Tina Fey opened up about motherhood while reflecting on her experience directing Netflix’s “The Four Seasons.”
During an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” with the cast of Netflix’s “The Four Seasons,” Fey reflected on stepping into the director’s chair, comparing the experience to raising her two daughters, Alice, 20, and Penelope, 14, whom she shares with husband Jeff Richmond.
“I sort of felt about it the way I felt with motherhood, which is, ‘I’m maybe not a natural, but I don’t think I f—– up,'” Fey said.
The comment immediately got a laugh from Clarkson, who responded that she had “never felt more seen.”
Fey then explained that motherhood never felt as effortless to her as it seemed to for some other people.
“Some people are like Maria von Trapp — they’re a natural,” she said. “And I was like, ‘I’m awkward.'”
Motherhood is something Fey has spoken candidly about over the years. In her 2011 memoir “Bossypants,” she wrote about the uncertainty she felt while deciding whether to have a second child at age 40.
Fey recalled breaking down during a doctor’s appointment before being reassured by her doctor’s advice: “Either way, everything will be fine.”
While Fey may joke that she’s not a “natural,” her colleagues have described her as a steady presence on set.
“I’ve worked with her so many times in the past and she was always somebody you could go to for answers anyway,” a co-star said on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“It was just wonderful and seamless, you felt so comfortable,” they added.
“The Four Seasons,” which Fey co-created alongside Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, premiered on Netflix in 2025. The comedy-drama series, based on Alan Alda’s 1981 film of the same name, has since been renewed for additional seasons.