Q&A: Kaitlin Olson

Kaitlin Olson is a charming respite from her “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” alter ego, Sweet Dee. (Not that we don’t love Dee too, but we just haven’t been able to look at her the same way since that steroid-induced rage.)

Before “Sunny” kicks off its fourth season, Kaitlin had time to share a few words on the show’s trip back to revolutionary Philly, love on the set and how not to spend your summer vacation.

What were you doing on location today?
We are out in La Cañada Flintridge, which I have never heard of before. It’s about 100 degrees, and we’re shooting a scene outside in the hot, hot sun. It’s for an episode we’re doing that takes place in 1776, so I’m wearing a lot of heavy, dark material.

So there’s time travel this season?
Well, we decide that we want to get Paddy’s Pub on the historical walk in Philadelphia, so we go down to the historical office to explain why we’re important in history. It has to do with us cracking the liberty bell. You see the whole story. Franks’ name is Frank Franklin, Mac’s name is MacDonald, and Patty’s is Patrick’s Pub.

Do you get a fun name?
Just Deandra.

Of course.
I’m a slave and a witch. It’s pretty awesome.

You got an order for another three seasons.
We did! Isn’t that exciting? It’s especially awesome for me because I work like three months out of the year, but the four guys have to work year-round because they do everything. I just pop in and leave. Yea, three more years!

There’s a rumor that Dee tries to get pregnant this season to sell her baby like Juno.
That episode absolutely will be done, but it involves me doing something physical that I couldn’t do this season because I broke my back.

Oh, that’s right! How did that happen?
Well, on the Fourth of July, I was just being an idiot with my friends, and my neighbor picked me up—he’s this big, giant football player—and held me over his head, lengthwise, with his hands on my butt and my shoulders. I was extended fully above his head and he dropped me behind him on the pavement. I landed on my hip and broke my lower back.

God.
It’s hilarious now, but not so funny at the time. It was terrifying and so stupid. We shut down for a couple weeks. The doctors were saying it would take six to eight weeks, and I was like, “Oh, hell no it won’t.” I literally laid on my back on the couch. I had acupuncturists and all kinds of healers come work on me every single day and work on it. I got this bone stimulator machine from my doctor that shoots magnetic energy into your back. I was so determined to not ruin this goddamn television show, so I was back in like three and a half weeks. Fastest recovery.
 
So Sweet Dee paints babies with shoe polish and smokes crack to get on welfare. What are your limits for acceptably bad taste?
I don’t think it’s funny to be mean to people. I think it’s really funny to make fun of idiots, and that’s what we are—those are the characters we’re playing. On our show, the only way that it’s funny is that the other people always win. Our characters always lose, because we’re a bunch of idiots. That’s the reason why it’s always funny to me.

Dee’s dream of acting is a running gag on the show. Are we ever going to see your acting partner, Artemis, again?
Absolutely! You’ll see her a couple times this season. She’s got some awesome stuff that she gets to do, and I definitely try to make the acting come to fruition again this season. But I go much further with it and do a bunch of characters that I try to put on YouTube to get discovered. We’ll be able to see some of Sweet Dee’s raw talent.

Aren’t you getting married to your co-star Rob McElhenney?
I am getting married! This month. Yeah, whatever, just healing a broken back, filming a TV show and getting married all in a couple months. It’s thrilling. It’s a big year, 2008.

Did you meet on set?
We did. We’ve been together for about two and a half years, but we kept it secret for a long time because everyone’s first instinct is to be like, “Oh, that’s going to work out.” But it just did, and we’re really happy. He’s awesome, and just to make it very clear, he’s not similar to Mac in real life. Just for anyone who’d want to know why I would marry this person.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" premieres Thursday, September 18 at 10pm on FX.