Jeff Hiller and Bridget Everett star as Joel and Sam Someone Somewhere.

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Comedian, actress and cabaret singer Bridget Everett grew up in Manhattan. No, not the Big Apple, the “Little Apple” – that is Manhattan in Kansas. Although she had friends, Everett didn’t feel like she fit in; She says she didn’t share the “traditional values” that seemed to dominate her conservative community.

“I had a kind of blue sense of humor and was always getting in trouble for doing something naughty — not keg parties and stuff like that, but out of my mouth,” Everett says. “I just felt like (Kansas) wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”

After studying music and opera at Arizona State University, Everett made her way to New York City. One of the first people she met was Murray Hill, a comedian and drag king performer. Something clicked: “I thought, my God, this is what I was looking for. These are my people,” Everett says.

Everett spent years as a waiter while developing a raunchy cabaret act. She stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO series. Someone Somewhere.

The series, which has just begun its third and final season, centers on a 40-year-old woman named Sam who returns to Manhattan, Kansas to care for her dying sister Holly. The series begins about six months after Holly’s death, when Sam befriends Joel, a gay man in town who welcomes her into his community. Everett says the series was partly inspired by her own sister’s death.

“I served tables back then. I barely had two pennies to scrape together and I ended up not being able to visit her,” she says. “And I somehow never forgave myself for it. So this is a way to honor her in a way that I couldn’t before.”

Interview highlights

That Sam finds her person in Joel Someone Somewhere

I think for Sam, and this is actually central to the series, is that for some people, romantic relationships aren’t the goal. Sam just wants to be loved and have her person, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a romantic relationship. And I think that usually on TV and in film or in theater or whatever… it’s about boy meeting boy, boy meeting girl, girl meeting girl… that’s the ultimate thing that people fall in love. But that’s it for Sam. Joel is the person.

In the final season of Someone Somewhere

The fact that we even got a pilot felt like a miracle. And every time we got the green light for another season, it felt like a miracle. It’s a small show with a small audience and a small budget. And we have a very loyal and loving audience. …Behind the scenes, we wrote each season as if it were a moment in time and we never knew when the show would end. So this is the end of this iteration. But maybe one day we’ll make a film. Perhaps. Who knows what’s next? Because for me the characters still live on and I know their stories aren’t finished yet.

Why she likes to perform cabaret without a bra

My mother always went to the grocery store in just her nightgown and no bra. And as conservative and buttoned-up as she was…there was also something unconventional about her. And that’s the part of her that I loved. I think it’s a form of lawlessness for her to go to Food 4 Less, a grocery store, without a bra, I just loved that.

That’s why I go on stage without a bra now and I just want people to not be so locked in. I want them to come in and let go. And that’s why I do everything I can to make them feel free, because when I was growing up I didn’t feel like that. And I guess I chased that feeling on stage. … Nothing should take itself too seriously. But what I care about is making people feel good.

About her mother, a music teacher

My mother was a music teacher. She was a public school teacher and music teacher. And she also gave extracurricular lessons: violin, piano, guitar, everything. She didn’t teach me, but insisted we all take piano lessons. And the great thing about having a music teacher as a mother is that she said my desire to be a singer was totally fine and she was really supportive of it. … I remember booking a festival in Australia and calling my mom and she said, “Look at this!” You go around the world with your singing.”…She loved (my voice). … If I didn’t get the lead role in the musical, she thought I’d been robbed. And she loved my singing.

About her mother’s drinking

To be honest, my mother’s drinking was always out of control, but I just thought that was how life was. And then when I was in college or living in Arizona, things got really bad. She stopped going to work, locking her doors and stuff like that. And then my brother and sister came, picked her up and took her to rehab. So they were the ones who really took action. … When she went to rehab, she just stopped. She said, “I’ve lost the taste for it.” But her life was really spiraling out of control because of the drinking. …

Even though she drank a lot, she made us laugh and spent so much time with us. She came to every single swimming competition, every concert and sat in the front row. And she was very supportive. She just drank way too much.

About what she learned while studying opera in college

You have to watch your voice. You have to warm up. You need to cool down. It’s like any other muscle. You want to stretch it, you want to care for it. I wish I took care of my insides and the rest of my body the way I take care of my voice. I always drink way too much water. I’m always running to the toilet. But I know this will help my voice stay healthy. Because if I can’t sing, if I lose my voice, if I get a cold, or for any reason… then I really spiral.

Lauren Krenzel and Anna Bauman produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the Internet.