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Michael Urie Meets ''Miss America''

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Did the gals all know you from Ugly Betty?
MICHAEL URIE: Yeah, a lot of them did. They definitely were very curious about Vanessa Williams. They wanted to know everything about her. Every day that there was a surprise guest, they would say, ''Is it Vanessa Williams? Is it Vanessa?!'' It's not! I'm like, ''She's not going to be on the show.'' They asked me to tell her hello, so I told Vanessa hello from all the Miss America girls, and she said to give them hell. So I told them that, then they laughed and looked confused.

In terms of the competition, what got axed? What's still there?
The talent component is still there. It's all still pretty much there — it's just taken in a new vein. They're calling the swimsuit competition ''health and beauty.'' For evening gown, they're going to walk down a runway rather than just parade across the stage like dolls. They actually have to come out and show themselves and give some attitude. So they had these tutorials on runway, and they were naturals at it. The test is going to be, did they retain what they learned? Are they going to continue to do that? We're very clear: These are the things you're going to be judged on now, and if you just play along during the reality show and then show up and you're back to the way you were, it's not going to be good.

Do you think beauty pageants are still relevant these days?
Well, I would say that before this, they weren't relevant. They were tired. Now I think the relevance is going to be more about being yourself and being who you are. We live in a world of American Idol and America's Next Top Model. We know this format of people trying to win the title of whatever it is, and this is no different. This is sort of the original American Idol, in a lot of ways.

Betty White was a guest star on the last episode of Betty that aired. Did you get to spend much time with her?
I did, and I, in fact, crashed a scene with her!

What?! How'd you manage that?
I wasn't originally scripted to be in that scene, but I crashed it because I wanted to work with her! It's such a fun-loving group that the hair and makeup people will be like, ''Sure, yeah, we'll get you done up. Whatever.'' They pulled something for me to wear, and I just sort of waltzed on, and I said, ''What if I stand here?'' The fashion TV correspondent is talking to Betty. ''Betty, you're an animal activist, TV legend, friend to gays everywhere, I love you.'' And I just said, ''I love you too!'' or something like that. The writers were like, why don't you just throw this in?

Was it amazing to watch her?
She said at one point, ''Can you believe how lucky I am to still be working?'' And we were like, ''You mean, how lucky we are that you're working with us?'' I mean, we've had some cool guest stars. But for me, that one sort of takes the cake. Betty White is a national treasure and a comic genius! To watch her rehearse a bit with a mirror, how fascinating! She's such a pro. It was an absolute treat to get to work with her. Never before in a read-through has an actor gotten applause after a scene in the middle of the read-through.

You need all the Golden Girls to be on the show! Rue, Bea...
I think that's the plan! In one of the upcoming episodes we have Annie Potts, so I say we work through the Designing Women too. We've got to get Jean Smart. I love Jean Smart. Wasn't she amazing on 24?

She was fantastic. Have you guys shot the musical episode of Betty yet?
No, the strike is messing that up. [Composer] Mark Shaiman has been working on it. It's such a big undertaking that I hope we still have the means to make it happen when the dust settles.

Since the strike has you out of work, are you doing anything else to fill your time?
We sort of have to be ready to go back to work at any time. But I'm going to be working on a play. It's a new play at the Blank Theater, which is this great theater in Hollywood. It's called Dickie and Babe, and it's a docu-play about Leopold and Loeb, a pair of murderers who were sentenced to life in prison for killing a 14-year-old boy in Chicago. I play the prosecuting attorney and a bunch of other parts. Everything I say is what Robert Crowe actually said. Literally transcript, so it's cool.