Jenny Slate on the other side of postpartum depression and letting go of shame

“Do you have any experience with patients who suddenly understood something,” writes Jenny Slate in her new collection of essays. form of life (Little, Brown), “and then even though they had other things to do, they couldn't stop fixating on this new understanding?”

“You can sleep in a stone for so long, and so much can happen without your consent, and so much can happen because you are awake in the stone but afraid to even take a look,” she continues. “But once you’re out there, once you’re kicked out, you’re free to work and make up for lost time.”

Slate has a flair for the fantastic and a deep understanding of relationship ecosystems: her 2022 film Marcel the shell with shoes tells the story of a 2.5 centimeter tall snail shell that wants to reunite with its family. Her first essay collection, Little strange ones (2019) is brimming with wonder at nature and describes love found and love lost.

Slate, 42, has since married writer and curator Ben Shattuck and become a mother. Experiences she began to explore in her latest special: Experienced professional. “Everything is getting richer and broader,” she says over Zoom from her home in Massachusetts. “I have so many more skills across the board, not just as an artist, but as a living, emotional human being.”

In form of life, Slate bursts from the stone. Written across five phases, from single life to pregnancy to parenthood, the collection combines Slate's signature magic with incisive reflections on love, family and legacy, all of which come together to create some of her most profound work to date.

Here we talk about finding love, parenthood, and aging in the entertainment industry.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Vanity Fair: How do you feel? form of life coming into the world soon?

Jenny Slate: It's the equivalent of a very, very useful exhale. It feels like the process is complete when it officially belongs to the world. I'm happy to say, 'This is how I think right now.' This is how I want to work.' It feels like a huge privilege to give people a little update.

One of the ideas that comes up in the book is the fear of being excluded from the world of creativity and achievement. How are you? form of life And your writing is related to these feelings?

The entertainment industry isn't exactly known for providing a ton of work for actresses over 40. You hear people say that there are no good roles, and that generally scared me forever. I think many people will say that they are afraid of the aging process from a young age because people in our culture are so scared and disgusted by it. Not only did I have some of these fears, but also that things would be tighter for me. Then suddenly I'm 40 and a father at the same time. I thought, 'This doesn't make any sense to me.' Everything is starting to open up.' Like I said in the book, I'm just starting to fledge. So what's the problem?