Jack McFarland
Encyclopedia
John Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character
on the American
television sitcom Will & Grace
, played by Sean Hayes
.
gay
man, Jack has always had a passion for acting
and the theatre
, although his friends, amongst others, doubt his abilities in this area. Very mercurial, he changes careers rapidly from cater waiter, Banana Republic and Barneys New York
sales clerk, to acting teacher, to student nurse, to surfer, to back-up dancer for Jennifer Lopez
and Janet Jackson
. Although he considers all his relationships serious, only one lasted longer than a few weeks (with Stuart, a client of Will's played by Dave Foley
), and even that one ended with Jack's cheating.
Jack is unashamedly vain and self-absorbed, with an adoration of all gay icon
s, particularly Cher
, of whom he has a rare doll
. (He met her once in the episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed
", although he mistook her for a drag queen
and declared, "You're not that great, Mr. Sister. I do a better Cher than you." It was only when she slapped him and exclaimed "Snap out of it!" that he realized and promptly fainted.) He would also meet Cher in a dream where she appeared as God
(complete with an entourage of "dancing fairies"). When Jack asked her if she was God, Cher replied, "That depends on what bathhouse
you pray at." According to Will he has the best gaydar
in the tristate area. He is a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, particularly lesbian character Willow Rosenberg
. He also collects clippings of celebrities' hair, including a complete collection from the four main actresses on The Golden Girls
, as well as Broadway icons Bernadette Peters
, Betty Buckley
, Idina Menzel
, and — as of season seven — Patti LuPone
. Jack also stalks actor Kevin Bacon
. At one point, he is Kevin's assistant. He then finds out that the only reason Kevin got an assistant is to help him find his stalker. Jack has to be Kevin's assistant and continue stalking
him or he'll lose his job. Jack and Will stalk Kevin, so Kevin thinks Will is his stalker. Kevin then invites Will in, and they end up dancing to "Footloose
" together. Jack walks on in them dancing and is angry because he was supposed to dance with Kevin.
He is also decidedly hyperactive and air-headed, causing Will
to once refer to him as "Jumping Ferret Jack," and another time thinking that he had set Will and himself up on dates with twins, but soon realizing, after Will asks him if, it was just one guy taking his glasses on and off. Strangely, he believes in gay rights, but absolutely hates lesbians to the point of having harassed their friends Terry and Annie ("Starsky
and Butch
?!" Jack exclaims) during practice for a gay-sensitivity skit, requested that their parts be played by men, and only referred to them as "the lesbians" the whole time, even to their faces. His general feelings about gay rights seem to be shallow at times, like when a kiss between two men on a television show he liked was not shown, he asked Will "What about our Constitutional right
to see two hotties get it on?" (to which Will replied "Would that be the Constitution that begins 'Wheeeee, the people'?"), but his intentions are essentially good. Most often though, his good intentions usually are provoked out of the desire to be good to his friends, such as when he used all his nest-egg money to save a pair of gay penguins at the zoo in order to make Will happy.
) and stepfather Daniel (Beau Bridges
). He also had a babysitter named Sissy (played in one episode by Demi Moore
). His mother did not know he was gay
(Grace informs Karen, "Jack's mother is going to be joining us, and she doesn't know Jack is gay"; Karen incredulously replies, "How could she not know? What is she, headless?"), and his stepfather was not close to him; however, it is clear that he, unlike Judith, was aware that Jack was gay, having been told while in his teens. According to Jack, he passed out, at which point Jack had to perform CPR on him. ("Of course, that might just have confused him further," Jack later muses.) He claims to have come out as early as preschool and has made up assorted stories about his youth claiming this, leaving into question which are truth and which are not. While he was in high school, Jack befriended college student Will Truman
(Eric McCormack
) and helped Will realize his own homosexuality. They have been best friends ever since. Although Jack often made his stepfather sound cold and unloving, he is actually very friendly and gets along well with Elliot, much to Jack's annoyance.
When the series begins, Jack's home is unknown (other than a brief mention of the East Side), but he is living with Will while his floors are re-done. At the start of season two, however, Karen refers to him as having been living "above a blinking light in Times Square
." At the end of season one, Jack agrees to marry Karen's maid Rosario
(Shelley Morrison
) in order to secure her green card
. Jack lives with Karen for the entirety of season two, but after a year together, the marriage is annulled when Rosario wants to marry Karen's gardener. Therefore, at the end of season two, Jack is homeless and moving in with Will, but when Will takes in his other best friend Grace Adler
(Debra Messing
) after an attempted burglary at her apartment, Jack agrees to sublet Grace's apartment — although Will, Karen, and his mother pay the rent. (In "Moveable Feast Part 1," it emerged that each of the three pays one half of the cost, meaning that Jack is actually collecting one and a half times the actual amount of his rent.)
