Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Lily Tomlin talks successful year, ‘uncomfortable’ Emmy nod attention

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – At 75, Lily Tomlin is loving the roles coming her way, but not necessarily the spotlight.

Tomlin stars in the upcoming indie film “Grandma” and recently scored her first lead actress Emmy nomination for her hit Netflix series.

“Well, it’s kind of uncomfortable in the fact that everybody in our show ‘Grace and Frankie’ is so good,” said Tomlin of her nomination. “Everybody is great about it and they tease me about it. So that’s good.”

The veteran comedian teams with Jane Fonda for the streaming series about two friends starting over after finding out their husbands are in love with each other.

Tomlin relished the chance to break new ground in an industry obsessed with youth.

“That’s what we wanted to do … to show (older) women, to show our sexuality, to show our resourcefulness, our resilience to bounce back and start over again,” she said. “‘Grandma’ does the same thing.”

In the film, out Friday, Tomlin stars as an irreverent grandma road tripping around Los Angeles to rustle up cash for her teenage granddaughter’s abortion.

Sam Elliott plays Tomlin’s ex-husband in “Grandma” and joins her for season two of “Grace and Frankie,” where he’ll play Fonda’s old flame.

“It’s a treat,” said Elliott, 71, of working with Tomlin. “I think that we do a real disservice to ourselves and certainly to the audience when we think that these older people, it’s time to put them out to pasture rather than embracing what they may have picked up along the way.”

Dolly Parton recently expressed interest in reuniting with her “9 to 5” co-stars on “Grace and Frankie.”

Tomlin said the timing simply isn’t right — yet.

“Dolly’s a wonderful person and we’ve been friends with her ever since ‘9 to 5,’ all three of us,” said Tomlin. “We just want to get ‘Grace and Frankie’ more established before we venture into something like that. … We don’t have any definite plans right now, but it’s always in the backs of our minds.”

Though Tomlin is quick to downplay her recent successes, she joked that she’s finally starting to believe the hype.

“It probably seems larger to other people on the outside because I’m sort of always working, thinking about what I’m doing. But I keep reading about what a year it’s been for me. You’ve finally convinced me.”

___

Follow Nicole Evatt at twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.