
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Jessica Simpson is enjoying every moment of her career renaissance.
After taking a 15-year hiatus to raise her three children and grow her fashion brand, the actress and singer returned to the stage for the first time in over a decade in March and is next set to grace television screens in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming legal drama, All’s Fair.
“I feel like at 45, I’m born again,” Simpson told E! News at the show’s L.A. premiere on Thursday. “It’s like, a resurrection of everything entertainment for me and it’s so nice.”
The “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer explained at the event that she hadn’t intended for her hiatus to stretch on for such a lengthy period of time.
“I didn’t want it to be that long,” she admitted, “but then I had another kid and it was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna continue to be a mom and just grow the brand, grow the Jessica Simpson collection as much as possible.’”
Simpson shares three children with ex-husband Eric Johnson: daughter Maxwell Drew, son Ace Knute, and daughter Birdie Mae. She continued to remain busy even after taking a step back from the spotlight to raise her family, co-hosting the NBC reality series Fashion Star with Nicole Richie in 2012; releasing her memoir Open Book in 2020; and devoting herself to her billion-dollar fashion line, the Jessica Simpson Collection.
It was Murphy, however, who brought her back to the world of television by calling and offering her a role in All’s Fair. The series follows a team of all-female divorce attorneys working at a boutique law firm who join forces to fight for their clients and each other in a male-dominated field.
“I got this call to do All’s Fair and I’m like, ‘Wait, Ryan Murphy wants me for this? Are you serious?’” Simpson recalled. “I’m used to getting funny, comedic, dumb blonde roles, but this is very opposite of anything that I’ve ever done.”
Simpson explained that her character is “very vulnerable” throughout the series and “has to get really emotional and cry.” She also teased some “very naughty scenes” with her character’s love interest, played by Rick Springfield, that really pushed her “out of my comfort zone” during filming.
“But I did it,” she said. “And Anthony Hemingway, who directed, made me feel so comfortable with everything that I did.”
While at the event, Simpson also took a moment to gush over her costars and how they inspired her every day on set.
“I had people like Naomi Watts and Kim Kardashian and Niecy Nash,” she said. “Everybody had this quiet confidence about them that really just dropped me into the scene where I could listen and just really be the character.”
And now it’s safe to say she’s been bitten by the acting bug once again. “It was great. It was an amazing experience,” she said. “I’m craving doing it again.”
All’s Fair lands on Hulu on Nov. 4.
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