A few years ago, veteran actress and comic Lisa Ann Walter pondered leaving Los Angeles and joining her best friend and fellow “The Parent Trap” actor Elaine Hendrix in the much cheaper environs of Atlanta. She even drove around the metro area shopping for homes.
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
But then she won the role as saucy, resourceful second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti in a new ABC comedy called “Abbott Elementary” in early 2021 that kept her in Los Angeles. The ensemble show became a rare breakout broadcast TV hit, collecting multiple Emmy wins and millions of rabid fans who could keep her steadily employed for the rest of the decade.
To Walter, the role felt natural, like it was written for her.
“I knew there was nobody better. I had that confidence going in and I got the part,” said Walter in a Zoom interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to promote five stand-up dates at the Atlanta Comedy Theatre at Underground Atlanta July 13-15. (Tickets available at ShowClix.com starting at $35.)
She booked comedy dates for her break between seasons two and three, her first time doing stand up in Atlanta in many years. (The writers strike will delay the start of season three.) It was also an excuse to see her best friend Hendrix, who spent 2019 to 2022 playing Alexis Carrington on the CW’s “Dynasty” in Atlanta.
Credit: ABC
Credit: ABC
Walter has had a career filled with appearances in big movies (”Bruce Almighty,” “Shall We Dance,” “The Parent Trap”), her own sitcom (”Life’s Work” for 18 episodes on ABC in 1996-97) and guest spots galore on TV (”GLOW,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Rizzoli & Isles”). But this is her first regular role on a hit TV series after nearly 30 years in the business.
She admires creator Quinta Brunson for taking the long view. “I guessed how many seasons she already had planned out during season one,” she said. “I told her she had eight. I was right. I told her she might have to extend that a few if we’re going strong. She has it all planned out.”
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Fans have glommed onto the rapport between her and Sheryl Lee Ralph, a fellow veteran actress who plays long-time teacher Barbara Howard. “I get a lot of questions about how I created this chemistry with her,” she said. “We sat down next to each other. We started talking. We had a lot of shared experience post-divorce, raising kids in Los Angeles. Just being hustlers, scrambling in any way to be able to afford a life here and keep the kids safe and keep the kids straight.”
For the second season, which Walter felt was stronger than season one, her fans seemed to like the read-a-thon episode because it showed a softer side of Melissa. But her personal favorite was the one in which she and Brunson’s lead character Janine Teagues cook together.
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
“I got to do a lot of scene work with Quinta,” she said. “She gets a lot of credit for creating the show and being a wunderkind. But she’s also a really good actor, not just the comedy but the heart stuff, too.”
And it’s a gratifying role because it honors Walter’s mother, a teacher in D.C. public schools who was dying of congestive heart failure when Walter shot the “Abbott Elementary” pilot. She was able to play her mother a copy of the pilot right before she passed.
“We didn’t have an official pick up, but I felt so secure we weren’t just a show that would make it on TV but would be a hit,” Walter said. “I told her, ‘It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m safe.’”
Indeed, she is safe enough to consider buying a vacation home in the Blue Ridge mountains in North Georgia.
“As you can tell, I’m a pioneer lady,” Walter said.
EVENT PREVIEW
Lisa Ann Walter
7 p.m. Thursday, July 13; 7 and 10 p.m. Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15, $35-$85. Atlanta Comedy Theater Underground, 50 Lower Alabama St., #4, Atlanta. atlcomedytheater.com.
About the Author
