I quickly decided after meeting Blythe Danner that she must be the coolest grandma ever. All I wanted to do was take her home to bake cookies. In the new movie Little Fockers that came out today, Blythe’s character is a bit on edge dealing with her overbearing, controlling husband Jack (Robert DeNiro). In our interview, however, she was down to earth and seemed genuinely interested in our lives and blogging passions. We quickly found out that her real grandparenting life is nothing like the crazy family dynamics you’ll enjoy watching in Little Fockers.
We asked a lot of questions about Blythe and her family, and it’s obvious that she loves being involved in her grandkids’ lives. You’ll want to take her home too after you read her interview!
Blythe on the latest technologies:
I didn’t even know what a blog was. Isn’t that awful? I’m so ancient. I Skype with grandkids, but I can really only do it when somebody helps me.
On getting to work with the cast from Meet the Parents for a third time:
It’s like coming back to a security blanket. It’s wonderful because we’ve had three now. And coming back in, you don’t have to second guess or even guess to begin with how people work because you know. And it’s because there’s really actually a lot of tension in the beginning when you’re not quite sure how people work. And everybody has a little different way of working. So, it’s always wonderful. To hear that they were doing a third, I was thrilled.
Here’s the official trailer – take a peek!
On why her grandkids call her Lalo:
Lalo. Apps (Apple) came up with that. She just said one day, “Who am I?” because I had all these name ideas. I didn’t really want to be Nana or Grandma. We’d had funny nicknames in our family, and so I was dropping some of these names, and she kept going um-umm. And then, I said, “Well, who am I?” And she thought a minute and she said, “Lalo.” And she laughed and laughed and laughed. I guess she thought it was funny. About an hour later, I said, “Who am I?” She said, “Lalo.” So, that stuck.
On what toys she likes to play with her grandkids:
I still have pinecones and buttons from them. When they would come to visit me at the apartment, I didn’t have toys. So, I’d have a hammer and nails and stuff. They love it.
On how Blythe avoids being an overinvolved parent like we see in Little Fockers:
You have to be careful what you say. And I do that because I want to be around as much as I can be. So, if my opinion is offered I give it, but other than that, I don’t, because I’ve tried. I watch my daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is such an extraordinary mother who has much more patience than I ever did.She’s just so good with her kids.
Don’t miss out on Little Fockers opening in theaters today!