While Jane Lynch is perhaps better known to readers as Christy Cummings, the lesbian dog handler in Christopher Guest’s outrageous comedy Best in Show, the out actress has worn many hats throughout her career – from her start touring with The Second City comedy troupe to playing America’s favorite mother, Carol Brady, in the stage production of The Real Live Brady Bunch.

Her long list of television credits is also impressive, with turns on “Boston Legal,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Friends” and voice work on “Family Guy,” to name but a few. And then there’s her wide expanse of film work, with roles ranging from former porn star turned folksinger Laurie Bohner in A Mighty Wind to Will Ferrell’s mom in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Lynch explained to the Gay & Lesbian Times that choosing one medium over the other would be difficult, as she is a firm believer that variety is the spice of life.

“I like them all for different reasons,” Lynch said. “I like that there’s a lot of variety to what I do. I’m doing ‘Two and a Half Men’ right now, and I just did a single-camera television pilot yesterday, and I did a cartoon this morning.”

With her roles in Guest’s mockumentaries, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and most recently as entertainment reporter Cindy Martin in For Your Consideration, Lynch has discovered improvisational paradise.

“Doing the Christopher Guest movies was the first time that I ever did this form of improvisation,” Lynch said. “I’m not really good at improvisation games, you know, that throw out the first line of dialogue. That’s not necessarily what I am good at. But I did seem to be able to do this situational improv, where you just let it breathe and you just discover and explore, and it is very liberating. … There’s something really special about looking into the eyes of your fellow actor and making it up as you go along.”

This knack for improvising has spilled over into her television work on one of last year’s comedies, “Lovespring International,” which the Lifetime Network has opted not to renew (although it could be resurrected on another network).

So how does the actress not burst into gales of laughter during takes when doing situational improv?

“For the most part, you don’t want to screw up the take, and you don’t want to screw up your fellow actor’s work, so you do your darndest not to crack up,” Lynch said.

When pegged to select a character that stands out as a favorite among the many she has played, Lynch immediately picked one without hesitation.

“I love every character I’ve gotten to play, but A Mighty Wind playing Laurie Bohner was extremely liberating,” Lynch said. “I think it was the first time I played a character who was completely comfortable in her body and actually in love with her own sexuality. She had very little psychological baggage – just really open and honest. A bit of a narcissist, but that was really liberating. She’s very much in love with her ample female body, which was fun for me to do because it’s not something before that I actually celebrated as much as I learned to do it in that movie.”

Lynch, who stands six feet tall, for the record, has found inhabiting other bodies – i.e., the characters she brings to life – to be a rewarding, if not insightful, glimpse into her own psyche, as was illustrated with her role in Best in Show.

“I always thought of that character, Christy Cummings, as someone who was saying, ‘Look at me! Look at me! See how special I am? I count! I count!’ That’s kind of me, especially when I was younger,” Lynch said.

One of Lynch’s most popular television stints was on Showtime’s “The L Word,” and she was quick to tout the show’s crossover appeal.

“One of the great things about ‘The L Word’ is that it’s not only lesbians and horny guys watching it,” Lynch said. “We are so interested in these women…. They are women first who happen to be lesbians.

“[Audiences] get to see that the characters have the same life issues, the same relationship issues. I think it’s been very freeing for this box that homosexuals are put in, and it’s kind of blown that open, and people see how lesbians operate just like straight people. I think ‘The L Word’ has really taken the perception of gay people in entertainment to a whole new level.”

Lynch had this to say about her own experiences as a gay person in entertainment:

“I’ve had the same experience as probably a straight actor, really. I’ve been very lucky in that the fact that I’m gay hasn’t preceded my name. People don’t say, ‘the gay actor Jane Lynch,’ as far as I know. And if they do, it’s behind my back,” Lynch said with a laugh. “I have Ellen and all of those people to thank who recently came before me, who kind of took one for the team. And now I get to do all kinds of roles. I haven’t been pigeonholed or anything.

“I think the most important thing for actors who are gay to remember is you’re an actor first and you’re an artist first,” she added.

Lynch will be joining two stars from “The L Word,” Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig, as a judge at the “Be Scene” special event at Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs. The event is being likened to a cross between “American Idol” and “The L Word,” with fans re-enacting scenes from “The L Word” in a competition-style format. Be Scene is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at the Doral Ballroom. For more information, go to http://www.thedinah.com.