by Gregg Shapiro

Don’t be surprised if you start to hear Molly Shannon’s name mentioned in the same sentence as Best Actress and Academy Award. In Year of the Dog, the directorial debut by queer screenwriter and actor Mike White (School of Rock and Nacho Libre), Shannon gives the kind of transformative performance we’ve seen in recent years from fellow ex-“Saturday Night Live” cast members such as Bill Murray and Adam Sandler.

Dog-lover Peggy (Shannon) is dealt a serious blow when her beloved beagle, Pencil, dies suddenly in the first few minutes of the movie. Be sure to bring some tissues because what follows is likely to have movie audiences in tears of sorrow and laughter.

I spoke to Shannon shortly before the movie opened in theaters.

Gay & Lesbian Times: I’d like to get what is probably the most obvious question out of the way first and ask you if you would, in fact, consider yourself to be a dog person.

Molly Shannon: I am a dog person. I love dogs. Growing up, we had two. We unfortunately had to get rid of them because I had an allergy. But, yeah, I love dogs. I’m really allergic to cats, so cats I’ve never connected with because I can’t get close to them with the allergy. But I really love dogs. As matter of fact, maybe we’ll get one. I have little kids. I have a 3-and-a-half-year-old and a 2-year-old, so I maybe would think about it because they would love it. But it would just have to be hypo-allergenic.

GLT: There is a famous W.C. Fields quote about never working with children or animals. After your experiences with both in Year of the Dog, would you work with either or both again?

MS: Yes, I would. I’ve worked with children and animals a lot. I did this movie called Good Boy, which was with kids and dogs. In The Grinch there was a little girl and a dog, but I didn’t have scenes with the dog. I like it because, first of all, with kids it’s really fun because they’re so genuine.

The little girl in this movie is played by twin girls [Amy and Zoe Schlagel]. These little girls were so genuine, like that scene where she says, “You like animals, don’t you Aunt Peggy?” Their little faces are so pure that I really feel it forces you to be very real, and it brings your acting up when they’re good and really natural.

GLT: At the beginning of the movie, Peggy seems to be comfortable in her place in the corporate world. Could you ever imagine yourself in such a setting?

MS: No, I cannot. It would be death. I did that actually when I first moved to Los Angeles. I went to NYU drama school, moved out to L.A., and I didn’t have that much money, so I temped. I did different entertainment jobs and I worked in an office for a television company doing TV research, and the walls were aqua-green. It felt like death to me.

I just remember driving to work in this long line of cars, and I remember sneaking into the copy room to make calls trying to get auditions. For me, I got very depressed because I am a creative person. I guess for some people it doesn’t bother them, but for me it was depressing.

I quit that job and got a job working as a hostess at a restaurant that was half indoors/half outdoors, and I was like, “Ahh.” I was working with young musicians who were the waiters. I felt like this weight was lifted off of me. Even though it was still not what I wanted to do, it still felt like fun. Serving food was a lot more fun.

GLT: Year of the Dog also pokes fun at overly protective and obsessive parents (Bret and Pier, played by Laura Dern and Tom McCarthy, respectively). As a parent, at which end of the overly protective and obsessive spectrum do you land?

MS: I definitely am more laid back. My dad was that way. He was like: “Oh, whatever. Don’t go to school. Just get a copy of the test.” I’m not that laid back, but I’m definitely more fun, easygoing. But I do feel discipline and boundaries are very important, but I do it in a laid-back way. I definitely give them time outs and discipline. Kids really need that and want that. It makes them feel safer. They really want that because they’ll push you, but I’m fun. I’m a happy parent. We dance a lot and play games. We have a lot of fun.

GLT: Peggy falls for Newt (Peter Sarsgaard), who claims to be celibate and unable to be intimate with either women or men. Have you ever had a crush on someone who turned out to be gay?

MS: Oh, my god, yes [laughs]! Oh, my god, are you kidding? Yeah, yeah, yes! In college, at NYU Drama School, and all the dance majors, it was, like, everybody’s gay! Coming from Cleveland, I was like, “This is fantastic!”

I liked this boy who was a tap dancer and he was really into musical theater and he was gay, but he wasn’t so out, and he still kind of dated girls. But we ended up becoming great friends, so it wasn’t this painful thing, but I was like, “I want him to be my husband!” At that time that suited me well. I didn’t really want anything more than that.

GLT: After Peggy goes vegan, she says something about it being nice to have a word that describes her because she never had that before. At this point in time, what would you say is the word that best describes you?

MS: That’s so hard! I think I’m a positive person, positive. I try to look on the bright side of things.

GLT: Are you now or have you ever been a vegan?

