Although Debra Messing is best known for her role as
Grace Adler on "Will & Grace," the Emmy
Award-winning actress tells justmommies.com that she
is more like Molly Kagan, the character she is currently
playing on "The Starter Wife."
"I loved playing Grace," Messing says. "I
know that a lot of people are very attached to the character
of Grace, as am I, but right now in my life, I'm more
like Molly because I'm a mother."
"The Starter Wife" began as a USA Network
mini-series based on the eponymous New York Times best-selling
novel by Gigi Levangie Grazier, wife of Hollywood mega
producer Brian Grazier. Its stellar ratings and Emmy
success -- 10 nominations with one win -- led to the
series. It begins where the novel ended and follows
the post-divorce adventures of Molly as she begins life
as a single mother.
In the series, Molly has a daughter. In real life,
Messing is raising her four-year-old son Roman with
husband Daniel Zelman 3000 miles away from the East
Coast upbringing she experienced growing up. The 40-year-old
says she hones her mommy skills by staying keyed into
her lifelong friends from New York and her family.
She also gets help from Zelman, who she met in 1990
on her first day of graduate school. "We have always
been partners, equal partners in doing the parenting,"
she says. "We're doing the best we can."
It also helps that Messing is a homebody. She points
out, "I'm pretty solitary. I don't get out much
to get into trouble."
That isn't to say that Messing isn't aware of what's
going on in Hollywood. It's just that she is the opposite
of Molly, who constantly finds herself in hot water,
which, of course, makes for great comedy. In fact, some
of the funniest moments in "The Starter Wife"
come from shining a light on the more extreme aspects
of Hollywood culture, such as when Molly's ex (David
Alan Basche) gifts the couple's seven-year-old daughter
Jaden (Brielle Barbusca) with a BlackBerry.
"That is a very real thing seven-year-olds asking
for BlackBerrys and cell phones," Messing says.
"That's one of the things I love most about the
show is the social satire -- making fun of the excessiveness
and priorities that make it difficult to have a grounded,
normal life because there's nothing really normal about
Hollywood."
As for Roman, he is young enough to not be affected
by the fact that his mother is a star. In fact, at this
point, he only knows that she tells stories.
"I think he thinks that everybody is an actor
on television or is connected to television in one way
or the other because my husband writes for television
["Damages"]. So, you know, we talk about that.
My son comes to the set almost daily because it's too
painful for me to be away from him. And he loves it.
He plays ball with David. He knows everybody's name
on the set. He knows exactly where the crafts service
table is."
But "The Starter Wife" is more than just
satire. One of the reasons it performed so well in the
ratings is the subject matter is relatable and universal.
"That's an important goal of ours," Messing
adds. "You know, unfortunately, divorce happens
in Kansas as much as it does in Hollywood [with the
result that] women have to start over at 40 and, for
the first time in their life, have to find a career,
date and be a single parent."
She continues: "With the economy the way it is
right now, most mothers in America are working mothers.
It's just a fact. And so I'm exactly like every other
mother who is struggling with that balance of wanting
to be a full-time mom and wanting to be able to do the
work that you love and you also need to do."
That said Messing is luckier than others. In addition
to being able to bring Roman to work with her, one of
the appeals of "The Starter Wife" is the fact
that unlike network series, which produce 22 episodes
each season, it is only 10 episodes long.
"It was a very big part of my decision making
to step into another series," she says. "You
have to think about what your life will be over the
next few years under the best-case scenario. And 10
episodes that seemed like in my head I could say, 'Okay.
That's really like doing one major feature film,' and
I could wrap my mind around that. And if I choose to,
I can take the rest of the year off and just be at home."
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