Jennifer Tilly is ready for her close-up — on the new season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, that is.
Three months after it was announced that Tilly, 65, would be joining the cast for season 14 of RHOBH alongside Bomoza Saint John, the actress is opening up about what it means to join the show after previously appearing only as a guest in seasons 10, 12 and 13.
Chatting with ET’s Brice Sander from the Sutton Stracke Green Label Capsule Collection Show at the Godfrey Hotel in Hollywood on Monday, Tilly expressed her excitement at finally getting the chance to finally be promoted to the role of “friend.”
“Oh my god, it’s so exciting, you know, I’ve been a big Housewives fan since the inception, since the first episode so now it’s sort of like I crawled into the TV,” the actress shared, adding that it means the world to do it with her best friend, Sutton Stracke. “I get to witness everything firsthand.”
As for how filming on the highly-anticipated new season is going, Tilly is keeping her lips zipped. So far we know that Kyle Richards, Erika Girardi, Dorit Kemsley, Garcelle Beauvais, Crystal Kung Minkoff, Stracke and Saint John are all set to return as full-fledged cast members.
“Well, it’s a little cray cray crazy but I, you know, I love all these girls — I really admire them,” she shared with ET. “It’s very difficult work to spin entertainment out of thin air and they all do a phenomenal job of it.”
Tilly isn’t the only familiar face walking back onto TV sets for the new season, though. Returning as a “friend” for season 14 is Kathy Hilton, who has appeared as both a guest and a friend since season 1. On Monday night, Hilton, 65, and Tilly even posed together at Stracke’s fashion show.
For the Oscar-nominated actress, jumping from guest to friend was not too much of a leap as she was already pretty comfortable with her co-stars. She says it helps that they have all hung out in the past and even traveled together on trips around the world.
“I bonded with all the girls, you know, when you go off on those little trips,” she said. “It’s sort of like, when you’re in a row boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — even if you don’t like somebody at the beginning of the trip — at the end of the trip, you really — you’ve shared and experience.”
Inside the fashion show — where she strutted the catwalk in one of her bestie’s designs — Tilly posed for pictures alongside Stracke and other Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast members, including Hilton, Richards and Beauvais.
She shared that she could not be more proud to finally see Stracke chase after one big dream: creating her own fashion line.
“I love her whole — her whole thing about sustainable fashion, and, you know, she’s always been a fashionista and for her to become a designer now it’s like amazing and I’m really proud of her,” Tilly said of walking in Stracke’s fashion show.
In 2021, ET chatted with the Chucky actress about her RHOBH fandom and how she was tuning in for her best friend of several decades.
“Oh my gosh, I’m a super fan and I’ve watched every single season. I have to say, it’s a little more harrowing when one of your dear friends is, you know, in the shooting gallery,” the actress shared. “Sutton did a lot of crying this year, but everybody takes a turn in the hot seat. And I say kudos to all those girls who are putting on a great show during the pandemic for us to watch.”
RELATED CONTENT:
