Speaker 1: I Am all in You. I Am all in with
Speaker 1: Scott Patterson and I Heart Radio podcast Everybody, Scott Patterson,
Speaker 1: aymal and podcast one on one interview with Linda Geringer. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's brought to you by I Heart Radio one O
Speaker 1: leven Productions. We are gonna talk to Linda about the
Speaker 1: only episode she appeared in a big Ted Copple's Big
Speaker 1: Night Out, Season four, episode nine. Let me tell you
Speaker 1: a little bit about our very distinguished guest. She played
Speaker 1: Uh the Penelon Lot in Gilmour Girls for one episode
Speaker 1: is Richard's college ex girlfriend from Yale, her only appearance
Speaker 1: in the entire series. Her bio. She's an actress with
Speaker 1: recurring roles and Hell and Gibbons in season one and
Speaker 1: season two f X series Justified. She has also guest
Speaker 1: starred Perry Mason Fear of the Walking Dead, most recently Physical.
Speaker 1: Linda is also best known for her recurring television roles
Speaker 1: as Fontanabo Sile in Evening Shade. She's also a stage
Speaker 1: actor who has appeared in several theater productions from Seattle
Speaker 1: to Lajoya, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Linda Geringer here she
Speaker 1: is high Linda. How you doing? Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1: Oh I love being here. Thank you. So let's get started.
Speaker 1: We'll we'll, we'll just hit the ground running here since
Speaker 1: we know you have limited time. Uh. So you were
Speaker 1: on one episode of Gilmore Girls as Richard college ex
Speaker 1: girlfriend Peneling a lot from Yale. Uh. It was an
Speaker 1: integral part of that episode for sure, kind of shocking.
Speaker 1: What do you remember about getting that role? Well? Um,
Speaker 1: Actually when I went to the audition, I was working
Speaker 1: in the theater a lot, so I actually didn't. Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't know the show that well. I knew of it,
Speaker 1: of course, but I didn't know it that well. And
Speaker 1: I got to the audition and that there were so
Speaker 1: many women there I cannot begin to tell you. And
Speaker 1: it was a big audition room and I'd say maybe
Speaker 1: thirty and actresses who had had their own series acted.
Speaker 1: I was like, whoa this is? You know? And then
Speaker 1: the casting director came out and talked to us all
Speaker 1: about the way the Palladinos wanted to speak to be
Speaker 1: like fast and don't over invest in it and don't
Speaker 1: and for me, because I worked in the theater all
Speaker 1: the time, and you have to do so many different
Speaker 1: ways of speaking or you know, I kind of loved it.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, but still it seemed not intimidating.
Speaker 1: I would say, actually fun. So then I went in
Speaker 1: there and and I did my fast speak. The next thing,
Speaker 1: I knew I had the role. And um, and people
Speaker 1: would say OpenL a lot or they talk about her
Speaker 1: all s. So I guess pre that episode she had
Speaker 1: been talked about between Kelly and Ed Hermit many times. Well,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting dynamic. Um, sorry interrupt, but we have
Speaker 1: we we have so many fan questions. There's we have
Speaker 1: such an engaged fan base and they send in tremendous
Speaker 1: amount of questions. We want to get to get half
Speaker 1: of it. Uh. You know, it's an interesting dynamic to
Speaker 1: see someone else coming between Richard and Emily's marriage. Do
Speaker 1: you remember any reaction from fans at that time when
Speaker 1: your episode aired? Well, I remember people actually at the
Speaker 1: theater that I work at a lot. There's a casting director,
Speaker 1: Joanne to know, and she teaches a class. So there
Speaker 1: were all these young people, i'd say in their twenties,
Speaker 1: and I was leaving a rehearsal at the theater and
Speaker 1: they were like, you're pedling, you're peddling. But they didn't
Speaker 1: have any judgment about it, you know, they didn't have
Speaker 1: So I don't remember people feeling like, oh I can't.
