Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: mo collins, nbc, Night Court

Night Court: Mo Collins on Larroquette, Williams, Malick & More

Mo Collins discussed guest-starring on NBC's Night Court and reuniting with John Larroquette, Gary Anthony Williams, and Wendie Malick.

Mo Collins has accomplished so much in her nearly three decades on the screen. Not only has she developed quite an impressive filmography of TV shows from sitcoms, films, voiceover, and even sketch comedy during her memorable run on the Fox weekly late-night variety series Mad TV. Her latest role on the Dan Rubin series is Starla, the former magician assistant to the late Harry Stone, who pays a visit to his daughter Abby Stone's (Melissa Rauch) court, unleashing her brand of mischief in the episode "Abracadabra Alaka-Dan." The actress spoke to Bleeding Cool about her fandom of the original Reinhold Weege series; reuniting with current stars John Larroquette and Wendie Malick, who was one of the stars of NBC's Just Shoot Me! in one of Collins' earliest roles; Gary Anthony Williams, and if Night Court Starla is the very same as Gob's (Will Arnett) assistant on Arrested Development.

Night Court: Mo Collins on Answering the Call and Putting Her Clown College Work to Use

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

They called me [mimes phone] 'Hello?' I was very excited. Yeah, they called me and asked me if I wanted to play this role [of Starla], which is perfect. They were spot on and asking me. It's a perfect role for me [laughs]. It's in my wheelhouse of crazy ladies to play, so it was fun. I was thrilled to do it, having been, a fan of the original. It was like, "Whoo! Nice."

Did you work with any of the current cast before?

I have worked with John Larroquette before on 'Joey' [in season two, episode six 'Joey and the ESL'] I guest starred in a sitcom, but this is like, oh my goodness, probably like 19-20 years ago. I did get to work with him or at least hang out on set with him and it was fun, so it was super fun to get to do scenes with him this show. That was great.

Since you followed the original show, who was your favorite character?

Do you want to know? It was John Larroquette['s Dan Fielding].

That's easy, right?

I just loved his dry wit. I don't know. He was like a bad boy in a suit. It was great [laughs] and tall.

Did you do anything to prepare for the role? Were you already into magic beforehand?

I didn't have to prep the magic because they had people to do that for me [laughs], which is probably a good thing. I'm a bit clumsy myself, so I didn't have to do too much with that, which was great. The handcuffs were maybe the hardest part, but I do have a lot of clown experience, believe it or not. I did some clown college through Disney years ago, down in Orlando, where for months I've learned how to do physical comedy and some stuff, in a way, is in the magic world, like making things disappear or making things not show. I have had that kind of experience, but not magic specifically.

I noticed something since your character's name is Starla.

Yeah? Say it.

You also played a similar assistant-type who shares the same name on 'Arrested Development.' Was it a coincidence or is this a crossover?

I asked, I had to ask, right? I was like, "Do you know that I played a character named Starla?" People know and remember that character, and by the way, that was my favorite name to see in a trailer was "Starla." When this script came along and here's a character I get to play named Starla, I was like, "No way! It's my favorite character name again." I was so excited. I wouldn't be surprised if some people were a little bit confused, fans of mine anyway, that might be like, "Wait, is that the same Starla?" And it is not the same Starla. There can be more than one Starla as long as it comes from me [laughs].

Can you talk about the time when you're filming the episode? Was there anyone else you spoke to aside from Larroquette?

Oh, yes. A friend of mine is on the show, Gary Anthony Williams. Do you know who he is?

Yeah, I interviewed him about a month ago.

Right. Gary and I are pals. That's the other aspect was to show up and one of my pals was there. How fun is that, right? It's like back when we were in elementary school and somebody would be in your same class, and you're like, "Oh, yay! I'll see you at recess." Super fun, Gary and I do a lot of voiceover stuff together and improv. We come from the same improv background, so it's very fun to play with him. Plus, I got to meet Melissa, who is wonderful and a delight. Also, Wendie Malick, who I've been a fan of for years, so that was cool. As a couple of ladies, we got going!

Night Court, which also stars Lacretta and Nyambi Nyambi, airs Tuesdays on NBC and later, is available to stream on Peacock.

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