We know this might come as a shock, so take a moment to let this sink in. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is not real life. It’s an edited reality TV show. For newbie Jennifer Tilly, it’s a lesson she recently learned firsthand.
Although Jennifer popped up in a few scenes in past seasons of RHOBH thanks to her real-life friendship with Sutton Stracke, Bravo officially hired her as an official friend of the show for Season 14. That’s when she learned just what it takes to make good reality TV.
Jennifer Tilly says RHOBH cast are encouraged to “throw more logs on the flame”
As RHOBH Season 14 comes to a close, Jennifer spoke with The Cut about her experience so far. She said that her real-life skills as an actress and a professional poker player didn’t necessarily transfer over to the world of Housewives.
“In poker, you’re trained not to show what you’re feeling. Even if you’re bluffing all-in for $100,000, you just sit there,” Jennifer explained. “As a professional actress, you’re trained not to make a scene. If you don’t like anybody, it’s very unprofessional to get into a feud on the set.”
“But on Housewives, you’re encouraged to make a scene. If there are no scenes, there’s no show! So that’s what took a little getting used to,” she admitted.
Jennifer noted how the structure of a reality show like Real Housewives forces the cast to act differently from how they would approach situations in the real world.
“In real life, if somebody’s really rude, you think to yourself, ‘Oh, that was rude. I think I’ll avoid this person in the future,'” Jennifer explained.
She continued, “But on Housewives, when someone says something rude, you’re supposed to say out loud, ‘Wow, that was really rude!’ It’s not about putting out the flame; it’s about throwing more logs on the flame.”
With that in mind, Jennifer reminded fans that Sutton isn’t quite as chaotic in real life as she is on the show. Her bestie isn’t always going around bragging about her bank account.
“She’s really delightful when she’s not getting in fights with people,” Jennifer teased.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 14 continues on Bravo every Tuesday at 8/7c.
TELL US – ARE YOU ENJOYING JENNIFER TILLY ON RHOBH SEASON 14, OR DO YOU THINK SHE SHOULD THROW MORE LOGS ON THE FLAMES?
