Eric McCormack Shrugs Off Reboot Fatigue, Especially When It Comes to Will & Grace

When it comes to the Will & Grace reboot, which is heading into its second season, you might be tempted to scream, "Ugh, not another reboot!" But I'm here to tell you this isn't any ordinary revamp. That's because, even though the show ended more than 10 years ago, not much has changed. With many of the same writers, the same stars (obviously), and even the same director, it's almost as if Will & Grace was never off the air.

In September, I was lucky enough to hop onto the iconic set of the iconic series, where Eric McCormack, our beloved Will, echoed the same sentiment in an interview. Will & Grace seems to be the exception to the rule. Moreover, what's wrong with a little nostalgia here and there, especially when it's good quality? And that's not all McCormack had to say about the series; we dove in deep about what makes it so great after all this time and what we can expect in the season to come.

  • On this season's handsome special guest Matt Bomer: "[He] was great. I think he'll be back. He plays a newscaster that Will has the hots for. One of my favorite lines is, 'I love that guy. He's my secret fantasy. Him and the hot twin from the Property Brothers.'"
  • On why the show is still so fresh: "It truly is in the writing, right? We've got five or six of our original writers, including the guys that created the show, and then some new blood that is just fantastic. But if they weren't coming up with new ways to play with these characters, we'd be pumping out a pretty mediocre show."
  • On Will and Grace living together after all these years: "There was a time when you watched Will and Grace living together, and you were like, 'Well, at what point do you guys go off and get a life?' I think it's different now, because they did go off and get a life, and they had their hearts broken, and there was divorce, and there were life lessons, and now one of the life lessons is, 'Hey. Friends can live together, and to hell with the stigma.'"
WILL & GRACE, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, 'Alive and Schticking', (Season 8 season premiere, live episode, aired September 29, 2005), 1998-2006,  NBC/ Courtesy: Everett Collection
Everett Collection
  • On reboot fatigue: "Actually, it's invigorating to realize how connected you are to characters. This wasn't just like, 'Oh, comfort food.' People couldn't wait to see these characters again, which surprised us. I didn't know that. I was relieved and delighted. In this very disposable world that we live in, it's nice to bring something back, to recenter, recycle it in the best way. Not just because we can't think of anything else to do, but because hey, here's a little piece of our heart that we said goodbye to. And if it can be legitimately revived, then why not?"
  • On the political issues the revival takes on: "We started pretty big. We started in the White House last year, and I think there was a slow pulling away. There's one we're doing this week with Karen that is really funny and relatively current. But it's hard to be current on a show when I don't know when this episode's going to air. At best, maybe in five weeks. At worst, it could be six months when, hopefully, we're not talking about it anymore."