This is a big comeback to TV after Ally McBeal. How did the show push you to come back?
I guess the biggest reason was that I really liked this script. I’ve been friends with Robbie Baitz, who is one of the creators and one of the writers and producers, and he called me and he sent it to me. I related to it.
I thought it was really intelligent and interesting, and I didn’t see anything on television that was similar to it, it was new. I loved the way that it explores these really complicated relationships within the family structure.

Is it better to be now in an ensemble instead of leading the show and having your name on it?
Yeah, I guess. I’m still working quite a bit, but it’s nice to share the responsibility with other people. It frees me a little bit. I have more freedom to make different kinds of choices that I      wasn’t really able to do before. So I think it’s very freeing, actually.

Did you get other offers before this show, but then you just decided, ‘No, I just want to still, you know, be a mom for a while’?
Yeah, you know, that was definitely a personal choice that I made. Probably if this script hadn’t come along and if Robbie hadn’t called me, I probably still wouldn’t be working. But the way it turned out is my son, who is 5, started kindergarten, so it was this year that I was going to start thinking about going back to work. But it happened a little sooner than I expected. But personally it was the right time. And I really wanted to keep myself in L A. I think it’s hard for anybody, you know, to travel with your kids a lot. So it was just personally and artistically it was a good choice for me.

Was it hard juggling work and home?
I think the transition was fairly rough. I had a hard time emotionally. It’s definitely all kind of calmed down now, and we’ve all settled into basically a different way of living. It’s been a good change.

Your character has a problem with her mom. That’s not very common in a show.  How did you tackle that?
I didn’t really prepare for it. I think it’s right there in the script, and the way that it is set up, it’s the reason that it’s so painful is that we really do love each other. And I think like every child, I want the love of my mother. I want her approval. I want to feel loved by her. So it's easy to play.

When somebody is not giving you that love, it’s painful. But on some level I think that there’s a real sense of humour there, so it’s funny and it’s complicated, but it is painful. So I didn’t have to do much other than just do the script and play off of Sally.

How you have grown as a woman since you became a mother?
Oh, gosh, I don’t know. I know that it’s hard for me to articulate that, actually, but I’m sure that I have. I’ve had empathy, but now that I have a child, I really have empathy for people.

And I think I’m much more tolerant, and I’m not probably so focused on myself at all. Things that I used to think were important are just simply not important anymore. 

What makes you laugh?
I love Lucille Ball. She makes me laugh. And yet I love subtle, dry sarcasm, witty humour, too, I suppose.
You said you connect with the character ‘Ally McBeal’ more than you do with this character.
No. They’re both pretty far away from me. Ally was very far away from everybody probably. She’s very larger-than-life, falling down, big comedy. So it’s just the challenges were just different, I think.