Oh, Baby! It's Kellie Martin, Mystery Lady

On Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 pm/ET, Hallmark Channel presents "Oh, Baby," the latest in a string of installments in its Mystery Woman movie series, starring ER/Life Goes On alum Kellie Martin as Samantha Kinsey, a bookstore owner who cracks police cases as often as she cracks open Dickens. This time around, Samantha's left holding the bag actually, a baby when a stranger flits in and out of her store. A timely twist, as Martin is expecting her own firstborn shortly. TVGuide.com spoke to the actress about her crime-solving, her baby-to-be and what it's like to kill Tori Spelling.

TVGuide.com: This was my first Mystery Woman and I was expecting you to be a bit more "Scooby-Doo-ish" in solving the crimes, a little more involved. Did I catch Samantha in flux?
Kellie Martin: She actually is in a bit of flux, I think, probably because of my pregnancy. [Laughs] They ended up giving a little bit more to some other characters. And also, in the [next movie] that airs in January, Clarence [Williams III]'s character, Philby, has a lot more to do, because I simply wasn't able to work as much.

TVGuide.com: Really? I wasn't picking up on any pregnant vibe watching this.
Martin: Oh, good!

TVGuide.com: I mean, they weren't conspicuously hiding you behind plants or pocketbooks....
Martin: I thought they were. I thought I was hiding it. I'm so glad that you didn't catch that but you will in the next one. The next one, you definitely will notice it. My boobs were a lot bigger than normal it was my "Pamela Anderson phase" but nobody seemed to mind it. "That Kellie Martin, she's nice and stacked!"

TVGuide.com: Have you found yourself becoming craftier, more intuitive as you've done the series?
Martin: I was always a kind of Nancy Drew-type even before I started the show, so I don't know that it has made me more acutely aware of tiny details. Maybe. I'm also a photographer in real life, and my character is a photographer.... I'm just a lot like this girl. She is so not a stretch for me. She reminds me a lot of the character I played on Life Goes On she's like Becca grown up which is fun. I haven't had a chance to play a character like that in a long time.

TVGuide.com: What a great scene partner you've got in Clarence Williams!
Martin: Oh, yes. Clarence is great. He's such a risk-taker, you never know how he's going to deliver a line or what he's going to do. He keeps me on my toes, which I really appreciate.

TVGuide.com: One minute he's this grizzly bear, the next Philby is trying to steal more moments with the baby....
Martin: I know! And he's got this amazing laugh that is so infectious. He's a great guy. I'm going to miss working with him.

TVGuide.com: Across your many TV-movie roles, is this the most you've ever worked with a baby?
Martin: Yes, it is. These babies were 6-month-old triplets, and there were two who really liked me and one who didn't. [Laughs] I felt bad about it, but I'd request one of the two who liked me, because it made my life easier. The other two were consistent, crying at exactly the right time, every time, which I was really impressed with. It was kind of bizarre!

TVGuide.com: As a mom-to-be, did you pick up any tips?
Martin: Just having them in your arms, I think, is really good practice, but the one thing I did pick up is the fact that I am so grateful I am only having one! I looked at this woman with her three babies, and I can't even imagine.

TVGuide.com: As a father of twins, even I have great reverence for those with triplets. I'm like, "You folks are just plain outnumbered!"
Martin: That's absolutely right! Oh, my gosh....

TVGuide.com: Give us the deets on your own pregnancy. Due date, names, is the nursery ready...?
Martin: I'm due in October, and we have some names picked out but we're not saying the sex of the baby yet because my husband wants to keep it secret  I don't know why! The nursery I am starting this week. It's amazing how prepared you have to be. Thank god I'm not working right now so I have time to do this. I'm also taking every child-rearing class that is [offered] in Los Angeles, and I had to get a new car because a year ago I guess I didn't think I'd be having a baby and I got a little two-door sports car. This baby is costing us a lot of money already, and it's still in the womb! [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Do you still have people expressing their grief over your abrupt li'l ER demise?
Martin: I do, I really do! I have so many people telling me they couldn't watch the show after that, which I feel bad about. But it was a good way to go, that's what I always say to them. If you've got to leave the No. 1 show on television, that's the way to do it. Get killed off hardcore, stabbed in every major organ. No chance of returning.

TVGuide.com: What's the most un-Kellie Martin role you've ever played?
Martin: The movie of the week where I killed Tori Spelling. Death of a Cheerleader, aka A Friend to Die For. I love that I'm in a movie that has "AKAs," it makes me laugh! I play this little Catholic girl who is obsessed with the popular girl at school and she has a psychotic break and stabs her. I'm most unlike that girl  and I'm very happy about that! It actually was based on a true story and when I was shooting it, the girl was going to be getting out of jail in a couple months so I tried to play her as sympathetically as possible. I didn't want her to come back and say, "Hey, I'm offended!"

TVGuide.com: What's next for Samantha Kinsey?
Martin: We're done shooting, and there are just two more episodes to air. One is about a Russian espionage writer who gets murdered in our town, and Samantha ends up getting hit by a car, so conveniently pregnant Kelly gets to be in a hospital bed for a little while.

TVGuide.com: And what's next for you? Momhood?
Martin: I've got to figure out how to be a mom, yeah. I'm one of the least maternal people I know. I've been working since I was 7, and that's always been what I do  I'm a worker. Now I'm going to be a mom and that's very exciting and scary to me. I plan to figure this out and be a mom for a little while!

TVGuide.com: Who's your go-to person for advice?
Martin: My husband, actually. He's surprisingly maternal and grew up around kids his whole life.

TVGuide.com: There's your first-string diaper-changer right there!
Martin: He's ready for it. He grew up [seeing] horses and cows born all around him, so I'm pretty much just like another cow to him But he's so comfortable with it, and I'm grateful for that. When I get nervous I look over at him and he's so calm, so I'm like, "OK, I can do this."

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