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It was a Monday morning in Los Angeles and Lisa Ann Walter had the day off from “Abbott Elementary,” the ABC sitcom about an underfunded public school in Philadelphia.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t working.
The Season 3 premiere was a little more than a week away, and even though Walter knew where her character — the veteran second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti — was headed, she would divulge only that “there are changes. Big changes.”
But there were plenty of other things to discuss: Her stand-up tour. A movie script she’d written during the pandemic. A project that’s an animated series about a single mom of teenage boys called “Bitter.” The $1 million she’d bagged for the Entertainment Community Fund on “Celebrity Jeopardy!” The playoff dinner the night before that began with a pot of chili and ended up a smorgasbord.
“I go overboard,” she said in a video call.
Then there’s the project she’s doing with her bestie Elaine Hendrix — she couldn’t talk about that either — who played Meredith to Walter’s Chessy on “The Parent Trap” some 25 years ago.
“Elaine and I can’t go anywhere together without people losing their minds,” Walter said before talking about the origin story of “Outlander,” her fixation on muscle cars and kissing during bar trivia. “I always used to say I don’t really have to do anything else with my career.”
These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
1
‘Sense and Sensibility’ Onscreen
I think Emma Thompson is a genius with the screenplay. It’s Alan Rickman at his finest. It evokes enough of that period, the lushness and quietness, that it’s genuinely that article. But it’s modern enough where it resonates — that need to find your person.
2
‘Outlander’
I said to a friend of mine who was a bigwig at a production company: “Women all over the world are in love with this story. This needs to be a series, and I want to try to option the book.” I’ll never forget, we were at Hollywood and Highland. I took a big meeting with the head of development over there, brought them “Outlander.” They were like, “OK, let’s take a look at the book and let’s see what happens.” Then they did it and they didn’t include me. But I brought it to Starz, dammit. You’re welcome.
3
Grand Timeo Hotel in Taormina, Italy
The breakfast in the morning was so good that if I didn’t want to see so much of Sicily, I would’ve just eaten my face off and then gone back to bed. “Do you want granita?” “Yes, but I don’t need the brioche.” And here’s the waitress: “You are having the brioche.” So I ate the brioche and it was truly the most magical thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.
4
The Emotions in Concert
I saw a million great concerts — the Stones and Bowie — back in the day. But probably the best one was when it was the Emotions, the Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire in one show. I just never sat down.
5
Muscle Cars
I have my fourth in a series of Challengers because I wanted the F8 Green. Believe me, they were trying to sell me the Hellcat, where you touch the gas and you’re 100 miles an hour. That would be dangerous for me to own. When I show up at the valet anywhere, they always go, “Is this your car?” And I’m like, “Yeah. It looks good with my red hair.”
6
Bar Trivia and Kissing
That’s my favorite thing. I think it’s because I get excited by people with brains that work. And if they get a really good answer right, I’ll give them a big kiss.
7
Gerard Cosmetics’ Color Your Smile Lip Gloss
It’s a beautiful coral color and when you open it, there’s a mirror on one side and it lights up. So when I go to put lipstick on, it lights up my lips. My joke is always, it’s for when I’m in Da Club. And you must spell it that way.
8
Family Sundays
My ex-husband comes over every Sunday and usually stays the night. During the day, it’s always N.F.L. And then we have dinner all together and play a game if people are into it. And if not, me and Sam watch “90 Day Fiancé.”
9
Other People’s Houses
I could have spent an entire day at the Louvre just in the historic rooms. When I go to the Met in New York, I love the rooms because I picture myself living there. When I went to Versailles as a kid, at 6, I walked into the Hall of Mirrors and said, “My house is going to look like this.” It was all gold. So fancy, so beautiful. I was clearly delusional, but I was just like, “Why not?”
10
‘Evita’
I would challenge anybody to see Patti LuPone in her prime sing “Evita” and not say, “That was the best show I’ve ever seen in my life.”
