Rolling Stone magazine described the new comedy Babes as the “Bridesmaids of babymaking,” something actress Ilana Glazer, who co-wrote and stars in the movie, appreciates. “I could not think of a higher compliment than that. We have so few comedy movies that explore the challenges in female friendships, there’s not many other comparisons to be made,” says Ilana.
The comedian and actress plays Eden, a very single, free-spirited woman; her real life mom friend Michelle Buteau plays her best friend, Dawn, a married mom of two. When a one-night stand ends in Eden getting pregnant and deciding to keep the baby, the pair’s friendship is tested.
The movie is at once raunchy, real, and at times truly funny – much like pregnancy and motherhood. Known for her raw comedy from the Comedy Central Broad City TV series, it makes sense that Ilana is now tackling motherhood with the same candor – she and her husband welcomed their first child, a daughter, two years ago. Here’s what the comedian and actress shared in this week’s Meet a Mom interview with The Local Moms Network:
How has becoming a mom changed how you approach your work?
Becoming a mom widened and deepened my reservoir for feeling, and I was able to reach higher heights in comedy without straining; it also helped me settle into depicting feelings of loss more accessibly. One of my favorite scenes to play was giving birth, and it’s very much drawn from the real athletic experience I had giving birth, as well as the shock of ecstasy when my baby arrived.
Your co-star Michelle Buteau is a real life friend for 20 years – are you real “mom friends”? And why are mom friends so crucial?
Michelle is definitely a mom friend because we talk through the minutia of problems and solutions in our parenting, especially as artists who travel for our work. Any mom or parent who wants to get down and dirty and be honest about what they’re struggling with at the moment and jam on ways to improve or get support, is a “mom friend” to me. Michelle is a true superhero mama, who worked so hard to create her family, who works so hard every day doing standup, TV & film, and has twins! Being around her helped prepare me to become a mom working in our field. And her kids are two years older than mine, so I’m lucky to have that preview.
Love that. In the movie, your character is looking at becoming a parent as a single mom. You’re married and raising your child with your husband. Did playing this character give you perspective on what single moms are doing?
Yes! Before I played the role of Eden in BABES, I thought I could never make the choice to have and raise a baby solo because it would be unimaginably hard. Even while writing this script with my co-writer Josh Rabinowitz, as we crafted this story, I was only more confirmed in this belief. But after moving through this story, embodying and voicing Eden’s journey, her choice to have her child and the beginning stages of raising her as a single parent, I felt how grounding and organizing that choice can be for a person. It made sense to me then, that having a child as a single parent is a deeply empowering choice and that it invites a new kind of family to form and how it extends into a tribe. I admire it.
What surprised you most about motherhood and about becoming a mom? Anything you would have told yourself before your baby was born that you wish you knew?
The joy. I was prepared for how hard it would be, was told I’d lose sleep, that it would strain my partnership and all that, but I was not prepared for the ecstatic joy I am privileged to experience every day. It shocks me, three years in. There’s just so much beauty so close, it’s intense. And I would have told myself: trust your instincts, girl.
More stories from The North County Moms:
Meet a Mom: Actress Hilary Swank
Meet a Mom: Kim Holderness of The Holderness Family
Meet a Mom: Jersey Shore’s Jenni Farley!
