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Most of us know Romy Rosemont as Carol Hudson, mother of Finn and girlfriend to Kurt’s dad, Burt Hummel, on the hit series Glee. While Romy admits the students are the stars of the show, her character in real life is much larger than what we are able to see of her on T.V. She is a loving mother, owns two rescue dogs, Bazooka Joe and Purdy, and is married to Stephen Root, most well known for his role as Milton Waddams in the movie Office Space. In an interview with Pup Culture Magazine, Romy opens up about her perspective on love, family, marriage, pet adoption and why having a sense of humor is important.
ON HER CAREER & GLEE
PUP CULTURE: What inspired you to become an actress?
ROMY ROSEMONT: I was raised in the entertainment business. My dad [Norman Rosemont] was a producer and he used to produce the classics for television, like Man in the Iron Mask and All Quiet on the Western Front during the 70s and 80s. I used to work on his sets and he worked with a lot of the finest British actors and I just always loved doing make believe, and I always loved evoking emotion from people, making them laugh, making them cry. And I
saw how it was really well done with my dad and the actors he used. So, it was something I just naturally … I never thought of doing anything else
PC: Who was your greatest role model?
RR: There are people who I admire so much. I’ve always loved Katherine Hepburn who’s from way back. I’m just inspired by strong and passionate people. From this year alone, I’m moved by Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and all of them. There was never one person who I emulated or looked to; I think I’m just moved by people, perseverance, honesty and tenaciousness and you know, obviously their talent.
PC: Glee highlights challenging issues faced by parents such as teen sexuality and teen pregnancy, what is one of the most important lessons we can learn from glee either as teenagers or parents or both?
RR: Um, I think as parents it’s to be open and communicative with your kids. As teenagers, I think teenagers have it hard. So, I think the most important thing that Glee does and what draws teenagers and kids to it, it really does support individuality. It showcases you gotta be your own person and you have to be proud of who you are. Whether it’s Kurt’s battle, or Brittany’s battle, or Santana’s battle. All of those things, you have to be committed to what you believe in and stick by it and not bend to peer pressure. And I do think they execute that really well.
PC: Are there any similarities to your character on the show and your every day personality?
RR: Yea, there is. I think Carol is kind of the caring mom and the one who often plays the devil’s advocate, leaning towards in full support of Finn. So I think she is, she can laugh at a situation, definitely, and she’s going to believe in her son no matter what. So I think, I definitely would support my child or support my friend or support my niece and nephew, or support my husband. And if I disagreed, I would share that opinion, but as long as it wasn’t hurting them or hurting anyone else I would support their decision. So, I think I share that with her.
PC: Will we see more of your character as the show progresses?
RR: I have no idea, I just recently booked a pilot for the new Rosannne show. I’ll still be on Glee, but I never know what they have in store.
PC: Can you tell em more about who you’ll be playing for the Rosanne show?
RR: It’s a pilot, so we don’t even know if it’ll be picked up. So, it’s about a group of people who live in a trailer park and it’s just a commentary about what’s happened to the world and this crazy group of people. But it does bring Rosanne Barr and John Goodman back together.
ON LIFE
PC: What do you do when your not acting or spending time with your dogs?
RR: I mean, I love being active, so hiking and any form of exercise I love. I also love to bake. In a perfect world I’d love to own a bakery as well as act because there’s something about baking that makes people happy.
PC: Whats one thing people don’t know about you that they’d be surprised to know?
RR: I’m a big fan of a good cry. I’m a really emotional person. I would cry at a commercial and I’m not apologetic about that at all. People just always assumed that I was always happy-go-lucky, always had a smile on my face, but there’s nothing like a good cry.
My husband always makes fun of me, just the worst movies, whatever. He’ll be like ‘Are you Crying?’ And I’ll be like, ‘You know I am.’
PC: Wild Card: Why is having a sense of humor important?
RR: Oh, I think that’s imperative in life because if you can’t laugh at yourself, your screwed. Especially in today’s world where so many curve balls are thrown at you in just day to day life. If you can’t somehow find a way to smile at it or laugh at it, you just walk around with your head in your hands all day long. For me, it’s absolutely imperative to have a sense of humor about everything. It doesn’t always work, but it certainly helps.
ON DOGS
PC: Have you always been an animal lover?
RR: I’ve always been. We had a dog growing up. I mean, I grew up in an apartment, so we never had a lot of animals just because we didn’t thave the back yard for it. And then when I graduated college and was on my own and was persuing my acting career, I would always dog sit for my friends and stuff because I could never afford to have a dog or didn’t feel I was home enough. You know, I’m defintiely someone who believes that you have to spend time with your animals, not wake up, walk them and then 10 hours later you come back. I was always the kid, who whenever we walked down the street and there was a dog, I would always pet them immediately and was never fearful of them biting me or snapping at me. I mean, I’ve been bit numerous times and its never lessened my love for them. I just think dogs are fantastic. I would have a ton of dogs if my husband would let me. But, I also have our dog sitter and he’ll bring some of his other clients’ dogs to our house to play in our backyard and I just love the energy it leaves.
PC: What led to your decision to getting a dog and why did you choose adoption?
RR: The timing of the dog was I now had a backyard, but also on a sad note, one of my bestfriends had passed away and when I came back from the funeral, (and I had been looking on petfinder.com forever, just waiting for a dog to kind of speak to me), I was like, ‘You know, I’m just not going to wait’. And then I went and put in an application for this one dog I found, her name was Lola, a beautiful pit mix, and I never got a call and then I found my dog, the first rescue [Bazooka Joe]. And I’m just so glad I didn’t get the other one because he’s the dog I’m supposed to have. You know, you see these pet adoptions and I can’t even go to those because I want to bring them all home and I don’t have the constitution where people are like ‘Well, why don’t you be a foster?’ Ya know, we have two dogs and for my husband that’s way enough, but I could never imagine giving the dog up. Actually, both our dogs were on trial runs and just never left. I’m a mutt myself , so it never crossed my mind to get a pure bred.
PC: Was it love at first site when you met your dogs?
RR: You know, it had been a long day for him, it was at one of those dog adoptions and I had brought my best friend’s 6-year-old son with me, and I was like ‘Check him out’ and he was like ‘Whatever, I’m tired lady.’ Someone had actually already put in an application for him, but I wound up knowing the woman who had run the rescue. So, I filled out an application and she kind of liked that he was going to be the center of my world. I was grateful to her for choosing us over the other family. I think actually what it was, she asked where he would sleep, the other family said, “He’d sleep in the kitchen” and I said ‘He’d sleep wherever he wanted,’ and I think that’s what won her over.
PC: How did you come up with the name bazooka joe?
RR: Well his name in the rescue was Joey, and that just didn’t work with me. And then, I’m a huge gum lover. I have a huge, 4-foot tall bubble gum ball machine in our living room that my husband bought me. It always has gum in it and all the neighborhood kids come in and use it and when I was trying to think of where to go with Joey, it was just a natural fit. I just love Bazooka bubble gum. He’s really not called Bazooka Joe unless he’s in trouble; it’s really just Joe. He knows the difference.
To read the entire interview, be sure to view our issue here.
Photography By Robert Ochoa
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