JENNIFER WESTFELDT became an indie film darling 11 years ago when she co-wrote and co-starred in "Kissing Jessica Stein."
Numerous TV roles followed along with time as tabloid fodder as the longtime girlfriend of Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"). Now Westfeldt is back in movies with a few more hyphens.
She took on the daunting task of writing, directing, producing and starring in "Friends with Kids," a script she wrote when she found her relationships with her married friends changing as children entered the picture.
"You want to be part of their lives," Westfeldt said earlier this week at Parc on Rittenhouse Square, "but you're also removed from it."
"I think my closest girlfriends all said the same thing: 'This is the most profound love I've ever experienced in my life, I never could have imagined this depth of feeling and it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life . . . and no one told me.' "
The Daily News spoke to Westfeldt, who's now developing a TV series with Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under," "True Blood") about her new movie and her man.
Q: At the Toronto International Film Festival in September the film got such an amazing response. Were you able to enjoy it?
A: My God, I was terrified. For Toronto we were up against it. We were out of time in the edit and we had to abbreviate the sound mix so we could make the festival. I think I stayed up for three nights straight and I remember thinking I haven't been up this many hours since college . . . I sort of had the shakes and remember thinking this is not a good frame of mind to make big decisions.
The Tuesday before I was like, "I think we may have to pull out of this festival."
It was so stressful that after we did the press line, Jon and I were in the back and I was sort of buried in his shoulder and it wasn't until there was some solid laughing that I felt like I could breathe.
It was out-of-body, really.
Q: Since many of the movie's stars are your friends, which one was the most difficult to direct?
A: No one.
Q: Come on, everyone has a friend who's a jerk.
A: When you're casting an indie film, you don't go down that road. If you have any sense that anyone is not a team player, you'd never cast them. There are no perks, no trailers, sometimes very few takes, no rehearsal - it's such a shot-out-of-a-cannon experience you just would never work with someone who has any diva issues.
Q: Megan Fox isn't a diva?
A: She's lovely. She's smart and funny and sassy and a really cool girl. Nobody knows that. She has this persona that isn't like her at all and she was excited to do this because nobody sees her that way.
Q: The women in my office want to know, do you face unnatural death stares when you walk around with Jon Hamm? And what is he really like?
A: (Laughs.) Well, he's nothing like Don Draper . . . He's more of a goofball. It's an odd thing really to have this long overdue fame for him - which I couldn't believe took so long and there were some dark days when he was wondering if he shouldn't be at it anymore and I would always be like, 'Baby this is gonna happen, it's gonna come together.' Right before he got 'Mad Men' he had tested for 10 pilots that he didn't get. I don't know why it took so long. He's always been this gorgeous. He's always been this talented. He's always been this complicated and interesting."