Q&A: Alex Borstein

The cast of Family Guy, including Lois (top left); Alex Borstein, the voice of mother Lois Griffin (inset)

The thought of seeing a "Family Guy" live cast reading/concert at Carnegie Hall may excite you greatly (in a Quagmire-esque way...if you don't know what this means, this show isn't for you). But Alex Borstein, who voices mother Lois Griffin on the hit animated show, has one disclaimer for the fans. "These live shows always turn into a filthy debacle," she admits. "Everybody ends up improvising, anyway. I think a lot of the cast drinks too much beforehand."

Before the inebriation-fest hits the stage on Monday and Tuesday, we asked Borstein (a "MAD TV" veteran) about what it takes to bring a proudly tasteless cartoon to one of New York's legendary cultural stages.

What's the occasion for this?
[Show creator] Seth MacFarlane and I did a different show at Carnegie Hall a little back, just the two of us. It was a weird singing show, but we thought Carnegie was great. Um, not the man, he's dead, but the Hall. Anyway, we were like, "let's do it again!" And it just happened we all had some holes in our calendars. 

What's the format of the show?
It's a live reading of two episodes, with the whole cast—Seth MacFarlane, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry, and a couple of guest readers. Usually some hot girl Seth wants to sleep with.

You've done some live versions of this before. Have they gone well?
Yes. There were some little, bizarre moments...we went off on some tangents. There's a Q&A at the end, and tends to take a long time, which pisses off the venue. Everybody wants hugs and/or phone numbers. 

You'll be doing a lot of singing -- are you a good singer?
Sort of. Growing up, I was a total musical theater nerd. I never superbly excelled at it, but we all have our rock star dreams. Seth, on the other hand, he's musically trained and can read sheet music. It's daunting.

Do "Family Guy" fans scare you at all?
Oh yeah, we've got some intense fans. Sometimes, at comedy clubs, they'll corner me afterwards. They'll make me do the Lois Griffin voice. I'm fine with it, it just depends on how people come up to me and how they ask. I don't mind feeling like a trained seal.

How do you keep your voice in shape?
Mostly by everything wrong: not sleeping, dealing with a newborn, all that. I should do more vocal chord exercises, but I'm extremely lazy.

Live acting or voice-over...what do you prefer?
You know, they both have their merits. Sometimes it's great to show up in overalls and a T-shirt without having to memorize lines. But I do miss doing faces and mannerisms of acting; selling your acting with just a voice is hard.  

How did you come up with the voice of Lois?
I was working at "MAD TV," and Seth was developing "Family Guy." I was asked to help out. At the same time, I was doing a live stage show in L.A., playing a redhead mother in a sketch. I stole that voice from a cousin of mine in Great Neck. (Breaks into Lois character) It was a really, low, slow, grating voice, like this.

Did Seth like it?
Yeah. (Laughs) He said, "Make it a little less fucking annoying...and speed it up, or every episode will last four hours."

What other ancillary characters on the show do you voice?
Tricia Takanawa, Loretta Brown, Lois's mother, and whatever other random hooker, bimbo or little boy they need done. And if Seth doesn't like anything, he re-records it himself...or has some hot chick he likes do it.

Your official bio lists that you're "short"...did you approve that?
That's approved...I don't know, what else can you say? I'm five feet tall. You don't want to disappoint the kids when they meet you.