Although she gained the spotlight as the brassy, cynical hairdresser Gloria in the NBC series "Hope & Gloria," Jessica Lundy, in real life, was more like the Hope character, optimistic and a bit shy--although without the perkiness. Entertaining classmates in elementary school and her grandmother at home from the time she was eight, Lundy knew she wanted a career as a performer when she entered New York University. She teamed with classmate Alec Mapa to form a cabaret duo, and both were cast in small roles in the film "Bright Light, Big City" as a result. Lundy experienced her first on-screen