Entertainment

She Steals The Scene on 'Fargo'

by Jess Goodwin

You may not have expected this when Private Practice closed its doors, but Kate Walsh is having quite the heyday. She's killing it as recently-widowed, former stripper Gina Hess on FX's Fargo mini-series (though, she's as not as often as we'd like), and she's finally returning to primetime in the fall, as the titular judge in Bad Judge.

In case you haven't heard about Bad Judge, one of NBC's upcoming very female-centric shows, here's a quick rundown: Walsh plays Rebecca Wright, a Los Angeles judge with a wild side, who spends her downtime partying, picking up dudes, and peeing on sticks to double-check for any pesky unwanted pregnancies. Even though she sounds pretty awesome as is, she finds redemption About a Boy-style when a little kid whose parents she sent off to the clink makes his way into her life.

Honestly, Walsh's new character sounds a bit like what might happen to Addison Montgomery if she left Jake and Henry, moved to Los Angeles, and decided to forgo medicine for law — which is what we might unconsciously be thinking as we watch the new series.

And in honor of Walsh and all her recent onscreen accomplishments, we've put together a list of what makes her so incredible.

Her Stint as Dr. Addison Montgomery on Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice

I mean, how could we not love her with storylines like that? Plus, her charisma must have a lot to do with why she's the only Grey's Anatomy character to get a spinoff (though we'd love to see some of Cristina Yang's adventures in Zurich).

She Cares About the Turtles

"I want to get the word out and make people aware about the challenges facing sea turtles," she told Oceana in 2009. "I also want to help get legislation enacted to keep harmful fishing techniques to a minimum and help protect the sea turtles." She's got brains, beauty, and a big heart. How could we not love her?

She's Got a Weird Sense of Humor

Back in 2010 she appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno donning a (fake) sushi dress as an homage to Lady Gaga's VMAs beef dress. Well, we'll use the term "homage" pretty loosely here.

She's also a really, really good sport. In April of 2014, she went on The Ellen Show, where Degeneres had a stripper pole set up for Walsh to do a little dance on. Walsh didn't balk, she took to that pole with gusto (and let's be honest, guts).

She's Sneaky

She recently went on The Queen Latifah Show and revealed she's been doing "super secret" stand-up comedy — which sounds incredible. Clearly, we need to up the ante on our sleuthing and find out when and where her next show is.

Image: FX