Jane Lynch: Fascinated by ‘Random Exercise of Power’ For Its Own Sake (Usually by Men); How Air Guitar Identified Her as Free Spirit, Not ‘Depressed Child’

Jane Lynch thinks it’s “harder to work your way up as a woman” in comedy.

The 61-year-old actress – who stars in the hit TV series ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ – believes that female comedians need to be “exceptional” in order to make a meaningful impression.

Speaking about the series – which is set in the 1950s and 60s, and follows a housewife who becomes a stand-up star – Jane explained: “In order to break through, you had to have material that spoke to men because the club owners were men, the TV producers, the late-night hosts.”

Jane acknowledges that the landscape has massively improved for female comics. But she thinks they still face big challenges, compared to their male counterparts.

The actress – who previously played Sue Sylvester in ‘Glee’ – told the Guardian newspaper: “Any time you look at a comedy club, the headliners are guys. Every once in a while, they might throw a woman in there.

“It’s harder to work your way up as a woman and, like anything else where you’re trying to break a mould, you have to be exceptional.”

Many of Jane’s past roles were originally written for men. But the actress actually relishes playing so many stern, authoritarian figures.

She said: “I’m obsessed with that random exercise of power, power for power’s sake.”

Jane used to think she was a “depressed child”. But after watching some home movies of herself, she now has completely different impression.

She explained: “Always dancing to the camera; air guitar. I was a real free spirit and I loved to perform. And then, of course, high school happens, and maybe even before that when you start to realise: ‘Oh my God, I may be gay but I don’t even have a word for it.’”