Since the first season, Jack has established a close bond with alcoholic
socialite
Karen Walker
(Megan Mullally
), who chooses to work merely as a source of distraction. Karen is his closest female friend (much like Grace is to Will), and they bond due to their outlandish, self-absorbed behavior. Jack also strikes up a good friendship with Grace, through association with Will and Karen.
In season three, Jack undertakes a search for his biological father, which ends when he discovers that his father died several years back. Jack does, however, meet Elliot (Michael Angarano
), his own biological son, whom he fathered by depositing at a sperm bank
as a teenager so that he could buy a leather jacket. He later discovers that the boy's mother Bonnie (Rosie O'Donnell
) is a lesbian
; she was a nurse at the sperm bank who stole Jack's deposit and was inseminated
with it.
Jack's most consistent vocation results from his taking over the class of his acting teacher Zandra (Eileen Brennan
) after she is fed up with his lack of talent. After taking everyone's money and leaving, another student (played by Stacy Keach
) takes over the class and begins teaching the "McFarland method" ("acting is attracting") without Jack's knowledge. He trains to be a student nurse, but ultimately gives it up when, during Karen's fourth wedding, he meets Jennifer Lopez
and becomes her back-up dancer (and, for a short time, Janet Jackson
's back-up dancer), a career that fizzles as well.
In the seventh season, Jack embarks on a proper career as a producer for OutTV, a new gay television network. By season's end, his profile rises to the point that he is given a talk show
of his own to host.
In season eight, Jack loses his job at the network after he speaks out against the new right-wing ownership of the show, which has given him a supposedly conservative co-host named Amber Louise (played by Britney Spears
). He has difficulties finding work and out of desperation auditions for a minor role on a television show. Feeling depressed and rejected at the time, he doesn't rely on his over-dramatic acting style and ends up getting the lead role of Chuck Rafferty, a straight, alcoholic, womanizing cop.
In the show's series finale
, Jack had a brief and unwanted relationship with Karen's diminutive millionaire friend and social rival, Beverley Leslie, who left Jack as his sole heir in the case of his death. Beverley then had the misfortune to be blown off his penthouse balcony by a gust of wind, and Jack was left with millions of dollars. Decades pass and Jack is then shown to have lived with Karen (who had lost her money when she found out everything Stan owned was borrowed) and Rosario in Karen's mansion for the rest of his life after the show ended.
), which lasts several months during the sixth season, until Jack cheats on Stuart.
The episode "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" reveals that Jack had (and may still have) feelings for Will. In the flashback, he confessed his love to Will, but tried to pass it off as a 'test of friendship' when Will didn't feel the same. He had a similar reaction when Taye Diggs's
character accused Jack of being jealous of him because he got to date Will.
Jack is also the owner, or former owner, of a dog (Klaus Von Puppy) and a parrot (Guapo). Since the start of season three until he moves into Karen's mansion at some point after the eighth season, Jack lives across the hall from Will and Grace, and in his spare time he operates a one-table café, Jacques, in the hallway outside his front door, serving fare such as coffee
, Hot Pockets
, and Eggo
waffles.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television sitcom Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, played by Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Jack McFarland in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, one American Comedy Award, and six Golden Globes nominations.He also portrayed comedian Jerry Lewis in the...
.
Character personality
A "camp"Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man, Jack has always had a passion for acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
and the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, although his friends, amongst others, doubt his abilities in this area. Very mercurial, he changes careers rapidly from cater waiter, Banana Republic and Barneys New York
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...
sales clerk, to acting teacher, to student nurse, to surfer, to back-up dancer for Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
and Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
. Although he considers all his relationships serious, only one lasted longer than a few weeks (with Stuart, a client of Will's played by Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
), and even that one ended with Jack's cheating.
Jack is unashamedly vain and self-absorbed, with an adoration of all gay icon
Gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
s, particularly Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, of whom he has a rare doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
. (He met her once in the episode "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed
Gypsies, Tramps and Weed
"Gypsies, Tramps and Weed" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American television series Will & Grace. It was written by Katie Palmer and directed by series producer James Burrows. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company in the United States on November 16,...
", although he mistook her for a drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
and declared, "You're not that great, Mr. Sister. I do a better Cher than you." It was only when she slapped him and exclaimed "Snap out of it!" that he realized and promptly fainted.) He would also meet Cher in a dream where she appeared as God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
(complete with an entourage of "dancing fairies"). When Jack asked her if she was God, Cher replied, "That depends on what bathhouse
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
you pray at." According to Will he has the best gaydar
Gaydar
Gaydar is a colloquialism referring to the intuitive ability of a person to assess others' sexual orientations as homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual. Gaydar relies almost exclusively on non-verbal clues and LGBT stereotypes...
in the tristate area. He is a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, particularly lesbian character Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
. He also collects clippings of celebrities' hair, including a complete collection from the four main actresses on The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, as well as Broadway icons Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, Idina Menzel
Idina Menzel
Idina Kim Menzel is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is widely known for originating the roles of Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked.-Early life:...
