Zoey 101s Jamie Lynn Spears says pregnant Sweet Magnolias role was a wink from universe aft

AFTER more than a decade since wrapping her Nickelodeon series Zoey 101, Jamie Lynn Spears is returning to acting with her new Netflix show, Sweet Magnolias.

The actress stars as a “young and pregnant” woman in the romantic drama series and considers this art-imitating-life role a “wink and laugh” from the universe after her own teen pregnancy in 2008.

Based on Sherryl Woods’ book series of the same name, Sweet Magnolias follows lifelong best friends Maddie (Joanna Garcia Swisher), Helen (Heather Headley) and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott), and their careers and relationships, in the small town of Serenity, South Carolina.

Releasing on Netflix on May 19, Jamie Lynn, 29, plays Noreen Fitzgibbons, a woman in her early 20s who’s been having an affair with Maddie’s husband, Bill Townsend (Chris Klein), and learns she’s pregnant with his kid.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Jamie Lynn said it was “random” and unintentional her first acting role back, after over a decade away, was that of a young and pregnant woman.

Still, she believes things happen for a reason and it was all a “wink and laugh” from the “universe” after she gave birth to her first child, Maddie, when she was 17 and coming off of a Nickelodeon show.

The 29-year-old added: “I think that was just kind of the way of the world telling me, 'Look, hey, it's time. Hey, by the way, you're gonna be pregnant.'

“So, I think it was just kind of a nice little nod to almost laugh at myself and, at the same time, to tell a story I really connect to.”

Jamie Lynn knew she wanted to portray this character because Noreen and her story, as “a young girl who is pregnant in not the ideal situation and trying to do the best she can,” just “really hit home” for her.

The actress starred on Nickelodeon’s popular boarding school-set series, Zoey 101, as Zoey Brooks from its premiere in 2005 until its finale in 2008.

Months before the show ended, the then-16-year-old actress announced she was pregnant with her first child, leading fans to later jump to the conclusion that her pregnancy was the reason for the program ending.

Last year, she finally put all the rumors to rest and marked the 14th anniversary of Zoey 101’s premiere with a video of the opening credits and the hashtags #itdidNOTendbecauseofpregnancy and #contractwasfinished.

Jamie Lynn cleared up any residual confusion in the comments section, explaining it did not end because she was “pregnant,” and that she “went home to finish high school and was going to pursue movies.”

Another fan asked if her Zoey 101 contract would’ve been extended under different circumstances, and she simply revealed, “No.”

Now, Jamie Lynn, who's participating in a virtual charity dinner with sister Britney on Thursday, is married to Jamie Watson, the mother of two daughters — Maddie, 11, and Ivey, 2 — and gearing up to make her grand return to acting.

There was no specific switch that flipped to let her know it was the right time to get back into the industry, but the Sleepover singer was just waiting for the “right situation” and wanted to have “time away to grow up a little bit.”

After putting feelers out and taking meetings, she realized “this part just felt right.”

As she’d spent quite a few years out of the acting game, she was “extremely nervous” when she first got to the Sweet Magnolias set and found herself wondering: “Do I suck? Am I good at this?”

Despite being unsure of herself and her abilities in the beginning, her “appreciation for being there” outweighed her insecurities and helped allow her to push through and “tell a story” she thought was so “good.”

Plus, after having just given birth to her second daughter, Ivey, a year before she started filming Sweet Magnolias, Jamie Lynn felt like she only connected with the role even more.

Jamie Lynn told The Sun: “Obviously, me being a mom, and, at that time, my youngest was only a year old last summer, so I felt like I had really just been there.

“It was really close to me at that time. So, I was really able to understand that you start to see things differently when you have another little human inside of you.

“I was able to use that when deciding how she would react to certain situations.”

Though she felt “nervous” about her acting return, Jamie Lynn’s Sweet Magnolias cast and crew were so impressed by her and what she brought to the character of Noreen.

Chris, who was her main scene partner on the show as Bill, told The Sun she’s an “amazing performer” and had a “spectacular time” working together.

Co-executive producer and director Norman Buckley shared that Jamie Lynn “brings an enormous amount of heart to the character that could be unsympathetic but is not because she plays it with such a genuine heart.”

He added: “I can't imagine anyone else playing the part. I was quite taken with her.

“…She brought something to the character that I think is really unique and extraordinary.

“I think people will be very surprised by the complexity of her work in the show. She's quite wonderful."

Sweet Magnolias showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson echoed Norman’s thoughts, explaining the actress “brought layers to the character that we weren't expecting, and it was gorgeous.”

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Sheryl added: “She brought more to the character than we could have hoped for. She's gonna knock [viewers’] socks off.”

All 10 episodes of Sweet Magnolias season 1 releases on Netflix on May 19.

The cast will be participating in a virtual watch party that same day at 4 p.m., and fans can join in by downloading Chrome's Netflix Party extension and clicking the link on the @SweetMagnolias social media pages that Tuesday. 

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