411mania Interview: Jenna Elfman

Posted by Al Norton on 11.16.2009

411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive interview with Golden Globe winning actress Jenna Elfman about her new CBS comedy, Accidentally on Purpose.



Jenna Elfman is best known as Dharma in the ABC hit comedy series Dharma and Greg, a role that brought her three Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe Award win during the show's five season run. She has also starred in movies like Keeping the Faith, EDtv, and had notable guest spots on Two and a Half Men and My Name Is Earl. She currently stars in Accidentally on Purpose, playing Billie, a film critic who becomes pregnant after a one night stand with a much younger man.

Al Norton: So how pregnant are you right now?

Jenna Elfman: I'm five months.

Al Norton: Congratulations.

Jenna Elfman: Thank you.

Al Norton: Did you find out what you were having before hand with your first child?

Jenna Elfman: We did find out. I like finding out. It helps me mentally prepare for the future, what the dynamic is.

Al Norton: When you were making the decision to take the show were you also actively trying to get pregnant, and if so, did that play a role in you taking the part?

Jenna Elfman: No. I was actively, actively trying to find a show I felt great about and that I loved. That was solely my operating mode at that time. Once it got picked up for the fall season and I realized that my character was going to be pregnant the entire first season I thought, "now would be a good time."

Al Norton: Is it easier to get into Billie's head being pregnant yourself?

Jenna Elfman: Well, other than the pilot, it's not like I have played her not being pregnant myself, so I only really have one experience to reference. I do think it's definitely one, all encompassing, organic experience, being pregnant playing a pregnant person.

Al Norton: Where in development was the show when you joined on?

Jenna Elfman: The script had been written and they were about to start casting.


Al Norton: How much of a role did you play in the other casting? Specifically, when Jon Foster came in did you know you had found your Zach?

Jenna Elfman: It was a long casting process and I was involved in it. I don't remember the first time Jon came in but I remember when he went to network and there was something very unexpectedly confident coming off of him, being such a young guy playing opposite me. One thing we found with a lot of the guys is that they were almost intimidated and they would go second banana to me. He did not have that and we thought that was very nice and unexpected.

Al Norton: You've got a very funny supporting cast on the show. In particular, is Lennon as adorable in real life as she comes across on screen?

Jenna Elfman: Yes. She's a little more soft spoken – she's from Georgia – and she's got a very, very straight head on her shoulders. Very smart, very present, and doesn't miss a thing. She's also a writer and an improv artist; she does a lot with the Upright Citizens Brigade. She's not as wacky and zany as her character by any stretch of the imagination but she is quite lovely and charming.

Al Norton: You guys have quite a bit of risqué, or even raunchy humor on the show.

Jenna Elfman: Yes, for sure (laughing).

Al Norton: I assume that is part of what drew you in?

Jenna Elfman: Yes. I thought it was great. It was there in the pilot and has kept growing. It's a side of Claudia (Lonow, the show's creator), who is a very sweet, lovely, charming woman who can also be a raunchy broad as well, and it's hilarious. She has a very colorful past, is very down to earth, and is not embarrassed about anything, and I think that comes out in the writing.

What makes is so much fun is that I think we also have a lot of sweetness in the show between Zach and I so I think it's fun to also bring out some raunchiness, some edginess. I am not the most modest person in the world either. You know how there's ladies and then there's broads? Me and Claudia are both broads.

Al Norton: Other than the occasional trying to rush the delivery along episode, TV has not really dealt much with a pregnant woman's sexuality, so you guys are kind of creating a new path with this.

Jenna Elfman: Great. I'm glad to hear that.

Al Norton: Is Billie going to take the next step and be a sexually active pregnant woman?

Jenna Elfman: Yes. It happens in a very fun and unexpected way, and it's kind of a cliff hanger. The last episode before we going into holiday reruns is a cliff hanger and is a lot of fun and gives us a lot to come back to in the new year.



Al Norton: You're still pretty early in the show but I would think the balance you are trying to find is not getting Billie and Zach together too soon but at the same time not insulting the audience's intelligence by trying to make them thing that that's not where the show is going.

Jenna Elfman: Right, there is a delicate balance between torturing people with their chemistry and rushing into a commitment thing where the show takes a different turn. You can't ignore that there is chemistry, that there is an attraction. Because having a baby together is so intimate and so personal – and it's not like they weren't hot for each other to begin with – I think that there is real potential for them to move in and out of that aspect of that relationship. They're living together, they're attracted to each other, and they're having a baby together, so it's natural for them to get a little confused and explore here and there.

Al Norton: You've been doing this for a few years now, so how do you learn not to over – or under – react to the initial notices that a show gets?

Jenna Elfman: That's a great question. I think you appreciate good response but for me the ratings are everything. That's the pudding. Mentions help in a good way and are a great way to bring attention. My main focus is doing a great show as much as I can and promoting it as much as can. The media feedback is one thing; the audience tuning in is another. My main intention is for people to watch. You take what the media says with a grain of salt. It's kind of like family members; everyone is going to have an opinion.

Al Norton: A belated congratulations to getting the five more episodes picked up.

Jenna Elfman: Yes, absolutely. They would have probably picked up 9 but they have been making Rules of Engagement and need to get it on the air. We got a little bit of a shorter season because they have to get Rules out there; they have 18 episodes of that show paid for and shot so they need to air it.

Al Norton: I would be surprised if I were the first person you talked to this week, or even today, who told you how much they loved Keeping The Faith.

Jenna Elfman: Thank you so much. I loved doing that movie. I want to do more movies like that.

Al Norton: Assuming Dharma and Greg is the top thing, what are the other roles people approach you about?

Jenna Elfman: It kind of goes Dharma & Greg, Keeping the Faith, EDtv, my Two and a Half Men episode, and then the My Name Is Earl episode.

Al Norton: Not to kiss up but EDtv is really underrated movie.

Jenna Elfman: Me, too. I think it just came out on the heels of Truman Show. It was a completely different movie but how it was marketed I think people didn't get enough differentiation between the two. Also, reality television was as saturated then as it is now, so it wasn't as heavily in the cultural zeitgeist with people. It was a little ahead of its time.



Al Norton: For people who haven't watched Accidentally on Purpose, what are some things you think might surprise them about the show?

Jenna Elfman: I think it's a bit edgy and raunchy at times and I think that might be a bit surprising to some people. I think it's funny in that way and I think that helps offset the genuinely warm and joyful moments. The show has a lot of joy and there is also this other factor and I think they balance each other and give each other color in the show.

Don't miss Accidentally on Purpose, Mondays at 8:30 pm on CBS