Eric McCormack said the final time the Will & Grace cast gathered together was at Jimmy Burrows’ funeral, after the director died in his sleep on June 19 at age 85. McCormack also shared a favorite memory and talked about channeling that legacy through Project
Eric McCormack didn’t have to look far to find the moment that brought the Will & Grace cast back together for the last time.
“Sadly, we all saw each other a few days ago because of Jimmy Burrows’ funeral,” the 63-year-old actor said exclusively to Us Weekly on Saturday, June 28, while walking the Project Angel Food red carpet in Hollywood. “I hadn’t seen Debra [Messing] in years, and it is always great to see her.”
McCormack added that he ran into Sean Hayes as well. “Not so great for the reason,” he said, explaining that Burrows had a habit of pulling everyone onto the same stage every week—then doing it again, even at the end.
Burrows died in his sleep on June 19 after a brief illness. He was 85.
For many of his collaborators, the loss landed as both a personal blow and a professional one. Debra Messing, 57, mourned the director with an Instagram tribute posted on June 19. “James Burrows was a legend. An Icon. A singular talent and revolutionary in television. He brought laughter and love into more homes, globally, than any other TV director in history,” she wrote. “To me he was Jimmy. To my son, he was Papa Jimmy.”.
Messing continued. “I can’t express the pain of his loss. and I know that is true for everyone who was lucky enough to be loved by him. Jimmy changed my life 28 years ago and has been in my life ever since. He had a dry sense of humor but exploded in laughter when he orchestrated comic moments that landed. I wanted his laughs most of all.”.
Burrows was widely celebrated for the comedy he shaped across decades. In a statement to Deadline shortly after his death. his longtime agent Rick Rosen called him “the greatest comedic television director in the history of the medium. ” saying he “directed the most iconic. defining shows of generations” and that he was “always a gentleman.”.
During his career, Burrows won 11 Emmys and worked on successful comedies including Taxi, Friends, Frasier, Two and a Half Men, Will & Grace, and The Big Bang Theory.
When McCormack was asked for a favorite memory, he didn’t try to narrow it down. “Oh, too many to quote and in print it wouldn’t look so good because you’d have to do the Jimmy Burrows voice,” he told Us on Saturday.
Then he shared one story anyway—the kind that sounds like it could only come from the set. “But my favorite was when I asked him if he thought maybe we’d get a second season,” McCormack recalled. “He looked at me and said, ‘Jesus Christ, McCormack. Buy a house.’”
McCormack said the message mattered because Burrows truly believed. “He did [believe in us]. He knew.”
That belief—pushing forward even after hard moments—was still on McCormack’s mind as he spoke about what Will Truman might do today. He said he imagined the character volunteering for Project Angel Food. a nonprofit organization that delivers medically-tailored meals to people fighting serious and life-threatening illnesses.
“He’d probably be volunteering here, honestly,” McCormack said. “I think he’s still a New York guy. He’d still be there, raising his son.”
McCormack also pointed to the organization’s reach and evolution. “This is an organization that we all kind of hoped wouldn’t be necessary after a few years. But then they realized there was so much more good they could do beyond its initial mandate of feeding people with HIV/AIDs. Now. they’re feeding so many people — 3. 000 a day — with so many different medical conditions. tailoring meals to their individual needs. It’s been an amazing growth.”.
In the wake of Burrows’ death, McCormack described a reunion that happened out of grief, plus a legacy that kept showing up—on the stage, in the memories, and in the work that continues long after the credits roll.
Eric McCormack Jimmy Burrows Will & Grace Debra Messing Sean Hayes Project Angel Food Hollywood red carpet television director Emmys