There have been a number of well-known actresses to join the Housewives franchise. This includes Lisa Rinna and Kim Fields. The latest is Jennifer Tilly, who became an official cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for the show’s 14th season. Now, Jennifer is opening up about her first season on the show, her friendships with the ladies, and much more.
As many are aware, Jennifer has been active in Hollywood since 1983. Though most known for the Chucky movies and more recent television series, she was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for her role in Bullets Over Broadway. So far, she has become a fan favorite on RHOBH.
Recently, Jennifer sat down for an interview with The Cut, where she discussed her illustrious career as an actress and her current stint on RHOBH. One of the first topics to come up was what it was like to come on RHOBH as Sutton Stracke‘s friend when she’s such a “polarizing” person.
She said, “When they hired me, one of the producers said, ‘You know, we need Sutton to have more allies.’ They wanted me to come in so that Sutton had more people with whom she could engage in a positive way. Sutton and I have known each other for over 15 years, and we’ve never, ever had a fight.”
She then spoke about feeling that Housewives was too toxic in the past to join, saying, “They’ve been asking me to be on Housewives, or if I was interested, for several years. I would be like, “Oh, it seems so toxic,” so I wasn’t willing to dive in. But I’ve always been a Housewives superfan. Last summer, Chucky suddenly got canceled, so I was looking at the empty summer.”
Jennifer continued to explain, “So they brought me in — I kind of got to pick which I wanted, and picked “friend of” because I thought it would be less stressful. The only one-on-one scenes I had were with Sutton. And because I’m the friend of, she’s talking about things that happened to her, and I’m being Oprah and nodding along and saying ‘Oh really?,’ which is really not my job! Being an actress, I’m used to being the center of attention!”
They then discussed some of the specific relationship dynamics on RHOBH. Specifically, Jennifer is asked about Garcelle Beauvais becoming upset with Sutton because of her perceived need for Kyle Richards‘s approval.
When asked why her friend does this, Jennifer said, “I’ve always noticed that, especially this season. Kyle is very kind. There’s times when she has not been kind, but overall, she’s kind and charismatic, with a very maternal side. And we all love Reba, but you all saw how Sutton’s mom is a little withholding. When Kyle is taking care of you, I think that that’s what Sutton is attracted to. ”
She then said, “In St. Lucia, Sutton was so struck when Kyle “stood up” for her at that dinner. She was glowing. ‘Kyle stood up for me, Kyle stood up for me,’ she kept repeating. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I stood up for you! Garcelle stood up for you!'”
Later, they also talked about how she posted a picture from another party when Dorit Kemsley and Camille Grammer got into it. The scene didn’t air, and the interviewer asked what happened between the two.
Jennifer explained, “Oh my goodness, there was such a kerfuffle… It was a [Kathy Hilton] party, and it was sort of like a Golden Globes gifting suite where there were all these booths and you could get massages — it was utterly fabulous. Camille obviously has beef with Dorit, so she lit into her, and they were just screaming at each other.”
The Oscar nominee continued, “Kyle was there. Kathy, she’s smart, she always seems to wander away whenever there’s any kind of unpleasantness. Camille and Dorit were literally at each other’s throats — like really, really got into a huge fight. ”
Regarding why it never aired, she revealed, “But I guess the producers figured it would be redundant, because it was sort of like the Cowboy Party part two. It was really fun and interesting for me to sit there and watch. My mouth was open. Housewives have been let go because they just don’t bring enough drama — and well, Camille and Dorit are grand masters of drama.”
One question many fans have had about her future on the show is whether she would consider becoming a housewife.
According to Jennifer, “I was thinking that that might be the way to go. In computer games, my boyfriend tells me there’s something called an NPC, which is a “non-playing character.” You’re sort of an NPC as a friend of. Full-time would be the way to go if you want to make any kind of impact at all. And I really want to get to know the other girls better.”
In the end, the interviewer asked Jennifer if she enjoyed her first season on the show. She responded, “Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I got to go places I would never go, and it’s just fun. I have a whole new fan base — the people who watch Housewives. It was stressful, because I was worried I would accidentally say something stupid, or mean.”
She continued, “When you go on a talk show, you can really monitor what you say. But on Housewives, you’re drinking, you’re filming for 17 hours, people are stressed out. It’s really hard to maintain your cool. At my caviar party, I thought I was enjoying Dorit and Sutton screaming at each other, but then it cut to me, and it looked really sad. Maybe I was sad underneath? But then I thought, Oh, well, at least they won’t cut my caviar party! So I wasn’t sad anymore.”
Fans who haven’t watched the latest season of RHOBH can catch up on Peacock.