Speaker 1: I'm sure people did, but I don't remember that at all. Right,
Speaker 1: Right for the excitement of, you know, people beating her
Speaker 1: or we we love the line when Lauraa calls you
Speaker 1: who are almost mommy? Was it was it hard to
Speaker 1: keep a straight face with with that one coming at you. No,
Speaker 1: I was taking my job too seriously, right, You know,
Speaker 1: when you spend one day on a show like that,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not quite goofing around like some people
Speaker 1: might be. So but it was adorable. And I cannot
Speaker 1: tell you over all these years since then, how many
Speaker 1: people have quoted that to me? Oh, you're her almost mommy.
Speaker 1: These fans, they know that they know the show, the
Speaker 1: chapter in verse, the details. People say that to me.
Speaker 1: I was like, I'd be like, do you watch this
Speaker 1: show a lot? And they're like, oh yeah, yes, they Um,
Speaker 1: how long has it been since you watched an episode? Oh? Well,
Speaker 1: I would say quite some time. My husband asked me today, Um,
Speaker 1: he said, are you gonna watch your episode? And I said, no,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I pretty much remember it, and
Speaker 1: it's on my reel, so I see it when I'm
Speaker 1: redoing my reel. And I said, but I thought it
Speaker 1: might be more fun to just see what I actually
Speaker 1: remember all and every niece in my life, every goddaughter
Speaker 1: in my life, every everything. They are such fans. Two
Speaker 1: of them went to the Gilmore Girls fan club in Connecticut.
Speaker 1: Major fans, right right, that's fantastic. Um, what do you
Speaker 1: remember about your time on set? What's the what is
Speaker 1: the one big takeaway from memory from from your time? Well,
Speaker 1: I can say that the night before was the opening
Speaker 1: of Disney Hall, which I was at formally dressed. My
Speaker 1: best friend Beth Heart was like all together helping organize it.
Speaker 1: We had the clothes, we had the friends, Like, I mean,
Speaker 1: there was no way I couldn't go. And I think
Speaker 1: my call time wasn't outrageous. I think it was more
Speaker 1: like eight am, but I was. I was out till
Speaker 1: I was more worried about me being unsteady and whatever.
Speaker 1: And then I was in the costume place and ed
Speaker 1: Hermann came up and he was like, so you're my girlfriend,
Speaker 1: And it was just such a welcoming. You know, he
Speaker 1: sat there and talked to me for a while and everything,
Speaker 1: and and then I would say, the rest of the time,
Speaker 1: first of all, everyone was wonderful and the Palladinos were
Speaker 1: right on the set the whole time, which I found
Speaker 1: as a guest star kind of great. And um So, anyway,
Speaker 1: I remember really respecting Lauren and Alexis, and you know,
Speaker 1: not trying to be over buddy or whatever, but uh,
Speaker 1: but Lauren and I started talking about the theater, and
Speaker 1: so then she and I were often running with that,
Speaker 1: and of course Kelly and Ed both worked in the
Speaker 1: theater all the time, so I just had a really
Speaker 1: I was so grateful for them being such generous, kind
Speaker 1: spirits because I was a little born out. So so,
Speaker 1: what was it like doing scenes with Ed and Kelly?
Speaker 1: Just easy, breezy, I'd say, yeah, I mean, because they
Speaker 1: are pros. They're pros, they're fabulous at what they do.
Speaker 1: And any Gilmore girls I had seen, you know, you
Speaker 1: identify immediately who they are, what they are to each other,
Speaker 1: what they are to their granddaughters, you know, so our
Speaker 1: daughter and granddaughter, I should say. Yeah. So I just
Speaker 1: remember from that perspective being very comfortable, just because they
Speaker 1: were so good at what they did. Did did Amy
Speaker 1: and Dan tell you about what was going to happen,
Speaker 1: any repercussions of penalance conversation when you got that role? No, No,
Speaker 1: they did not. And I would say that most of
Speaker 1: the actresses in that room that day, that everybody thought
Speaker 1: she'd be on the show for a while, you know,
Speaker 1: that she was going to be invade the space. Um
Speaker 1: so no, And so I just took the information I had,
Speaker 1: and I knew that she had been talked about and
Speaker 1: she'd been a threat in some way to Yeah, I
Speaker 1: just find Yeah, it was such a great shocking plot point.
