Like many fans, Chris O’Dowd was shocked to hear about his Get Shorty costar Felicity Huffman’s alleged involvement in the nationwide college admissions scandal.
“It’s not ideal,” the Bridesmaids star, 39, told Us Weekly exclusively while attending The Help Group’s 21st annual Teddy Bear Ball at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, March 19, to benefit children with autism and other special needs.
O’Dowd said he has not reached out to Huffman, 56, since she was indicted on March 12 for allegedly arranging a $15,000 payment to have an SAT proctor inflate her 18-year-old daughter Sophia’s score. (The actress and husband William H. Macy are also the parents of 17-year-old daughter Georgia.)
“I don’t know her massively well,” the Girls alum told Us. “Oddly, on the show, we didn’t work together that often. But, you know, I know she loves her kids, and I’m sure this is a very trying time for them all.”
The Desperate Housewives alum was among the 50 people who were charged over the alleged scam. Fuller House star Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were also arrested earlier this month after being accused of paying $500,000 to have their daughters, Bella, 20, and Olivia Jade, 19, labeled as crew team recruits at the University of Southern California even though they have no rowing experience.
“Neither actress knew this would become so serious,” a Huffman source said exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly. “They haven’t fully grasped the extent of their alleged crimes or the possibility of prison time.”
Huffman, Loughlin, 54, and fashion designer Giannulli, 55, are set to appear in Boston court on March 29.
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe