SELMA BLAIR

Coming Off the Success of Hellboy II , Selma Blair Returns to TV

HOUGH SHE INITIALLY BROKE through via teen-friendly films such as Cruel Intentions and Down To You, Selma Blair actually had a major TV role on Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane before she ever became a major movie star. Still, with scene-stealing turns in movies like Storytelling, Legally Blonde and director Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy series, it’s a bit surprising to see the 36-year-old actress returning to prime time for a role opposite Molly Shannon on Kath and Kim. An adaptation of a hit Australian sitcom from producer Ben Silverman (The Office), the show follows the title characters’ dysfunctional mother-daugh ter relationship, and landed a plum slot on NBC’s Thursday night lineup. Blair recently spoke with reporters in Beverly Hills, covering topics ranging from her childhood aspirations to why she had to fight to get back on prime time TV. T BY B. LOVE

When you were growing up in Michigan, did you dream of one day becoming an actress?

No, I wanted to be a ballerina, a horse trainer, and then I wanted to be a photographer. I just never thought it was feasible for a girl from Michigan to ever make it to the stage or screen and tell a story. I always thought that this was the dream job for someone to have, and eventually I just wanted to be transported into a role like Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner’s Daughter. After graduating from college in 1995, my mother helped me pack my suitcase and I moved up to New York about a week later, not knowing if it would be photography that hit or acting. I knew I was going to study acting in New York and try to get a book together for photography and assist somebody, so that’s what I did.

How did you approach playing your character differently in The Golden Army than you did in the first Hellboy?

I knew that when we left Hellboy I, Liz obviously had taken some control of her power. I mean, after all, she saved the day at the end of Hellboy I, and did embrace Red at the end of that movie. So there was only one way to go, which was to move forward, leave her sad sack of a life behind her and become a more functioning, stable woman. So it was interesting to play her differently, because I kept wanting to play her as the Liz I knew. It was difficult for me to play her as a more stable girl, because the Liz I thought I knew was really so much more hesitant and afraid. But it was great to play her as a more engaged woman in life.

Guillermo del Toro has emerged as one of Hollywood’s greatest auteur directors. What’s he like to work with?

The thing about Guillermo that’s so wonderful is that these are real monsters that were created. Everything in the troll market was really there, so you don’t have to deal with very much CGI . The Golden Army was the main CGI thing, so that was the only thing that wasn’t really there. And thank God, because once you create the Golden Army, you’re doomed.

Would you be interested in the prospect of a Hellboy III? Guillermo will be very busy with The Hob

We’re actually adapting it to a US version. I play Kim the daughter and Molly Shannon plays the mother, and no, it doesn’t have to make sense mathematically. In the original version, [the actresses were] the same age. It’s like a satire– they’re comedians, and it doesn’t have to be accurate.

What is your character like?

I play this very self-absorbed daughter who is obsessed with tabloids and celebrities, and it takes place in Florida. I’m married to a great actor, Mikey Day, who works at the Best Buy. I think I’m a trophy wife and I still wear my clothes from when I was 13. I think I’m a really big deal, which I’m not. Everything

I WANTED TO BE A BALLERINA, A HORSE TRAINER, AND THEN I WANTED TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER. I JUST NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS FEASIBLE FOR A GIRL FROM MICHIGAN

TO EVER MAKE IT TO THE STAGE OR

SCREEN AND TELL A STORY.

bit, but Hellboy II does set up Hellboy III as a very, very sad piece of material.

Is it difficult, after working with someone like Guiillermo, to work with lesser talented directors?

Guillermo spoils you so much, so everything is going to seem pretty mundane after you walk off a Guillermo Del Toro set. I mean, how do you then go to sitting in a liv ing room, reciting regular lines, after you’ve been on the set of The Golden Army? is too tight on me, and I think I’m gorgeous when I’m not. So it’s similar to the Australian one, but definitely [set in] middle class America.

How would you describe the comedic tone of the show?

It’s almost done documentary style, shot kind of like The Office or Arrested Development. But it’s funny and strange, and I think it’ll take a couple episodes for people to catch onto it. I don’t know if you’re going to get it the first episode, because it’s a little dry and a little weird. It’s not sitcom-y, which is why I think it might take a minute for people to get it. It’s not so in your face, but there’s a lot of love. The mother and daughter really love each other, and they’re really close. But my character’s a bit demented, I have to say, not to mention very whiny, very loud and based on two people that I know very well.

What convinced you to return to TV now, when your film career seems to be going strong?

I was in Budapest shooting Hellboy II and I thought, I think I’ve had it with locations for a while. It was pretty lonely being away, even though I loved everyone on the movie so much. It’s like, God, I’d like to 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.

Are you comfortable doing comedy?

I really love comedy, though ironically I’m not very good with sit coms because 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 going to get in trouble on a sitcom. Things are going to end very badly, so it’s best I just don’t put myself out there every week in that way. Which means this [project] was perfect. I had heard about it and I really fought for it, even though they didn’t want me for it and no one thought I was right for it.

Why didn’t they think you were right for it?

The producers had a different idea of what Kim was going to be. I don’t know what exactly, but I just don’t think I was anyone’s idea of it. I thought it was amazing writing, and I think Ben Silverman picks amazing projects that he adapts. There are so few female roles that are amazing characterdriven pieces, I just wanted to grab that one. This was the first time that I really went after something, because I just don’t usually have that kind of drive. ( Laughs) But it paid off. I was really happy to get it. I made myself a little sloppier, because it was important that Kim thinks that she’s such a big deal, when she’s really not.

Is it true you had top put on weight for the role?

I don’t want to make this a weight issue thing, but it was an issue that a lot of people had. “ Oh god, Selma can’t play this because she’s a skinny Hollywood girl and it’s so important that Kim doesn’t have those qualities, because middle America’s not like that.” So we just played it a little more middle of the road. But now I’m back at the gym, and the weight’s still not coming off! ( Laughs)