Last month I was in Orlando for a blogging conference. Barry Watson (from 7th heaven) was also there promoting his new show, Date My Dad. I had the opportunity to watch the pilot early and even interview Barry about the show and life!
Since work-life-balance questions are usually only asked of working moms in the spotlight I was curious to see how he’d answer my questions, and pleasantly surprised!
In Date My Dad he plays Ricky, a 40 year old dad of 3 daughters. His wife passed away a few years ago and his girls are convinced he needs to get back in the dating game! The show is hilarious! The daughters are adorable and full of personality and it’s fun watching Barry’s character navigate fatherhood and the dates his daughters set up for him.
One of the first things I asked Barry was how he kept in touch with his kids when he travels for work. Like most of us, he said things have gotten a lot better with technology. FaceTime and texts keep him chatting with his kids when he’s gone.
He also shared that his kids play a huge part in his decisions about roles he takes as an actor and which ones he turns down. When a job is taking him away from home for a long time, he looks for opportunities in the same time zone. This makes FaceTime and talking with the kids a lot easier, he shared. And, when you head home for a little bit of time between trips, you don’t waste precious time dealing with jetlag!
It was great hearing him talk about how much time and effort he puts into making his kids feel close to him, even when work takes him far from home, and the hands-on approach to parenting that he has when he’s at home.
We talked about the similarities to his own kids and his three daughters on the show and how fun it was to work with Zenia Marshall, Lilah Fitzgerald and Audrey Smallman – his on-screen daughters.
It’s clear when watching the show that they have a real connection, and it makes the dialogue really engaging to watch!
I even found some fun clips of Barry telling “dad jokes” to them during an interview! Complete with eye-rolls from the girls!
There are dad jokes afoot. #DateMyDad premieres Friday, June 2 on @uptv! pic.twitter.com/7jRmXaPUxz
— Date My Dad (@DateMyDadOnUP) May 17, 2017
The Date My Dad pilot airs tomorrow night (June 2) on UpTV at 9pm EST! You don’t want to miss it, it’s an adorable show, I can’t wait to see what happens next!
And I hope his tips for traveling & working moms and dads were helpful for you! I know I was encouraged by them!
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