actresses and celebrities she was channeling when portraying washed-up Hollywood actress Linda Granger, and who they were, Ullman cited Loni Anderson and actresses that ended up guest-starring in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, "The kind of women that Ruby Romaine made up." Feeling that it would have been passé to play a talent agent, Ullman opted instead to play an attorney, Sydney Kross, apropos in the wake of the OJ Simpson trial and Court TV. Critics immediately took note of the character’s uncanny resemblance to real-life attorney Leslie Abramson, who defended Lyle and Erik Menendez. "She has a fascinating look [...] I think she'll recognize herself physically but not her personality.... I've got some things physically which [aren't her]. I've [had] some teeth [made] that look like sharks. I've got some things physically which [aren't her]. I've [had] some teeth [made] that look like sharks'. I had the glasses, the suit, but then I put these teeth in, and it made me move my mouth in a certain way. And I filed my nails square. Women in L.A. have these square white nails, reeeelly square...." When it came to Sydney's personality, Ullman found inspiration from an agent she had in Los Angeles named Holly, "who was insane." Always wanting to find some redeeming quality in all her characters, she was found herself stuck at first when it came Sydney. "[I]t seemed she had no redeeming features: she horrid, cold, impersonal." But then she found a "humanizing trait": loneliness. "She's so aggressive, and so ugly! She's got adult acne, and her teeth are terrible! [...] She became sort of appealing to me. All of my characters have a sadness or inadequacy about them." Her Royal Highness is a conglomeration of Queen Elizabeth's voice, Princess Margaret's lifestyle, the Dutchess of Kent's hats, and Princess Anne's teeth. Ullman sent a copy of the show's Royalty episode to Princess Diana feeling that she could use a laugh, and Diana, through her lady-in-waiting, expressed that she had enjoyed it. The show's Asian doughnut shop owner, Mrs. Noh Nang Ning was modeled after a real-life doughnut shop owner Ullman met while writing the show's first season in Los Angeles. The character was the show's only encounter with controversy. An Asian American watchdog group protested the show, calling the character stereotypical and racist, and asked HBO to remove the character. HBO defended Ullman stating, "Tracey Ullman is