an interview with jayma mays

What originally drew you to the role of Emma?

Everything, really. Actually, the second I got the sides. I got the sides just for that character before I got the whole script. And just from the sides alone in the pilot, I could tell she was such a well developed character. And there was so much going on with her just from those few sheets of paper that I had kind of describing who she was. I knew immediately that there was a lot that was going to be going on with her. And I think that’s hard to find sometimes with roles for women. There’s maybe not so many layers to them, always. And I just felt from the get go that there was so much going on. And I also knew that Ryan Murphy was involved. I knew that was exciting to me, too. As soon as I heard that, I knew that there would be something good on the page. So I was immediately drawn to it.

And which relationship are you rooting for to work out? Will and Emma or Ken and Emma?

Oh no! I don’t know if I can say! That’s a hard question because when you see the scenes of Emma and Will, you obviously think “Oh of course they’re supposed to be together, of course, of course!” but the fact is, is that he’s a married man and Emma knows that’s wrong, and she doesn’t want to be a homewrecker. She doesn’t want to ruin a relationship. So I guess in a perfect world, she could find someone like Will, or maybe Ken (laughs) can become a little bit more like Will. But maybe it’s all about respect. Maybe if she can respect Ken enough, that will develop into true love.

Can we expect anymore showdowns between the two of you [Emma and Terri]?

I don’t know! I’m sure something’s coming because that whole relationship and that whole love triangle — which I hate calling it that — but that’s kind of what it is, is kind of set up for that. But maybe! Maybe they’ll let Emma win this one because I kind of think that she knocked me out in the last one.

And I loved your musical number, I Could Have Danced All Night. Do you want to sing again? Will we see you sing again?

Oh, thank you! (laughs) I don’t know if I want to say that I want to sing again. I actually found that terrifying. I haven’t had to do that before on camera, and I was so nervous that day. I had to keep eating bread and toast because my stomach was so sick. But it was an interesting experience. It was definitely a challenge for me. Of course if they ask me to do it again, I would do it again. But I’m not going to go begging them for it (laughs). Poor Matt. I stepped on Matt’s feet about a thousand times that day [when we were] dancing.

And do you have a favorite moment from filming so far?

Actually, I’ve only had one small scene with him, but I really enjoyed working with Chris [Colfer]. We have a scene where he kind of vomited on my shoes. You didn’t really see the vomit happen, but I just really enjoy being around him, and I think he’s a phenomenal actor. And actually, there’s some stuff that hasn’t aired yet. It’s more towards the end, but I have a few more scenes with all the kids together. And that was really fun. They’re a really fun, unique bunch of kids to be around. When you’re in a big group like that, it’s rare that you get to have a big scene with that many actors. And they’re all so different and so unique that actually I found that to be a lot of fun, because there’s always something that you’re kind of seeing differently when you have that many good actors around you. So they’re really great to be around, those kids.

via gleeky