‘SNL’ is still her baby

Maya Rudolph is pregnant again, both in real life and on the big screen in “Away We Go.”

But don’t think for a minute that a film career or a second baby would keep her away from “Saturday Night Live.”

Rudolph has returned for occasional guest shots after leaving the show in 2007 following a seven-year run.

“I talk to Lorne (Michaels) a lot, and he knows where my heart is,” she says. “And he knows he’s got a real hold on me. …

“I always tell him, ‘I’m an addict. I’m an “SNL” addict.’ And I will use again. Oh, I will.”

Rudolph has experience playing a pregnant character onscreen. In her first standout feature-film performance, she was an expectant radio-show stage manager in Robert Altman’s 2006 film “A Prairie Home Companion.”

But she wasn’t expected to be expecting: After accepting the role, Rudolph became pregnant with her first child with director Paul Thomas Anderson.

“I remember (Altman) told me, `You’re going to be playing Molly, the stage manager,”’ Rudolph said. “And I said, ’So, how do you feel about her being pregnant?’

“And he said, `I think that would be great.’ And I said, `Well, that’s great, because I’m pregnant.’ And he said, ‘Oh, that’s wonderful. Did you do that for me?’ ”

“Away We Go” (which hasn’t yet reached Spokane) marks the 36-year-old’s first major feature-film lead, as half of a couple (with John Krasinski of “The Office”) on the road in search of a place to call home.

“I laughed so hard at the way this depicted this crazy time, when you’re expecting a baby, and all the weirdos that come into your life, and opinions,” Rudolph says.

“So, I was happy to put on the belly – the big ol’ belly.”

The birthday bunch

Actor Jim Belushi is 55. Actress Julie Hagerty (“Airplane”) is 54. Actress Helen Hunt is 46. Actress Courteney Cox is 45. Rapper-actor Ice Cube is 40. Actress Leah Remini (“King of Queens”) is 39. Actor Neil Patrick Harris is 36.