It’s a great time to be Jane Kaczmarek: In a twist straight out of a rom-com, she reunited with her Greendale High School sweetheart Rusty Long, and the couple were married this past summer. Then, this spring, Kaczmarek made a triumphant return as Lois in the Hulu TV series “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair.” The show, in which Kaczmarek co-stars with Bryan Cranston, continues to deliver zany, big-hearted absurdity, with Lois as the show’s loony beating heart.
After a whirlwind of national press following the reboot, Kaczmarek took time to chat with a fellow Greendale native about the important things in life: Milwaukee’s top butter pecan custard, the best places to make out in Greendale, co-stars in underwear and the importance of Nuns in Pink Flannel Pajamas.
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What’s it been like getting reacquainted with your Milwaukee and Greendale roots over the last couple years?
I’ve been quoting T.S. Eliot’s poem, which says: “At the end of all our exploring will be to arrive at the place we started and know it for the first time.” I mean, going back home now and marrying my high school sweetheart and being back in Wisconsin and Greendale, it’s like, “Oh my God, why did I ever leave this place in the first place?” I graduated, went to school, and had this career, and the years [went] by – it’s like that poem says, to see it again for the first time was an amazing eye-opener, just how wonderful Milwaukee is and how happy I was to grow up in Greendale.
Where did you live in Greendale?
We lived on Overlook Drive right off 76th Street. My parents built that house in 1968 and they both died in that house – my mother [this past] November. They never redecorated, so it’s an ode to the ‘60s. The white carpeting in the living room is as clean as it was when it was laid in 1968. It was a time when you really obeyed your parents – you didn’t eat in the living room, the dog didn’t go in there. [My husband] Rusty loves my mother’s living room so much, because in high school, you know, that’s where we would make out. It’s exactly as it was.
You walked me right into a question I wanted to ask: What’s one of the best places to make out in Greendale?
Your mother’s living room. When Rusty and I saw each other at the reunion – he was in the class of ‘72, and I was ‘74 – we went out to dinner and he drove me home. And my Mother said “Oh well, hi Rusty!” He said, “Hi Mrs. Kaczmarek.” She went back to watch “Murder, She Wrote” and we went into the living room and made out like we did in high school! I remember Scout Lake, but that would be sort of naughty. Or somebody’s parents would be out of town, you get a keg, [and] it would be winter and everybody would throw their coats on the bed, so it was really cushy. I think that was the first place I ever made out with Rusty, on this pile of coats. Just necking like crazy, and everybody drinking beer out in the backyard.
Let’s talk custard.
We lived in Milwaukee near Leon’s, and that was the first custard stand we knew. Then we moved to Greendale and it became a big battle between Kopp’s and Leon’s. Often when we would come home, we’d go to both several times just to make sure our judgment was right. The consensus was Leon’s butter pecan was better than Kopp’s. At Kopp’s we’d always get the burger with the works – they’re so big, I’d split it with my Mom. You know what I love about Kopp’s – they really make the people who work there hustle! They really move! There’s [also] something on the Kopp’s menu that I’ve always been fascinated by: it’s called hot celery. I guess some people like it on their hamburgers. Look for it!
What would Lois [Jane’s character in “Malcolm in the Middle“] do if she had a day in Greendale?
She’d go to the Panther Pub and look for people in the pictures that she knew. She would get a Spotted Cow or a Miller High Life. She’d go over to Price’s Collectibles – Jeff Price and his wife Kim were our next door neighbors forever in Greendale, I love them. She would go to Kopp’s and she would shine with pride at how disciplined those workers are, and she would want to talk to Ms. Kopps and commend her for running such a tight ship.
Your co-star, Bryan Cranston, he’s so comfortable in his underwear. When did that start?
