Ray Mickshaw/FOX
Comedy fans know Mike O’Malley for his roles on Yes, Dear and Parenthood, but one of his most memorable roles is playing Burt Hummel on Glee. Last week’s episode focused on Burt’s wedding and his son Kurt’s relationship with new stepbrother Finn. O’Malley spoke to TIME about playing Burt, interacting with the cast and, of course, his past hosting Nickelodeon’s Guts.
Most people now know you as Burt Hummel, Kurt’s dad on Glee. How did you end up with that role?
Ryan Murphy called me and asked me if I wanted to play it. He and I worked on it for a pilot for FX called Pretty/Handsome. It was story about me (laughs). I was aware of Glee because of my sister (Kerry O’Malley) who is on Broadway. She had tested for Glee for the part of Terry. As a result of that, I was aware that Ryan was doing that show.
(See pictures of Glee‘s Broadway roots.)
As someone who doesn’t come from a musical background, what’s it like being around Glee kids all day?
I was setting up a big episode for Glee, just looking at all the energy. I know that everyone says about people who work on shows, but the hours that these people put into these things – 16, 17 hour days, what they put into production – it’s like they’re shooting a movie. And, their enthusiasm never wanes.
One of my favorite episodes of Glee is when Kurt comes out to his father, and his dad already knew the whole time and didn’t care. How did you prepare for that episode?
I think if you go back and re-watch that episode, there’s a little bit of a mislead in the beginning. You think his father is mad because of his son singing and dancing, and that’s the way I wanted it to play. Of course, I was shooting that episode knowing how it was going to end. Burt hears the music blowing at some ridiculous level in the episode, and he comes down thinking, “What’s the deal?’ The audience thinks he’s reacting to seeing his kid in a leotard, but you have to realize this is not unusual behavior for Kurt, and his father has seen this as his son was growing up.
(See pictures of Glee‘s Jane Lynch.)
Another show we all remember you for is Nickelodeon’s Guts. Would you ever return to the show if they asked you to?
It feels like when people bring the show up, it seems sometimes they want to heckle you, like, “Hey, you were on Guts.” I am incredibly proud on that show. I love the kids, and I think the programming that we were doing at that time was great. So much of kids’ programming right now has to do with animation and things that can translate internationally, things that can be dubbed into different languages and can move consumer products. I understand: That’s television. Those early days of Nickelodeon, when they were down at Universal Studios, they were producing rather than licensing most of their programming. It was content created for kids. We really put our heart into that show.
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Will we ever see Burt singing on Glee?
Like all things with Glee, I have no idea what’s coming up with the future. I don’t know if the audience is clamoring for Bert to break into song. Since his heart attack and the more he’s witnessing the sheer joy this kids break into, he may pick up the guitar.
(See how Glee chooses its songs.)
So you play guitar?
I don’t. I’m willing to do whatever they’d like me to do. (Laughs) All I hope is that I’m in the Super Bowl episode. I’m telling Ryan, “Put me in a scene. I just want to say I was in the Super Bowl episode.”