Jayma Mays on the Joy of Smurfs and Future of Glee

Not counting her miniscule blond counterpart Smurfette, Jayma Mays is the female lead in what may yet turn out to be the past weekend's number one film. And yet, as a phenomenon, the movie adaptation of The Smurfs pales in the long shadow of Mays's other gig: As the germophobic guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury on the megahit series Glee. Talk about hitting a Daily Double.

Adding to her profile last week, Mays joined co-stars Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria and director Raja Gosnell on a whirlwind of "Smurfs Week" events that helped prime audiences for one of the biggest box-office surprises of the summer. Movieline caught up with her along the way to talk about growing up Smurfy, the existential roller coaster that is Glee, and how she got her unusual accent.

So! You must be excited.

Oh my gosh, yeah. I can't believe I'm part of this film, to be honest. I was a big fan of The Smurfs growing up, even though by default -- my mom used to force me to watch because she was a Smurfs fan. When they sent the script and said, "Would you care to audition?", I said, "Yes, please!" They knew at the time that Neil would be playing the Patrick role, and I would be auditioning to play his wife. I was so excited about that.

The Smurfs are kind of polarizing, though, culturally. You and your mother were fans, but some people can't stand them.

It's like Marmite.

Marmite?

Marmite! To the British? That's their catchphrase: You either love it or you hate it.

As a fan, what would you say to the anti-Smurf contingent that might persuade them to see this movie?

From a Smurfs fan's perspective? That's hard if they didn't like The Smurfs growing up. I do feel like a lot of it is... I don't want to say tongue-in-cheek, because that's probably the wrong thing. But I think they really had fun with the fact that they are the Smurfs. They make fun of themselves in a way, and they make fun of all the unique identities. I mean, there's a line about Passive-Aggressive Smurf. I feel like if you have bad feelings toward The Smurfs, then you'll enjoy that part of it. But I don't know. If you hate it, then it's had to affect you in some way growing up. Anyway, I laughed the whole way through. I hadn't even seen it until last night [at the film's premiere in New York].

I wanted to ask you about that.

I saw a very, very rough cut of it in December, and at the time, only 40 percent of the animation was done. So it was really hard to watch for me; I'd really get involved in the film, and then I'd kind of be taken out of it for a while. So last night it was a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be. They added a lot of funny lines for the Smurfs, and I thought Gargamel and Azrael had an amazing relationship in the film. I loved it. I was really, really happy -- I feel proud.

It's a huge role for you. How was the pressure to pull it off compounded by the crazy-making dynamics on set -- acting opposite dots and marks and the rest?

This was challenging in so many ways. First of all, Grace Winslow, the character I played, is probably the most down-to-earth character I've ever played. Or at least she's less quirky than any other role I've ever played before -- despite the fact that she can see blue people running all over the place. It was nice to play someone who was kind of normal and becoming a mother. But it was a challenge working with the dots -- working with nothing there, or having an earwig in your ear with the other person reading the lines and nobody else can hear that but you. It's funny, because with doors opening and bowls moving -- like the kitchen scene -- they were using strings. Things were actually moving around the room. It felt a little Poltergeist-y at times. I think the hardest part is to make sure you're being creative and marrying that technical side of the process as well. You're making it look natural. It's tricky. It makes you feel like you're going crazy.

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