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Mayim on Chelsea Handler’s New Netflix Show

Mayim talks parenting with Chelsea & other celebs
By Mayim Bialik     Published on 05/31/2016 at 11:00 AM EDT

On June 1, I’m appearing on a show many of you wouldn’t think I’d appear on, with a group of people many of you wouldn’t think I’d be grouped with, talking about things many of you wouldn’t think I’d be talking about. (I’m a very enigmatic, mysterious woman; I know!)

I am appearing on an episode of Chelsea, Chelsea Handler’s new Netflix series, with fellow actors Kate Hudson, Malin Akerman, and Randall Park!

I know!

I was on Chelsea’s E! show back when I was just starting to dip a toe back into the acting world after getting my PhD and having two kids. Her show was literally the first publicity I did after starting acting again about 6 years ago.

Since I hadn’t been watching TV at that time, I had no idea who she was; but when I watched a clip of her talking about celebrity gossip, I tried to back out! I was nervous she’d skewer me and tease me and be mean to me! My manager said she is a really big deal, so I couldn’t back out, but it turned out to be a really fun appearance. Chelsea knew me from “Blossom,” and she loved that I’m a “SuperJew,” as she called me (her dad is Jewish and her mom was Mormon), and we had a really fun, benign time on her show chatting and laughing.

Chelsea is a very intelligent and savvy woman, and in real life, she is funny and snarky, but also incredibly focused and sharp. She approached me about doing an episode of this show and reassured me that she wasn’t looking to tease me or be mean to me. Phew!

I learned who the other guests on the show when we were closer to filming the episode: I’ve never had dinner with someone as famous as Kate Hudson before and this episode has us having dinner, so that was exciting. But it wasn’t just the three of us: we were also with Malin Akerman (I had to Google her, but she’s the “brainy” interviewer in “Rock of Ages” who gets naked and has sex with Tom Cruise’s character in that movie; and editorial director Esther assures me that Malin was great in “The Comeback,” “Trophy Wife” and “Billions”) and Randall Park, the Korean-American actor from the show “Fresh Off The Boat” (who is also a UCLA alum, having graduated with a Master’s in Asian American Studies!)

The episode has us sitting at Chelsea’s dining room table eating tapas (small plates with a Mediterranean flare, including a baba ghanoush, an eggplant dip, that knocked my socks off) and answering Chelsea’s questions about being parents. Kate and I are both divorced with young and bordering-tween-aged boys, Malin is divorced and has a toddler, and Randall is happily married with a toddler as well, so there was a lot to talk about.

A very interesting set of conversations unfolded: Chelsea has decided to not be a parent and she embraces a lot of aspects of being childless, such as doing whatever the heck she wants, any time, any way, on any given day of her existence. So she asked genuinely interesting questions about what it is about being a parent that drives us and makes us able to maintain patience and love and endurance as a parent. It’s funny, it’s touching, and it turned out to be a really interesting and entertaining conversation.

So if you love comedy, Kate Hudson, Randall Park, Malin Akerman, Chelsea Handler or me, or if you want to know our thoughts on parenting, or to get a glimpse of that killer baba ghanoush, tune in to Netflix on June 1!

Ladies by the fire (from left to right: Malin Akerman, Chelsea Handler, Kate Hudson and Mayim Bialik

 

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