Jenny Slate is living her dream New England life — on and off screen - The Boston Globe (2024)

“It’s extremely fun to dress as someone who really has no apology about having an intensity and a performative style, almost,” Slate said. “I tend to dress differently than that, so just for me, it’s incredibly fun playing around.”

Directed by “Jane the Virgin” star Justin Baldoni, who also plays Lively’s love interest, Ryle, the film features scenes set in Boston and Maine. However, the majority of “It Ends with Us” was actually filmed in New Jersey — which Slate didn’t realize until after sending her family invites to hang out.

“I thought we would film in Boston and was like inviting my entire family to come visit me, and then found out I was going to be in New Jersey,” Slate said. “It was a really typical Jenny thing to do: Make a plan that makes sense for nobody.”

The Garden State mixup aside, Slate spends plenty of time in Massachusetts. Her husband, artist and writer Ben Shattuck, co-owns Davoll’s General Store, which bills itself as the oldest general store in the United States, with his brother in South Dartmouth. The store, which has been in operation since 1793, now has a bar, cafe, and bookstore inside, making it sound like the ultimate meet-cute setting.

“It’s such a dream,” Slate said. “It’s, in fact, a real pinch-me situation that this is actually my life.”

“I just love the store so much, also because I know most of the people who come in,” she added. “I didn’t really know my neighbors a lot growing up in Milton. It’s just like a really sweet way to live.”

Slate also appreciates the “New England vibe,” which she believes is built on more than just the region’s history.

“You go to Cape Cod, you can really get a lobster roll,” Slate explained. “That’s a real thing, and it feels good to touch the truth in that way.”

So far, 2024 has been a busy year for the 42-year-old star, who released her latest stand-up special, “Seasoned Professional,” in February. Slate’s memoir, “Lifeform,” is set to hit shelves in October, accompanied by a book tour that stops in Boston at the Wilbur Oct. 23.

After giving birth to her daughter, Ida, in 2021, Slate’s experience with motherhood influenced both her new special and upcoming book. Her maternal instincts also shine in “It Ends with Us,” as her character, Allysa, provides comfort and guidance to Lively’s Bloom, particularly in the fallout of a serious domestic violence situation.

“One of the things I’ve learned through motherhood is that there’s a real difference between care and control,” Slate said. “Although when we care about someone, we often try to control what happens to them.”

“If you are going to care for someone, you need to live in the truth with them,” she added. “The truth that they’re not perfect, that they’re growing, that injuries heal, but that heartbreak is also really real. And I think that’s something I’ve learned as a person, and it allows me to have softness in a role that really needed that.”

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of Slate’s breakout role opposite Vermont’s Jake Lacy in 2014′s “Obvious Child.” Directed by Gillian Robespierre, the comedy drama centers around a stand-up comic who gets an abortion after an unexpected pregnancy from a drunken one-night stand. Slate called the film “an impactful moment” in her career that allowed her to flex both her comedic and dramatic muscles. It also helped Slate develop her beliefs around art.

“It allowed me to really understand that I want to combine my art with accessible activism as much as I can,” Slate said. “Sometimes that’s just going to be in the way that I tell stories about being a mother or being someone trying to love again and trying to find the most specific, most personal way to send a message that actually many, many people can relate to.”

“It’s just created something in me that’s like, oh, you don’t have to make yourself generic in order to connect,” she added.

Slate’s success since “Obvious Child” has allowed her to be more selective with her roles and projects, calling choice “the greatest luxury.”

“I think I’m really in a time now where I’m experiencing that more and more, I choose what I do and it feels really good,” Slate said. “When I’m able to make a really clear choice about what I do, I do my work better, and I think that shows.”

“I feel like I’m in a kind of good chain reaction right now that feels rather hard won,” she added. “So I’m happy.”

“It Ends with Us” is now in theaters.

Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.