My chat w/Debra Messing...

For eight years, she was a gay man's best friend. But Debra Messing has been able to leave ,her classic sitcom "Will & Grace" behind sooner than she expected with the success of the Emmy-nominated mini-series "The Starter Wife" which has been greenlit as a regular series on the USA Network. Work on that, like everything else, has been put on hold because of the wroters strike.

Debra and I chatted about her good fortune over the weekend at the Directors Guild Awards. The next night, she lost the Screen Actors Guild Award to Queen Latifah but is still counting her blessings:

"I was not looking to work right away but the script found me and it could not be denied. It was just such a great script. It was just an extraordinary experience creatively and personally and professionally on every level."

Debra won the best actress in a comedy series Emmy for "Will & Grace" midway through its run and was nominated countless other times. Last fall, she was back in Emmy contention for "Wife" as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for her role as the wife of a successful studio executive who most start a new life for herself and her daughter after hubby dumps her.

"I gotta say, it means a lot," Debra said of the award nominations. "I really thought that I was being nominated for "Will & Grace" in large part because of its social importance which is tremendous. I thought my time was over. So to be nominated again for something else is very encouraging and very gratifying."

I like the new role, but I miss the laugh that turns into a snort.