Maahra Hill Reveals How Taking A 12-Year Acting Break To Be A Mom Opened Doors

I went through a strong phase of only watching criminal justice shows when I was in college. (I feel like maybe we all did?) No episode of CSI or Criminal Minds was safe around me — every fictional case felt like a test to be solved and a hint that my future could be in that field. For a time, I seriously considered changing my major. Even now, I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had pursued that passion to its full potential in a career. Since I didn’t, I scratch that itch through shows that explore that world… which is how I came across NBC’s The Irrational and actor Maahra Hill.

Based on the 2008 non-fiction book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, the series follows Dr. Alec Mercer (Jesse L. Martin), a world-renowned professor of behavioral psychology who consults on special cases with the FBI. Hill plays Alec’s ex-wife Marisa, an FBI agent. And for Hill, it’s a chance to actually live out the career that almost was — as a psychology major in college, she has a strong interest in human behavior.

When I got the chance to speak with Hill at the start of Season 2, she opened up about what the show is teaching her, her decision to take more than a decade off to raise her daughter, and her (very cool) Olympic heritage.

Scary Mommy: Season 2 of The Irrational is underway (congrats!). You finally figured out the bombing mystery, but Rose was immediately kidnapped. Where is Marisa’s head at right now?

Maahra Hill: She’s coming off of some pretty traumatic events and significant losses, and coming into this season knowing that someone that she holds near, obviously Alec, is potentially going into a similar circumstance. So, I think right now, she’s just very much focused on making sure that he doesn’t experience the same kind of loss that she did, and then also move to a place to potentially hopefully heal some of the things that she’s been through.

Everyone deals with grief a bit differently, but we will see her address it and also have some other things come up that are a bit shocking to her, and that will also be shocking for the audience.

SM: Last season was rough, navigating divorced life and losing Jace. Any hints about whether there could be another relationship — or maybe revisiting a past one — in the near future?

MH: I will say that there is a relationship, but it’s probably not what you’d be expecting. There is a relationship from the past that surfaces in a surprising way, and it’s definitely very, very heartfelt for sure.

SM: What has it been like building the life-after-divorce dynamic you have with the legendary Jesse L. Martin?

MH: One of the things that sets the show apart, in a way, is that you don’t often see people post-divorce who are able to work so closely together and still feel so connected to one another. I think it helps Marisa to be able to still see Alec and make sure that he’s OK, but it’s also something that’s beneficial to him and both of them professionally.

To work with Jesse, he’s amazing just as a human being. He’s so sensitive and heartfelt and present in his approaches to the craft, but also just in life in general. Even as an ex-wife, it’s such an interesting relationship. I feel like that relationship can be a suggestion that things don’t have to be messy. They can work out, they can blend well, they can still take a new form and work out just fine.

SM: And Jesse is just aging like fine wine. Were you surprised by the magnitude of stans he has out there?

MH: I was, actually! I was in the airport, and someone who was working in the lounge ran up to me and was like, ‘Oh, where are you going? You going to Vancouver?’ I was like, ‘What? Who is this? What’s going on?’ But I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to Vancouver.’ They said, ‘I know you’re working on the show … me and my family watch it all the time. Please tell Jesse he is a snack.’ (laughs)

He is the draw; he’s just magnetic. He’s got so much charm and charisma. So, it’s understandable. For everyone — cast and crew and the audience alike — it’s quite an honor to be a witness of the magnanimity of Jesse L. Martin.

SM: What are some of your favorite things you’ve learned about psychology through this role?

MH: One is confirmation bias: If there’s something you’re looking for, you’re going to find it. Your biases will be confirmed by you because that’s what you’re looking for. And I feel that, on so many levels, we unconsciously do that. You act as if you’re going objectively in a direction to find the answer when you actually do have certain biases. Your mind is going to train itself to find the answer you’re looking for. I thought that was fascinating.

SM: You took over a decade off to raise your daughter, Asia. What would you say to women who worry that having kids early in their careers is a non-starter?

