RSS
Home
Leslie Jordan on Dancing With the Stars? But first ... The Rrazz Room
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Is Leslie Jordan heading to ABC's Dancing With the Stars? If the popular actor-comic-Southern gent has anything to say about it, the answer is: "Yes. Yes. Yes!"
Anybody that has watched Jordan on stage, screen or television, already knows that the man is a bundle of Southern fun. So, it makes sense that the unabashed performer would do more than just one show at the Rrazz Room in the uninhibited mecca that is San Francisco, still basking in its post-Gay Pride glow.
After all, what better way to generate buzz and get on one of the hottest shows on TV than recruit fiery SF audiences? (If D-List maven Kathy Griffin can bark for a Grammy, Jordan can soft-shoe his way onto the dance hit.)
"Wouldn't that be fun?" Jordan muses with a charmed Southern drawl. "I'm on the list, but it's a very long list. My problem, career-wise, is that I have been around so long—people know me—but I am almost like a soap opera star. I am known within the gay community but I have never achieved, you know, whatever it is that is ...w here you are known in middle America. I just need to kick my career up to that next level."
Dancing the tango on national TV wouldn't hurt. But let's be honest, Jordan actually has made a dent. A quintessential performer, he began his career what would be considered "late" by today's standards—he stepped off a bus and into the Hollywood stream back in 1982. Jordan is 55 now. Still, he carved out quite a niche for himself in a number of memorable roles. But it wasn't until NBC's WIll & Grace lured him in to play Berverley Leslie, the nemesis of Megan Mullally's boozer Karen Walker, that people really began to take notice. He has a recurring role on the show for most of the series' run and delivered a bevy of significant turns in other series with appearances on Boston Legal,Ugly Betty and Hidden Palms.
Then came the indy film and a stand-out role in Del Shore's Sordid Lives, which morphed into a series last year.
But, the Tennessee native admits, "I had some blows, of late."
He's referring to the Kelsey Grammer-produced pilot based in the "Redneck Riveria" (Aligator Point with Cybil Shepard). It was set to head to the Lifetime Channel, but didn't get picked. He also notes Logo's decision not to renew Sordid Lives, which became the most refreshing campy hit of summer 2008—fans of Shore's show have rallied to get the series picked up on another network.
But it's the bite from the Aligator Point project that has him thinking. "I can't imagine that I didn't test well with women," Jordan quips. "I'll just go back the drawing board. I am excited about this summer and doing my stand-up."
His Rrazz Room show is filled with Jordan's signature Southern Gent wit and just downright fun. It goes down as smooth as some moonshine and offers a similar kick—at least comedically.
As for what could be a growing ballot measure to get the star on Stars, Jordan chuckles. "Well ... I am a really good dancer, you know.
"And I have the funniest story to tell if and when I get on," he adds. "I was awful in P.E. Oh ... how I was hit with that Dodge Ball! I was so helpless in sports. And then one semester, out of the blue, we did ballroom dancing. Everybody hated it—but me. I didn't even know who Martha Graham was. I had this little, fat partner ... I had her in a vice grip and swirling her all around. Then the teacher tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Mr. Jordan, you must remember that the young lady is the picture and you are but the frame.' I looked at her and thought—I want to be the picture."
No worries. He is now.
.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