, and — as of season seven — Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
. Jack also stalks actor Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
. At one point, he is Kevin's assistant. He then finds out that the only reason Kevin got an assistant is to help him find his stalker. Jack has to be Kevin's assistant and continue stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
him or he'll lose his job. Jack and Will stalk Kevin, so Kevin thinks Will is his stalker. Kevin then invites Will in, and they end up dancing to "Footloose
Footloose
Footloose is a 1984 American musical-drama film directed by Herbert Ross. It tells the story of Ren McCormack , an upbeat Chicago teen who moves to a small town in which, as a result of the efforts of a local minister , dancing and rock music have been banned.The film is loosely based on events...
" together. Jack walks on in them dancing and is angry because he was supposed to dance with Kevin.
He is also decidedly hyperactive and air-headed, causing Will
Will Truman
William Pierce "Will" Truman is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Eric McCormack. He is a gay lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler.-Fictional character history:...
to once refer to him as "Jumping Ferret Jack," and another time thinking that he had set Will and himself up on dates with twins, but soon realizing, after Will asks him if, it was just one guy taking his glasses on and off. Strangely, he believes in gay rights, but absolutely hates lesbians to the point of having harassed their friends Terry and Annie ("Starsky
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
and Butch
Butch
-People:* Delaney Knight , bordons butch woman* Butch Ballard , American jazz drummer* Butch Cassidy , American outlaw* Butch Davis , American football coach* Ronald DeFeo, Jr...
?!" Jack exclaims) during practice for a gay-sensitivity skit, requested that their parts be played by men, and only referred to them as "the lesbians" the whole time, even to their faces. His general feelings about gay rights seem to be shallow at times, like when a kiss between two men on a television show he liked was not shown, he asked Will "What about our Constitutional right
Constitutional right
An inalienable right is a freedom granted by a Nature or the Creator's endowment by birth , and may not be legally denied by that government.-United States:...
to see two hotties get it on?" (to which Will replied "Would that be the Constitution that begins 'Wheeeee, the people'?"), but his intentions are essentially good. Most often though, his good intentions usually are provoked out of the desire to be good to his friends, such as when he used all his nest-egg money to save a pair of gay penguins at the zoo in order to make Will happy.
Character history
Jack was born in February 1969, and was raised by his mother Judith (Veronica CartwrightVeronica Cartwright
Veronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
) and stepfather Daniel (Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
). He also had a babysitter named Sissy (played in one episode by Demi Moore
Demi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
). His mother did not know he was gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
(Grace informs Karen, "Jack's mother is going to be joining us, and she doesn't know Jack is gay"; Karen incredulously replies, "How could she not know? What is she, headless?"), and his stepfather was not close to him; however, it is clear that he, unlike Judith, was aware that Jack was gay, having been told while in his teens. According to Jack, he passed out, at which point Jack had to perform CPR on him. ("Of course, that might just have confused him further," Jack later muses.) He claims to have come out as early as preschool and has made up assorted stories about his youth claiming this, leaving into question which are truth and which are not. While he was in high school, Jack befriended college student Will Truman
Will Truman
William Pierce "Will" Truman is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Eric McCormack. He is a gay lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler.-Fictional character history:...
(Eric McCormack
Eric McCormack
Eric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
) and helped Will realize his own homosexuality. They have been best friends ever since. Although Jack often made his stepfather sound cold and unloving, he is actually very friendly and gets along well with Elliot, much to Jack's annoyance.
When the series begins, Jack's home is unknown (other than a brief mention of the East Side), but he is living with Will while his floors are re-done. At the start of season two, however, Karen refers to him as having been living "above a blinking light in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
." At the end of season one, Jack agrees to marry Karen's maid Rosario
Rosario Salazar
Rosario Inés Consuelo Yolanda Salazar McFarland is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace. She is played by actress Shelley Morrison...
(Shelley Morrison
Shelley Morrison
Shelley Morrison is an American actress. Early in her career, she was sometimes credited as Rachel Domínguez. Morrison has been a theater and television actress since the early 1960s, predominantly as a character actress in ethnic roles...
) in order to secure her green card
United States Permanent Resident Card
United States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
. Jack lives with Karen for the entirety of season two, but after a year together, the marriage is annulled when Rosario wants to marry Karen's gardener. Therefore, at the end of season two, Jack is homeless and moving in with Will, but when Will takes in his other best friend Grace Adler
Grace Adler
Grace Elizabeth Adler-Markus is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer , living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman...
