We sat down with the lovely Sarah Drew to find out what making the movie Mom's Night Out was like.
"It was a really collaborative experience. I already knew Patricia Heaton walking into the film. I call her my fairy godmother because she's the one who recommended me to the filmmakers. From the moment I read the script, I was involved and invested in it. There was no ego anywhere on the set. We just wanted to make the best possible film that we could make. We had an absolute ball!"
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Because the film had a very small budget, scenes had to be shot a lot more quickly than on a typical TV show. We asked Drew if this movie felt more hectic compared to shooting Grey's Anatomy.
"Oh, absolutely. You have a lot more time on Grey's Anatomy and there are less variables because 98 percent of our scenes are shot on sound stages. You can shoot daytime scenes at four in the morning."
For the movie, however, the Mom's Night Out cast and crew were on location every single day.
"During one day shoot, we were running away from a massive storm with crazy black clouds and pouring rain. We had someone following us in a truck, tracking the weather, telling us which roads to turn onto to keep in front of the storm. Crazy."
Luckily, they finished all their shots just before the storm hit. Driving back to base camp, Drew said, "Everyone felt this great sense of accomplishment, like we got everything we needed and beat the odds."
If you're a fan of Drew's, you probably know she's expecting baby No. 2. We asked her if she likes being pregnant. Her answer was blunt, but cheery.
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"Uh, no," she laughed, "I'm not a pregnancy unicorn. But I really enjoy feeling the baby move. It's magical. It reminds me of the insanely epic thing that's happening inside me. But everything else that goes with pregnancy, I could do without."
We asked if her son Micah would be getting a brother or sister, but she said she and her husband didn't know. "I have an envelope with the baby's sex written down on a piece of paper and sealed inside, but we haven't opened it. At least not yet!"
Given the title of the movie, we had to ask Drew what a real mom's night out is like for her. "I have a group of mom friends and we go out to dinner every other Wednesday night. It's a standing date, so unless I'm shooting, I'm there. I don't drink wine right now, but I did, and we just talk and kind of share what's going on in our lives. There's a lot of laughing, often tears. I don't get all dolled up like I did in the movie. I would much rather just be in flip-flops."
We asked Drew what we can expect from the next season of Grey's Anatomy. We assumed her character April became pregnant because Drew was expecting in real life. We were wrong.
"April was pregnant before I was! We had the table read [of the script] where it says she's pregnant. My husband and I had set a window of when to start trying, which was three days later. So, it was kismet — so crazy how it all worked out."
As happy as she was to get the good news, Drew said, "Being pregnant on a show is never convenient — for anybody. But I have an incredible boss who's so supportive of all the women having babies on our show. I'm so blessed by Shonda Rhimes."
As far as what happens with April, Drew said the first few episodes are a continuation of what happened in the season finale. "I wasn't showing then, but I'm absolutely showing now." Apparently, Drew is much further along than April.
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"We're hiding it, which is sort of hilarious. I don't know if my belly will ever synch up with April's belly, or if April will have her baby and I'll still be pregnant. I just don't know."
We asked how the producers plan on hiding her large belly. "Honestly, the scrubs and the lab coat hide everything. They hid my entire first pregnancy. They've gotten very adept at hiding pregnancies. This is the fifth one in a row. It's the best show to get pregnant on because you're already wearing pajamas to work."
Mom's Night Out is currently available on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming.