The outspoken Hollywood outsider

Before US comedian and actor Janeane Garofalo can discuss anything she’s done in the past decade or so, I need to get one piece of fanboy worship off my chest: Garofalo played a small but pivotal role in the Unofficial Greatest Film Of All Time, 1997’s Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, inhabiting one of cinema’s most deliciously bitter characters, the chain-smoking Heather Mooney.
Thankfully, it appears I’m not the only one still amazed by Garofalo’s contribution to the cult classic.
I think it became a success on DVD with younger audiences. It’s interesting, a lot more people talk to me about it now then when it came out, so I think it’s had a great afterlife, Garofalo said from her New York home.
Garofalo will perform in Melbourne this month as part of the Comedy Festival. While Australian audiences would know her primarily through her extensive filmography, she says stand-up is her first love.
I did stand-up last night -” I’ve been doing it consistently since 1985 … I do it at least three times a week, because I really like the medium. I like acting, but it doesn’t excite me the way stand-up does.
In recent years, Garofalo’s comedy has taken on something of a political tone, as she’s become more outspoken about her liberal political views. She’s even a regular guest on the FOX news channel in the US, debating with various right-wing commentators.
It’s a drag, she said of her FOX stints. It’s like dealing with the high school bully -” Bill O’Reilly and all those guys are no different than anyone who was an asshole in high school. What’s weird about it is that you’re middle-aged and still dealing with them.
I’m not a left-winger; I’m a liberal who believes in social justice. The things that I talk about are not just my opinions: George Bush’s presidency was illegitimate, the war was illegal and immoral, there were no weapons of mass destruction, torture is wrong… these things don’t make me a left-winger, they make me factually correct.
Garofalo has also amassed something of a gay following over the years, and frequently fields questions about her own sexuality (she’s straight, ladies).
I’m always very complimented when someone thinks I’m gay, because it makes me seem far more interesting. I always consider it a mark of quality when you have a gay following, she laughed.
I don’t want to speak for the gay, lesbian and transgendered community -” I have no right to -” but it seems to me that there’s a tendency to relate to an outsider status. I think that’s where the connection might lie.
I think perhaps gay audiences appreciate me because I often get cast as the outsider, because I’m not conventionally beautiful, because I’m a proud liberal and campaigner for social justice and gender equality.
Don’t forget Heather Mooney.
Ah, yes. Above all else, it’s because of Heather Mooney.