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Jane Seymour Heads to Ben and Kate as BJ's "Wonderfully Inappropriate" Mother

Paging Dr. Quinn! Jane Seymour guest-stars as the "wonderfully inappropriate" mom of BJ (Lucy Punch) on Tuesday's episode of Ben and Kate (airing 8:30/7:30c on Fox )— and it's safe to say her character, Wendy, won't be winning Mother of the Year anytime soon.

liz-raftery.jpg
Liz Raftery

Paging Dr. Quinn!

Jane Seymour guest-stars as the "wonderfully inappropriate" mom of BJ (Lucy Punch) on Tuesday's episode of Ben and Kate (airing 8:30/7:30c on Fox )— and it's safe to say her character, Wendy, won't be winning Mother of the Year anytime soon.

"I just thought she was a wonderfully inappropriate mother, really," Seymour says. "There's nothing remotely motherly about her, and she's a bit of a piranha, really. She'll do whatever suits her. She's not terribly concerned about BJ at all, really. And she'll go with whatever happens. She's pretending to be a mother. She's acting the role."

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Fans of the show might think that explains some of BJ's own self-absorption, but in fact, it's often BJ herself who's a victim of her mother's selfishness.

"Wendy is very competitive with her daughter, and she's always putting her daughter down," Seymour said on a conference call Monday. "Her mother tries to outdo her daughter at every possible occasion. ... Wendy thinks nothing of getting involved with BJ's men. In fact, she's done this in the past and doesn't understand why her daughter would find anything wrong with that."

This time, Wendy has her sights set on Buddy (Rob Corddry), the owner of the bar where BJ and Kate (Dakota Johnson) work, whom BJ also happens to be dating.

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"He's fantastic. Absolutely brilliant. And improv with him of course is a dream, since he's just a great writer," says Seymour of Corddry, with whom she had previously worked as a guest star on his Childrens Hospital spin-off, Newsreaders. "I particularly love the scene I did with him, I have to admit. I had a lot of fun."

So, will viewers see more of Wendy? According to Seymour, who says she's "absolutely" open to future appearances on the show and described working with Punch as "lovely," it's very likely. Though the acting veteran is primarily known for her dramatic work, she said she's eager to return to comedy.

"I love doing comedy. Absolutely love it," says Seymour. "After Wedding Crashers, people suddenly realized that it was something I could do. ... [But] I really feel that I haven't even touched the surface of what I know I can do."

Ben and Kate airs Tuesday at 8:30/7:30c on Fox.