In the world of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, being a member of the McPoyle family means you’re a terrifying inbred weirdo. Yet, even in the sea of nauseating McPoyles, a good candidate for the most offensively strange is the deaf-mute Margaret McPoyle.
Played by Thesy Surface (who has neither her character’s trademark mustache nor unibrow IRL), Margaret McPoyle first appears briefly in Season Two when her brother compliments her “top-notch boobies.” She tailgates with the rest of her family early in Season Three, before wielding a shotgun at the behest of her brothers in “The Gang Gets Held Hostage.” She also first has sex with a member of The Gang, Dennis, during the same episode. Her next sexual conquest is Mac in Season Six’s “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” before making her final appearances in Seasons Eight and Eleven.
We haven’t, though, seen Margaret McPoyle in the nine years since — even when her brothers returned in 2023. So what happened to her? How did Surface get cast for such a strange role in the first place? And are there any other members of The Gang she’d like to bone? I asked Surface all of this and more when we recently spoke by Zoom.
Don’t Miss
What originally drew you to the role of Margaret McPoyle?
This guy I knew was interning for the director. He called some friends of his saying they needed a girl to play a sleazy part. They didn’t talk about how ugly she was, just sleazy. I was new in town and I’d never heard of Always Sunny, but I was like, “Whatever, sure.” We had lunch and then the director, Dan Attias, called us over to Charlie (Day), Glenn (Howerton) and Rob (Mac), who asked me a few questions. Then I went back and a P.A. came up to me and said, “Go to wardrobe, you’re hired.” It was a very last-minute role, and they literally had a day to cast it, which is why they didn’t bother going through the usual avenues for casting.
Did they tell you anything else about the role? Like that she was inbred or anything?
They did say “We’d make you ugly,” and at one point, when they did a wardrobe and makeup, the unibrow was even grosser, if you can imagine. I think Rob and Charlie said, “No, that’s too much. Go back.”
Are there any unique challenges to playing a character who never speaks?
It’s all about the stare — the eyes. Everything’s in the eyes. It’s also just making weird movements. Charlie came up with the lizard lick thing, and I put some effort into her kind of weird moving. I’m not learning dialogue, so I might as well learn some other cool shit to do with her.
The episode “The Gang Gets Held Hostage” was the first episode where you had more than a cameo. What was that like?
To be honest, that’s my favorite. I was on set most of the time, and I was also part of the plot. I love spoofs of movies. I like stuff like that, like the Die Hard thing. And Glenn knocked it out of the park with this seduction scene in the bathroom. The most quoted thing I get from Sunny is “You’re a stone-cold fox.” The Halloween thing in “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” was a quick, fun image and a quick, fun thing with Rob, but it wasn’t part of the plot as much.
What are Jimmi Simpson and Nate Mooney, who play your brothers on the show, like to work with?
They’re cool. At first, I guess I was a bit of an add-on, so I don’t know how they felt about this girl who’s in one episode and now she’s with us for a whole big thing. But I like the ones where we’re all together. It makes us more venomous and villainous.
I was surprised when I realized we haven’t seen you on the show in nine years. Is there a chance you’ll come back?
I don’t know. I kind of voluntarily exited the game a bit, and I’ve been living in London. I only recently started acting again. I’d do it for sure, though. I’d be interested to see the script they’d come up with.
My last question for you is: Which of her brothers do you think Margaret is most into?
I’d say Nate — well, I don’t think she’s into her siblings as much as she is into The Gang. She gets around a lot, little miss Margaret. Maybe she needs to have a lesbian encounter with Dee now or The Waitress. Charlie’s the last one on the list, but I don’t know. I think she’s expanded outside of the family, and she likes the guys in the bar.