‘Abbott Elementary’s’ Lisa Ann Walter breaks down Melissa’s decision to withhold that casual romance from her BFF Barbara [Exclusive Video Interview]
In Season 2 of “Abbott Elementary,” viewers get to see a softer side of Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter), a no-nonsense second-grade teacher working at the show’s eponymous Philadelphia public school and a proud Italian-American divorcee who knows “a guy” for everything. Not only does it explore her complicated relationship with her sister Kristin Marie (Lauren Weedman), but it also sees her using her own childhood struggles to help a student battling with a reading disability. Season 3 of the hit ABC sitcom peels back even more of the character’s layers, tapping further into her vulnerability — and it’s safe to say that Walter wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I don’t think Melissa was ever one note — I mean, I certainly didn’t see it that way. But I think that every line can be nuanced a slightly different way. Yes, every once in a while, Melissa is gonna say, ‘Yeah, I know Kevin Hart‘s barber, he owes me, I know a guy.’ Like, that’ll come out. But it’s not the entirety of her character,” the actor underlines during a recent webchat with Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “If I were asked to play one note over and over again — that would be challenging. Having a multifaceted and multilayered character is a joy. It’s a joy for an actor, it’s a joy for me, personally, because I have those sides — so it’s just accessing it. And I’m lucky in that my rainbow of emotions [is] easily accessed.”
SEE Will ‘Abbott Elementary’ finally expand in the supporting acting Emmy categories?
In the third season’s two-part premiere, Melissa breaks up with her boyfriend, Gary (Bruno Amato), a vending machine stocker at Abbott, after he proposes to her in front of the whole school. Married once before — to her ex-husband Joe — Melissa never wants to tie the knot again, telling Gary after she rejects his proposal, “I don’t need to be convinced. It’s my truth.”
“[Gary] is an adorable man. He is delightful, he’s nice to her, he is expressive about really loving Melissa — and you don’t want to hurt somebody like that; Melissa doesn’t want to hurt him… However, she knows that he wants all of it, he wants the whole relationship,” Walter says of Melissa’s decision to part ways with Gary. For some people, especially as they get older, the main goal in life isn’t just to be in a fixed relationship, the actor asserts. “I don’t need that to make me an entire human being — I’m already that,” she says, speaking from the perspective of her character. “But [Gary] does. And so [Melissa doesn’t] want to be selfish and take him away from the future that he is looking for. It’s a hard decision to make.”
Not only is it a hard decision for Melissa to make, though, it was also a difficult one for Walter to grapple with. She was concerned about the reaction it might elicit from viewers, particularly women. “I see them online — I see women talking about how hard it is to find a partner as they get older,” she elaborates. “And I didn’t want them looking at Melissa like, ‘How are you just chucking this guy away without understanding how hard it is to find a potential mate?!’ and getting mad at her.”
SEE Interview with Chris Perfetti: We were ‘adamant about showing Jacob win a little bit’ in Season 3
Whether Melissa will ever be willing to commit to a “serious” relationship again remains to be seen. But in the eighth episode of the season, it’s revealed that she’s having a casual romance with firefighter Captain Robinson (Mike O’Malley) — one that she has chosen to withhold from her colleague and BFF Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), an old-school kindergarten teacher at Abbott and a God-fearing woman who has been married for 30-plus years.
“As we go into further seasons on the show, the writers get to know us more and more. They [see] how we relate to the characters and sort of [our] similarities [to them]. And the truth is: I don’t know that I would be all that forthcoming with Sheryl Lee Ralph about some kind of horn-it-up that I was personally doing, because it’s just not who she is,” Walter admits when asked to explain why Melissa chooses to keep her romance a secret from Barbara. “[Ralph]’s so fraught with elegance, and… she’s regal. Barbara is regal! Even [Janelle James‘ Principal] Ava, on the show, will make one of her smart-mouth Ava comments and then go, ‘Oh, sorry!’ — because you just don’t want to do that around Barbara.”
However, Barbara’s regality isn’t the only reason Melissa decides not to disclose her romance to her friend at first. With Jacob (Chris Perfetti) having moved into her house after breaking up with his boyfriend, Zach (Larry Owens), Melissa has now found another confidant — one who, she believes, may be more understanding of her wants, given his own situation. “[He] was the one that was like, ‘Go have fun! Look, I’ve got six guys I’m checking out. I’m swiping right more than two-thirds of the time… Why are you sitting at home? Like, have some fun!'” Walter argues. “So in my head, he was encouraging her to enjoy, and because she has him as an ear in her house now, she doesn’t need to tell every single thing to Barbara.”
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