Maya Rudolph is having a grand time making people laugh

With the hit film Bridesmaids and new NBC sitcom Up All Night, 2011 may be Maya Rudolph’s big year. But spending the end of her latest pregnancy in the glare of the limelight was possibly more disconcerting than acting out the after effects of an errant Brazilian churrascaria meat platter. “It’s certainly not the best time to put on a party dress and show yourself off,” says the LA resident, who soldiered through promotional appearances before and after giving birth to son Jack in July (she and her partner, director Paul Thomas Anderson, are also parents to daughters Pearl Minnie, six, and Lucille, two). “There are those moments where you feel camera-ready, and this is not one of those moments for me. But I certainly feel like I’m being showered with good fortune.”

Parents and Bridesmaids: Comedic Gold
Up All Night follows the shift of new parents Christina Applegate and Will Arnett from blissful self-involvement to overwhelmed responsibility for a tiny human, with Rudolph playing Applegate’s boss, Ava Alexander, a daytime talk-show host who’s more empathetic on camera than off. “I like the showiness of being a host,” says the actress, who famously sent up Oprah in her Saturday Night Live days. “It’s a very ‘on’ persona, which I’m attracted to.”

Rudolph herself knows well the seismic shifts that come with parenthood. “As parents, we’ve all gotten to the point where we’re like, ‘Ah, remember my old life?’” says Rudolph. “I’ve also heard myself say, ‘Yeah, I don’t know that I really want to go back.’ My life is so much fuller and more interesting and less narcissistic.”

As for Bridesmaids, the massive box-office hit the comedienne costarred in this summer, Rudolph says she was caught off guard by its rampant success. “I remember running into a writer I knew and he said, ‘Wow—it’s so great it’s doing so well,’” she recalls. “I said, ‘Yeah, I can’t believe it.’ He said, ‘Why? You didn’t think the movie was going to be a hit?’ I said, ‘No, I’m just really used to seeing good things get overlooked.’” And yet Rudolph is not buying into all the chatter that the film has somehow broken a glass ceiling for female-driven comedies—raunchy or otherwise. “They made a big deal about it creating more jobs for us womenfolk in the entertainment industry, but I can’t really pay attention to that stuff,” she says. “I just remember to be happy with what I’m doing. I had a really great time making that movie. To me, the memory is the best part.”