Bonnie Bedelia – Parenthood

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I did a couple of small projects. We’re also wrapping up the fifth season of “Parenthood.” We’re looking forward to a sixth season!

Q) What can you tease is to come on “Parenthood?”

A) Of course, the big discussion is on the table is whether or not to sell our home. That is something that Camille feels very comfortable doing and that Zeke (Craig T. Nelson) is not at all comfortable doing. The idea is that they don’t owe any money on the house and Camille grew up in the house. They inherited now and it is worth quite a bit of money now. The idea is that we sell it and have a whole bunch of money that we can use to travel around the world and go to places she has never been and experience things she never had the opportunity to experience. In one episode recently, Camille says to Zeke, “I have never been out of the country. I was having babies when I was still a baby myself. I’ve never seen or done anything other than this and I would love to see the world.” And Zeke says, “I’ve seen the rest of the world and I didn’t care for it.” Zeke obviously wants to stay put and Camille asserts herself this year. She says her art class is going to Italy and I am just going to go. She does and I think it kind of knocks the wind out of Zeke a little bit because he’s much more dependent on her than he thought he was. So, now as we’re shooting we are showing the house to perspective buyers. Zeke has almost agreed and at least for now is going along with the idea.

Q) Have you perceived a difference in how fans see you this season considering Camille’s new attitude?

A) I have a lot of women my own age, older and younger coming up to me at the market or nursery and saying they are going through the same thing in their life or they have a very good friend going through the same thing. They understand and are supportive. They say, “Keep up the good work. You’re right!” Because Camille really did the lion’s share of raising the family. All you have to do is be acquainted with Zeke to know that she did most of it. There is an almost fifteen year age difference between her first child and when her final child was born, which means she was a mom at home for a very long time. So, she kind of deserves this and I love that she is asserting herself. I was worried about her as a character because she seems to do everything just to hold the family together and not make waves, be accepting and offer advice when she was asked for it. Now, she is saying, “No. It’s me time. I want a little of this before I go.” So, I’m proud of her.

Q) There is such a great chemistry amongst the cast. How do you continue to maintain that?

A) I think part of it is kind of funny to say out loud, but it’s because we don’t work together every single day for the five years we’ve been on the air. We have a very large cast. There are fifteen regular members of the Braverman family, counting the youngest children. Because of that and because everyone has their own storyline, everyone works maybe two days a week. They come in, do their scenes and go home. And you work with different people. I work with Craig a lot this year and last year it would be a different daughter or son who I had scene with. So, nobody is getting sick of anybody. That’s the big thing. We all kind of meet at the Braverman house for weddings, Christmas, baptisms and any big event. It happens at the house and everyone is involved or it happens at the hospital – like last season. We come together as a family very rarely and the rest of the time we see each other at different times. Sometimes weeks go by and I haven’t seen Dax [Shepard] or Peter [Krause]. Then, you say, “Hi, how are you?” Because they are at the Luncheonette or I’m at home with Zeke trying to sell the house. I think that is one of the reasons. No one is together enough to get on each other’s nerves.

Q) Was there anything about Camille that you added to the role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I am a painter in real life. I’ve been trained as a portrait painter and I work in oils. I’ve pretty much spent most of my life more blessed twenty years after my kids were more on their own. They made Camille a painter when they found that out, which is good because it shows that she does long for something more and she is interested in the world more than just doing laundry and taking kids to baseball and soccer practice. Other than that, I think anything else I brought to her is just from my own experience being a mom. I had a very different life than she had. I was a child actor in New York and did six plays on Broadway before I was eighteen years old. So, I kind of grew up in the theater and did a lot of television in New York. I came out to Los Angeles when I was still in my teens to do Shakespeare and theatre work out there. I got pulled into the movie world and started traveling to make movies all over the world like Italy and Spain. I’ve seen a lot of the world and I’ve had a big rich full life and I’ve had children and a career and a marriage. I’ve kind of, in a way, had it all (even though it was not without its difficulties). Camille hasn’t! She got pregnant with Adam when she was eighteen years old. She’s had children her whole adult life and that was kind of her focus. And she got a lot of fulfillment out of it, much more than I would have had. I had other things in my life that I needed, like a career. I just wanted a big life and now she wants one. Good for her!

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from this season on “Parenthood?”

A) I just love working with Craig. This is the third time I’ve been married to him on film. We did a movie in 1985 where he played Frank Deford who had a little girl that had cystic fibrosis. It was kind of a biography film that we did and I played his wife. Then, about ten years later, we did a miniseries together called “The Fire Next Time” that was about the end of the world. We were in sixteen cities together because we shot it all over the United States. So, I know Craig really well. Now, we’re five seasons into this. The best part of this job for me is working with him and I feel almost like we have a shorthand and the reason that you believe in that marriage is because we do know each other so well. We are so completely comfortable as husband and wife in a fake way.

Q) What do you think it is about “Parenthood” that continues to make it a fan favorite show?

A) I think because the spectrum is so broad. You have Zeke and Camille and the stage of life that they are in, going into their “Act 3” as Camille refers to it. They have those people who are that age or moving towards that page who have the whole middle section of their forties or thirties who are going through things like illness, cancer, divorce, drug addiction and those kind of things. Then, you have the younger ones who are still trying to figure out who they are in the Amber and Drew age. We have a lot of young people who just love those storylines. The triangle love thing in college with Drew and Amber’s relationship with Ryan, who is a soldier. Then, there are the middle range people with young kids who are dealing with things like adoption and potential divorce. And there is so much going on for all different ages across the board. There is something for lots of different people at different stages of their life that they relate to.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Keep watching! Write, go online and say how much you love “Parenthood.” Go on http://www.NBC.com and spread the word. I think we’re going to be back next year, but it always helps to have fans say, “Yes! Yes! Yes!