Jami Gertz as Debbie Weaver in 'The Neighbours'. Photo / Supplied
Jami Gertz enjoys making friends with her neighbours, finds Sarah Lang
In 1994, American actress Jami Gertz, then 29, was offered a part in a new sitcom, but turned it down to have her second child. Courteney Cox took the part of Monica on Friends, and the rest, as they say, is history. "They got Friends but I got [husband] Nick
Ressler, and I'm happy with my part of that deal," says Gertz.
Gertz and entrepreneur Ressler, whose net worth is reportedly $2 billion, have three sons, their own charitable foundation, and regularly top lists of the most generous US philanthropists. But Gertz is no desperate housewife. She has worked steadily for the three decades since she was discovered by a talent search aged 16, appearing largely in TV movies and in recurring roles on TV shows including Ally McBeal, Entourage and ER.
After her guest role on Seinfeld as Jerry's girlfriend Jane - who refused to pass Elaine any toilet paper - she still gets asked if she can "spare a square", even by Al Gore.
Gertz, who played harried mother Judy on family sitcom Still Standing (2002-2006), returns as leading lady on new ABC sitcom The Neighbors. Her character, Debbie Weaver, is a frank, feisty mother-of-three whose hapless husband Marty (Lenny Venito) moves the family into suburbia as a surprise. She's not happy - and that's before she discovers the neighbours are aliens. The Weavers soon discover the secret and befriend the alien leader and his wife.
"Reading the script, I kept giggling," Gertz remembers. "It was so funny, so different.
