Lisa Ann Walter doesn’t actually know what is in store for Melissa on season 4 of Abbott Elementary — but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have some guesses.
“I wish I knew! If I said I knew what they were talking about in the writers’ room right now as we sit here I’d be lying,” Walter, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Centrum Menopause Support.
Walter noted that creator — and star — Quinta Brunson loves to keep her costars in the dark until the scripts are ready, adding, “Quinta plays it so close to the chest. Every once in a while she’ll come up like when we’re at a For Your Consideration event [to say], ‘You are gonna be so excited about this story line for your character. Oh wait, I’m not gonna tell.’”
Abbott Elementary, which debuted in 2021, follows teachers at a fictional Black Philadelphia public school. Fans saw more of Walter’s character, Melissa, outside of work when Janine (Brunson) and Jacob (Chris Perfetti) visited her at home. Melissa’s personal life was also explored after she found love with the school’s vending machine guy Gary (Bruno Amato).
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Melissa and Gary called it quits during season 3 after he proposed with help from Philadelphia Eagles player Jalen Hurts. (Hurts’ fellow football players Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham also made a cameo in the February episode.)
Walter previously opened up about how honored she felt by Kelce’s onscreen appearance, telling Us in June, “Jason, I will say, out of everybody, was so vocal about being honored to participate in our show because he wanted to be a part of something that helped shine a light on what the public school system was like in Philadelphia. It was so meaningful to him and he was thrilled to be there. And it’s for the kids, so of course [he was] gonna be there. He was lovely.”
During her more recent chat with Us, Walter speculated on where Melissa goes from here now that she’s single.
“For Melissa, I know that what Quinta said ‘You know, we all love Bruno. He was so sweet and he was like the perfect guy for Melissa. He was accepting of her being big and ballsy and outrageous. He loved her anyway,’” Walter explained. “And that was too safe and too calm for Quinta.”
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Walter joked that Melissa might be in a new era, quipping, “Maybe she’ll continue to be a ho!”
When Walter isn’t focused on bringing Melissa’s story to life for other women who may see themselves in her character, she’s teaming up with Centrum to teach a lesson on menopause.
“[Centrum Menopause Support] is an avenue for women or for men — really for all people — to go to when they have confusion about menopause, symptoms and to destigmatize it. It is basically a place to go and discuss it so that we’re not acting like it’s some kind of hidden, shady and dark secretive thing that we’re not allowed to talk about,” Walter explained. “It takes the guessing out of it.”
Walter is excited to launch Hot Conversations with Centrum starting Wednesday, July 17. This new venture is a first-of-its-kind menopause training video for the workplace that will provide women and their colleagues with information about menopause to foster understanding, encourage support and shift the menopause narrative.
“They set up a resource hub to have women learn information and not feel alone and not feel like they can’t get any answers for what they’re going through.” Walter continued. “I’m just so proud to be in partnership with them.”
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Walter is pulling from her own experience with menopause to help bring awareness — and start more meaningful conversations around the topic.
“One of the best ways that we can combat something that is natural and is going to happen is normalizing the conversation around it,” she detailed. “Conversation is a big part of destigmatizing it. Then the second part of it is these products that Centrum offers that actually address hot flashes.”
Walter concluded: “Everybody’s circumstances and symptoms are different. Places like Hot Conversations allow you to go and talk about it. I think women are more aware because it’s being talked about a little bit more.”
With reporting by Travis Cronin
