Kristen Bell spilled some behind-the-scenes tea about filming House of Lies with Adam Brody, revealing he had a comical name for their first intimate scene on the series.
While stopping by the The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday, October 23, the actress, 45, reflected on how their characters had a short-term fling when she was expecting in real life.
“I was eight and a half months pregnant and we were blurring it out,” Bell told Clarkson, noting that she was quite far along and had a noticeable baby bump at the time. “Adam affectionately refers to it as ‘our threesome.’ Which I do not want my daughter to hear!” she quipped.
Bell — who shares daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10, with husband Dax Shepard — played Jeannie van der Hooven on the series, while Brody appeared as a guest star for three episodes to portray her love interest.
Bell was pregnant twice while filming the Showtime drama, which ran for five seasons. The first time had producers incorporating strategic camera angles and using some CGI to hide her baby bump while Bell’s pregnancy was written into the story for season 4.
Bell said Brody, 45, made light of the situation, praising his handling of that sex scene as well as other intimate moments they went on to share while filming Nobody Wants This.
“He’s a delightful scene partner. I love and trust him as an individual so much and I find that he brings something weird and awkward and funny and wonderful and unexpected to every scene, which I really enjoy,” Bell revealed. “But I also trust him completely. So to be honest, when I was this much pregnant and I had to, like, mount him, I was just like, ‘Well… morning!’”
Bell said he always made her feel “safe” and “comfortable,” noting they have a very platonic bond. (Brody, for his part, has been married to Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester since 2014, and they share two children together — daughter Arlo, 10, and a son, 5, whose name has not yet been revealed.)
“We have a very sibling relationship in real life because we get along really well, but we also argue like crazy,” she continued. “He has a different POV and I like to poke at it … and also I’m really nosy.”
In a separate interview with Red magazine published on Thursday, the mom of two admitted that it took her “months” to convince the former O.C. star to sign on the dotted line alongside her in the Netflix hit Nobody Wants This.
She felt confident that Brody was the perfect fit to play “Hot Rabbi” Noah Roklov, but initially he wasn’t “interested in playing a romantic lead.”
“[He’s] kind of cookie-cutter, yet he’s not, and he sort of defies all of the things you think he is — he’ll pop up in weird projects here and there, and only does work he feels is meaningful,” she explained.
Bell noted how “appealing” the actor is to watch, especially after his fan-favorite role.
“[And] because of Seth from The O.C., people already feel he’s a good guy,” she added. “Even when he’s playing a pessimistic character, he’s endlessly charming, which is very hard to do.”
