Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Making Babies’ Steve Howey

From Van Montgomery on Reba to Kev on Shameless, Steve Howey has made a name for himself by portraying goofy, but incredibly lovable characters. His approachable and open nature help him give his characters some real emotional heft as well. And that’s true of his recent role as John Kelly in the new film Making Babies.

We caught up with Steve Howey to talk about the true-to-life struggles Making Babies explores, being an acting partner to his co-star, and why everybody needs to find someone to love.

PC: Tell us a little bit about your character in Making Babies and what drew you to the project.
Steve: My character is just a normal man going through life and wanting to start a family. He has a beautiful young, healthy wife, and they want to make a baby.

I wanted to do the movie, one because of Eliza—I was a fan of hers, [and] I think she’s hilarious; and two, this character was more [of the] straight man. I think Eliza had more of the comedy. Her character is dealing with a very tough and stressful situation with levity. I think my character is just trying to maintain sanity and his marriage. We don’t get too sappy; it’s not too melodramatic. It’s a nice, sweet, little romantic comedy about IVF and everything that women have to put their bodies through for it, [like] injecting so many different drugs and hormones, genetic testing, and hormone replacement therapy. There’s not a lot of stories about that.

I think the writer/director did a really good job. It has a nice tone. It’s not, I don’t know, corny? I’m trying to think of a better word, but it’s not corny, you know? I think when you’re telling a story like this—that is intimate with humor—it’s not easy to do.

PC: Did you do anything special or in particular to prepare for your role?
Steve: Of course, yeah, I talked to friends and family that have gone through it. After I finished making the movie—and recently when there’s been a little press about it—I’ve gotten texts saying, “Hey you’re making a movie about my life.” And I went, “Wait, what? You? You guys have gone through that?” I don’t think a lot of these couples are vocal about it.

Some of the story is, you know, not only with dealing with the guilt of not being able to [have kids] and the “blame game.” You blame yourself; you blame your partner. You think, “Why me?” [You have] all these different questions. So, not only are you dealing with all that, but then you have to maintain your relationship, right? And the one thing, sometimes, you don’t wanna do is communicate, but you have to even if that communication is just acknowledgment like, “I see you; you’re standing before me.” Communication is one of the corners of any relationship, and if communication breaks down so does the relationship. And that’s what happens when you go into this story. I tried to find out if there are any more TV shows and movies about this, but there’s nothing.

So maybe, hopefully, this film will make them feel a little bit more acknowledged because I know you go through all the mental and emotional anguish. But there is, for a lot of people, a happy ending: it’s a beautiful family. So that’s cool.

PC: Speaking of the relationship, how did you and Eliza approach that dynamic?
Steve: Well that was like divine intervention and luck. That was fate. I don’t know what other psychoanalysis I can put on. It was a…meeting of two stars, crashing into each other. She’s awesome. She’s a really funny, funny person. And she’s cool. She plays ice hockey; she has brothers; she’s tough; and she’s beautiful. It was like, “I can hang out with you. Let’s dance.” And that’s what we did: we danced. Sometimes she led and sometimes I led, but we were always there to catch each other if someone fell. It was almost too perfect.

PC: Since Making Babies is a comedy, did you guys improv at all or was it pretty scripted?
Steve: Yeah, you gotta improv some stuff, but a lot of it was there. The improv was there to just, like, add a little oomph to it. Or, if a line didn’t track and fit the narrative of the story, maybe we’d change something.

PC: How would you say that you’re similar—or very different—from your character, John Kelly?
Steve: Well, it’s interesting because I get that question with the TV jobs that I have: “Who are you more like, Danny from SEAL Team or Kev for Shameless?” [But] I’m all these characters; I am these characters. It is me. I’m there—there’s no one else, right?

So yeah, I mean, I think John Kelly was a little less goofy. I think this guy was a little more serious. He was starting a start-up brewery company. He just wants to brew beer and start a family at the same time. He put all his savings into his dream…and now they want a family. So he’s like, “Okay we can make it work.” That doesn’t take a lot of research or, you know, bearing down and thinking some kind of method-standard philosophy-meditation on how you play this guy. Any common sense just kicks in: “Okay this guy is stuck in between a rock and a hard place. He’s got this and this. What would you do?” So, this is what I would do. And then he trusts the process, and he trusts himself.

PC: Is there a particular scene or moment of yours that you’re excited for audiences to see?
Steve: The goofy side of me says the boner scene. I think the other side [says] it was working with Glenne Headly. The scenes in the church, I think, were my favorite because it was Glenne Headly’s last performance—rest in peace, Glenne. She was more than lovely, and it was a pleasure working with her. I feel lucky to have shared that with her. It’s just another reminder of love who you got. And if you don’t have anybody, love somebody. Find somebody. Love yourself. Just love something. Because all there is is love; that’s all there is, and everything else is just noise.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Last TV Show That You Binge-Watched
The Crown

Favorite Film
Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Godfather, or Big Trouble In Little China.

Favorite Book
Harry Potter

An Artist or Musician You Can Listen to On Repeat.
Gary Clark, Jr.

A Place That You Most Want to Go To
Tahiti

Hidden Talent
I can juggle.

If you weren’t an actor, you’d be:
A coach. Of basketball. Of something that had to do with a ball. A coach of balls!

Person that you most want to meet someday
Denzel! I definitely want to meet him—and not have it be like random. He would have to talk to me.