Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve already heard the most cheerful news our nation has received this year: Will & Grace is back on air after an 11-year hiatus. And not only that, it's been greenlit for season 2. So, in honor of this epic revival season, we rounded up 50 under-the-radar facts you never knew about the show. Check them out, below, including a few spoilers for the season(s) to come.
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The show is inspired by producer Max Mutchnick’s real-life friendship.
Before coming out in college, Mutchnick dated Janet Eisenberg and the two remained close friends.
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It took a bottle of vodka to convince Debra Messing to play Grace.
Producers had their hearts set on casting Messing, who, at the time, was starring in Prey. “They poured me several shots, we spoke for several hours and they pitched me the show,” Messing told New York Daily News. “I’m a lightweight. I didn’t need much to be a little giddy." The next day, Messing accepted.
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Producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan originally pitched a series that had a gay man and his straight, female roommate as supporting characters.
Megan Mullally initially auditioned for the role of Grace.
Mullally was hesitant to audition for Karen—she felt the role was too familiar. “[Then] I looked at it again and thought I could put sort of a new twist on it, where it would be quirky and different. So I went back in and I got the part,” she told the A.V. Club.
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And before she signed on for 'Will & Grace,' Mullally was almost cast in 'The King of Queens.'
In 2014, you could find 'Will & Grace' props in the Smithsonian.
Will & Grace scripts, footage, and props were on display in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as part of an LGBTQ collection.
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Megan Mullally’s voice isn’t *that* high.
The actress’s natural voice is much lower than Karen’s, which is evident in the pilot episode.
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Nic Offerman almost got the role of Grace’s long-term boyfriend, Nathan.
Offerman, Mullally’s then-boyfriend, now-husband, lost out to Woody Harrelson. He did make a cameo, though, as a plumber in season four’s Thanksgiving episode.
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NBC gifted the cast convertible Porsche Boxsters after a successful first season.
McCormack, Messing, Hayes, and Mullally received matching cars. “You can’t imagine how mind-fucked we were. It was awesome,” said Mullally.
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The show has an impressive history of celebrity cameos.
Cher’s guest appearance was filmed extremely fast.
“They flew her in. Like, she was sort of dropped in on a crescent moon, she did the scene, and was, like, airlifted back out,” Mullally told Entertainment Weekly.
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And Cher took a liking to Hayes.
“She liked Sean. She invited him to go to her castle in Italy, and he was like ‘nah’,” Mullally told Jimmy Kimmel.
Messing had only one request for her character’s revival.
“The only thing that I asked for was that Grace be a feminist,” she explained.
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The new season will deal with modern politics, as well as technology.
“I”m old. My character’s old. We have to address what technology has done for people in middle age and how we use it and don’t know how to use it,” McCormack explained.
Ruby BuddemeyerBeauty EditorRuby is the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers beauty across print and digital.
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