Megan Mullally is Sean Hayes' strongest advocate

Their Emmy-winning days on "Will & Grace" may be just a fond (and heavily syndicated) memory, but Megan Mullally still has Sean Hayes' back.

Mullally, who joins the critically acclaimed Starz sitcom "Party Down" next month, says Hayes called her about his recent coming-out interview in The Advocate, although she hasn't yet read the piece -- which, actually, was less a coming-out than an "I never was really in" story.

"Sean was only 27 when we started, and he had never done a television show before," Mullally tells Zap2it. "I was 39, and I had been through the pilot seasons and shows that just lasted for 9 or 13 episodes, and I also had experienced more in my life and just emotionally was starting to become a little bit more mature. Sean was very together for a 27-year-old, but still, that was a lot. And I think he handled it very well."

But Jack McFarland, the openly gay character he played on the Emmy-winning NBC comedy series, inevitably drew attention to Hayes himself during a time when gay rights was taking a key role in American society.

"I honestly don't think Sean knew what to do," Mullally says. "Sean is not a political person. I'm not a political person. But as far as 'the issue,' Sean always was very out in his personal life. He just felt like 'Why do I have to do what you want me to do?' "

Maybe it's fated that Mullally and Hayes are bonded, she adds. Her former "Will & Grace" buddy was born on the same date (including year) -- June 26, 1970 -- and within a 50-mile radius of Mullally's husband, "Parks and Recreation" star Nick Offerman.

"Those two guys probably have had more impact on me than any other men in my life," she says. "Truly."

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