TheCall Me Katgang is saying goodbye to one of their own.
Watch an exclusive clip above.
When he passed, there was such an outpouring of love for him.
Leslie Jordan’s chair (and sequined jacket) take a place of honor on the ‘Call Me Kat’ set.FOX
What was that like to see?
And it was obviously also really bittersweet because of our grief and how much we missed him.
Call Me Kattook a pause in productionafter his death.
Vicki Lawrence and Mayim Bialik in ‘Call Me Kat’.FOX
But the fact is, we were mid-season, we have a lot more to go.
We did have to work quickly, and I really do credit Kelly-Anne Lee, our online producer.
She and her team, our whole production team it was a group effort.
There were so many moving parts.
But it was a hard week, a very hard episode to film without him.
So,Phil had been part of that episode, and you had to rewrite it?
We had started filming that episode.
We were on a Monday of two days of taping that episode when he passed.
Muscle memory is a strong thing, so it helped a lot to be able to do that.
So, we found a way for him to live forever.
His character will live forever, and he can have whatever adventures we all imagine.
The episode also features a lovely celebrity tribute at the end.
Give us a little preview of what fans can expect.
It’s someone that Leslie has already both a professional and personal relationship with.
How did that come about?
Would you tell us a little more about why that felt like the right decision?
Jim Patterson and Maria Ferrari were incredibly sensitive.
For us, we’re still grieving.
We’re humans and we lost our friend.
We lost our little buddy.
[laughs] But it took a couple takes.
We didn’t over rehearse those scenes just because we didn’t want it to feel rehearsed.
And I think that’s why we also chose to keep it so brief.
He knew he was beloved.
He was a fabulous, fabulous person.
Are any of those actually Leslie-isms?
We gave Phil the ability to say all sorts of crazy and funny things.
Most of those are in the vein of Phil.
Cheyenne does a spot-on impression of Leslie Jordan, which I find very comforting.
We’ll just think of things all the time.
Like, “Oh, Leslie would’ve said this.”
[laughs]
Have there been any conversations about having Lurlene stick around the cafe after Thursday’s episode?
If there are, I haven’t yet been looped in.
Obviously, we loved having Vicky and I think there’s so many more stories to tell with her.
We also have some other casting surprises coming up.
We’ve got something really, really fun coming up in the new year.
So I think there will be other ways we try and bring that [energy].
Was that his favorite jacket?
He wore it in the very first episode that we ever filmed, in season 1.
And then we had him wear it a couple other times.
He always felt and looked so snazzy in it.
And that is his chair.
No one is in his dressing room.
His dressing room is a protected property right now.
But yeah, it’s very lonely not having him in this world.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Call Me Katairs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.
