Calista Flockhart Calista Flockheart has charmed as Kitty Walker in award-winning drama Brothers & Sisters.

We caught up with her to find out how things have changed since she first appeared on our screens as kooky lawyer Ally McBeal.

How does your experience on Brothers & Sisters compare with your time on Ally McBeal?
Brothers & Sisters is a very different experience to Ally McBeal. I'm much more low-key now. It was a crazy time when Ally McBeal exploded, but this is not like that at all.

In what way is it different?
One example is the way I used to have a lot of paparazzi following me everywhere I went when I was on Ally McBeal. I never left the house without paparazzi following me but now that doesn't happen. Well, it happens occasionally, but it's not like it used to be.
 
Do you miss all of the attention?
Not at all. Attention is nice if it's positive attention, but I wasn't after all of the attention back then. I didn't want it. It was negative.

Is that why you decided to take a break from acting when Ally McBeal finished?
I took five years off, but I wasn't taking a break from work. The time off was purely to raise my son. I wanted to be home with him. I felt really fortunate that I could do that. I didn't have to work, so I took full advantage of everything.

Does work on an ensemble show make it easier to have a family?
It's a lot easier to spend time with your family if you're part of an ensemble because you don't have to work all day, every day. Sometimes there's a heavier episode, which makes it a bit more challenging – but usually my workload is pretty balanced. There are a lot of characters in Brothers & Sisters, so I'm not carrying the show on my own. You have more leeway and you have more time off because of that.
 
Is your son aware that he has an extremely famous mother?
No, I don't think he knows. He doesn't really know what ‘famous' is. He's aware that his parents are actors. He knows that we do movies and we're on television, but we never use the word ‘famous.' He understands that people know who I am if they watch the show and he knows that it's pretend, but he doesn't watch the show. In fact, he's never seen it.
 
Having adopted in your personal life, how much did you bring to the story when your character decided to adopt a child?
Well, the logistics of it were completely different, but I obviously knew what it meant to adopt emotionally and I know how high the stakes are. Once you become a mother, it informs your acting in a richer and a deeper way. It certainly did that for me. However, I left the writing to the writers.
 
Do you think the adoption will have a huge effect on your character's life?
I think so. I think her priorities have changed. She's really about family and about being home. Babies do that to you. They get under your skin like that.
 
What do you think of Kitty and Robert's relationship?
I think our relationship is very complicated at the end of the season. It's kind of sad, too. Kitty was on the verge of leaving Robert, but then he had a heart attack and that's what kept them together.

I thought it was really interesting because you can be out of the door but then something like that happens and there is no choice. You find that love that you had for them in a very deep visceral way and you go back to each other. However, it doesn't make your problems go away.
 
Do you think there's a chance that Kitty will become a single mom?
I think it becomes much more complicated. It's a very sad relationship. We are watching this relationship disintegrate, but nobody is right and nobody is wrong.

At the end of the day, I think Kitty and Robert are crazy about each other. I think they are destined to be together on some level.

Brothers & Sisters Season 3 is on DVD from Mon 19th Oct.