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When Martha Plimpton read the script for the first episode of “Sprung,” Greg Garcia’s new comedy, it described Barb, the quirky and outspoken matriarch of a fledgling crime family, as “a Martha Plimpton type.”

In other words, a role Plimpton seemed literally born to play. Plimpton was not supposed to be available for “Sprung,” but her previous series, “Generations” had just been canceled. And so, the Emmy-winning (and Tony-nominated) actress was able to reunite with Garcia and Garret Dillahunt, who she co-starred with on Garcia’s “Raising Hope.”

“Sprung,” which premieres on Freevee, August 19 th, finds its comedy in its characters and in the desperate circumstances of the 2020 lockdown. Three criminals are sprung from prison due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jack (Dillahunt) had been in prison for more than a quarter-century for selling weed because of mandatory minimums; he wants to keep his nose clean but has nowhere to go except for the home of his cellmate, Rooster (Phillip Garcia), a perpetually hopeful romantic who’s also a mama’s boy and a dim bulb. Tagging along is Gloria (Shakira Barrera), a savvy con woman and thief, who is game for the big score but also open to Jack’s ideas about doing good. 

They all end up living with Rooster’s mom, Barb, who is constantly scheming for the next play, whether it’s snatching all the packages being delivered to her neighbors, stealing toilet paper from Melvin, the local black market dealer, or filching Q-tips from an ad-hoc (and fraudulent) Covid testing facility. 

Barb, who is not quite as smart as she thinks, can be loud and bossy but also can be lonely and generous and Plimpton, who has homes in Brooklyn and London, spoke recently by video from England about bringing her to life and about her own lockdown experiences. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. When you’re snorting cocaine or having an intense private moment with a Q-Tip in your ear, do you try to play them big or do you worry about caricature?

I do go big and I will go totally overboard because I can always count on Greg to say, “Can you do it a little smaller” or “That was great but a little less volume.” I trust him implicitly. I love that I can do that and Greg’s not going to be horrified or cut my lines.

It was thrilling to get in there and go balls to the wall. Experience teaches you not to be afraid and it comes with confidence, but it’s also the virtue of working with people you love and trust and know are really smart. 

Q. Is it challenging to play someone you are smarter, or at least more worldly, than? 

I don’t know about smarter. But Greg doesn’t place judgment on regular, ordinary — and weird — people, who sometimes do dumb things. Everything gets put through a filter of guilelessness and decency so we can enjoy their foibles and weirdnesses. 

Q. Was it strange making a comedy about the most traumatic period in living memory?

Greg Garcia considers himself a jester. He likes to take the true things about life and make them funny so people can have a laugh for a minute. But his comedy connects to what is real and is really good at its heart. 

My hope is that the show gives people something familiar that they can laugh along with without diminishing the seriousness of what happened.

Q. The show brings back memories of all the shortages and the reliance on deliveries. Did you run out of toilet paper?

I had already started having toilet paper delivered from a company that makes toilet paper out of bamboo so I was one of the lucky ones who had plenty of toilet paper.

I didn’t do too much delivery stuff. Fresh Direct was totally overbooked and when it came the produce was terrible, so I bit the bullet and every three weeks I’d put on my mask and gloves and went to the market and did my shopping. I bought a month’s worth of meat for the freezer in my basement.

It was very much Armageddon times. I was stockpiling lip balm. I considered buying a donkey or an inflatable raft for emergency transportation. 

So I think everyone can relate to the show when in those first few months no one knew what was happening and the rules kept changing and it was terrifying. 

Q. How did you adapt during the lockdown? 

I’d been in New York for my mother’s birthday and was on my way back to London. I didn’t want to get stuck in England because I had a job coming up here, so I turned the car around and went back to Brooklyn. 

At first, I was really morbidly depressed. It was rainy and cold so I couldn’t work in my garden. Then I decided I had to do something. 

Come here, Walter. [A dog climbs into her lap.] So I adopted these two dogs, Walter and Jimmy Jazz. They totally saved my life. Then I started gardening and then I did something really nuts – I organized my basement. I made it into a real workspace. I ordered a workbench and work desk and hung pegboards and put up all my tools and made a hardware wonderland. I organized all my nails and my screws and drill bits. I got really into home improvement. I took charge of my domestic life. 

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