We might know Sarah Chalke from her signature role on Scrubs or her recurring appearances on How I Met Your Mother, but the Canadian actress has added another standout role to her résumé with her performance in Firefly Lane, a Netflix series that’s a testament to the power of female friendship.
The show follows Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl), a ballsy TV news reporter, and Kate Mularkey (Chalke), her shy best friend, through their 30-year friendship. We follow all of life’s hurdles that come their way, from divorces to personal tragedies, fights, accidents, and breakups and makeups with the show’s signature hunk, Johnny Ryan (Ben Lawson).
Ever since the show made its debut in February 2021, it has been a fan favorite. Now, the second season is back, after premiering on December 2. The show continues to show the women’s friendship through a series of segments focused on their modern-day life, shown alongside flashbacks of the free-love 1970s and the business-driven 1980s. The second season is being released in two parts — nine episodes on December 2, followed by six more episodes expected in 2023.
This season, we see Johnny recover from his trip covering the Iraq War, various lawsuits, the process of starting over, and new beginnings in love. Heigl might be the star in this series as a tough-talking extrovert, but it’s Chalke who is often the voice of reason as a thoughtful introvert. Overall, the show is heartbreaking, fun, and an escape into one of the strongest friendship bonds we see on TV today. Chalke talks to Shondaland about her favorite German Christmas traditions and the new season of Firefly Lane.
NADJA SAYEJ: [In German] You speak German, right?
SARAH CHALKE: [In German] Yes, I do speak German, but it has been a long time since I have spoken German! I forget some of it. I do come from a German family. I went to school in French all day, then in German after school. [In French] My kids are learning French in school, and it’s great — my daughter was singing me songs in French the other day. It’s beautiful.
NS: Since you’re a polyglot, would you ever do shows or films in German or French?
SC: I would love to; that would be a dream.
NS: Christmas is coming up. What are some of your favorite German Christmas traditions?
SC: German Christmas traditions are the best. They put slippers out for Saint Nicholas’ Eve on December 6 and hide pickles in a Christmas tree. My grandma made this amazing soup called “Schokoladensuppe,” meaning chocolate soup. It was basically a bowl of melted chocolate. The best thing in the world. Another German tradition in winter is glühwein, a mulled red wine.
NS: What excites you the most about season two of Firefly Lane?
SC: I’m so excited for people to see what Tully Hart did. I’ve never been asked more, “What did Tully do?” and I thought what [creator] Maggie Friedman [who adapted Kristin Hannah’s book Firefly Lane] wrote was so perfect. I was wondering, “What could possibly break up this unbreakable friendship?” It was never portrayed as perfect; they had conflict but always got through it. Then there’s this one thing they can’t overcome. You really see both sides, and you can feel for both of them, both Tully and Kate.
NS: How has your friendship with Katherine Heigl developed since you started working together?
SC: We got in touch through a mutual friend, who we had both worked with, and talked on the phone for an hour when I was moving from Vancouver to Los Angeles. We hit it off, and I really liked her, but it really grew when we got to work together. In any working relationship, if you like each other, and it works, then great. But if you’re doing really emotional scenes together, and you’re crying on each other’s shoulders, and dancing on a table, and going through all of these big fight scenes, it makes all the difference in the world. She’s incredibly talented but also kind and loves to laugh. We laughed every day. We were so happy to come back to a second season for the show too. You have your whole rhythms in place. She will be a friend for life.
NS: A lot of women viewers are saying this show is a testament to long-term friendships, the BFF. And they often see themselves in it. What are your thoughts around that?
SC: Yes, that’s what I loved about Firefly Lane when I read the book and when I read the script. It’s this epic story of female friendship over these decades. It’s not one that we see told very often. I think it’s something we can relate to. I’m super-lucky to have my best friend, who I have known since I was 5 years old. I met her in kindergarten. I feel like when the show came out, and what was happening in the world, people wanted to reach for their friends and connect. It’s definitely something people can relate to.
NS: What’s it like working with Ben Lawson?
SC: He’s so funny. We worked together on a pilot 10 years ago for a week. We have known each other, [but] I didn’t really get to know him until we did this series. He’s very funny, quick. We had to do some hard scenes together, emotional ones. He was always so supportive. And a great scene partner.
NS: Do you see any parts of yourself in the character of Kate?
SC: Yes, I do! The biggest one is that I relate so much to Kate’s journey. She’s such a pleaser, and trying to make everyone else in the room okay, and not being focused on any of her own needs. As she goes through life, she gets to really figure out what she wants, and that it’s okay for her to go for it.
NS: Did you grow up in Vancouver or Ottawa?
SC: I was born in Ottawa, but I grew up in Vancouver.
NS: How did you end up in Los Angeles?
SC: I was doing a lot of filming in Vancouver, and I had worked on a few things, then I got an audition for the Roseanne show when I was 16, for the role of Becky. I was lucky enough to get the part and started commuting between Los Angeles and Vancouver. That was my first step of coming down here. I was so new and working with really talented comedians, and I didn’t know anything. I would literally go to work and watch these incredibly talented people work every day and what they would do with the script from the Monday morning table read to the tape night. It was an incredible place to go to school.
NS: Your natural talent is comedy. What is your relationship to comedy, and who are your comedy heroes?
SC: I love comedy. I always have, since I was a kid. It was a huge part of growing up. I grew up watching Saturday Night Live way before I probably should have been. Gilda Radner was a huge comedy hero of mine. Me and my friends would make our own little videos called Saturday Afternoon Pretaped. We would do our own skits. My sister and I grew up making videos, plays, and skits. It was always something I loved. It has been so much fun watching it now with my own kids. My daughter said to me — and she is only 6 years old — she said, “Mom, can we do laughter tonight instead of stories?” The time before bedtime, she just makes me laugh instead. I’m genuinely doubled over. It has been fun to watch them. That’s what I love about Firefly Lane. It’s not an either/or experience. It was fun to dive into the challenging dramatic material, but it was also fun to go into the show’s 1980s era and put on acid-wash jeans and be doing comedy stuff. We would always stretch it.
Nadja Sayej is an arts and culture journalist based in New York City who has written 5 books, including Biennale Bitch and The Celebrity Interview Book.
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