Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: exclusive, interview, Jessica St. Clair, John Larroquette, melissa rauch, nbc, Night Court, Wendie Malick

Night Court: Jessica St. Clair Talks Rauch, Larroquette, Malick & More

Jessica St. Clair (Avenue 5) spoke with Bleeding Cool about guest-starring on NBC's Night Court, how Melissa Rauch recruited her & more.

Night Court star Melissa Rauch, who plays Judge Abby Stone, is about as dependable as they come in show business, letting her fellow actors, comedians, and friends in on the franchise they grew up watching. It's one of the perks of not only starring in NBC's legacy sequel as executive producer along with co-star and holdover from the original Reinhold Weege series in John Larroquette, reprising his role as the district attorney, now public defender Dan Fielding. The recent episode "Hold the Pickles, Keep the Change" featured Upright Citizens Brigade Theater alum Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer, and the upcoming episode "Wrath of Comic-Con" features another in Jessica St. Clair (Avenue 5, Royal Crackers). In the episode, St. Clair plays Heather, Abby's rebellious best friend she grew up with constantly finding herself at the other end of the law. She spoke to Bleeding Cool about how she's best friends with Rauch in real life, watching Larroquette and recurring guest star and sitcom veteran Wendie Malick (Julianne) work, and Heather's future in the series.

Night Court: How Jessica St. Clair's Heather is the Life to the Party

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'Night Court?'

St. Clair: Melissa Rauch, who plays Abby Stone is one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since we were 22 in New York City and starting as comedians. I'd love to say that I got that role off my talent, but Melissa wanted to bring her best friend to work. It was like, "Bring your best friend to work week." It was such a dream to watch her be amazing and to watch her be on set where it's like this piece of television history. John Larroquette and Wendie Malick were together in this episode, and it was like watching two Olympic athletes perform. It was a masterclass. I had the best week I've had in a long time.

Did you see the original show growing up?

Most of us comedians my age grew up watching these shows. It was one of the reasons why we all became comedians. It was cool to step on the set and get to be with someone like John Larroquette, who has been doing this for so long and is a virtuoso at comedy, specifically multi-cam. I haven't done too many multi-cam shows before. It felt like you were in capable hands, and it was fun. It's special to get to be a part of something like this.

You're mainly involved with Melissa's character in the episode, and Abby and Heather have some established history. Is there any additional backstory that maybe the Night Court viewer may not be aware of in the episode that you guys went over that might have helped your scenes?

One of the things that's special about the writing on the show is how specific it is. The jokes are my favorite type of comedy, but they gave me so many specifics in the episode about who my character was, and she's that friend you have in high school who's completely insane. That you prob you would have gotten rid of, but like, there's so much history there. Without Abby, I would have been in prison for much longer than I am in the episode. Heather, when she was six, fell into a gorilla pit and made the national news feed, and she's been coasting on the fame of being Baby Heather since she was a little girl. That was the only detail I needed. That and she is still recognized because she has all her baby teeth still. These details are so crazy. The other detail I loved that told me everything I needed to know is that on their way to graduation, she broke into a Krispy Kreme and rode the conveyor belt and that Melissa's character had to chisel her out of a sugar cocoon. With those types of details, it's a fully formed character.

Did you have a favorite character from the original 'Night Court?'

They were all so good. I love John Larroquette and always have. What's so wonderful about this, especially the reboot, is that he is equally gifted as a dramatic actor as he is a comedic one. He and Melissa's character, Abby, there's such a warmth about him. It was amazing to watch him work. I would have loved to be an intern and follow him around for a couple of months. To see somebody who you've admired for so long, then to get to meet them and realize they're so warm and gentle. He's a real gentleman. That's what I would say about him so that was special to get to meet him.

Were you able to pick John's brain, and did he offer any pointers to go into your acting? What was your experience talking with him?

Wendie Malik was there as well. I was such an enormous fan [of her]. Watching her and John do scenes together was something special. I love to talk to actors like that who have worked for so long and successfully in the business and how they balance their work and family life. The television world is so different now than it was when there were only three or four networks when they were in the prime of their career. I'm hoping they working as long as they have, and so it's wonderful to ask them questions about how they've transitioned from different phases in their careers. Both have rich personal lives and that's inspiring to me because the goal is how do you do what you love but not have it take over your life? That's why work-life balance is something that we're all looking for post-COVID, so I like to see if they have any tips and tricks on how to not lose your mind in this business.

I know they're still filming season two. Are there we going to hear back from Heather again later this season?

Listen, it's hard to ghost a person like Heather because she has a sort of 'Fatal Attraction' element to her, where she probably has made copies of Abby's keys, so I wouldn't be surprised if Abby finds her on her sleeper sofa again, uninvited or if she winds up in jail again. Heather is living life on the edge, and what's wonderful, too, about some sitcoms is we never learn lessons, and Heather hasn't learned a thing.

Night Court, which also stars India de Beaufort, Lacretta, and Nyambi Nyambi, airs Tuesdays on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock. Check out our interviews with Huebel and Scheer.

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