Pet” and now the Christmas episode, where we’re getting to see more of who she truly is. She’ll still get violent if somebody threatens the school or her kids or Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph). Or if she’s at a sporting event – or really any occasion! Melissa can get violent, but she’s also really mush on the inside, which I think most badass characters are.