For Patricia Heaton, ‘Carol’s Second Act’ Is the Perfect Series for This Stage of Her Life

What It’s All About

CBS describes Carol’s Second Act as “a comedy about a woman who embarks on a unique second act after raising her children, getting divorced and retiring from teaching: pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. At age 50, Carol is a medical intern and must sink or swim with peers who are half her age. It’s her enthusiasm, perspective and yes, even her age, that may be exactly what will make her second act a great success.”

For Patricia, there are a couple of things that drive her forward from project to project, one of which comes from the fact that she entered the world of acting fairly late in her life.

“My husband and I were talking about people who stay in their hometown and others who leave,” she reflects, “and it’s purely a matter of the personality you’re born with. For me, there are two things that make me this way. My mother died suddenly, when I was 12, and so there’s a sort of carpe diem about life: you never know and nothing is guaranteed, so you need to do what you need to do now, because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

“There’s also the fact that I didn’t really start making my living as an actor until I was like 30 or 32 when I came to L.A.,” she adds. “At the time, I was still summarizing depositions to make my rent. So I started so late, relatively speaking, that I feel like I’m always catching up. Like, I want to try to make sure I want to try do this and I want to try and do that.”

Which has become a common theme of some of her characters, with Frankie Heck of The Middle getting a job as a dental hygienist and Carol trying to be a doctor. “Frankie’s was more out of financial necessity,” she says. “She’s not a lady of leisure and didn’t really have a choice. She had to do something. Whereas I think Carol could have picked something else, but she took this leap of faith and then it’s very exciting to go on that journey with her. But what is it about me that I go from wearing clothes like Frankie Heck did to now going into scrubs? I thought I’d be a DA and have, like, Armani suits. Couldn’t I be Robin Wright in our own House of Cards?”

Beyond what she’s already detailed, she elaborates on her personal need to find a new project so soon after The Middle. “This came my way after The Middle was all done,” Patricia points out. “What was perfect about it was that my kids are pretty much out of the house, my second long-running show was done and I was feeling a bit at sea not knowing what I was doing. I’m no longer a full-time mom and I don’t have a job as an actress, and I very much felt the things that a person like Carol would feel of ‘who am I without these things?’ So this idea was so perfect when it came along. Maybe a year had passed since The Middle finished, and I had time to feel those feelings that Carol was feeling, and it’s been interesting to go on this journey with everyone, and with Carol, and explore that.

“It’s interesting,” she elaborates, “because I think it’s important at any time in your life to keep challenging yourself. And just in the last two days I’ve started having those actors’ nightmares, even at this stage of the game, where I’m driving on Vine, I stop my car in the intersection, I can’t get my hands out of my pocket and I have to abandon the car, because I’m supposed to be at a table read that I actually miss. That was last night. So I think it’s a good sign that I’m excited about this. It’s a challenge and very exciting to go back to multi-camera, too, and do it live in front of an audience.”

Amusingly, as much as she loves performing in front of a live studio audience, she wouldn’t necessarily be opposed, when her time comes, to die in front of one as well. “My perfect scenario,” she laughs, “as I see death getting nearer and nearer to me, is that I would die on a soundstage. That’s how I want to go. Full hair and makeup when it happens so that the photos are good. And then I have to be No. 1 on the call sheet when it happens, so I get top billing in the news articles!”

Look for Carol’s Second Act — which also stars Kyle MacLachlan and Ashley Tisdale — on CBS beginning September 26.