Speaker 1: And and then she would show up you mean and
Speaker 1: that yeah, that she right. I mean, it was just
Speaker 1: such a shocking character kind of I don't know, knock
Speaker 1: on Richard. And then you know, we discussed it last
Speaker 1: podcast and it's like, good lord, he really did that,
Speaker 1: and and and and then this next episode you weren't
Speaker 1: a part of it. There was no conversation about it,
Speaker 1: and no ensuing conversation that I can imagine. I mean,
Speaker 1: I haven't seen the episodes yet, but would you recall
Speaker 1: if you were mentioned in any of the ensuing episodes. No,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think you know only my god daughter Emma,
Speaker 1: who said, Linda, you are an iconic character on this show,
Speaker 1: you know, so I don't really know. I don't really know. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's odd to make such a good and clearly
Speaker 1: he was not going to he wasn't going to cheat
Speaker 1: on his wife. He well, he did, he did emotionally,
Speaker 1: didn't he. I mean, if you sit there and have
Speaker 1: dinner I mean to have lunch over a period of
Speaker 1: years with somebody who you used to be intimate with
Speaker 1: and don't tell your wife about it, that is that's
Speaker 1: not good. That's not good. It's not good. That's an
Speaker 1: emotional that's an emotional affair. I think they call that, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: something you don't want to let go of. Man. And
Speaker 1: maybe that's why in the end they decided to actually
Speaker 1: not have anything happen, because I think even ed Herman
Speaker 1: thought something would happen. You know that when he talked
Speaker 1: to me that day. I think he had that in
Speaker 1: his mind that something would actually happen. But they may
Speaker 1: have decided that it was just too icky. You know
Speaker 1: that the lunches were one thing, but you know, actual
Speaker 1: cheating is another more than emotional cheating, as you called it.
Speaker 1: I wanted to see that. I wanted to see you
Speaker 1: and Emily Duke get out or something like that, or
Speaker 1: you know what, I so much pauler than she. It
Speaker 1: just would have made me like, really a badass. Many many,
Speaker 1: many people remember you as Fontana and Evening Shade that
Speaker 1: ran from Um. What fond memories do you have working
Speaker 1: alongside Burt Reynolds and Mary lou Hanna Well, um, too
Speaker 1: much to talk about really, but um, the reason I
Speaker 1: had that job is because I was working in a
Speaker 1: theater in Dallas and Bert and the Thomasin's came down
Speaker 1: to look for um Southern kids, and they said, if
Speaker 1: you have other interesting actors, ring them in. So I
Speaker 1: got to go in there and read with Bert and
Speaker 1: um too, it was a scene with his wife Mary
Speaker 1: lose part and so I got to read that. And
Speaker 1: when we were done, but the story goes, Bert was like,
Speaker 1: she needs to be my wife, you know that. He
Speaker 1: was excited or whatever, and the Thomasins were like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't see that. All those wonderful name people and whatever.
Speaker 1: But about a month later they had this role of
Speaker 1: the Tom stripper, and Bert said to the Thomasin's let's
Speaker 1: get that girl in Texas. I hope this is okay.
Speaker 1: She doesn't have any kids, but she's got great legs.
