“House” alum Lisa Edelstein leads the cast of Bravo’s first scripted show, “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce,” premiering Tuesday on the network.
Lisa plays fictional self-help author Abby McCarthy, who life gets even more complicated when the secret of her collapsing marriage (estranged hubby Jake is played by “Private Practice’s” Paul Adelstein) is revealed to the public.
“In the pilot, she’s absolutely in the closet about her marriage falling apart,” Lisa said during Access Hollywood’s recent visit to the show’s Vancouver set. “That’s her biggest challenge, is that there are whispers going on at school. They know something’s wrong. They haven’t seen us together any more, it’s a very gossipy place. She’s famous so people are more interested in gossiping about her, and she’s desperately trying to hide it from the people around her and from her own children, so at some point it sort of comes to a head and she has to admit what’s happening and it has a huge impact on her career.”
WATCH: Lisa Edelstein Explains ‘Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce’
As Abby tries to figure out how to navigate her changing life, and possibly being single again, she finds support and friendship from two divorced fellow moms, Phoebe (Beau Garrett) and Lyla (Janeane Garofalo), and some criticism from her gay, married brother, Max (Patrick Heusinger).
“You know how when your life changes, suddenly you relate to different people? We meet Abby just as she’s sort of at the beginnings and the springtime freshness of these new friendships that she has with two women who are also divorced, and the brother feels like that is influencing her decision and her reasoning to get out of her marriage. But that’s not what these women are,” Lisa explained. “They’re much more than that. Lyla is tough and smart and complicated and incredibly loyal, and Phoebe has this incredible sense of personal freedom, and enjoys her life, so those are the elements that I think Abby really needs and is seeking out and they’re great friends. It’s really been fun.”
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The series follows Abby’s struggles as she figures out what the next step of her life will be. For Lisa, the role came as she was make a big step in her own life.
“I literally got married the day before I moved to Vancouver to do a show about divorce, which is pretty incredible and wonderful, because it also happens to be my dream job, so it couldn’t be a better year,” Lisa said. “I’m just trying to really stay present for the whole thing, ’cause you know how life is — when good things happen… it’s really easy to miss it and just be like ‘Woo!’ like you’re going down a rollercoaster. But, in this case, I’m really trying to move as slowly as I can and have it all, have every moment.”
“Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” premieres December 2 at 10 PM ET/PT on Bravo.
Production assistance provided by Bravo.
— Jolie Lash
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