Susan Gallagher

March 19, 2022November 25, 2022 Rachelle Henry 0 Comments

SUSAN GALLAGHER

Best known for her role as the sassy Homeless Lynn in Netflix’s #1 series, COBRA KAI, Susan Gallagher is an accomplished actress and performer. Her resume includes roles in TV and film such as LOKI, BLOODLINE, THE OUTSIDER and many more. One of her most recent roles is as Val in the hit LGBTQ+ web series QUEERING. ILLUMINATE had a great conversation with Susan about her career, the fandom she’s acquired and what lies ahead for her. She IS the CAT’S MEOW!

ILLUMINATE: Welcome, Susan!

ILLUMINATE: You have had a very long and exciting career with roles in TV and film. What first drew you to acting and what were some of the initial challenges you faced when you started?

GALLAGHER: Thanks so much for having me!

My Mother was a jazz musician who had worked with greats like Tony Bennett and Mel Torme’, so I sorta grew up with a bug for the biz and was drawn to a creative outlet. My biggest challenge is being based in the SE, living mostly in Central Florida, instead of LA or NYC. I only worked part-time while raising my kids, Caroline and Bo, which I don’t regret, but they were my priority. It was still challenging to juggle a part-time career with a busy family because most of the work required traveling and being gone overnight.

ILLUMINATE: One of your recurring roles is on the Netflix original hit series COBRA KAI as the sassy Homeless Lynn. You bring a lot of personality and vibrancy to the screen with Lynn. You are playing such a fun character! Tell us about Homeless Lynn and her place on the series.

GALLAGHER: Playing Homeless Lynn has been a blessing for me in many different ways. First of all, I’m thankful to be in such a great series with the best writers, best cast, and best fans ever. Secondly, playing a filthy and outrageous character who is tough and plays by her own rules has been liberating and given me freedom as an actor instead of worrying about how I look. Lastly, Lynn provides some comic relief in Cobra Kai and for Johnny Lawrence, whose life is full of drama. It’s so much fun and warms my soul to bring laughter to our audience and brighten someone’s day just by delivering the hilarious one-liners the writers come up with. Many of Lynn’s lines become household jokes and repeated regularly within families.

ILLUMINATE: Were you a fan of THE KARATE KID franchise when the films came out? And what does it feel like to have become a part of the family?

GALLAGHER: I think everyone was a fan of the Karate Kid films and I’m honored to be a part of something so special to so many people. The brilliant CK creators; The Big 3 (#TB3) aka Jon Hurwitz, John Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg, have been die hard KK fans for years, so it’s a true labor of love for them and why the show’s so successful.

ILLUMINATE: You are in the first fight scene of COBRA KAI, seeing Johnny Lawrence (played by the amazing William Zabka) get his groove back for the first time in years! Tell us about shooting that scene. What was it like to work with him?

GALLAGHER: S1, Ep. 1 was back in our YouTube Red days and what a privilege it was to witness the first kick/fight of Johnny Larence’s in over 30 years. Lynn got to kickback and enjoy the show and also his half-eaten, cold pizza he threw on the ground. Billy is a super nice family man who is hard working, professional, and a natural born athlete. Between takes during that scene, he commented that it’d been awhile since he’d eaten pizza because he’d been dieting and exercising to get in top shape for the show.

ILLUMINATE: Was your “meth and a burrito” or “Do you want me to flash my bits?” ad libbed?

GALLAGHER: No, those funny lines were written in the script. After Johnny says at the end of the scene, “hold up the sign” and walks off, I threw in “idiot” to myself and the director loved it. They didn’t end up using it, but the directors are sometimes open to that sorta of thing. In S2, when Lynn’s on the curb asking Johnny if he’s taking her home with him, I ad libbed the “meow” cat call, which they kept and it’s become a hashtag favorite and took on a life of its own. Some of the fans created Cobra Kai’s Homeless Lynn FB page where they’ll refer to #teammeow, #scratchfirstscratchhardnomeowcy, etc. Many of the talented CK fanartist have given Lynn a cat because of Lynn’s cat call to Johnny. We named her CC for CobraCat.

ILLUMINATE: Do you have any fun stories that you could share from your COBRA KAI filming and/or behind the scenes experiences?

GALLAGHER: After yelling the cat call to Johnny in the S2 scene and he responded saying, “you wish,” Kreese walks by Lynn and says, if he won’t take you home, I will.” Not even sure if the camera was still rolling, but I thought Martin Kove was quick on his feet to be that creative in the moment.

ILLUMINATE: You are now a part of THE KARATE KID universe! How surreal has that been? Tell us some of your fan experiences and are there any other cinematic universes on your film bucket list to join?

