TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews

Jennifer Westfeldt Is Going for the 'Belly' Laughs

'Jessica Stein' Star Tackles Parenthood in ABC's New Comedy 'Notes From the Underbelly'

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April 16 -- They say pregnancy is one of life's greatest adventures, and Jennifer Westfeldt is up for the challenge ... sort of.

On ABC's new comedy, 'Notes from the Underbelly,' she plays a soon-to-be mom who's trying to keep it a secret from her meddling friends.

Westfeldt, who is best known for writing and starring in the independent romantic comedy 'Kissing Jessica Stein,' talked to AOL editor Geoff Bennett about the politics of pregnancy, the benefits of being 'Jessica Stein' and the insanity of pricey pre-school tuitions.

Why do you think the business of pregnancy is so intrusive? A woman says she's pregnant, and all of a sudden people offer up advice and want to rub her belly.
Right. I don't have kids, but a bunch of my friends have had babies in the past year or two, so I've been getting a birds-eye view. I just think the whole pregnancy thing has turned into such a cottage industry. I feel like when I was a kid, it was so laid back. It's just changed so much. Every aspect of the experience seems to have been taken over by an industry of experts. That leads to unbelievable pressure. The age of information leads people to go a little bit mad.

And parenthood can be so competitive. Especially here in New York -- once the kid is born, the next question is what pre-school will he attend?
I know! I have friends who instantly had to get a house in a good school district, otherwise you're spending $20,000 for your three-year-old to go to pre-school, you know what I mean? (Laughs) You've got to be a bajillionaire to be able to afford to have a kid today.

The premise of your show focuses on the pregnancy, but the baby has to be born eventually, right? What happens then?
Only if we get picked up! (Laughs) If we don't go to next season, I guess I'll never have that kid! We were a midseason replacement, so we only did 13 episodes, and we ended with me seven months pregnant.

Well, it seems like ABC thinks the show has some promise. They've scheduled it away from 'American Idol.'
I know they are excited about it. Just dodging the 'Idol' bullet is very helpful. 'American Idol' will crush everything in its path. (Laughs)

Your co-star Peter Cambor is new to television. Did you have to show him the ropes?
It was actually really fun. He comes from theater, and so do I, so I felt like there was a lot in common. I think on the pilot he was nervous because it was all new to him. He actually got a case of shingles pretty bad, which was so stressful. I felt so bad for him. One day, he had called me over the weekend because he was new to town and was like, "Do you know a dermatologist?" He had a ginormous situation growing on his forehead. And the worst part of it was that I had never had the chicken pox, so the pilot turned into this disastrous thing. And if I had gotten it ... you can die from it as a grown-up. Everybody was using Purell, and I was getting blood tests in the trailer. It was unbelievable. That poor guy.

You mentioned you got your start in theater. What do you miss about the stage?
I feel like there are such opposite ways of working. There is nothing better than the thrill of live performance when it goes great and the audience is jazzed. That electric energy and immediate gratification is as good as it gets, in a way. But the reality of doing eight shows a week for an entire year is so brutal. It's like an Olympic sport. Shooting a TV show can be tedious hours, but you can spend a lot of time getting it right, and it exists for all time. I hope to always get to do both.

How pivotal was 'Kissing Jessica Stein' to furthering your career?
It gave me a calling card. I think it made more people aware of me, certainly in terms of having a fan base. But it actually hasn't changed my career that much. I was doing TV and theater before that. I think more than anything it gave me a certain level of recognition and respect. When people hire me just as an actor, because I've written as well, there's perhaps some level of being interested in what I think about the script.

And what interested you about the script for 'Notes from the Underbelly'?
What I'm interested in the most about this show is that for most people the myth out there is: "Oh, when you are pregnant you glow, and you've never been more beautiful or been more connected to the world." And I like that this is a more honest version of the story, at least among my friends who have been pregnant recently. They are like, "Ugh! It's really hard and you're exhausted and your feel swell and you feel fat and your skin is weird." I guess it's just not PC to talk about how difficult it is. I think it's kind of brave and cool to put it out there in a comedic way that's identifiable.

And I'm assuming you had to wear a fake belly while shooting, right? How'd you manage?
I call it a fat suit. But yeah, the bump, it was a new one every week. It was pretty weird just to look down and walk around with it. My poor costume designers. I would go in for a fitting each week as I was getting bigger in the show, and I would just get depressed. I was like, "Everything makes me look pregnant!" My boyfriend came by a couple times, and he was like "You look adorable," and I was like "Shut up. No I don't." It was definitely weird being in the pregnant outfit 15 hours a day.