“Will & Grace” broke new ground on television for its depiction of LGBTQ+ characters, and involved the exploits of a group of four friends: Eric McCormack’s Will, Debra Messing’s Grace, Sean Hayes’ Jack and Megan Mullally’s Karen.
However, fans of the show might be surprised to learn that when the pilot was shot, there was a fifth pal thrown in the mix.
McCormack made that revelation during the inaugural episode of “Just Jack & Will”, the new podcast he co-hosts with Hayes (as reported by Deadline).
That character, McCormack recalled, was played by actor Cress Williams, who would later go on to star in The CW’s superhero series “Black Lightning”.
— Bob Mahoney/The CW © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved
“There were five characters as regulars,” McCormack said.
“And the fifth was my partner at my small law firm,” he continued, recalling the character was a “straight guy” who was “probably written as Jewish” at the outset.
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According to McCormack, Will’s friendship with this other character was intended to be “just as important” his relationships with Grace, Jack and Karen.
However, while filming the pilot, director James Burrows told “Will & Grace” creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick he felt that five people was too many, and that Cress’ character needed to be ditched.
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“I felt so terrible,” McCormack said. “It was nothing he did or didn’t do… It just didn’t fit what the show is supposed to be.”
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