Megan Mullally Loves to "Party Down" on Starz

Megan Mullally is no party animal. And yet the "Will & Grace" Emmy winner has found a new home on the sitcom "Party Down," which just began its second season on the Starz cable network. The series follows struggling Hollywood writers and actors supporting themselves as caterers.

"My character, Lydia, comes in as a breath of fresh air," said Mullally in a recent interview from New York City. "She bursts onto the scene from the Midwest with her 13-year-old daughter Escapade, who is going to be the next Hannah Montana."

Mullally, 51, had her share of odd jobs before breakout Broadway roles in the mid-'90s, and then playing boozy Karen Walker on "Will & Grace" from 1998 to 2006.

"One time I got hired because I wore a size-6 shoe," the L.A. native recalled. "So I got hired to go do the shoe show, which was down at the Convention Center. And what it consisted of was me ... (Mullally hesitates) ... in a hotel room ... trying on shoes for ... a bunch of Japanese guys," she added, laughing.

The odd, if more lucrative, jobs continue for Mullally, who can be seen dancing around a supermarket in lavish TV and online commercials for a butter substitute.

"And how gorgeous did they make me look?" Mullally asked. "I felt like the best I've ever looked was on a butter commercial!" she added, laughing.

Karen Walker will live on in the stage show "Karen: The Musical," currently in development. Mullally said she also will be returning to another sitcom, "Parks and Recreation," where she made a guest appearance last year as the ex-wife of the character played by her real-life husband, writer and actor Nick Offerman.

"I'm really lucky, because Nick and I are homebodies, strangely enough. We're not Hollywood-y at all," she said. "Like I wonder, when I see a reality show that's set in Los Angeles with really tan women with giant boobs that do a lot of drugs. 'Where are they?' 'Cause I've lived there for 25 years and I've never seen them. We have a normal life and we just kind of keep it on the down low."
By Michael Cidoni