Busy Philipps on Co-Starring With Michelle Williams: We Talk About It All the Time

Wonderwall, Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 4:36pm (PDT)

By Chris Gardner

• Busy Philipps is a different kind of busy right now. The actress, who is coming off a hectic awards season that saw her support BFF Michelle Williams on nearly every red carpet in town, is currently on a rare break from her full acting schedule, so she's transitioning back to being a full-time wife and mother. And she couldn't be happier.

  Wonderwall caught up with the "Cougar Town" star on March 13 in Santa Monica, Calif., where she was schmoozing with actress pals Kate Mara, Emma Roberts and Mena Suvari while toasting designer Tracy Reese's debut with winemaker Clos du Bois, a new picnic basket line called Chic Piqnique. We asked Philipps about her newfound hiatus, her plans to have more kids, and the possibility that she may co-star with Williams again.

  Wonderwall: You're out for lunch on a weekday by the beach! What brings you out to Santa Monica?

  Busy Philipps: I've been such a huge fan of Tracy [Reese] for years, and I have her clothes and I love her style, so when I heard she was having this event, it was like, "Wine and Tracy Reese? I'm on board!"

  WW: Are you working right now?

  BP: For the first time in a very long time, I'm off from work, which is intense. We finished shooting our season of "Cougar Town," which airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., and then I finished doing a movie in New York with Justin Long and Evan Rachel Wood and Keir O'Donnell called "A Case of You." And now I'm looking for another movie or something to fill my days with. But you know, having a kid and a house that hasn't been tended to in 10 months is gonna take a lot of time.

  WW: Are those your priorities right now?

  BP: Yes, organizing, spring cleaning and trips to Goodwill. All that stuff that I put off while I was shooting the show and making the movie. And picking up my kid at school and taking her to the park and art classes and all that fun stuff.

  WW: Your daughter, Birdie, is getting so big!

  BP: Yes, she's 3-and-a-half.

  WW: Any major milestones lately?

  BP: When they hit 3, then the milestones kind of stop and each day they are progressively more just a kid -- just more and more grown-up. Today she made us take the baby locks off the doors downstairs in the kitchen because she wanted to get her own bowl. She said, "Mama, I'm not a baby. I'm going to get my own bowl." So we took them off and she got her own little cereal bowl.

• WW: Do you pause and think, "My baby is growing up"?

  BP: No, you know, I do have moments of nostalgia already for her babydom, but now I find that it is so incredible to watch a kid grow, because it does happen so quickly. Every cliche that parents repeat is true and I understand why they say it.

  WW: Does she ask about siblings?

  BP: She sort of mentions it, but when we explain to her that it means that she will have to share things, then she quickly recants and says she will be fine with just her cousins and her friends.

  WW: And what does her mother say?

  BP: I'm not craving another kid. I always thought I would have several children, but now that I have one, I'm like, "I'm good! I'm good for right now!" I'm still young, so I have time. I had her young, so there's more time.

  WW: Let's talk about awards season. You and Michelle [Williams] were the darlings of the red carpet.

  BP: That was so weird, right? (laughs)

  WW: And you both always looked so fabulous. Do you have any plans to work together again? [They previously worked on "Dawson's Creek"]

  BP: We talk about it all the time. My husband [Marc Silverstein] and his writing partner are sort of constantly thinking of ideas for us. We would love to do some sort of film together, and Harvey Weinstein says that he's ready to do it! But I don't know what it would be. We haven't figured it out yet. We don't talk about work all the time, but we know that it would be super fun to spend three months together working on something. So yeah, we hope so.