Michelle Pfeiffer admits why she broke 'risky’ marriage pact with husband David E. Kelley
Michelle Pfeiffer is starring in her husband David E. Kelley's new show "Margot's Got Money Troubles" — marking the couple's first collaboration after 32 years of marriage.
In the Apple+ TV series, which is based on Rufi Thorpe's best-selling book of the same name, the 67-year-old actress plays former Hooter's waitress Shyanne Millet, whose daughter Margot Millet (Elle Fanning) creates an OnlyFans account after an unexpected pregnancy leaves her broke.
Kelley, 70 — one of TV's most successful and prolific showrunners after creating mega-hit shows including "Ally McBeal," "The Practice," "Boston Legal" and "Big Little Lies" among many others — and Pfeiffer previously vowed never to work with each other as they deemed it would be too "risky" for their marriage.
During a recent appearance on "Today," Pfeiffer, who is also serving as one of the show's executive producers, explained why the role of Shyanne was too irresistible for her to pass up.
"My husband and I have never worked together and there was this book laying on the counter in the kitchen and I kept walking by it, looking at it, because the cover is actually kind of intriguing. And I was [like] 'What's that?' He said, 'Oh yeah, that's a book,' nonchalantly. 'That's the book that we've optioned. Oh, and by the way, there's a part in there that everyone thinks no one can play but you,'" Pfeiffer recalled.
Pfeiffer explained that she read the book and immediately identified with Shyanne because she born and raised in Southern California's Orange County, while the book and the show were set in nearby Fullerton.
"I just fell madly in love with her and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing her," Pfeiffer said.
The three-time Oscar nominee first spoke about her marriage pact with Kelley during a 2021 interview with The New Yorker.
"I’ve seen a lot of couples where they seem to have a really great marriage, and then they work together and next year they’re filing for divorce," she told the outlet at the time.
Pfeiffer and Kelley first met in 1993 after being set up on a blind date. The "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" star was previously married to actor Peter Horton from 1981 to 1988.
During a 2022 appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Kimmel," Pfeiffer recalled that she was initially hesitant to meet Kelley.
"I was kind of nervous ... and I'd had a couple of bad blind dates and I had sworn off of them, and my best friend said, 'Please, just this last time, meet this guy, David Kelley,' and I said, 'OK,'" Pfeiffer recalled. "I thought it was a good idea to do like a bowling party."
While Pfeiffer said the blind date ended up being fairly awkward and "didn't start off great," the two began dating shortly afterward.
Prior to embarking on a relationship with Kelley, the actress had already started private adoption proceedings. In March 1993, she finalized her adoption of daughter Claudia Rose, two months after she and Kelley started dating.
However, Pfeiffer later said that the unconventional circumstances ultimately strengthened their relationship.
"So, we had this child with us right away, and most people don't have that," she told Good Housekeeping in 2007 via People magazine. "But I really got to see [Kelley] in a situation that certainly would separate the boys from the men. Obviously, he really rose to the occasion."
The couple went on to tie the knot in November 1993, less than a year after they first met. Kelley officially adopted Claudia and the pair welcomed their son, John Henry, in August 1994.
However, the pair decided that they wouldn't test their bond by collaborating creatively, though Pfeiffer has previously said she was a big fan of her husband's work.
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"Nobody writes, honestly, better for women than he does," Pfeiffer said during a 2022 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." "It’s unbelievable. And yet, I value our relationship more than a good part, and I just think it’s too risky."
"We’re both kind of fierce when we work, and so if I come home, and I’ve had a bad day, and I’m upset about something, I want him to be on my side because he hasn’t heard the other side," she added. "There’s value in that."
Yet, the couple were able to overcome their doubts to finally team up for "Margo's Got Money Troubles" since neither could envision another actress in the role of Shyanne.
In February, Kelley appeared at a press day for "Margo's Got Money Troubles" alongside the show's stars Pfeiffer, Fanning, Nick Offerman and Thaddea Graham and the book's author Thorpe.
Offerman plays former pro wrestler and recovering addict Jinx, who is Shyanne's ex-husband and Margo's father. Graham portrays Margo's supportive roommate and close friend Susie. "Margo's Got Money Troubles" also stars Nicole Kidman, Marcia Gay Harden, Greg Kinnear, Michael Angarano, Rico Nasty and Lindsey Normington.
