Podcast #556: JESSICA ST. CLAIR of USA’s “Playing House”

Jessica St. Clair
Jessica St. Clair

Jessica St. Clair stars as Emma Crawford in the new USA comedy, “Playing House.” Emma returns to her former hometown to help her childhood friend, Maggie (Lennon Parham), through her pregnancy. Returning home to face everything she once left, including her former high-school sweetheart (Keegan-Michael Key) and estranged mother (Jane Kaczmarek), just what can she possibly endure? We spoke with St. Clair about the character of Emma and how her life will change coming back home:

“My character lives in China. She’s a high-powered businesswoman. She heads to her hometown for her best friend’s baby shower. We then discover that the friend’s husband is doing some not so nice things online with a very husky German woman. So, we need to kick him to the curb, and she’s left in the lurch. So, I move home to help her raise the baby. So, essentially, it’s two ladies and a baby.”

She continues:

“When Emma comes home, she comes home to the small town she couldn’t wait to get away. For her, it’s like, ‘Oh, man. Everyone is up in my business.’ You know how it is when you go home for the holidays, and everyone wants to know what’s going on. So, at first, she can’t stand it. However, she realizes throughout the season that it’s nice for everyone to know your name. When fate throws these two best friends together, they help each other lead the best life they can lead. If that did not happen to where they were brought back together, they’d be happy enough, but probably not fill their full potential.”

St. Clair was seen in the infamous scene in the film, “Bridesmaids,” where the girls are getting dresses and succumb to food poisoning. This hilarious scene, which took four days to do, was described by St. Clair as something she will never forget:

“We shot that scene in four straight days, and there is so much footage that didn’t make it into the movie. I got thrown up on, everyone getting thrown up…I thought we were never going to get done that scene, and it ended up being the funniest thing in the world. I’ll never get the image of Melissa McCarthy locking eyes with me, and screaming, ‘Don’t you dare look at me,’ when she is crapping in the sink. That’s a moment in your life where you will look back on as a huge turning point in your life.”

“Playing House” airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on USA.

To follow Jessica St. Clair on Twitter: @Jessica_StClair

To download the full podcast with Jessica St. Clair, click on the player below:

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