'Life Unexpected' Star Shiri Appleby on Playing a Mother, Snooki Loving 'Roswell' and More

On The CW's 'Life Unexpected,' 31-year-old actress Shiri Appleby plays the mother of a 16-year-old girl named Lux. In real life, Appleby doesn't have any children and is only 12 years older than the actress who plays her daughter. Still, she told TV Squad last week that she feels a kinship with her character, Cate, a radio host who was recently reunited with the child she gave up for adoption in high school.

"There's a lot of me in her," she said, "[like] being really committed to your job and wanting to do things right. There's a bit of a perfectionist in both of us. I make a lot of mistakes but I know how to apologize later. She does that, which I really respect. She's trying to learn."

During the show's first season, Cate struggled with a love triangle between her co-host and fiance, Ryan, and Lux's father, Baze while trying to get her life together. After the jump, find out what else Appleby had to say about her motherly instincts, choosing between Baze and Ryan, and her beloved WB series, 'Roswell.'

What drew you to the character of Cate?
When I first read the script, I really liked the fact that it was a story of this young adult having to make the choice to grow up and start to take responsibility for her life. I was going through a very similar journey myself, and I started really believing that becoming an adult is a choice that we make. It doesn't just happen when you turn a certain age, so I could really relate to a lot of the emotional journey she was on.

Do you think she'll ever be able to get it together?
Yeah, I think she's in the process of really figuring herself out and learning how to grow. It's definitely not easy for her. She's got so much on her plate: balancing a relationship with a new child, understanding who this new child is and trying to figure out what it actually means to be married, especially when there's been so much dishonesty and so little time focused on what their real expectations are.

How is the marriage going to affect Cate?
All of a sudden she realizes that her behavior and choices are committed to somebody else. She's very much the kind of person that when something gets hard or goes wrong, she likes to run. She realizes pretty quickly that she can't do that anymore. Being married means you have to be accountable and you have to face somebody.

Do you think she made the right choice in marrying Ryan?
I don't know at this point if it's right or wrong. That's just what she did. I don't know that she knows, I don't know that I know, but that's the situation and she has to deal with it.

What do you think she likes so much about Ryan?
I think she thought he was someone she could look up to and admire. He was better at being a human being than she was.

What does she see in Baze?
I think he looks at her and she just lights her up on the inside. They're like kindred spirits. They get along and they can connect in a way that's really easy. They probably don't need to talk about it and work on things quite as much.

Do you think that connection was there when they got together in high school, or did they grow in that direction?
Oooh, that's a really good question. I'm sure there must have been something there, because Cate is a bit on the uptight side. She was so focused on doing the right thing and getting good grades and being the valedictorian, that if she was going to just sleep with somebody, I imagine there was some kind of spark. There must have been something there for her to have done that.

Do you think that's a product of playing a mother on the show?
I think it's just who I am. Even if you're playing a mother on TV, if you don't have a maternal instinct in your body, it's not going to work.

If you, Shiri, had to choose between Baze and Ryan, who would you pick?
I want a combination of both of them. I want, like, the really grounded, centered, determined side of Ryan, and I would like the carefree, spontaneous, wins-you-over-with-his-smile kind of charm from Baze.

That's a good answer.
See if you can find him and get back to me!

What was it like filming the 'One Tree Hill' crossover?
It was really fun. It was Bethany Joy and Kate Voegele, and it was a big singing sensation day. We had Sarah McLachlan and Ben Lee and a bunch of musicians come on. It was great because I've known Bethany Joy since we were like 17 years old, and she's obviously on the other side of the coin now coming to the end of an eight-year run on the show that forced her to live in another state away from her friends and family. So there was a lot that you could sit down and ask her. How did she survive this? How did she figure out how to have a social life and be a part of her family, being so far away?

I read earlier this year that when you're shooting, you live with Britt Robertson, who plays your daughter.
Last year we did. This year we actually live just a few blocks from each other. She's still my kid but I'm having to learn that she's an adult on her own.

What is it like playing the mother of a girl who's really only 12 years younger than you?
It's not an age thing. Brittany, she's just 20 years old. If you think about it, your whole 20s is an entire lifetime, so I still feel very motherly with her. The same thing [happens] when Ksenia Solo is in town, or Austin Butler. They're young and they're all incredibly talented and they have a lot of opportunity. I made a lot of mistakes and I made some right choices in my 20s, so I talk to them about it all the time. I think the point of having experiences is to share what you've learned with people who can actually use that information. So I'm still very motherly, I would say, with all of them.

What's coming up for Cate on the show?
Basically, when Ryan and Cate were engaged -- usually they say the time of engagement is when you make a lot of decisions on how your life and your marriage are going to go -- they were dealing with Lux and Baze and this whole chaos that happened last season. Now that they're married, they're having to figure out what it's like to be married to each other, who the other person is and what their expectations are. The first year of their marriage is incredibly rocky and bumpy, and Cate has to figure out that when it becomes difficult, she can't run anymore. And she has to learn, who is this daughter who she hasn't really seen? Yes, she loves her because she's her kid, and she loves her because she's sweet and she can look in her eyes see part of her and part of Baze, but who is she and what's her path? Now that Cate has married Ryan, what is the nature of her relationship with this other guy who, two weeks ago, she said she might be in love with? How do you reconcile all those feelings?

How is the new character of Julia going to shake things up?
All I can say is that I'm scared for Ryan for when Cate finds out. It's not going to be pretty. Cate's not a very calm character, and she doesn't deal with stress well. I can't imagine that she's going to handle anything gracefully.

Speaking of handling stress, how is she going to handle being fired from her job?
Not well. She loses her mind, which is amazing. She doesn't handle it. Obviously, with that comes the fact that she's been rejected. Who is she without her job? Is she just a mom now? A year ago, before Lux came into her life, is that who she thought she would be? Before Lux I don't know if she saw herself married. I don't know if she saw herself with a kid. Now, her whole life is completely unrecognizable to her. Her job, the one thing she valued before any of this, is taken from her -- I just don't think she handles it quite well.

There's just one more thing I wanted to ask you about: First, do you watch 'Jersey Shore'?
I've never seen it!

Well, I'm a big 'Roswell' fan and apparently so is Snooki -- you've probably heard of her. She tweeted last week that she's a huge fan too.
Of 'Roswell'? That's amazing. Oh my gosh. Go Snooki!

What's it like still having such a following for 'Roswell' eight years after it ended?
It's so surprising and so flattering. It's like the first time you fall in love and people are still talking about that relationship. Now that I'm on another show, you realize that it doesn't happen all the time. I just feel so grateful that whatever we did on that show obviously made such a difference to people, because we spend our whole lives working on these film sets and you just hope that people respond to it. So I'd say the fact that, over 10 years later, people are still asking me about it is incredibly gratifying.