411 Movies Interview: Mayim Bialik of Blossom

Posted by Tony Farinella on 01.28.2009

411's Tony Farinella sits down with Blossom (Mayim Bialik) for an exclusive interview about the DVD release of Blossom!

Blossom is finally out on DVD after being off the air for over a decade. Since I got to interview Six last week, it was only fitting that I also interviewed Blossom, the star of the hit NBC show. In my interview with Mayim, we talked about the DVD release of Blossom, her career, Larry David, parenthood, and a whole lot more. I hope you enjoy my interview with Mayim Bialik.



TONY: What goes through your head when you watch Blossom today?

Mayim Bialik: (laughs) I think for anyone who was once fourteen to have to see yourself on television at fourteen is a little sad, because it's a very self-conscious time of life and it's a hard time to have to see yourself performing much less existing. So it's a mix.

TONY: What was it like meeting up with everyone again for this DVD release? Jenna said everyone was like a familiar stranger because so much has changed in the past fifteen years.

Mayim Bialik: It's great. I think that's one of the cool things about the DVD is you kind of get to see a reunion, especially with me, Joey, and Jenna, because our lives have been very different. We haven't been interacting like we had been, so I think that's a really special thing. Jenna and Joey especially, I think they've grown up really well. Obviously, Joey is still in the industry and Jenna is singing. Again, I think that's one of the really fun things about the DVD.

TONY: When you were working on Blossom, did you understand the impact that it was having on television?

Mayim Bialik: I think people always reacted very positively, especially young girls. That was something that even before we were getting the ratings that NBC wanted us to get, I think that was very clear that there were people that were really responding to it well.

TONY: Blossom also featured a number of very prominent guest stars in the first couple of seasons. Who do you remember working with?

Mayim Bialik: Working with Little Richard was really special. Obviously, having Phylicia Rashad in our first episode was really cool. She was everybody's mom, she was America's mom, so to have her on our show was really, really cool. We had Sonny Bono. We had Alf on our show, which I know sounds kind of funny because it sounds like so long ago. But I was really excited to have Alf on the show.

TONY: You also had the late, great Estelle Getty on the show. What do you remember about working with her?

Mayim Bialik: Golden Girls had the same company that produced our show. She was actually much younger in person than the character that she portrayed on Golden Girls, so it was actually kind of funny to see her putting on a white wig because her hair was not white at that point. She was great. Again, to have our show get to represent icons of other shows is really special.

TONY: If Blossom aired in 2009, how do you think audiences would respond to it?

Mayim Bialik: It's kind of dated in terms of who we had on and what we were doing. But I think in terms of trying to show a female character, it not may be as novel that there was a show with a girl as the lead character, but I think the issues that we were dealing with would still be relevant today.



TONY: What aspects of your character were similar to you and what aspects of your character did you really have to work on?

Mayim Bialik: Anytime you have a character on a television show, she had to be much more animated and fun than I was in real life, because we were constantly having her as a comedy character. But I think the thing that spoke to me most about the character, which, as I mentioned, I think spoke to a lot of teenage girls, was that she wasn't a nerd and she wasn't a bimbo. She was somewhere in between all of the personality features that you want to be when you're a teenage girl. You want to be popular but you also want to do well. You want to be respected for your brain but you also like cute guys. It was a combination. And I'd say that was a lot what I was like too.

TONY: What has it been like finding work after Blossom? Even though it's great to be recognized from a hit show, you also want to show people that you can do other things.

Mayim Bialik: I think also the industry was very different when Blossom ended in 1994. To be on a sitcom was not a very popular way to get into other acting venues. These days, you need to be on a sitcom in order to get other work. So the industry was very different. And I was raised with a very strong ethic to go to college, so I went to college after Blossom, which was my solution to dealing with being typecast or whatever. The fact is I don't look strikingly different from how I did then. Joey shaving his head and all that stuff; we don't look that different unless we do stuff that really makes us look different. I've found some success on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Fat Actress, shows that capitalize on my unusualness, which I think is the way to go for me.

TONY: What's it like watching your performance today? Do you nitpick a lot of different things in your performance?

Mayim Bialik: I don't watch it is my solution. I watched maybe the first couple of seasons when we were filming them, but I really stopped watching the show every Monday night when we were filming it for the last several seasons. I also don't like watching myself or hearing my voice. I just think my voice sounds funny. I'm just that kind of person. I don't like hearing myself on answering machines, either. So, yeah, it was disruptive when I would realize where edits were and it disrupts the rhythm in your head of the script that you had memorized when you see that they've cut stuff out for time. So my solution was just not to watch it.

