The biggest storyline in the current season of “Will & Grace” isn’t one written by the show’s writers.
It’s the fact that star Debra Messing is pregnant with her first child–and Grace won’t be.
The show’s producers and writers decided not to make the pregnancy part of the season’s plot.
Messing, who is expecting with her husband, Daniel Zelman, this spring, said there was talk about making Grace pregnant–a discussion that lasted “about a second.”
“It just very quickly became very apparent that this seemed like the right way to go,” she said.
“We have been a little creative with the way we block and the way we dress,” Messing said. “I have lots of shopping bags and pocket books and coats.
“I think it’s sort of a wink to the audience. We’re never really going to be able to hide it entirely, but our fans know now that I’m pregnant, and part of the fun, I think, is tuning in and seeing how to hide it.”
She points out she’s not the first TV actress to conceal a pregnancy.
“I remember watching Julia Louis Dreyfus on ‘Seinfeld’ and her two pregnancies that they hid. And I thought, ‘How fantastic,’ because it’s not like you can put off having a baby and say, ‘I’m going to wait until I’m 65.’ “
Besides, it could be a long wait, according to Messing. She said she doesn’t see an end to “Will and Grace” anytime soon.
“As of now, we’re still having a fantastic time doing it every day,” she said. “And the writers are still coming up with really fun story lines for us, and I think as long as both of those things are in place, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to continue.”
Tune in
You can catch a 40-minute “Will and Grace” at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday on NBC.
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
