Smash (TV Series)

Musical Chairs (2013)

Katharine McPhee: Karen Cartwright

Quotes 

• Tom Levitt : [new director]  Okay, here she is, Marilyn the star, showing up for work on Some Like It Hot. Walking onto the set for the first time. Very Jayne Mansfield in The Girl Can't Help It.

  Karen Cartwright : Really? I don't see it that way at all.

  Tom Levitt : You don't see...? Never mind.

  [dismissive gesture] 

  Tom Levitt : Anyway, uh, what I'm going for is... "To hell with all of you, I'm here!"

  Karen Cartwright : But isn't this when things were going terribly wrong for her? Everyone on set hated her. I mean, she was... hiding out in her trailer, popping pills.

  Tom Levitt : Yeah! But... we don't wanna telegraph that. So she's putting on a... brave face.

  Karen Cartwright : So... when she says, "Here she is, boys, Marilyn Monroe in the flesh", she's... up?"

  Tom Levitt : Trying to be. Like...

  [inhaling, then delivers line breathlessly:] 

  Tom Levitt : "Here she is, boys, Marilyn Monroe in the flesh."

  Bobby : [to Jessica]  Did he just give her a line reading?

  Karen Cartwright : Derek used to say...

  Tom Levitt : Derek isn't here anymore.

  Karen Cartwright : [wistfully]  Yeah, I know.

• Derek Wills : [Bombshell has new director]  Was it really that bad?

  Karen Cartwright : It's not bad. It's just not... you.

  [scoffs] 

  Karen Cartwright : And Tom and I aren't connecting. He's trying to be respectful of the work you and I did together. And at the same time... putting his own mark on it. But it's just... It's confusing.

  Derek Wills : It wouldn't be confusing if you'd left with me. Gwen Verdon would have bailed if Fosse quit.

  Karen Cartwright : [giggles]  Oh, so now you're Fosse, huh?

  Derek Wills : [smiles, takes sip from his drink, smiles]  I saw Hit List so clearly, but it's all out of focus now.

  Karen Cartwright : The boys will figure it out.

  Derek Wills : Yeah, the boys need to grow up. I've hit a wall with those little bastards.

  Karen Cartwright : [chuckles]  I'll see what I can do.

  [angelic] 

  Derek Wills : [smiles]  Thank you.

• Karen Cartwright : [entering their loft with coffee for three]  Hi.

  Jimmy Collins : [terse]  What are you doing here?

  Karen Cartwright : I was just gonna... lie and say I was in the neighborhood.

  [giggles] 

  Jimmy Collins : [coldly]  Yeah, I always tell people I'm gonna lie just before I do it. It really catches them off guard.

  Karen Cartwright : [chuckles]  So, how's everything going?

  [offers:] 

  Karen Cartwright : Caffeine?

  Kyle Bishop : Uh, with the show? It's, uhm...

  Jimmy Collins : Great, great. Ana's... killing it.

  [scoffs] 

  Karen Cartwright : I know. She's amazing. Uhm, but Derek said you guys were...

  Jimmy Collins : Ah, of course. He sent you here to come check up on us.

  Karen Cartwright : I just wanna help.