Necar Zadegan – Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) Where do we pick up with Season 2 of “Girlfriend’s Guide To Divorce?”

A) The second season is very exciting for Delia. We kind of pick up exactly where we left off. That’s the cool thing about the show, we pick up where we left off and Delia is planning a wedding all season. She was proposed to last season so we pick up from there with her planning a wedding all season. This was a character who thought she had it all figured it out and now she is confronted with the idea of marriage. She has to deal with it head on, which is a courageous move for her. We watch as she goes through it and how all kinds of things from her past that she tried to leave behind in Season 1 come to get her. All the characters in the last season move into the second season leaving the behind the past and moving into the future with hope. As we know, if you don’t deal with things from the past they will come back up – and they do. It’s a lot of fun, of course, for me to play Delia this season because she is really glamorous and ballsy. I think this season, definitely more so than last season, she is trying to be who she didn’t think she was going to be. So, it creates a lot of vulnerability for her.

Q) Do the dynamics shift between the ladies at all this season as you plan the wedding?

A) The dynamics of friendship are definitely explored while you are going through ups and downs in your own life. That will be shown as to how it can effect a friendship and how it can be taken out on one another, but still be there for one another.

Q) Who are some guest stars you can tease for this season?

A) We have some fantastic guest stars! I don’t know if I’m allowed to say who they are though. We do have some wonderful, wonderful guest stars. I think I can tell you we have  Megan Hilty and some fantastic actors playing Abby’s parents. I don’t know if I can say who they are, but one is an Oscar winner. We have a lot more characters this year, a lot more storylines.

Q) What are some shocking moments or moments you are looking forward to fans seeing?

A) There is a big decision that my character makes. It can effect her relationship with her future husband very deeply. I don’t know if I would say it was a great shock so I know the writers make shocking choices. I don’t know if it was meant to be a shock, but I think I was surprised to watch them make my character try to conform to this idea that she has kind of contradicted in the first season. But I think it is an interesting way to discuss the greater theme. The show is about love, ultimately. The greatest mystery in life is love and relationships are hard. If they weren’t, more people would be in them. So, I think that regardless of the journey that each character takes (whether it be a crazy choice or idea or logical choice) I think it is all to further this understanding of love and how they find it in their lives.

Q) Was the cast chemistry instant or did you spend some time to bond?

A) We have a great ensemble and we have some fantastic actors. I didn’t start with the girls in the pilot. I was shooting another show called “Rake” and when that didn’t go Marti [Noxon] called me and asked me if I wanted to come on. She said she had always thought about me for the series and that she wanted to write this character for me so would I join this show. She asked if I wanted to be an added character on the series. I, of course, was looking for a job. I said, “Okay, let me think about it.” I liked what she was talking about and I liked the script that she sent me. Usually, you read a character and decide if you want to do it or not. In this case, she hadn’t written a character. She just kind of had this idea, liked me as an actress and wanted to write something for me. I said, “Let me think about it,” and she said, “If you want, we just shot the pilot if you want to watch it.” So, I was the only actor on the show who actually got a chance to watch the show before I decided if I wanted to do it or not. The pilot still wasn’t finished; it was in pieces a little bit, but I was able to get an idea. When I watched it, I saw these wonderful, wonderful actresses that I love. I had always loved Lisa [Edelstein] as an actor and I loved what she was doing and the naturalism she brought to it. I loved what everyone else was doing so the idea of coming to work with these folks was exciting to me; in addition to what Marti and I talked about. So, I came on and quite immediately I was already a fan. It was easy to jump in to want to get to know the girls. We’re not shooting in LA so we don’t have our own lives. It kind of creates this atmosphere where we get to hang out more. I think if that shows the chemistry then that makes sense.

Q) What did you, personally, add to the role that wasn’t scripted for you?

A) The character wasn’t originally scripted. It was just an idea between Marti and I. You probably noticed in the first season, they were really trying to figure out the character and felt like they were introducing all the time for a while. That’s one of the best things about a second season the writers have the chance to introduce the characters more. There are different ideas that Marti and I had started for the character. The character kind of took a shape of its own after I came onto the show and kind of seeing how the character would relate to the other characters. For example, the idea was that my character was married and was in an open relationship. Naturally, we saw that didn’t end up being the case. But I think the very first episode I was wearing a wedding ring and we let that go. We made the character unmarried and gained a fiancée. The writers like to write for the actors specifically. I think they kind of did that and she evolved.  I think she was always supposed to be very glamorous, but I don’t think they didn’t think about the character as sophisticated as they do now. I think they originally thought of her as maybe being this brattier girl. I think what they saw I was bringing to it made them think they could make her more sophisticated than they originally thought they could. I think that evolved through what we brought together.

Q) What makes the Bravo Network the right fit for this show?

A) I think it’s a different show for the network. I think they really wanted to get into scripted programming. Every network wants to get Emmys. They have great shows with a great demographic (largely female that are intelligent, career driven females). That’s largely what our show addresses. I think that it is obviously a perfect fit for many reasons. There are a lot of elements on our show that are very girly and it’s a fun show about womanhood and femininity. I’m proud to be on a show with female leads – that is led by women. It’s one of the few of its kind in television. It’s a shame that is so, but it is so and I think Bravo definitely has that demographic so it makes it a great fit for the show.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive?

A) That’s always so cool and I always welcome questions or whatever they want to find out more about. It’s cool to hear the details people notice. As an actor playing a character, you always think about the details – the tiniest details, like even the nail polish she might be wearing in a  scene because of the mood. People notice a lot of things!

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure we share with fans about the new season of “Girlfriend’s Guide To Divorce?

A) There have been so many things that I could tease the fans with, but I’m unsure what I’m allowed to tell. The wedding that is planned is a pretty big deal and the girls have a lot of fun throughout the season. Tune in for that!