An Interview with 'Drop Dead Diva's' Margaret Cho
By Jason Tanamor, Yahoo! Contributor Network
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Fri Apr 1, 2:32 PM PDT

Margaret Cho's career goes a long way back to when she first started doing stand-up comedy at the age of 16. I first discovered the comedian on the show, "All-American Girl," back in 1994. That was when I really began to follow her career. From 1994 to 2008, Cho starred in an off-Broadway show, toured with friends to benefit the Human Rights Campaign, and returned to TV.

The comedian also returned to stand-up in her comedy special, "Beautiful," in 2009. The "Beautiful" tour was when I met Cho, interviewing her for the special and covering her live DVD. Now, the comedian is starring in "Drop Dead Diva."

This is the second time I've interviewed you. The last time we spoke you were promoting your special, "Beautiful." Since that time, you landed the role as Teri on "Drop Dead Diva." How did this role come about?

I ran into Josh Berman, who is the creator of "Drop Dead Diva," at a Jay Brannan show, and he told me about the show and it sounded really great. I was the first person cast in the pilot and I really fell in love with his characters and the story and of course with Brooke Elliott, who plays Jane. The show really does a wonderful job in representing all kinds of beautiful women and our journey to find our beauty, inside and out.

The show's third season premieres this June on Lifetime. How much input do you have with your character now that the show is successful and is on its third season?

I do think that the character is based on me! And my own sense of humor influences the writing of her dialogue - whether I am really aware of it or not.

Your background is in stand-up comedy but on "Drop Dead Diva" you play the "straight man" to Jane's character. Is it difficult holding in a joke when the script doesn't call for it?

It is very different than stand-up comedy, which I'm used to and is all about the joke! This work is all about telling our story, so I'm faithful to that first and foremost. But the cast and I certainly laugh a lot when we are not on screen.

Before "Drop Dead Diva" you starred in "The Cho Show" on VH-1. It revolved around you and your family with episodes that included you being named "Korean of the Year." The two shows are very different in nature. How was the experience of "The Cho Show" different than that of "Drop Dead Diva?"

"The Cho Show" was very loosely scripted with real life people playing their own parts like members of my family and my close friends. "Drop Dead Diva" is a fictional world, yet the cast has definitely become family to me.

Of all the projects you've worked on, which one was the most rewarding and why?

I love stand-up comedy. It's my passion and life's work. I will always be a comic and be proud of being a comic. It's the hardest job but the best.