TONY: What do you remember about dealing with the fans back then? Jenna was telling me how it was nice to actually receive a hand-written letter.

Mayim Bialik: Look, there was a lot of pressure and media on us then, but it was nothing like it is now. As with any kind of popular show, we had security concerns, so mail was screened and things like that in my case. So I didn't get to read a lot of fan mail that was coming in. But I think even just from interacting with people as I went out and about really gave me a very good feel for how people felt about us and it's nice to look back and know that that was OK and it was safe. Now, a lot of celebrities wouldn't be doing that.

TONY: How do you think you would deal with today's 24-7 news cycle if Blossom was still on television?

Mayim Bialik: I didn't handle it terribly well back then. I was not as social at all as Jenna was or Joey was. So it was always kind of a challenge for me. Jenna and Joey, I think, did more publicity than me in general. Not because I was snotty, which is how it might have been perceived? I just wasn't very comfortable being a celebrity. I just didn't know how to act. So I can't imagine what it would be like to have so much more attention than even there was then.

TONY: I want to drop a couple of names your way and I want you to tell me what you remember about working with them. First of all, Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Mayim Bialik: I got the opportunity to work with Woody Allen when I was nineteen, and Larry David reminded me a lot of Woody's personality. He's very focused when filming and very, very sharp. His mind is working a million miles an hour. Then, when we're not filming, he's a quiet, normal person. So it was refreshing and nice. And that show, to me, is like a museum of excellent comedy. Even when people aren't working, there's a lot going on in terms of dynamics and people joking around and stuff.



TONY: Here's a name from the past: John Heard. What do you remember about working with him on Beaches?

Mayim Bialik: I didn't get to have any scenes with him, but I was a big fan of his from other stuff. But I didn't get to have any scenes with him and I don't remember if I saw him at the wrap party or the premiere or anything.

TONY: You mentioned earlier in this interview that you went to college after Blossom ended. What was it like being a student and getting away from everything?

Mayim Bialik: It was very different. I was constantly reminded by people shouting across the quad at me. So I didn't really get to forget it. But I just focused on academics. I really just studied and went home. It was a very different kind of life, but that's also what I was after. So I just took it as it came.

TONY: Now, let's talk a little bit about Bill Bixby. What do you remember about his passion and love for directing?

Mayim Bialik: He was great. He was the kind of person that was just happy to be alive. I don't say that lightly. A lot of people get out of bed and get through the day and are sort of overwhelmed by everything. But Bill was not. He was really one of those super positive people, even really until the end. It was very difficult, especially for me, Joey, and Jenna, because we were kids. We didn't have a tremendous amount of experience with cancer or people being that sick. Also, if you think about it, cancer was not talked about or dealt with in the same way even that it is now. So it was new to us and very difficult. But Don Rio, who was friends with Bill, always said it was really a blessing to be a part of his life at that stage where we can really give him happiness and purpose for him.

TONY: What do you remember about working with Zane Buzby?

Mayim Bialik: She was great. It was really special to have a female director, because that was one of the special things about our show was that it was a show based around the female experience. She was terrific. She worked a lot with me and Jenna, and it was great to have a female director. She was fun. She really enjoyed what she did and we enjoyed it with her.

TONY: Did it also help that she was an actress?

Mayim Bialik: Sure. It's very clear when someone is an actor's director, and Zane, for sure, was that.

TONY: Now that you have a family, what kind of perspective do you have on your career and what you want?

Mayim Bialik: I feel like a lot of people could probably write this answer for me. You get a lot of perspective when you're doing other things at six in the morning other than sleeping. It's been very, very humbling. It's a very different kind of job, a different kind of pay, and different kind of training. But, honestly, for those of us that happen to really, really like being parents, it is the best job I ever had. This absolutely fulfills what I feel my purpose is in life, which is to create a generation of sensitive, wonderful people. And at least I'll do it with two of them and see how I do.

TONY: Finally, what are your plans for the future and what are you currently working on?

Mayim Bialik: I have a five-month-old, so I'm mainly working on growing him. But I just started going in to audition for stuff, which is exciting. But, yeah, I'm getting on my feet after the baby. We'll see. I'm not terribly picky, meaning I'm happy to do television, I'm happy to do film, and I'm happy to do whatever. I auditioned for something that was kind of a rough role on a drama show and they said I had too much inner happiness. So you might see me in comedy again, which is fun. I'm just getting back into that world and balancing everything.