Like it or loathe it, Will & Grace was an important series in terms of gay representation on the screen, which proved that the world could accept a show with gay lead characters and follow it for long enough that it would be a major success.
The series lasted eight seasons from 1998 to 2006. But what does Grace, aka Debra Messing, think is her biggest regret about the show?
Talking to Huffpo she says, “I guess I would change the fact that we stopped [the show] after eight years. It was such a happy time, and we were all really exhausted by that point and it was the right thing to do at that time, but now obviously time has passed, and I watch the show with my son who laughs at it and I think it would’ve been really great to do it a few more years.”
However regret is certainly not her abiding thought about the show. Indeed she’s very proud of the place of the series in terms of both entertainment and gay representation. She says, “Will & Grace came at a time when television didn’t know if it was okay to have a leading character be gay and be comfortable, and be portrayed as well-rounded and complete as the heterosexual characters we were used to seeing.
“Over the eight years it really did have a big impact… that is what I am most proud of. I am so glad that we made people laugh every week, but that people still say ‘your show helped me come out to my parents’, and ‘your show made me feel okay about who I was’… It’s something I’m proud of, and it’s great to see that now… of course there’s gay people on TV! There’s gay people in life, that’s just what life is.”
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