MS: No, I’m not. No, no, not at all. But, actually, doing the part I read a lot. I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma [by Michael Pollan]. It’s really interesting when you start reading that, it’s like, yikes, there’s a lot to bite into and a lot that I was unaware of. Mike White, the writer/director, happens to be a pescetarian. A lot of times when I’d go out with him, we’d go to vegan restaurants, and I love it. You always feel so healthy, and there is something about the diet that I love. I like being around them and the way they eat. Mike would always be eating vegan dishes on the set, and he just looks so healthy.

GLT: Mike is best known as a screenwriter and actor, and with Year of the Dog he makes his directorial debut. What was it like to work with him on this project?

MS: It was amazing. Mike is such a talent, and people love him. He’s able to do big commercial comedies and he’s able to do real independent original movies like Chuck and Buck [and] The Good Girl. So he attracts all these amazing actors because he’s such a good writer. Everybody wants to work with him. He’s so sought after. So, to me, it’s just this huge opportunity.

GLT: Year of the Dog also has an amazing cast, including John C. Reilly, Sarsgaard, Regina King and Laura Dern. What was it like to work with such an ensemble?

MS: It was amazing. It’s fun to work with people you connect with, people around your age. Because sometimes you can be with people you might not click with as much. And being away from your home, you’d like to go out with these people at night, so it was great.

Because of their busy schedules, I’d do two weeks with Laura Dern and Tom McCarthy, and then I’d do two weeks with Josh Pais and Regina King. We’d do the office scenes. Then I’d do two weeks with John C. Reilly and then I’d do two weeks with Peter Sarsgaard. But they didn’t always overlap because you have all their busy schedules and whatnot.

GLT: Could you ever imagine chucking it all for a cause in the same way that Peggy did?

MS: Yeah, I could. I really like how she struggles through stuff to get to a better place. She does make bad choices and gets off course, but I really feel like it’s so true to life in finding yourself. Sometimes it’s not all that pretty, and you can do shameful things to get to there. I think it’s so wonderful to be who you are, whatever makes your heart sing. She does find that. She’s not all good and does go off the path and does some really bad things that are really shameful. But I admire her and I like that Mike tells her story, and I love that she finds what’s important to her.

People struggle to find themselves; it’s not some straight and narrow path. I relate to her story. It’s a journey. Sometimes you drop friends along the way, certain people might need you to be a certain way, and if you change, they’re like, “Well, I don’t like that.” She sheds things to find herself because ultimately it’s important; it will be better for the people around her to do that. It’s interesting because I think she thought everything was fine until things collide and her dog died and it all goes crazy. She goes on this journey and goes off the deep end. I think she doesn’t want to feel how devastated she is, so she gets a little obsessed in this area to not feel her depression or sadness, or avoid the inevitable. Ultimately, you have to feel that stuff, grieve it and move on, and you’re a better, stronger person.

GLT: With Year of the Dog, you have joined the ranks of other SNL alum who have gone the serious route: Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers), Will Ferrell (Stranger than Fiction), Adam Sandler (Reign Over Me).

MS: All men!

GLT: Yes, you are the groundbreaker.

MS: OK! Just pointing that out [laughs]. I like being in their company, but let’s just say they’re all men. Let’s talk about that! It feels great because sometimes I think that there is a misconception with women, and people are like, “What happened with the girls?” But it’s hard. There isn’t always so much to choose from, so I really appreciate it. I can’t believe Mike wrote me this movie. I’m like, “Yay!” I feel so lucky. It was not anything that I actively sought out. It happened naturally because of my friendship with Mike and he was like, “I want to do this for you.” You just want to do good material. To me, it’s really great because it’s not that easy. I think when I first left the show, I was in a fantasy about movies and thinking there would be more than there was. It was a little bit of a grieving process of: “Wow, is this all this is? Is it just this?” Because it was a little disappointing. If you want to do your own things, you kind of have to generate that yourself. I don’t think that it necessarily exists out there. Like here’s this great comedy script starring a woman! No, I don’t find that. I think that the women you see doing those projects, like Tina Fey, are generating it for themselves or they are writing it for themselves. And then every once in a while something comes along where they’re casting for a part, but you would have tons of people clamoring for that because there isn’t as much of that. I choose to focus on what women are doing because I think women are doing amazing things. I choose to embrace the struggle. There is always something good that comes out when it’s harder; sometimes good comes out of that.

GLT: If you didn’t already have a sizable gay following, playing Val on “Will & Grace” probably increased your visibility. Was that something that you were aware of?

MS: Uh, yeah, people really liked that a lot! I know it’s so funny. That was so easy, too. It was so easy and fun compared to “Saturday Night Live,” because I didn’t have to write it. I would show up and memorize the lines. It was so much fun. Yeah, that was great.