MH: My choice was to follow my heart, and having my daughter was just this irrevocable force in that direction. When she was born, my heart burst open in a way that I hadn’t experienced previously. I feel like there is no way that what’s for you won’t arrive in your life if you are following your heart. For me, motherhood was all that mattered.

I think in this industry, we feel specifically like age is a thing: I need to do this now because I’m younger, or [having kids] will pull me away from the path because of how time-consuming they are. In some ways, none of that is true. In some ways, it is. It’s really all about what you believe to be true for yourself in your life.

I even feel like the fact that I focused on motherhood so much initially is what opened the door … it was my belief in myself and my ability to do this and that. With some things, you’ll put 60% over here and 40% over there, and that’s what it was like for me for a while. I was more into motherhood than I was into my career. Now, that has shifted as she’s gotten older, and the timing has been perfect. Doors are opening, and I feel so, so grateful for that. I think, ultimately, if you just know your heart and not ignore it, you cannot go wrong.

SM: We know that representation and diversity in media are so important. When Asia was growing up, what did your conversations about that look like?

MH: I don’t remember having a lot of conversations around diversity at the time, but there was an intention around finding places where she could see herself reflected and buying dolls and things that looked like her.

The reason that diversity is so important is because it’s a whole picture. If it’s not diverse, then it’s not true, so it lacks honesty in some way if there’s not diversity — and diversity in a number of ways, mothers and fathers and all ages, all races. An important part of the conversation, to make sure we’re having an honest conversation, is that it includes everyone.

But then the reason to be able to see oneself and to have diversity in the media is so that when we talk about psychology, your mind opens up in a way that says this is possible. That’s what we find when anyone says, ‘When I saw this person do it, I knew I could do it.’ You don’t have to forge that path … you see that it’s been done. It just all of a sudden opens up this place in your mind where you’re like, ‘Oh, I can do it then,’ and ‘I can make that happen.’

So, I did intentionally make sure she saw those things, but it was mostly me as a model that I think had the greatest impact.

SM: You had some pretty amazing family role models, too! Your great-grandfather, DeHart Hubbard, was the first Black athlete to ever win an individual Olympic gold medal. Can you tell us a little more about him?

MH: I think part of his story that we are trying to change the narrative around is that he’s not as well known as, say, Jesse Owens, even though he inspired Jesse Owens. They don’t know the name DeHart Hubbard as well because of his modesty and humility, but he was a supreme athlete and also had a genius-level art intellect.

He had a scholarship available to him at Harvard, but he didn’t want a scholarship because he wanted to earn his way. So, he decided to go to the University of Michigan, and that’s where his career professionally took off. The idea that he would secure gold was great. He’s like, ‘You’re absolutely going to go,’ and he wrote it out, ‘I will be the first colored Olympic champion.’

Every meet that he set his sights on, he’s like, ‘This is what I’m going to do. I don’t care what it is,’ and it’s been passed down to the family; we do all feel a sense of our own ability to achieve the things that we want to achieve in life. And we hope to create a better narrative around the first Olympic individual gold medal champion who was of African-American descent. We want to make sure that people understand the journey that he had and bring his name forward in a more powerful way.

SM: OK, one more quick question. You starred with Jill Marie Jones in Delilah and were in an episode of Black-Ish with Tracee Ellis Ross. If, by some miracle, a Girlfriends reboot happened, would you be game to become a new girlfriend?

MH: I love Jill Marie Jones — she and I are the closest ever since Delilah. I am so grateful to that show just for the friendship that I have with her right now. I have to tell her this question. I can’t even imagine being asked, but if in some fantasy world that happened, I would be super excited.

I think it would do really well if they did decide to do something. They all look so good, and they’re all just as talented, if not more so, because of the years in the game. I couldn’t turn it down … but I doubt that [would happen]. They were perfect as they were.

SM: Hey, look at the Sex and the City reboot. They brought in new characters…

MH: That’s true; you don’t have to be a part of the core group. With that in mind, you’re right — that would be fun!

The Irrational airs on NBC Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.