Jessalyn Gilsig Talks Role On Fox's "Glee"

Jessalyn Gilsig has played fire-starting Meredith on "Heroes" and all-kinds-of-crazy Gina on "Nip/Tuck." But now, the Canadian actress, who got her own start in theater, is starring in Fox's "Glee," the new musical comedy which takes teenage showmanship more seriously than "High School Musical."

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In the pilot episode, which re-airs September 2nd on Fox, Gilsig's character Teri complains to her husband Will, played by Matthew Morrison, that she's on her feet 4 hours a day, 3 times a week at her job at the local "Sheets & Things" while he announces that he has to oversee some new after-school activities. "Will's found his calling in the glee club and she feels threatened that he's found something outside of the home that's gonna pull him away from her," Gilsig says, carefully choosing her words as to not give too much away. "She basically will sort of stop at nothing to make Will recommit to her and their life."

But while her best-known stint on "Nip/Tuck" as sexaholic Gina really did stop at nothing to land Dr. Christian Troy, Gilsig says Teri is completely different. "I loved Gina because she was so different from me," she says. "I think Teri's mode of getting what she wants is very different. There's much more of a feminine side, and there's more of an innocence to her. She's definitely not as calculating."

But one thing "Glee" and "Nip/Tuck" have in common is the shows' creator Ryan Murphy. Gilsig re-teams with Murphy, who based "Glee" on his own personal high school experiences, and says anything he throws at her, she just says yes. "Somebody asked me once, 'On Nip/Tuck did you ever say I won't do the gangbang?' But no," she says. "Ryan approaches you like an artist. He's such a collaborator so even if I'm doing something physically exposing or emotionally exposing, I feel safer doing those because he creates such a great environment to work in."

But Gilsig won't have to worry about any hyper-sexual or gang-related storylines in "Glee," save for a possible "West Side Story" subplot. The show, which already scored a Billboard hit with the cast rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and scored over 10 million viewers of its exclusive preview after the "American Idol" finale, has "Twilight"-style hype compared to the rest of the Fall TV slate. It even premiered episode 2 to a room of screaming fans at last month's Comic-Con.

"I've been really lucky to be on shows to have all this hype and to be really well received, but I was always a fan of 'Heroes' and always a fan of 'Friday Night Lights,'" Gilsig said. "To be a part of this from the beginning and to be a part of this with everybody, I'm so grateful. To have have this home and take the ride with everybody, is really part of the dream."