Patricia Richardson

Patricia Richardson: (about the fan mail she received for "Home Improvement") Some of it was really sad, because a lot of it was from children who weren't getting enough attention and obviously identified with this family. I got a lot of mail from young men, which I thought was so bizarre. I kept thinking, "These are a lot of men with mother problems."

Patricia: (about demanding more input with her character, Jill Taylor, on "Home Improvement") At first, my character didn't have any girlfriends or a life outside the house. I never had a scene without Tim [Allen]. I never had scenes alone with the children. The writers would always say the same thing: "But the audience loves you!" And I said, "If they love me so much, why don't we develop the character and give her more to do?" They'd say again, "But they love you!" and I was like, "Okay, then let's develop her!" And still, all they could say was "But they love you!" It got to the point where I had to decide. Did I want the writers to hate me, or did I want to keep going out there and doing crap every day? I was bored. If I had to keep doing the same thing and the same scene over and over, then what was the point in being there?

Patricia Richardson: (about being approached to co-star in "Home Improvement" after Frances Fisher was fired) I was like, "No, no, no, I don't want to do another sitcom." And I really didn't want to be a mom, the thankless mom part, you know? And I was huge. I was nursing twins. But then off goes skinny little Frances Fisher, who kissed really good and was hanging around with Clint Eastwood, and in comes big, nursing, lactating Pat. At the end of the pilot, though, my husband came backstage and said, "Well, get ready, because this is the show you're gonna be doing for seven years," and I went, "No way," and he said, "Um, yeah. It's funny." It was so much fun. I laughed every day on that set.

Patricia Richardson: You have to be the parent; you can't be their friend

Patricia Richardson: When I was in college, I was told you can only love your craft. Baloney! Before I had Henry, I was so single-minded about acting that there was too much tension around my work. There was too much desperation to succeed

Patricia Richardson: Tim on the show does a lot of that posturing, of course, and feels sort of threatened by women. But even at that, you do see him cooking, and ultimately he's a good father because he spends a lot of time with the boys.

Patricia Richardson: They see me as being this Super Mom on TV who also can more than handle a difficult husband, and they assume I'm going to be just full of wisdom as a mother and wife myself.

Patricia Richardson: The truth is, I've been going pretty much nuts all year. I constantly have to fight being scattered. I feel like I'm on automatic pilot from fatigue. The hardest thing is trying to be present, living for the moment, for everybody in the family

Patricia Richardson: Sitcom producers really do tend to cast people who have a similar life, because there's material to be mined out of that.

Patricia Richardson: People who meet me think of Jill and transfer her strong qualities to me.

Patricia Richardson: It was extremely hard going from being a parent of one to a parent of three, because now all these instant decisions have to be made about how you balance out the time and attention between them

Patricia Richardson: It helps a lot if what you're doing is close to you as a person. If your life echoes the part you're playing, the writers will pick up on it.

Patricia Richardson: Instead of yelling and spanking, which don't work anyway, I believe in finding creative ways to keep their attention - turning things into a game, for instance. And, when they do something good, positive reinforcement and praise.

Patricia Richardson: I'd like us to deliver a little message to all the men still out there who think it's the '50s, and coming home simply means watching television with a beer

Patricia Richardson: I still get the kids to the doctor and dentist and plan their play dates and buy their clothes.

Patricia Richardson: I know it's a lot harder for women who don't have enough help, but the truth is, no matter how much money you have, if you want to stay involved with your children and don't want to lose being a primary parent to them, you're still in the game.

Patricia Richardson: I don't understand that, because I think that what people like most about the show is that they recognize themselves in the characters and their problems, so the more believable the family is, the more we can draw the audience in.

Patricia Richardson; Good actresses can often accomplish miracles, and it is possible to be someone you've never been or will be. But in a sitcom, there's no time.

Patricia Richardson: Getting married and then having children just centered me and grounded my values. It was like a whole new world. It started happening in New York with a little play called Cruise Control, where I relaxed, and then I kept getting work in Hollywood till this series happened

Patricia Richardson: But then my mother, who's a very selfless, stoic person from a family of Marines, would tell us that what was good for our father was good for us - he would make more money; therefore, we'd be able to get better educations.