You know…it started the first day we met. It was a scene where I am shaving his body in the pilot episode, they glued yak hair all over his body. So the first day I met him, he was basically naked, with a privacy pouch, and that just kind of kicked things off. Then he started just wearing underpants which was more than he had on that first day! And then they had him on that big billboard for “Breaking Bad” and he’s got the gas mask and he’s in his underpants.
But he did that with you first, you knew him first!
It all started on “Malcolm!” He just wanted to come back and be sweet, goofy Hal.
My daughter and I watched the “Malcom” reboot last night! It’s enjoyable – they still got it, the weird energy, the silliness! It held her in rapture.
That’s a good sign. I’m curious, does your family watch television? What does she watch?
My daughter watches “Bridgerton” – that didn’t hold me in rapture. Also, “Jane The Virgin.”
Oh yes! I watched “Jane The Virgin” with my kids. That was a very good show. I love “Landman,” with Billy Bob Thorton. And “DTF St. Louis” with Jason Bateman and David Harbour, the father from “Stranger Things.” Bateman is a mild-mannered weather man, and Harbor plays the ASL interpreter who signs the weather. They start this unusual friendship. It’s just the most fascinating thing … it’s funny, it’s dear, it’s heartbreaking. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Any other good Greendale memories?
We would walk home, on the path through the woods. Oh my God, just a beautiful walk. I’m just thinking about that walk through those woods in the autumn when the leaves were changing and how beautiful that was.
The walk behind St. Luke’s Church, right?
Yes. I will tell you this about that church. I was not allowed to wear blue jeans to school – we could wear corduroys, but not blue jeans, according to my mother. So I would put my corduroys on and put the blue jeans in my book bag. On my way to school, I would go in there [St. Luke’s church] into the bathroom, I would put on my blue jeans and hide the corduroys behind the toilet. And when I was coming home from school, I’d go in there and switch back to corduroys so my mom would see me in corduroys.
What a specific thing to rebel against!
Isn’t that right? See, that’s why that white carpeting was so clean. You had to pull all sorts of clever ways to get away with stuff … I sort of admired those boys on “Malcolm in the Middle” for trying so hard because I had to do a lot [to get away with anything].
We went to St. Luke’s sometimes because that was my mom’s church growing up. I also went to St. Alphonsus school in Greendale. They weren’t sure how to deal with me at St. Al’s.
I went there, too! Did you have nuns when you were at St. Alphonsus?
Not in the classroom, no.
I remember the Sisters at St. Alphonsus. If the class was being loud or rambunctious, the punishment was you had to sit and eat lunch in silence. And we did. This is what amazes me about how times have changed. I just can’t believe how much kids obeyed [adults] then. How come when my parents said something, we obeyed, but when I said it my kids would just go “Sorry Mom!” and keep doing it. I do remember at Our Lady Queen of Peace, you had to sign up after class to help the nuns clean the room. We were helping the sister wash the blackboards, and the rag we used was this square flannel with kittens on it. I asked, “Where did this come from?” and the Sister laughed and said, “That’s an old pair of pajamas of mine.” And I thought, nuns wear pink flannel pajamas?!
I think Nuns Wear Pink Flannel Pajamas is a good title for something.
Yeah. At our Lady Queen of Peace, we went to Mass every single morning. They could whip through those masses, they could do mass in 20 minutes if they put their minds to it, those priests. I am so glad this pope is standing up to Trump. Good for him!
Perhaps if the current president had had a Nun with Pink Flannel Pajamas to boss him around when he was young, maybe he’d have some manners.
Right? That’s what the essay, the “Nun in Pink Flannel Pajamas” will be about!
Listen, to all people who are misbehaving: Lois, that Mom on TV, she is leaping out of the television.
I should have a booth for Lois at the State Fair and charge $5 to yell at your kid!
And call it Lois Strikes Fear.
Have a cream puff and have Lois yell at your kid! [laughter]
Finally, what would be your advice to young artists?
Just believe you’re going to do this. You just need balls. That’s the beauty of youth – excitement, dedication. Carry on.