(Debra Messing
Debra Messing
Debra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....
) after an attempted burglary at her apartment, Jack agrees to sublet Grace's apartment — although Will, Karen, and his mother pay the rent. (In "Moveable Feast Part 1," it emerged that each of the three pays one half of the cost, meaning that Jack is actually collecting one and a half times the actual amount of his rent.)
Since the first season, Jack has established a close bond with alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
Karen Walker
Karen Walker (character)
Karen Walker is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace . She was portrayed by actress and singer Megan Mullally...
(Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally is an American actress and singer.After working in the theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway...
), who chooses to work merely as a source of distraction. Karen is his closest female friend (much like Grace is to Will), and they bond due to their outlandish, self-absorbed behavior. Jack also strikes up a good friendship with Grace, through association with Will and Karen.
In season three, Jack undertakes a search for his biological father, which ends when he discovers that his father died several years back. Jack does, however, meet Elliot (Michael Angarano
Michael Angarano
- Early life :Angarano was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Doreen and Michael P. Angarano. He is of Italian descent. His family owns and operates three successful dance studios; two in New York and one in California called Reflections in Dance. His mother is the owner and director of all...
), his own biological son, whom he fathered by depositing at a sperm bank
Sperm bank
A sperm bank, semen bank or cryobank is a facility that collects and stores human sperm mainly from sperm donors, primarily for the purpose of achieving pregnancies through third party reproduction, notably by artificial insemination...
as a teenager so that he could buy a leather jacket. He later discovers that the boy's mother Bonnie (Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
) is a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
; she was a nurse at the sperm bank who stole Jack's deposit and was inseminated
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
with it.
Jack's most consistent vocation results from his taking over the class of his acting teacher Zandra (Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
) after she is fed up with his lack of talent. After taking everyone's money and leaving, another student (played by Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
) takes over the class and begins teaching the "McFarland method" ("acting is attracting") without Jack's knowledge. He trains to be a student nurse, but ultimately gives it up when, during Karen's fourth wedding, he meets Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
and becomes her back-up dancer (and, for a short time, Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
's back-up dancer), a career that fizzles as well.
In the seventh season, Jack embarks on a proper career as a producer for OutTV, a new gay television network. By season's end, his profile rises to the point that he is given a talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
of his own to host.
In season eight, Jack loses his job at the network after he speaks out against the new right-wing ownership of the show, which has given him a supposedly conservative co-host named Amber Louise (played by Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
). He has difficulties finding work and out of desperation auditions for a minor role on a television show. Feeling depressed and rejected at the time, he doesn't rely on his over-dramatic acting style and ends up getting the lead role of Chuck Rafferty, a straight, alcoholic, womanizing cop.
In the show's series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
, Jack had a brief and unwanted relationship with Karen's diminutive millionaire friend and social rival, Beverley Leslie, who left Jack as his sole heir in the case of his death. Beverley then had the misfortune to be blown off his penthouse balcony by a gust of wind, and Jack was left with millions of dollars. Decades pass and Jack is then shown to have lived with Karen (who had lost her money when she found out everything Stan owned was borrowed) and Rosario in Karen's mansion for the rest of his life after the show ended.
Relationships
Jack is known for his several various flings throughout the show. Most of them are mentioned but not shown, and Jack never seems to take any of them seriously or settle down with anyone for very long. Jack's longest relationship is with Stuart Lamarack (Dave FoleyDave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
), which lasts several months during the sixth season, until Jack cheats on Stuart.
The episode "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" reveals that Jack had (and may still have) feelings for Will. In the flashback, he confessed his love to Will, but tried to pass it off as a 'test of friendship' when Will didn't feel the same. He had a similar reaction when Taye Diggs's
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
character accused Jack of being jealous of him because he got to date Will.
Jack is also the owner, or former owner, of a dog (Klaus Von Puppy) and a parrot (Guapo). Since the start of season three until he moves into Karen's mansion at some point after the eighth season, Jack lives across the hall from Will and Grace, and in his spare time he operates a one-table café, Jacques, in the hallway outside his front door, serving fare such as coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, Hot Pockets
Hot Pockets
Hot Pockets are microwaveable turnovers usually containing a combination of cheese, meat, and vegetables. Hot Pockets are currently produced by Hylan Steez.- Varieties :...
, and Eggo
Eggo
Eggo is a brand of frozen waffles in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which is owned by the Kellogg Company. Several varieties are available, including Homestyle, blueberry, and chocolate chip....
waffles.
External links
- Jack McFarland (Character) at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...