Tina Fey Talks About Being a Working Mom

In a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, Tina Fey talked about the challenges of being a working mom.  I love Tina, I think she’s so awesome. Anyway, here is a part of the interview:

On prioritizing her life: The former SNL funnywoman (and first female head writer) says she just decided one day that she would do one of three things: 1) Try to get pregnant, 2) Try her hand at screenwriting with her first feature film, Mean Girls, or 3) Get her pilot for 30 Rock green lit. Tina says she ended up getting pregnant with her daughter at the same time that her film blew up and her show was picked up by NBC. She gave birth to Alice Zenobia Richmond in September 2005, only three months before she and other producers began casting for 30 Rock, where she multitasks as creator, executive producer and star.

Maternity leave: Six months after having her daughter, they began to shoot 30 Rock, and that her own transitioning as an actress, writer and new mother affected the show’s initial low ratings and so-so comedy. She says,

People might have this misconception that I had never acted before- my early acting may have given them that impression. I was on stage in Second City for a long time, to a big live room. [This show] has to be much smaller. Also, I felt like I was still on maternity leave when we shot [the pilot] - I didn’t feel like myself, I didn’t look like myself.

Being a working mother: During the normal shooting schedule of the show, the comedienne says she leaves her house around six in the morning, when is Alice is just waking up, and doesn’t return until 9 p.m., around Alice’s bedtime.

It’s brutal, At least I can bring my kid to work, which you can’t do when you have a normal job. That might be why, when people say, ‘Aren’t you worried about the ratings?’, I’m always like ‘Nope. If this things goes down, I will see my kid.