There’s been a recurring theme of late to Betsy Brandt’s TV relationships: guys named Hank and marཧriages to bald dﷺudes.
Not only did Brandt famously play Marie Schrader — the kleptomaniac, smothering wife of chrome-domed DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) on “” — but she also had a recurring role as H🔯ank’s (Ray Romano) ex-wife, Sandy, on “Parenthood.”
Now, on CBS’ ensemble sophomore sitcom “Lꦦife in Pieces,” Brandt plays Heather Hughes, the harried suburban mom-of-three maಌrried to Tim (Dan Bakkedahl), a goofy (and, yes, bald) doctor.
“I had the two Hanks, and now I’m back to bald,” says the sunny Brandt, 42. “Good for me for doing it again. And Dan is fantastic,” she says. “I love what Tim/Dan brings to the table. It’s basically my job to react to and counterbalance Tim … but I don’t want to be the eye-rolling wife to the goofy dad. Not that there’s not going to be some of that, but I think [Heather] knew what she signed on for when she married this guy. The scenes with Tim and Heather have a lot of heart, which I like to see in a sitcom.
“Ideally, I want viewers to feel like they’re a pa🌟rt of this huge, extended family, in good times and bad. It’s like Sunday brunch at Joan and John’s,” she says, referring to the series patriarch🐷s played by Dianne Wiest and James Brolin. “We’ll set a place for you and we want to learn about you and your family.”
Jumping from the ultra-dark “Breaking Bad” to the sunny sitcom world — she co-starred on NBC’s short-lived “The Michael J. Fox Show💝” in 2013 — was a new experience for Brandt, whose long TV resume, including her first role on “Judging Amy”👍 in 2001, has encompassed mostly dramatic roles.
“I’m on a sitcom now, and I use the same approach I used when I was doing a really heavy dramatic cable show,” says Brandt. “I’m figuring out my character for ‘Life in Pieces’ and trying to look at the long run. Whatever decisions I make [regarding Heather] in the first couple of seasons I’ll have to live with five years fro🌺m now. It really bothers me when I see a character changing horses midstream.”
Brandt, who’s married in real life with two kids (ages 11 and 8), says that her domestic situation definitely impacts her TV alter ego, partic🥃ularly Heather’s relationships with her kids: 18-year-old Tyler (Niall Cunningham), teenager Samantha (Holly J. Barrett) and younger da⛦ughter Sophia (Giselle Eisenberg).
“We’ve got an episode coming up where we see how Heather became who she is. Any mom has the potential to be uptight — there’s so much pressure on parents, even more so now … I can🔜’t keep up with it in my own life,” she says. “But if people are trying really hard, and their heart is in the right place, even though they𝄹 may do crazy things we’re sometimes willing to forgive them.
“And even though the kids on the show are not my kids, I still genuinely mother them,” she says. “When I saw Niall for the first time this season, I said, ‘Did you eat on the plane?’ He said, ‘Stop trying to feed me.’ Giselle went trick or treating with my kids last year and they love playing together. I always get the best TV childrenಞ.”
And Brandt says 🐻there’s one big advantage to the “Life in Pieces” format: each episode unfolds in 💯short vignettes.
“I would say honestly that the format allows me as an actor to also be a b✅ig fan of the show,” she says. “There are stories [with other characters] I don’t see until they air … then we all talk about them in hair and makeup. Everybody brings a different style, but it works.
“I don’t know how or why, but it works.”
“Life in Pieces” 9:30 p.m. Thursday on CBS