Melora Harden is best known for her role as Steve Carrell's hard-nosed boss and sometimes love interest on the NBC comedy "The Office."
But the busy actress, who has worked in showbiz since the age of six, has a lot more going on than her TV job including a role in the big-screen comedy "The Comebacks" which opens in theaters on Friday.
“I play the ultra-supportive wife who gets fed up with her loser coach husband and ultimately has to push him really hard to get him to pay attention,” she told me this week. “I think ‘The Comebacks’ is just one of those hilarious, spoofy comedies.”
Harden just finished directing her first feature film called “You” just last week, a film in which she also has a role. It's really a family affair since the indie picture was written by and stars her husband Gildart Jackson. The plan is to submit the film, which also stars Joely Fisher and Brenda Strong ("Desperate Housewives") to various film festivals next year.
While doing that, Harden will no doubt be doing publicity for the comedy "27 Dresses" which opens in January and stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden: "I play James Marsden’s boss, the editor of a fashion magazine," she says.
When we chatted, Harden was at the Elle Magazine Women in Hollywood Tribute in Beverly Hills where she was happy to support such honorees as Lauren Bacall, Jennifer Connelly, Diane Lane and Scarlet Johansson.
“Women just need to get behind other women," she says. "That’s when big change happens."