Speaker 1: We can give her kids. So they flew me out
Speaker 1: and I met them and it was a blast, and
Speaker 1: I got the role. And they would fly me back
Speaker 1: between because my husband and I were um running a
Speaker 1: theater company in Dallas at the time, and so they
Speaker 1: would fly me back and forth. And then horrifically, my
Speaker 1: husband ended up being in a minor car accident where
Speaker 1: a paramedic gave him an injection of a wrong drug
Speaker 1: and it stopped his heart and killed him. Oh goodness, no,
Speaker 1: I'm not kidding you. And so here I am with
Speaker 1: all of them like a new family. And my husband
Speaker 1: had come out and met them, and he was running
Speaker 1: the theater at the time, and I think he was
Speaker 1: doing auditions out there. So anyway, they knew me as
Speaker 1: this I was thirty five years old, you know, and uh,
Speaker 1: and they took care of me and and I just
Speaker 1: have so much to say about evening Jade, like too much.
Speaker 1: But I had the time of my life, really, and
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what my life would
Speaker 1: have been if I didn't have them to kind of
Speaker 1: bump into started new life in California. You know, all
Speaker 1: of that. They're very connected to my life. I'm so
Speaker 1: sorry for the loss of yours. Yeah, no, it was.
Speaker 1: It was absolutely awful and terrible and and you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, but they were amazing. They were amazing, And
Speaker 1: so then I just become became part of that Evening
Speaker 1: Shade family for four years and more fake press the
Speaker 1: entire time. Um so um, what was Burt like to
Speaker 1: work with? What was Burt and very little like to
Speaker 1: work with? Bert? Bert was beyond fabulous with actors and
Speaker 1: with people above him, you know, like directors and producers,
Speaker 1: and he had done a lot of it at himself.
Speaker 1: He was tougher two actors. He was a love. I
Speaker 1: would say to all actors. Yeah for sure. Um so
Speaker 1: you recently did uh justified? Yeah? I justified did Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Tell us about that was the first three seasons? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that was another really really great experience. Um and I
Speaker 1: remember going to the first audition and just feeling like
Speaker 1: I can do this. I know I could do this,
Speaker 1: And then I got there. Once again, there were actresses
Speaker 1: much more famous than myself, but I didn't really even care.
Speaker 1: I had a gene jacket on. I was sitting on
Speaker 1: the floor and it was to be his stepmother was
Speaker 1: and in the first episode she had a very big part,
Speaker 1: and um, anyway, I ended up getting that role and
Speaker 1: loving it. I mean I had I used shotguns, I
Speaker 1: drank whiskey, I spoke serettes. You know. It was just
Speaker 1: that kind of a part that women don't normally get
Speaker 1: to play. And then I think it was oh it was.
Speaker 1: It was the end of the second season. So I
Speaker 1: did a lot of the first and second seasons and
Speaker 1: then um Graham Yost called me at home and I
Speaker 1: was doing a play at the time. It's like, how's
Speaker 1: the play doing? How you know? And I was like, oh, good, good,
Speaker 1: And then he said, down, Linda, Um, I have to
Speaker 1: tell you we need a death on the show, and
Speaker 1: we needed death that matters. So it's gonna have to
Speaker 1: be you because I was his step mom and I
Speaker 1: was his person who really took care of him. And
Speaker 1: and I actually burst into tears on the phone, like
Speaker 1: a cartoon where the tears to shoot out of your face.
Speaker 1: I loved them all so much, and the thought of
Speaker 1: like not being with them was very very sad to me.
Speaker 1: I think that happens on series though if it's a
Speaker 1: happy series, you know that it's hard hard to leave.
Speaker 1: So and they were a terrific bunch. Absolutely. Tell us
Speaker 1: about Fear of the Walking Dead. What was your role
Speaker 1: on that one? Oh uh, well, Fear the Walking Dead
Speaker 1: shot in rose Rato, Rose Rato, Mexico's Dead Beach Boy
Speaker 1: and so yeah, and so I was there for about
Speaker 1: three weeks and and then and that part of it
Speaker 1: was tough. I mean, it's not like you could go
Speaker 1: out and go shopping and there'll be whole days you
Speaker 1: weren't were king. That part of it was tough. But
Speaker 1: a friend of mine had written the episode, and um, anyway,
Speaker 1: I in the end, I was very grateful to have
Speaker 1: done it. But honest to God, that this young woman
Speaker 1: had to drag my body through all the dead bodies.
