In any case, I think everybody is running scared and everybody is pissed off at each other and unfortunately they are miles apart right now. So, I just hope that they can get closer together and resolve this. It will be resolved eventually and I hope it gets resolved in favor of the writers for the web. I think the writers have taken everything else off the table except for the web and that really is the most important issue. And I think that the studios need to be reasonable about it.

What they are saying right now is, "We don't know." Well, I feel like, if you don't know, then make a date for the next 10 years, "We'll meet once a year for the next 10 years and reconsider this issue every single year for 10 years." I just think that would be very, very reasonable, very fair and I think that they don't want to do that because they're a big business and they want to make as much money as they can and they don't care about how it affects everyone else.

I feel like the strike is really unfortunate because I think it affects all of the people who are not affected by the reason for the strike, but are affected by being out of work like the hair and makeup people and the craft service people and the loaders and all of the crew. It's just really unfortunate for them and it could be really damaging for them if it goes on for too long.

So I guess I'm not really too worried about myself in the sense that I know the show will come back. I know that we are one of their biggest hits on NBC. They're not about to just throw us in the trash. I think they are definitely very aware of the revenue we are bringing in and the fact that we are well-loved and critically-acclaimed and bringing them Emmys and bringing them awards. You know, it's bringing a lot of class and a lot of clout to their network. So, I'm sure that whenever the strike's over, we'll be back to work and hopefully, I think everybody hopes, the writers included, that it will be sooner than later.

With the strike going on and The Office shut down, are you suddenly left sitting at home or do you have other projects lined up?
I have a singing act that I'm doing in January at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, so I'm working on that. I'm also a singer and a songwriter. And I have a big Broadway director that's directing me in that named Richard G. Alexander, who just got back from directing Barbara Streisand's European tour and has directed Bette Midler in Carnegie Hall and Bernadette Peters in Carnegie Hall - major, major people. So he's directing me and we've already sunk money into publicity for this and so forth. I know some fans have already bought tickets to come out and see me - airline tickets, literally flying from other places to come see it. So I'm working very hard on that and making that the best it can be. It's coming right up now on the fourth, fifth and sixth of January.

And there are other things that are percolating because there were things that were written before. So, if one of those things comes through and I end up working during the strike, that would be great to.

What can fans expect from your musical performance?
Well, they'll get to know me a little bit. I'll talk a little bit and I'll be singing a lot. I'll sing four or five of my original songs and I'll sing songs that they might potentially recognize and it's going to be a really fun night. I think it will be really beautiful music and a little bit of talking and good food and I think a good time.

What are some of your musical influences in your show? What type of songs do you perform?
The stuff that I write is stuff that sounds kind of old, kind of like 50s stuff, that sounds a little bit like Doris Day, Julie London, that kind of vibe. But it's all original stuff. And so, it will have that and there will probably be some other recognizable things, maybe something from Broadway or a couple of things from Broadway, maybe a couple of things from the pop world. So, sort of a little milieu of things.

You recently directed the one-woman show Strip Search and the movie You. What made you decide to try your hand at directing and do you see yourself doing more of it in the future?
The one-woman show thing happened because my friend Adria Tennor wrote a show. We actually met in a writing class probably 10 years ago - a one-person show writing class - and we remained friends and I liked her writing, she liked mine. So she continued on with her one-woman show, writing it over the next nine years I think and would invite me to these little showcases she would have for each piece as it kind of came to life and the last one that I came to was sort of the show finished writing-wise, but she kind of stood up and just said it, did it and at the end she asked for comments and I gave her some comments. She called me the next morning and said, "I loved your comments. I thought they were amazing and I wonder if you would consider directing my show." And I said I would actually. I thought about it and I said, "Absolutely, I'd love to direct your show." So that was how that happened.

And, I'm also a dancer and it's sort of about a woman finding her sexuality and becoming a woman through taking this strip class. I thought that we had a lot of different things that we could kind of come together on and I helped her choreograph the dance that she ultimately does in the show. We just had a lot of fun, we were a good team, I think.

The movie You came about because many, many years ago I did a little independent movie and the director just happened to be horrific and I kind of was helping out with some things because this director was so bad. So the producer kind of came up to me in the middle of it and said, "Wow, you're really amazing at this. You should really direct."

I said, "Oh, uh - I don't know."

He said, "No, you have a real gift. You have an iron fist and a velvet glove. That's a thing a director needs and you really have that."

So I said, "That's lovely."

That was many, many years ago. And my husband is a writer and has written many scripts and he's also an actor and he came back from being on location doing a show and had written this script over three days, which is very unusual for him. He usually writes things over many months, if not years. And I took it with me to I think get a manicure-pedicure or something and I was reading it and I had to leave because I was crying. Tears were streaming down my face as I was reading it. So I came home and I said, "This is an amazing script and I need to direct this if you'll allow me to."

And, he's like, "Well, it probably needs a rewrite."

I'm like, "Nope, I don't want you to change anything thing, it's perfect the way it is and I want to direct it and I want make it."

And he said, "Great."

So that was that. And we kind of went through many incarnations about how we were going to get it made and we ultimately did it ourselves and it's finally finished as of about a week ago and I definitely plan on directing more. I have to say it was a hugely fulfilling and satisfying experience to feel like all of your gifts are needed and wanted and required in every moment of every day. It's kind of a good feeling to feel used up at the end of a day or the end of a movie. (Laughs.) So that was great and I definitely plan on making more movies and my husband and I plan on making more movies together and I'd like to direct more. But I'm not going to really pursue a television directing career and that kind of stuff. I would like to direct an episode of The Office, but I'm not really that interested in having a full on directing career.

What do you do to unwind when you are not working?
I'm a dancer. So I take dance classes and I hang out with my kids, I have two little kids - two and a half and six. I spend a lot of time with them; they're a lot of fun. We do crafts together and we play and they dance for me and we dance together and go for walks. And I like to see movies, I love movies. But that's kind of it. And hang out with my husband.

Would you like to see your kids end up as actors someday?
I don't really care. If they would do that and that would make them happy, then I would say for sure do it. But I wouldn't ever push it on them. I really do think it's a tough career. I think it's a perfect career for me, but I've seen a lot of people have a lot of hardship with it. I always say to people, "If there's anything else you can do and be happy, do it. If this is the only thing you can do and be happy, then that's the reason to do it. Otherwise, don't do it." So I would say if they were just so passionate that they feel like this is their path and they have to do this, then I would say do it. For sure, I'd support it 100 percent.

Both our daughters are in our movie. My daughter Rory was four at the time and she actually has quite a big part and she's fabulous in the movie. So she's already a little actress. And the little one was a baby when we did it, so she didn't really know what she was doing. (Laughs.)

What would you do for a living if you never got into acting?
Probably, I did consider at one time being a choreographer - having a dance company. I also considered - I sort of like the idea of traveling the world and being a writer, sort of writing about wherever I go. Kind of being like a real-life gypsy. I thought that would be very interesting. But probably, I also like psychology or therapy; I might have been a psychologist of a therapist of some kind potentially.

Tell us something most people don't know about you.
There's probably a lot of things. I don't know. I guess that I like to hang out at home with no makeup and my sweats, t-shirts. I like to do housework and clean and be with my family.

Interviewed by Joel Murphy, November 2007. For more information on Melora Hardin or to purchase tickets for her singing act "At The Water Cooler" or copies of her CDs, visit Melora.com