Paul Adelstein Is the Luckiest Actor Because He Gets to Work with the Coolest Women in Hollywood
The GG2D and Imposters star dishes on his new project with Amy Poehler, I Feel Bad.
Paul Adelstein, the actor who's in basically all of your favorite TV shows, from Scandal to Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce to Imposters, is about to add one more sure-to-be-beloved series to his resume. He's starring in the new comedy I Feel Bad, premiering this fall on NBC. Adelstein plays David in the new series, the husband of Emet (Sarayu Blue), a mom trying to figure out how to navigate family, work, and everything in between.
Though Adelstein's resume clearly could not get any more diverse, we are starting to see a pattern here with his projects: the actor has a tendency to work with some of the most talented women in Hollywood in front of and behind the camera, whether it's Shonda Rimes, Marti Noxon, Lisa Edelstein, or Inbar Lavi. Not only does I Feel Bad star the hilarious Blue, but it also comes from executive producer Amy Poehler. "The script was so sharp and funny and insightful," Adelstein told The Daily Dish about why he wanted to be a part of the cast of I Feel Bad at the NBCUniversal Upfront in New York on Monday. "And it also said 'Amy Poehler' at the top of it, so you knew you were in really good hands."
And let's face it: Who wouldn't jump at the chance to work with Poehler? "She is a comedy genius, and she knows how to make things that are both very funny and very real at the same time and have heart," he said. "She makes it looks effortless, and that's a great boss to have."
In Emet, we'll get to see a portrayal of modern womanhood that's relatable and unlike anything we've seen before on screen. When Blue first read the script for I Feel Bad, she said she was drawn to "seeing a woman who I felt really seemed like a woman." "I was like, 'I buy this person because I feel like this person,'" she told The Daily Dish at the NBCUniversal Upfront. "And that was exciting to see. And a marriage that felt believable. All of it."
Adelstein also shared that everyone can understand the pressure of trying to live up to their own expectations and those from other people. "I can relate to [that] barely-feeling-like-your-head-is-above-water feeling. And then looking around and saying, 'Everyone else looks like everything looks perfect,' but my house doesn't look perfect," Adelstein said. "I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We have families and jobs and relationships. Everything looks like an Instagram feed when in fact, you know, behind every front door, it doesn't look like that."
One character in particular hits home for Blue: Emet's overbearing mother. "Well, the mom character is very much what I can relate to," Blue told The Daily Dish. "She has a lot of opinions about how the character is handling her life, and I would say my mom is very invested in the decisions I make."
But then, as if realizing that she'd soon be hearing some opinions on her comments from her real-life mother, Blue backtracked a little. "I just need to add, because my mom will read this article, Mom, I think you're amazing. What a cool mom!" Blue joked. "Oh, God, I feel bad already!"
We're starting to see the resemblance between Blue and her I Feel Bad character, too.
Go behind the cons of Adelstein's other series Imposters, below.
