Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Bless This Mess’ Lisa Linke

Lisa Linke is a talent who can do it all. She acts, writes, and produces, seeing each new learning experience as a stepping-stone in her career. And what a career she’s building. Past projects include Grey’s Anatomy, Bunk’d, This Is Us, Successful People, and dozens more. Currently, she can be seen starring opposite Dax Shepard, Lake Bell, JT Neal, Lennon Parham, and Pam Grier in ABC’s Bless This Mess. Pop Culturalist caught up with Lisa to chat about Season 2.

PC: You’re an actress, writer, and producer. How did you discover your passion for the arts? Is there one that you naturally gravitate towards?
Lisa: Since I was little, I’ve always been a performer. It’s always been in me. The first time I got a laugh from people, that was it. As I continued to do improv, I realize there’s nothing better than making a group of people laugh. There’s no better job.

I think I gravitate towards performing. But it doesn’t bother me if I’m doing my own or someone else’s material. When I write, it’s usually created out of frustration. [laughs] I love to create satire. But I don’t think that’s my natural state. I don’t want to be frustrated every day of my life. [laughs] So I would say that my main joy is performing, improvising, or acting.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Lisa: I’ll be more pragmatic about it and say my acting teacher Leslie Kahn. Once I moved out to California, she really helped me understand, technically, what I needed to do to book work. I still study, and I teach now too. I love it. I love being able to execute immediately. Nowadays in film and television, you get an audition the night before, and you have to book the next day. She helped me understand what was happening on the page. I owe a lot of my success to starting at her studio. I’m really grateful to her.

PC: Speaking of success, you’ve had tons of it already in your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Lisa: There are a couple. Booking my first costar in Chicago on Shameless was a really big deal. There weren’t many shows that shot at Chicago at the time. Moving to LA was a really big deal. Moments like that are more about the trajectory of my career. I have a really strategic brain. So those have been the stepping-stones/blocks to my career. Those are the big moments for me, and I look forward to more.

PC: You’re currently starring on Bless This Mess. How has your character grown over the course of the two seasons?
Lisa: She started out as a quiet talker. Now she talks more. [laughs] So that’s good! She was this crazy cat lady in the first episode that she appeared in. She’s a wild child. It’s really fun to see how the writers are enjoying writing for her.

PC: There are so many great relationships within the show. Which has been your favorite to explore and why?
Lisa: That’s what makes this show so great. There are so many great relationships and they continue to evolve. I love Constance and Rudy. I love Mike and Rio. I love Kay and Rio. Everyone on this show is so talented and so good at what they do that they’re never not making a new relationship on this screen. It’s so delightful to watch. I love it. I love to watch it. Even if I wasn’t part of this show, I would love it.

PC: You’ve been a part of this show since Season 1. Has anything surprised you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Lisa: For me, this has been a career-building moment, getting invited back for Season 2. I feel like all of this has been a huge learning experience to see how it all works. From being at the Season 2 premiere table read to being around when the show gets picked up for six additional episodes, all of that has been very cool for me. I recognize how fortunate I am to be on a show that’s experiencing all of this success. Lots of shows don’t make it past their first season.

PC: Like you just said, the show was recently picked up for six more episodes. What can you tease about the back half of Season 2? Where would you like to see your character’s arc head?
Lisa: I want to see Clara anywhere and everywhere. Wherever they want to put her, I’m happy to show up. The writers are brilliant. They come up with the most fun ideas. I’m game to play with whatever they want to do. There are some really interesting things in store for the back half. There are some big changes for a lot of characters. I’m excited for people to see. It’s going to be a bumpy but fun ride.

PC: You’re the co-creator of the Go Help Yourself podcast. How did you and Misty come up with that idea?
Lisa: Misty called me one day and asked if I liked self-help because she’s starting a podcast. I told her I hate it. I absolutely hate the genre. She was like, “Aw, bummer.” But I told her if it was a balanced approach, I’d be interested. She thought about it and called me back and said, “That’s a great idea.” I hate the genre. I hate anyone telling me what to do. I think there’s a lot of trash out there. Misty is so good about finding a literal dumpster fire and finding one good nugget. She’s a wonderful writer. We created this comedic podcast. At the end of December, we will have done it for a year. Between the two of us, we’ve probably read over fifty books this year. It’s crazy. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves. It’s really interesting, and our listeners love this balanced approach. We have listeners around the world. She’ll call me and be like, “Do you know we have sixty listeners from this country?”

To keep up with Lisa, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Catch new episodes of Bless This Mess Tuesdays on ABC.

Photo Credit: Birdie Thompson // Glam: Anna Milhouse