Speaker 1: I am a five ft ten woman and she was
Speaker 1: like tiny. And you know, there were things about it
Speaker 1: and they were like, oh my god, please don't make
Speaker 1: this girl carry me. Please. It's a very specific. So um,
Speaker 1: but you know, worth it. I mean all these when
Speaker 1: I think about everything you've asked me about I think
Speaker 1: about how different they are, and it is completely different.
Speaker 1: And uh, and that's the part of television that has
Speaker 1: been a gift to me and you. You then moved
Speaker 1: on and you did some some Perry Mason episodes where
Speaker 1: you're serious regular. You just did the one episode and
Speaker 1: just one of his Yeah. And I had to work
Speaker 1: with cat for the second time in not too many years.
Speaker 1: And in CIS, I had to work with cats. And
Speaker 1: cats can't be trained. They're not like dogs, but they
Speaker 1: always act like they can. Their trainers club really doesn't
Speaker 1: work like costs more right, Yeah? Um? And Physical tell
Speaker 1: us about Physical? What is that? Physical is a terrific
Speaker 1: show and very dear friend of mine, Annie Wise, been
Speaker 1: created it and I've done three of her plays, so
Speaker 1: she really wanted to get me in there. Uh So
Speaker 1: I ended up being the mom of one of the
Speaker 1: major characters. But it's set back, Um, I guess in
Speaker 1: the eighties in the eighties, right, Physical, Yeah, and anyway,
Speaker 1: it was it was terrific, but it was during COVID
Speaker 1: and I had no idea, no idea what that was
Speaker 1: like and how they had to put your costumes and
Speaker 1: zipped up bags and You're always in a mask until
Speaker 1: your lines on action, not something else's. It was always
Speaker 1: that way, So I would say it was an experience
Speaker 1: too from that standpoint to have done that during COVID.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, UM, can you estimate how
Speaker 1: many times people have approach you and recognized you from
Speaker 1: Gilmore's Pendling Lot? Okay, starting from the time those students
Speaker 1: did that, which was right after it was on the air,
Speaker 1: I honestly never thought it would happen again. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I could estimate maybe and now when people
Speaker 1: do it, because I'm so much older and I got
Speaker 1: to look so pretty on that show, which I don't
Speaker 1: always you know, with these character parts I played. When
Speaker 1: they recognize being, I'm like, well, thank you, but it's
Speaker 1: a lot pendelent lot seemed to I don't know, seemed
Speaker 1: to land for people. I think because of the build up.
Speaker 1: It was so it was so shocking. Yeah, see listened
Speaker 1: to you like you were shocked when you read the episode, right.
Speaker 1: I don't remember reading the episode. I just remember watching
Speaker 1: the episode, you know, a week or so ago, and
Speaker 1: then going on air to opine about it and comment
Speaker 1: on UM. But it was it was incredibly shocking to me.
Speaker 1: And even what's even more shocking is that you Vanish
Speaker 1: I know, and and it's not dealt with. So I
Speaker 1: we're going to bring this up in the in the
Speaker 1: in the breakdown. I do think at Herman thought we
Speaker 1: were gonna this was not going to be our only
Speaker 1: shot for sure. Maky and I talked, and then all
Speaker 1: those actresses, Like I said, I mean, I think everybody
Speaker 1: was there. You know how they always do the possible recurring,
Speaker 1: you know, I think everybody was pretty sure that she'd
Speaker 1: come back, and I think I was pretty sad she didn't.
Speaker 1: But you know, that's just TV such a great dynamic.
Speaker 1: But between you two, you and I mean, it was
Speaker 1: and and and you and everybody, it was really it
Speaker 1: was really entertaining. It was just yeah, it was really
Speaker 1: really plastically funny. Um so what is next for you?
