Jenn Lyon screams as an aggressive mother in “English Teacher” on FX

The mother is upset about the grade her son got in English and is convinced she can “fix things” and get the teacher to see her side of the story.

“I know this woman,” Lyon says. “When I got the full script, I was so excited… I didn't know she was calling a whole town hall. I was scared, but it was so collaborative and fun.”

Now Linda Harrison — the woman behind Steak Nuggets and “Double” Sprite — is set to become a series regular on the new FX comedy. No offers have been received, says Lyon, but she should resonate with audiences once they see Episode 6.

“I don't have children, but power is evident in every area, be it a school, a city council or a union,” says Lyon. “There will always be people who have excessive self-confidence. They know what is right in certain situations but do everything they can to ensure their policies are implemented.”

Harrison tries to approach the teacher (played by Brian Jordan Alvarez) and even invites him and another teacher to her restaurant. She sprinkles them with her own invention – steak nuggets – and encourages them to try the double sprite. They're effective, but when she doesn't get her way, Harrison sits in a classroom, complains to the school board, serves the other parents a buffet, and pushes through her plans again and again.

Lyon grew up in the South and says she knew the motivation behind a Linda: “My Meemaw always said, 'Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth.' She has a coolness to her, but she also presents a very likeable nature.”

She's not just a Karen, says Lyon. “She’s even more than a Karen. …I think she's possibly a Barbara. “Barbara is next level,” she says.

Like so many indelible characters, Linda Harrison (who wasn't named after the Planet of the Apes star) was talked about in the first few episodes. The “threat” of Linda looms over those who led to her big performance.

“It’s like a cube,” says Lyon. Full of pages.

While the North Carolina native has had many roles on stage (“Crimes of the Heart” and “Born Yesterday” are among her favorites), Linda ranks among the top three roles she has played. The common denominator: “complicated, boldly drawn women.”

After years on Broadway and in regional theaters, Lyon made her way to Hollywood for one simple reason. “I wanted to be able to pay rent,” she says.

As much fun as stage roles are, they don't always come with a high salary.

In New York, Lyon says, “I wouldn't just play in front of the balcony, but in front of the check box across the street.”

Toning down a performance “was really a new muscle for me.” Directors often told her that she screams during television appearances. “I would say, ‘Am I screaming? Or is everyone else whispering?'”

In the theater, Lyon was a natural for period pieces – an 1890s aristocrat or a 1930s mafia moll.

“And then when I started doing film and television, it was like kind of cheesy, newly sober moms on the fringes, you know,” she says.

The change surprised her, but she accepted it.

“My dad really wants me to play lawyers and doctors and stuff like that, right? “But somehow they don’t want a platinum blonde doctor,” says Lyon. “I was pinned down in a way that was very different than in the theater.”

When her mother first heard Lyon swearing on stage, she went backstage and said, “Well, Jennifer, I think you could talk to the playwright and just ask him to change it for you.”

“I just thought, ‘Mom. It's the character. “It's not me saying that.” And she said, 'I know, but it's really hard.'”

Lyon's father, who is a priest, praised her participation in church performances.

“There have been many times in my career where I've worked in an ice cream shop or wherever, and people have said, 'Why don't you come home and be a youth choir director?' But I just kept going.”

Now, with shows like “Claws,” “Justified” and “Saint George” on her resume, there’s no time to consider an alternative path. Lyon is currently filming “Sirens” – a limited series for Netflix – and would make time for the return of “English Teacher” if Linda Harrison had to appear.

“If 'English Teacher' doesn't get a second season, there will be no justice in the world,” she insists. “And if I could come back, I would be thrilled.”

Another helping of Linda Harrison? You can bet on it. Pass the steak nuggets and strain the sprite.