By Fred Topel | Image property of NBC
Selma Blair plays Kim, the daughter of the Kath & Kim duo. She is actually only eight years younger than Molly Shannon, who plays her mother, Kath. If critics won't suspend disbelief, Blair has some sarcastic words for them.
"In the original [Australian] show, the two actresses are the same age," said Blair. "Actresses play different people all the time. It's weird. It's this thing called acting, and so you just, like, play different characters that aren't your age or anything. I mean, I think. I don't know. Dakota Fanning was unavailable so they were like, 'Dakota Fanning, Selma Blair, that makes sense, perfect sense.' If you squint your eyes when you're watching it and you don't put it on hi-def, if you're, like, squinting and put some Vaseline on your eyeballs, I look so young."
Getting serious, perhaps Blair's actual age speaks to the philosophical state of Kim. "My character's really in a state of arrested development, which I see all the time. People don't want to grow up, so it's part of the humor that my character could be 20, she could be 30, she could be 40, and she's in her clothes from when she was in seventh grade and thinks that that's hot. We see it all the time, and we see it in the tabloids, people not dressing their ages, mothers of famous people not dressing their ages with their children. My character loves that and looks up to those people, and so it's part of the humor that we're the same age as actresses. Our characters adore these people or at least we are fascinated by them. So it's part of the humor that our ages are confusing, because that's part of this culture. You couldn't tell what age I am. My character could be 40 or she could be 12. You just have no idea. She's demented."
As part of her underage look, Blair will be rockin' some awesome hair. "My hair is not the correct length right now. I actually wore extensions for the pilot and ripped them out when I started to do Hellboy promotions. I'm having this question of whether I'll be wearing a wig or putting extensions in. I think extensions win because you can do more with it. Hopefully they will be done correctly. I think I'll be getting Russian hair instead of the Indonesian one last time. If I get a wig, it will be a three-quarter wig because apparently I have a very low forehead line, which a lot of people comment on all the time. I am apparently from the monkey family. I hear that all the time. People are either rats or monkeys. I'm a monkey. I know. Look at your friends. You're all either a rat or a monkey. It's true."
With a very successful film career going, Blair sought out a television show. "The decision was easy. I was away shooting Hellboy II when I decided to do this show. I wanted to be here and it was great material and there's not that much great material for a girl that's a little past her prime, you know. It was great writing and it was a character. I just really wanted to play someone that was different than me. Now, I find that she's not that different from me, so that's weird."
Kath & Kim premieres October 9 on NBC.
Selma Blair plays Kim, the daughter of the Kath & Kim duo. She is actually only eight years younger than Molly Shannon, who plays her mother, Kath. If critics won't suspend disbelief, Blair has some sarcastic words for them. Selma Blair is Kim
"In the original [Australian] show, the two actresses are the same age," said Blair. "Actresses play different people all the time. It's weird. It's this thing called acting, and so you just, like, play different characters that aren't your age or anything. I mean, I think. I don't know. Dakota Fanning was unavailable so they were like, 'Dakota Fanning, Selma Blair, that makes sense, perfect sense.' If you squint your eyes when you're watching it and you don't put it on hi-def, if you're, like, squinting and put some Vaseline on your eyeballs, I look so young."
Getting serious, perhaps Blair's actual age speaks to the philosophical state of Kim. "My character's really in a state of arrested development, which I see all the time. People don't want to grow up, so it's part of the humor that my character could be 20, she could be 30, she could be 40, and she's in her clothes from when she was in seventh grade and thinks that that's hot. We see it all the time, and we see it in the tabloids, people not dressing their ages, mothers of famous people not dressing their ages with their children. My character loves that and looks up to those people, and so it's part of the humor that we're the same age as actresses. Our characters adore these people or at least we are fascinated by them. So it's part of the humor that our ages are confusing, because that's part of this culture. You couldn't tell what age I am. My character could be 40 or she could be 12. You just have no idea. She's demented."
As part of her underage look, Blair will be rockin' some awesome hair. "My hair is not the correct length right now. I actually wore extensions for the pilot and ripped them out when I started to do Hellboy promotions. I'm having this question of whether I'll be wearing a wig or putting extensions in. I think extensions win because you can do more with it. Hopefully they will be done correctly. I think I'll be getting Russian hair instead of the Indonesian one last time. If I get a wig, it will be a three-quarter wig because apparently I have a very low forehead line, which a lot of people comment on all the time. I am apparently from the monkey family. I hear that all the time. People are either rats or monkeys. I'm a monkey. I know. Look at your friends. You're all either a rat or a monkey. It's true."
With a very successful film career going, Blair sought out a television show. "The decision was easy. I was away shooting Hellboy II when I decided to do this show. I wanted to be here and it was great material and there's not that much great material for a girl that's a little past her prime, you know. It was great writing and it was a character. I just really wanted to play someone that was different than me. Now, I find that she's not that different from me, so that's weird."
Kath & Kim premieres October 9 on NBC.