Speaker 1: What do you have cooking? Well? Um, right this second, uh,
Speaker 1: I just did a play down south here in California.
Speaker 1: But I write this second, I'm not doing another play.
Speaker 1: My husband just had a knee replacement. Well he actually
Speaker 1: just had to So right now I'm not accepting any
Speaker 1: place or anything. I'm open for television. So I really
Speaker 1: don't know. Um, but mostly that's how my life goes.
Speaker 1: It's like I do a play. I'm open for television,
Speaker 1: you know, so, I don't have anything lined top right
Speaker 1: this right other than you. Okay, we're gonna play a
Speaker 1: little game we do on every with any every interview
Speaker 1: called rapid fire. I'm gonna throw questions out. You gotta
Speaker 1: answer him his fast. You can't you ready? Okay, here
Speaker 1: we go. How many cups of coffee do you have
Speaker 1: a day? Two to three? Are you Team Logan, Team
Speaker 1: Jess or Team Dean? I didn't understand. Sorry, I don't
Speaker 1: know what you said, team something? Are you Team Logan,
Speaker 1: Team Dean or Team Jess? Rory's Boyfriends? Which one do
Speaker 1: you like? Not sure? I don't know that I know
Speaker 1: it well enough to root. We'll come back to that.
Speaker 1: Who is your favorite Gilmore girl's character? Mm hmm maybe Laurla?
Speaker 1: What would you order a Luke's diner? Oh? Luke? I
Speaker 1: know so many women who are in love with you.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, okay, all right. I don't know that
Speaker 1: he's on the menu, but we could. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know what to say. Um, would you would you
Speaker 1: rather go on a road trip with Taylor or Michelle.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I don't know say both of them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course both. Of course I knew you're gonna say that.
Speaker 1: Finish the lyric, and where you lead, I will follow
Speaker 1: dot dot dot anytime, anywhere, anywhere, anywhere. Yeah, keep going anywhere, anywhere,
Speaker 1: anywhere down the way lead. I will follow anywhere. I
Speaker 1: don't know that you tell me that you tell me.
Speaker 1: I'm glad this isn't like tested school that you anywhere
Speaker 1: that you tell me too, oh, anywhere that you tell
Speaker 1: me to wonder, I can't remember that, Yeah, I would.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't remember either. Jackson's vegetables are Suki's baked goods?
Speaker 1: You have no idea what I'm talking about to, you know,
Speaker 1: But let's say Suki's bigger it. Would you rather listen
Speaker 1: to Drella's harp or the Troupiter's cover songs? Just you
Speaker 1: have no idea what I'm talking about? The harp? You
Speaker 1: want the harp? Chilton Prepper Stars, Hollow Hi Stars, Hollow Hi.
Speaker 1: There you go, Linda, it was a pleasure. Thank you
Speaker 1: for coming one, thank you for your time. It was
Speaker 1: a blast, pivotal moment in the show for me. One
Speaker 1: of my favorite episodes. By the way, um, I love
Speaker 1: that episode, loved everything about it. And we never heard
Speaker 1: from you again, which is a which is a crime,
Speaker 1: not a misdemeanor. And thank you, thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on. It was a pleasure having
Speaker 1: you well, thank you. I loved coming When I got
Speaker 1: the call, I was like, of course I would be
Speaker 1: on that podcast, are you kidding? Much appreciated, much appreciated.
Speaker 1: Linda Garinger, thank you so much, and uh maybe we'll
Speaker 1: talk real soon. Okay, alright, thanks, all right, byet hey everybody,
Speaker 1: and don't forget follow us on Instagram at I Am
Speaker 1: all In podcast and email us at Gilmore at I
Speaker 1: heart radio dot com. Oh you gil More fans. If
Speaker 1: you're looking for the best cup of coffee in the world,
Speaker 1: go to my website for my company scott EP dot com,
Speaker 1: s C O T T y P dot com, scott
Speaker 1: ep dot com Grade one Specialty Coffee. Yeah.