GALLAGHER: It’s been fantastic and I’m eternally grateful! Because Homeless Lynn looks differently than how I normally look, fans rarely recognize me as Lynn in public. As the years/seasons have passed and we’ve gained such a huge audience, fans are figuring out that I play Lynn and their response is fun to watch. As far as other cinematic universes besides the Karate Kid Universe aka Miyagi-verse, I’m in Ep. 3 of Marvel’s LOKI as the Lamentian Homesteader who shot LOKI not once, but twice, so that was a blast! I’ve been cast in the new hit DC Comic’s series, Naomi, on the CW, as local the Claws and Effect Pet Store Owner, Mrs. Anderson. I’d love for all of my roles to be expanded and perhaps end up a badass superhero!

ILLUMINATE: You have your own background in martial arts. You are a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, you were an assistant coach for the Florida TKD team for the Junior Olympics AND you’ve taught kickboxing! Have you been able to bring that experience into any of your films and can we expect some martial arts action from Homeless Lynn anytime soon?

GALLAGHER: Oh my Lord, that was many years ago, so I’d need 3 months to tune up and then I’ll kick some butt. Technically, I was never able to test for my second degree due to an ongoing ankle/foot injury, but got very close to achieving that goal. Too many spinning hook kicks over the years! lol

ILLUMINATE: You’ve received critical acclaim for your role as Val in the award winning webseries, QUEERING on YouTube. How did you become a part of this series and did you expect to receive the amount of positive feedback it’s been given?

GALLAGHER: Several years ago, I decided to stop waiting solely on my agent to get me auditions and I started self-submitting on actorsaccess.com, which is how I booked Cobra Kai, and on backstage.com, which is how I booked a series regular role in Queering. Like Lynn in CK, the role of Val was exciting for me as an actor to take on another very different and challenging roles. Val is a retired dentist who comes out as bi-sexual to her lesbian daughter after 30 years of marriage to Frank. Queering is hilarious, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and shines a light on the lgbt community with love, lightness and humor. We shot 5 short eps in S1 and 6 eps in S2 in Brooklyn and were in pre-pro of Queering the Movie when the pandemic happened. Hopefully, it’ll happen later this year. Meanwhile, you can binge our fantastic short little webisodes for free on youtube and I promise you’ll fall in love with our characters.

ILLUMINATE: You have roles in Netflix’s BLOODLINE, OWN Network’s QUEEN SUGAR and CBS’s NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, just to name a few. All of these shows have A list casts and large fanbases. What is it like when you get to work on those shows and join the family?

GALLAGHER: I still have fans come up and say they loved me in Bloodline, so that goes to show you what a memorable series that was and always will be. DeMane Davis, Executive Producer of Naomi (along with Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship) directed me in OWN’S Queen Sugar and brought such great energy to the set that I remember thinking I wanted to work with this woman again! It was a blessing when our paths crossed again in Naomi. DeMane’s been inspiring to follow and witness her soaring career and success.

ILLUMINATE: You have multiple projects in the works right now and some of your own projects. Congratulations!! Tell us about both. Just to name a few: NAOMI, 22 – THE UNFORGOTTEN SOLDIER, DOG GONE, A TASTE OF LIFE, LA MAISON DE LA VANILLE, and THE LATENCY. What else do you have coming up?

GALLAGHER: I spoke of the new series NAOMI earlier that’s airing every Tuesday on the CW and I encourage everyone to binge it because it’s well done and keeps you wanting more! Dog Gone is a heartwarming family film starring and produced by Rob Lowe who was wonderful to work with and YES his eyes are stunningly crystal blue! I’m so excited about A Taste of Love to come out this Spring, starring Erin Cahill (Hallmark), Jesse Kove, and Martin Kove. I had the pleasure of playing Martin’s wife, Patty Ryder, so our KK/CK family will love the fact that 3 cast members are in this movie. 22-The Unforgotten Soldier is about veteran suicide/PTSD and I’m honored to be part of this important topic. I’m the Lead in La Maison de la Vanille, an awesome short film and I look forward to hitting the film festival circuit and sharing more info in March. Big news coming soon about another Dark Passage film I’m part of! On a different note, my production company, Her Little Red Productions, is proud to announce we received our first Emmy Nominations (SE) for our documentary, Marching Forward, written and directed by the talented Lisa Mills. HLRP is also executive producing a short film, Darling, with Mandy Mills and my longtime friend and producing partner, Mary Rachel Quinn. I’ve also teamed up with award winning writer, Jennifer Dunn, and are in pre-production on a short/poc that shoots in Atlanta in March. Her Little Red Productions is female run and focuses mostly on female driven films.

ILLUMINATE: If you could choose a dream role, what would it be?

GALLAGHER: There are so many dream roles, but some of my favorites would be Helena Bonham Carter’s role in HARRY POTTER, Kathy Bates in MISERY, Meryl Streep in AUGUST-OSAGE COUNTY, the female version of Jeff Daniels’ role as Frank Griffin in the western, GODLESS. And of course anything that the great Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Olivia Colman, and Judi Dench are in.