Baby 101

How did Jamie Lynn go from Britney's little sister to international celebrity?
I think she became a star by making very smart choices. The mistake that some magazines make about the Spears is thinking they're not a smart family. That is absolutely ridiculous. These are very, very smart young girls. Britney has certainly had her troubles but Jamie Lynn has really learned from years and years of observing this international superstar as her sister. She's seen things that happened to Britney and really learned the lessons so when it came to her own story, or her own image or her own press, she made really smart choices.

What did you want to get out of this new photo shoot? What did you want to come across about Jamie Lynn?
We wanted to have the most intimate moments. Whenever we do photo shoots with babies, we always want to shoot it ourselves, the original art owned by OK! We have a photographer at their home, we always have to have it at their home. We want them in their most natural environment. We want them at home on their couch, in the kitchen, in the bedroom. We want to go in the nursery, we want to see what toys they have on their bed. I want to see the cribs. Those are the moments we really want. I want to know all the tiny details. Who gets up in the middle of the night if the baby cries? I want all that information. When we're in the home, I love the little details. Our readers love the little details.

How real is the photo shoot? Is that Jamie Lynn's home or are we seeing props?
That lamp with that duck on it, that's her lamp. We don't stage things, it's not a shoot for a glossy magazine or a commercial. This is real life; we want it to look real. The magazines on her coffee table are her magazines. The stuff in her kitchen, that's her coffee maker, not ours. We certainly didn't bring things in for the nursery, that's her nursery. What we turn up with is a photographer and a reporter.

How was Casey Aldrige, Jamie Lynn's fiancé, at the photo shoot?
I think Casey has had this whirlwind of attention upon him. Initially, when we started the photo shoot, he was a little uncomfortable but as the day went on he loosened up a little bit. [OK! spent one day at the couple's house, and then conducted an interview with Jamie Lynn for a few hours the following day.] I think you can see on his expression that he's not as used to having his photo taken as little Jamie Lynn.

Throughout OK! Magazine, there is a lot of baby coverage, looking at who is pregnant and how new moms are losing their baby weight. Why is it such a hot topic?
Our readers love babies. Babies are the new "it" factor in the celebrity market. I think the reason that this is the case is that readers want to see celebrities be themselves, be real, and there's nothing more natural and real than giving birth and having a baby. I think it's catching a celebrity at their most, intimate, tender ... It also helps that most celebrities, by the nature of celebrity, are some of the most beautiful people in the world. I think there's a curiosity factor of seeing if two beautiful people have a baby, what that baby looks like.

How big was the story of Jamie Lynn's pregnancy for OK!?
The attention and press, it might be one of the biggest stories that OK! has ever had in America if not the world. It was an international story. It was on the cover of the London newspapers, the German newspapers, the French newspapers. It was just an extraordinary moment. I think we knew it was a very big story but it took us a little bit by surprise just how big this story became. The nightly news was talking about it.

What's the next chapter? Do you have plans for future Jamie Lynn coverage?
We have a great interest in the Spears family as an entire family, the Jamie Lynn addition and her daughter is something I think we find, as editors, really interesting. Our readers find it very, very interesting and the amount of debate is interesting. This is a story that is a very complex story to tell and I think because of that nature it makes it really interesting. I can't wait to see the decisions she makes, if she stays in Louisiana or goes back to Hollywood. She's very young and could have an amazing career ahead of her.

© 2008