5-Minute Time Out: Kevin Nealon
The Weeds and ex-SNL actor on being a grandpa-aged dad.
by Erika Milvy
July 3, 2008
"Can single guys adopt a baby?" Kevin Nealon strategically wondered aloud in earshot of the attractive actress next to him. The line piqued the interest of the targeted woman, who is now Nealon's wife (Susan Yeagley) and the mother of his child. Twenty years after first appearing on Saturday Night Live — most memorably as pumped-up muscle-head Franz (of Hans and Franz), Nealon is now the father of a thirteen-month-old baby boy named Gable and the author of a new book, Yes You're Pregnant, But What About Me?, an account of his wife's pregnancy and how it is really all about him, Nealon's book might sound like something his character on Weeds, the incredibly juvenile pothead Doug Wilson, might write. But beyond the insouciant title, the book is actually a sincere reflection on life as a geezer dad, with serio-comic anecdotes and curious asides from Nealon's first fifty-four years.
Nealon acknowledges that — being in the line of fire of hormonal eruptions aside — impending fatherhood is a relative cakewalk. "Let's face it," he writes, "It's not like March of the Penguins. We don't have to balance an egg on our feet in the freezing cold for a month — although some of us might prefer that option if we had it." But facing first-time fatherhood when your friends are sending their kids off to college is something of a culture shock. Luckily for him, he sees the humor in receiving both parenting magazines and the AARP Bulletin in the daily mail. — Erika Milvy
"I went to Catholic school, where they taught you to never get a girl pregnant."
Why did you decide to have a child at this point in your life?
Well, its kind of like the real estate market: It's never a good time. You just gotta get in now. I always knew I would have a child in this life and just wasn't sure when. I put it off for several reasons. First of all, I wasn't with the right person for a time, and I had a concern about bringing a baby into this world. Also, I went to Catholic school, where they taught you to never get a girl pregnant.
And why did you decide to write a book at this point in your life?
When you have a baby, you start thinking about your own childhood and what your parents were like. It's not really a book about pregnancy. It's more a collection of comedic essays, about the memories that the pregnancy stirs up and everything that leads up to impending fatherhood. It's a book about dealing with your anxieties and insecurities and coming to terms with what you want in life and being courageous enough, brave enough to take that step.
©2008 Erika Milvy and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Erika Milvy is a writer and critic covering arts and entertainment. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The LA Times, Parenting Magazine, Time Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Salon and other places. |
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