Actress Ellen Barkin doesn’t hold back.
Neither does her character on NBC’s fall sitcom “The New Normal,” premiering Sept. 11 at 9:30 p.m. on WHDH (Ch. 7).
The show centers on a gay couple striving to have a baby with a surrogate mother, and show creator, director and co-writer Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Horror Story”) handpicked the left-leaning movie star to play a grandmother with an Archie Bunker personality.
“Ryan is presenting worlds to mass audiences on network television that they might not be so accepting of that all of a sudden they love, because Ryan Murphy knows how to entertain,” Barkin (“Ocean’s Thirteen”) told the Herald during a call with reporters.
“So the world of ‘Glee,’ for instance, you know if you just like told somebody what that show was about, they might say, ‘Well, this is not for me.’ Then, you watch ‘Glee,’ and you’re just wildly entertained.”
But not everyone is receiving Murphy’s latest project with open arms.
Utah NBC affiliate KSL has already banned “The New Normal” for “rude and crude” language and offensive characters.
Barkin took to Twitter to question the decision last month.
She tweeted: “Shame on u @kslcom not airing @NBCTheNewNormal So L&O SVU (rape & child murder) is ok? But loving gay couple having a baby is inappropriate?”
(“Law & Order: SVU” is part of the affiliate’s evening lineup.)
A firestorm ensued.
Barkin initially declined to comment on the upheaval, but addressed the media fallout.
“Quite frankly, I felt good about it,” she said. “I did take a position on that and, you know, being responded to by both sides meant that people paid attention, and I think that is what matters.”
She also asked that viewers not be quick to judge her gun-toting, brash alter ego.
“In terms of my character, there is not going to be a stereotypical representation of just some un-P.C., uninformed lunatic,” Barkin said. “This woman is passionate about her beliefs. That passion comes from her own life experience. It comes from fear. She is informed. … The point is, she’s not someone who doesn’t read, and she’s in no way an ignorant bigot. I take great offense at that.”