While speaking at the event, Kelley recalled that casting for the show was easy since "everyone fell in love with it."
"I think when you and I first talked, Nick, you had read the book, and that was it," Kelley told Offerman, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "You were in without knowing what we were gonna do to it. Elle owned Margo, I think, before I even picked up a pen."
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"And the actress there in the middle, who I vowed never to work with," he continued, indicating Pfeiffer, who joked, "I’m very difficult."
"When I read the book, I could only see one person playing it, and we’re lucky enough that she said yes, the second luckiest yes I’ve gotten from her," he said.
While appearing on a panel at the show's premiere during the SXSW Film & TV Festival last month, Pfeiffer shared what she had learned about Kelley after working with him.
"I learned that he likes you to take all of your questions to the director, and I'm fine with that," Pfeiffer said, according to People magazine. "I'm very cool with that. It was actually one of the best productions I've ever worked on. It was honestly so beautiful."
"The Madison" star went on to say that she "had nothing to complain about, truly."
"And the scripts were so, obviously, you can tell how amazing they are. These characters are so beautifully drawn," Pfeifer said. "The cast, not only are they unbelievably talented, but they're such great people. We had so much fun together. No, it was great. And we're still together."
"Before I even read the book, David said there's this part and it's a Hooters waitress from Orange County," she continued. "I mean, because that's where I'm from and I knew I was going to love Shyanne, and I do. I had so much fun playing her and working with this one ... working with these amazingly talented people and my husband."
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In "Margo's Got Money Troubles," Margo shares a complicated and sometimes strained relationship with Shyanne, who disapproves of some of her daughter's actions including her unexpected pregnancy and decision to launch an OnlyFans account.
While appearing on "Today," Pfeiffer noted that Shyanne's pregnancy with Margo was also unplanned and her character was completely unprepared to become a single mother.
Pfeiffer said Shyanne went into "survival mode" to cope with her pregnancy and was "not able to provide all of the things, I think, that she had dreamt of."
"It's one of those big curveballs that life throws you and I think there's a lot of shame and guilt, but she's determined that Margo is not going — that Margot is going to have a better life," she explained.
Pfeiffer continued, "And then what does she do? She goes and gets pregnant. So she's not happy. Shyanne's not happy."
During a recent interview with USA Today alongside "Margo's Got Money Troubles" producer Eva Anderson, Kelley raved over his wife's acting skills, saying that Pfeiffer's performance was a "home run for all of us."
"We were all thrilled with the way she brought Shyanne to life," he said. "That's just not an easy role to play. She comes out of the gate in many scenes with some anger, she could easily be dismissed as an antagonist, but you never felt for a second that she wasn't coming from a place of love at the same time. You can write that on the page, but when it comes to acting it and portraying it, you're really relying on the skillset of the actor."
Anderson joked that Pfeiffer impressed her by never "pulling the wife card" and by remaining "a consummate professional" during filming.
Kelley shared that he gained a newfound appreciation for Pfeiffer's talent after working with her.
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"You can see how good she was in it, so I didn't have a lot of notes," Kelley recalled.
"I always knew she was good at what she did," he continued. "I've seen her work and she's pretty good at this. But I have to say, this was the first time that I ever watched her on screen interpreting material that I had done or we had done."
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"So I now could see what she did with the words as opposed to just looking at her in the movie and seeing the role for itself," Kelley added. "Now I'm seeing an interpretation of the material and the little things that she did as Shyanne and with Shyanne. I was pretty impressed."
In her own interview with USA Today alongside Fanning, Pfeiffer was touched when she heard about her husband's praise, telling her co-star, "He never talks like that!"
"He’s always been incredibly supportive, but he has been more flattering than typical," she said of Kelley. "I was very nervous because, I mean, he writes so beautifully — his characters always, from ‘Boston Legal’ to ‘Ally McBeal,’ especially women. And I’ve watched his shows over the years and been so envious. And I’ll turn to him every now and then and go ‘I just hope these actors know how lucky they are to say these words.’"
"Of all the people on the planet, I did not want to disappoint him."