Is the selection of movie roles better during your hiatus?
It's always tricky to plan that because it's such a specific period of time. There are always things that, had I been available, would have been amazing opportunities. That's frustrating. As long as I keep building a film career… You know, I've been the lead in a TV show but never the lead in a movie. That's a different process and I'm not there yet. As long as I can keep working with different people and working my way up, then it's really satisfying for me.
Sometimes, I think from "Bad Santa," all the stuff I'm reading, I'm on top of some guy. It's gratifying because I didn't used to get seen that way before. But once they see you play a 'ho, then, man, you're in the like, “Let's get her to play that sleazy role.” But it's fun. The parts for women, you're either like the quietly suffering wife or you're the wild girl. As long as I can do a bit of both, I guess.
Do you do a feature every break?
Yeah.
How do you choose projects?
I'd been trying to work with Adam Shankman and he offered this to me. I knew I'd have a great time and it fit… Sometimes you lose something, there was something I really wanted to do last year, it started a month before the show ended. They tried to work it out. Yeah, it's a crazy schedule.
So you didn't shift your schedule for this movie?
You don't shift [a schedule] around me. God no. We were in Canada, which was fun. It was where we shot the pilot for “The Gilmore Girls” too. Toronto's like my second home.
How many seasons have you been on and are you signed for a certain number?
Five, and we're signed for seven. It looks like we're coming back for next year. We're having a nice ratings year, which is mainly what they care about. The show is in a fun place. There's some good conflict and good stuff to play. I could see it one more year and I don't know the year after that.
It's changed my life - that schedule. It's not a complaint, the reality of that work is that I miss a balanced life. I don't know that it would go beyond seven [years]. You want the story to end when it's supposed to and not be squeezed for somebody's financial gain, neither mine nor the studio. Seven could be the perfect time. [Rory] could graduate from college and I'm sure there will be some double wedding, or something like that.
Do young mothers come up to you asking for advice?
Not so much advice, but I do get a lot of single parents who say it's been a bonding experience for them to be able to watch the show, which is a wish-fulfillment of the best possible scenario, being a single parent. It was just me and my dad for a long time. It was much harder. That's TV, so it makes life a little better. The nicest compliment is when people say we watch it over the phone or we get together [to watch it]. It's been a generational kind of bonding experience. So that's nice.
Would you ever do another series?
I wouldn't do these hours again. I wouldn't do a one-hour series again unless it was an ensemble or something. When you've had a part like this and been the lead in a show, what do you want to do? I'd maybe do a half-hour. I started doing half-hour comedy. Immediately, I'd take a year and try to make it a film year and pay my mortgage. I love television. What are the chances of having two long-running shows in your life? I don't know. But I'll try and find out.
