Shortly before Bell spoke to Story + Rain, several midwestern farm states, including Nebraska, where her show is set, had been affected by massive flooding following a “bomb cyclone.” In response, the cast of “Bless This Mess” filmed a public service announcement for the state, and is organizing financial relief for some residents affected by flooding. Bell feels, again, earnest, harbors a responsibility about how she portrays the middle of the country, an area she admits she doesn’t know well. But she’s been influenced by Meriwether, who is from Michigan, and by the 80% of her writers’ room that hail from the Midwest. Bell aims to highlight this “group of people in a positive way, through a lens of kindness and love and respect, with my sense of humor—funny but rooted in core values.”





“Regardless of how you feel about our president, our country is struggling in our division,”





In much of Bell’s work, she has worn multiple hats: for her independent films In A World... and I Do … Until I Don’t, she wrote, directed, and acted. She’s the chief hat wearer on “Bless This Mess,” too, obviously, but is wary of setting that expectation for every actor out there. “We are in a time where people are like, ‘Self-generate! Make it happen for yourself!’ But I don’t want people to ever feel like, if they choose not to do all the things, that they are less-than. I have a story in my mind, that’s why I write, to tell those stories, to laugh at myself and laugh at others, and feel—to not hold those feelings in. But we should have the choice. Can’t we also be comfortable saying, ‘I just want to be an actress, and that’s enough’?”

Bell does enjoy doing all the things, but right now, she’s invested in creating projects with boundaries that allow for her current life priorities—being a mother of a four- and a one-year-old. “That’s a huge part of why I only directed one episode, a huge part of why I am not doing a movie, but a TV show. Liz and I are boss ladies on the show, but we [live and shoot] here in LA because I want to be here on weekends and be present with my kids. I respect my role as a mom, and I respect my role in my career. There are no final answers, there is no one book. Everyone is figuring it out, it depends what kind of parent you are, what kind of partner you have, what kind of parent they are. Globally, though, parenting has to become much more normalized in our industry and not seen as a handicap.” She underscores that her current job would not be possible without her very active co-parent partner, and their nanny and community of support.



