After traveling the world with her movie career Selma Blair decided to lay down some roots and return to television. We caught up with the starlet to talk about her new comedy Kath and Kim set to premiere on NBC this fall.
Hollywood.com: Kath and Kim is an adaptation of an Australian comedy. What can you tell us about the show?
SB: I play Kim. I play the daughter. Molly Shannon plays the mother. And no, [our ages don't] have to make sense mathematically. The original version, Gina and Jane, they are the same age. It’s like a satire. They’re comedians. It doesn’t have to be accurate. We’re actresses. But, yeah. I play this very self-absorbed – that’s not very difficult – daughter. Who is – you know, obsessed with tabloids and celebrities, and all that stuff. And it takes place in Florida.
HW: How did you get involved in the show?
SB: I know that they were having a lot of trouble finding their Kim. They just couldn’t find a girl that was right. I talked to Michelle Nader who was the producer and writer on the phone, I said “Listen I think it is really a girl that wants to be like Britney Spears and wants to be like this pop star and thinks she is this pop star, but she is too little, too late, too old, just doesn’t get it. We just talked about all these ideas and everything that’s wrong with American culture and just everything she thinks that is right. So I came home and I fought for it.
SB: Yeah. I’m married to a great actor, Mikey Day. And he works at the Best Buy. I’m a trophy wife, I think.
HW: So it’s typecasting, obviously.
SB: Yeah, yeah, yeah [laughs]. I still wear my clothes from when I was 13. I think I’m a really big deal. I’m not. Everything’s too tight on me. You know, I think I’m gorgeous. I’m not.
HW: What’s the tone of the show?
SB: Well, we just shot the pilot. It’s kind of like, shot almost documentary style. It’s kind of shot like The Office, or Arrested Development…it’s funny but a little dry, a little weird.
SB: No, it’s satiric. I mean, it’s like the Australian one. It’s not sitcom-y…it’s not so in your face. But there’s a lot of love. The mother and daughter really love each other. They’re really close. But my character’s a bit demented, I have to say…Very whiny. And very loud. I’m very loud.
HW: What’s it like working with a comedy veteran like Molly Shannon?
SB: She is so kind and warm and such a talented woman. I’m learning a lot from her. I haven’t done a lot of work like this. She’s such a comedian and I’m not that experienced with this type of thing so it is great. It is long hours, there’s a lot to do but I’m getting used to it. She makes it so much easier.
HW: Is comedy something that you feel very comfortable with?
SB: I do. I really love comedy. I‘m not very good with sitcoms. I get really nervous in front of big crowds…I’m always a bit uncensored, and I say the wrong things too often. I’m just gonna get in trouble on a sitcom. Things are gonna end very badly. It’s best I just don’t put myself out there every week in that way. So this was perfect. This show, I had heard about it, and I really fought for it. I really had wanted to do it. They didn’t want me for it. No one thought I was right for it.
SB: They just had a different idea of what Kim was gonna be. I don’t know exactly, but I just don’t think I was anyone’s idea of it. And so I just really fought for it. I thought it was amazing writing. And I think [producer] Ben Silverman picks amazing projects that he brings over. You know, that he adapts. And I really wanted to be part of it. And there’s so few roles that are amazing women character-driven pieces. It’s really difficult to find. And I really wanted in on it. And I really – you know, I just wanted to grab that one. And that was kind of the first time that I really went after something. Because I just don’t usually have that kind of – that drive [laughs] It paid off. I was really happy to get it. I kind of made myself a little sloppier.
HW: Were you looking for something on television? Are you worried about being out of the movie game for nine months a year?
SB: No, I’m okay. I’m okay with it. I was in Budapest shooting Hellboy II, and I kind of thought, “You know, I think I’ve had it with locations for a while.” You know? It was pretty lonely, you know, being away, even though I love everyone on the movie so much. But it’s like, “God. I’d like to kind of lay some roots down in one place for a while.” I’ve been traveling so much, I feel like such a gypsy, and kind of just wanted to get settled. So, I was kind of looking for a TV show.
