Comments on: Mayim Bialik Returning to Acting For Family

By: Terri

Terri — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:36:14 +0000

Actually, Autumn, Danica McKellar did a lot more than “a cheesecake/bikini calendar”; to those paying attention to the academic world she is a mathematical genius and is aiding in the quest to make math more appealing to young people.

By: Trisha

Trisha — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:27:13 +0000

Wow! I had no idea she had any kids, how very cool. I remember her from Beaches, playing Bette Midler’s character as a child. Even now I swear she could pass as her Daughter lol

By: Fevvers

Fevvers — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:57:32 +0000

my academic friends are all full of angst about babies vs career. its a tough area to be if you want a family and want to actually spend any time with them apart from breastfeeding in your breaks…because you are always competing against other people with no kids or partners that do all the childcare: publish or perish!

By: Natasha

Natasha — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:16:36 +0000

I wouldn’t want women to be put off from entering academia by this comment. It is possible to work in research and have a young family – universities in the UK generally have good on-site childcare facilities – one mother I know working at a UK university used to go and breastfeed her baby at the day-care nursery in her work breaks. However, I guess the way filming works is that you get to have your kids around you on set, do a short time of filming, and then spend months at home with your kids, which sounds a lot more family-focused than academia. If you do take time out to be the kids though, it will hard to get back into it, as people will ask why you have not published or stayed involved with the subject area. Kudos to her for putting family first though – I am qualified with a PhD and have been a ‘stay at home’ mother for 5 years – some women I studied with cannot believe I have ‘wasted’ my potential but I feel fulfilled with the childcare role and can’t see it happening any other way!

By: kristen

kristen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:53:10 +0000

i know, i am really proud she’s nursing on the go too! awesome.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:21:18 +0000

Love that she is breastfeeding in this picture! Go mama!

By: Jeanette

Jeanette — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:03:17 +0000

As other posters have mentioned, I think time is a factor. You can film something in a few weeks or months and then not work for a while if you want time with your family and still have financial security. As to not affording the tuition as one poster mentioned – I doubt she’d have tuition as she already received her phD. Probably more the long research hours, competition for grants, odd teaching schedules, etc.

By: Autumn

Autumn — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:53:11 +0000

Actually when I posted the previous comnment, I’d realized too that time is a factor as well, and like SBG and MZ said, fullfilling her requirements as professor would be a lot more time consuming than performing a role on a TV program or even a film. (Filming for short periods of time, would be more conducive to being the mother of two young children than a professorship probably is, so I can see how she’d be tempted to go back.)

Jeannie’s idea was great, and when I read about Mayim dipping back into the acting pool I too thought of Danica, so a show with the two of them together would be brilliant. (Still though I hope that Mayim doesn’t necessarily take part of Danica’s route back to celebrity, and make a cheesecake/bikini calendar just for extra dough/publicity. lol!)

By: Terri

Terri — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:21:46 +0000

Kayla-it means she can’t afford the cost of tuition. Can’t wait to see what they cast her in. She was funny in the 90s!

By: Jeannie

Jeannie — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:53:48 +0000

She and Danica McKellar (Wonder Years) should do a sitcom about two really intelligent women. Or a drama. Something!