Reader's Digest: Jill Hennessy
Free
Spirit
By Diane Sewell
Jill
Hennessy, star of the hit series Crossing Jordan, lusts
for life
On a
damp, grey morning in Soho, in New York City, Jill
Hennessy arrives for our sit-down interview at a small
hotel precisely at 11 o’clock, looking gorgeous and
relaxed in jeans and a leather jacket. Within five
minutes it feels like I’ve been reacguainted with a
high-school chum. Such is the disarming personality of
the 36-year-old who loves to cook and ride motorcycles
and has been dubbed one of Hollywood’s hottest female
actors.
Hennessy was born in Edmonton in 1969 – three minutes
after her identical twin sister, Jacqueline. After their
parents split up, the girls, 13, and their younger
brother remained with their father.
After
finishing high school, Hennessy left the family home in
Kitchener for Toronto in search of an acting career.
There she hooked up with an improv-comedy troupe and
studied with the famed Second City, earning food money
by playing guitar on downtown streets. After appearing
in 1988 with her sister (now a Toronto writer-editor) in
the film Dead Ringers, starring Jeremy Irons, she got a
role in the stage production of The Buddy Holly Story
and landed in New York. That’s where her career really
took off. She got her big break in 1993 when she signed
a three-year contract with the Emmy-award-winning TV
series Law and Order, to play assistant district
attorney Claire Kincaid, a role that endeared her to
viewers all over the world.
These
heady days, Hennessy is the star of NBC’s Crossing
Jordan, now in its fifth season. Her portrayal of Dr.
Jordan Cavanaugh, an edgy and outspoken Boston medical
examiner, won her a nomination for the People’s Choice
Award in the show’s first season. In 2000, Hennessy
married actor-businessman Paolo Mastropietro; the
couple, along with their two-year-old son, Marco, divide
their time between Los Angeles and New York.
RD:
You’ve stayed out of the tabloids and people say you’re
very down-to-earth. How have you managed not to get
swept up in fame?
Hennessy: It’s funny; I really don’t comprehend the
whole fame aspect. I work on a TV show, and I focus on
learning my lines and doing a good job. I don’t have a
sense that it’s being transmitted to millions of people.
I only see it when somebody stops me on the street, and
to be honest, most of the time that’s nice – especially
when I’m in Canada, walking around Toronto or Montreal
or Waterloo, where my father lives.
RD:
How has becoming a mother changed your life?
Hennessy: I don’t sweat the small stuff as much. And
before I had Marco, I’d always felt this need to keep
moving, a sense that I was not in the right place. I
don’t have that feeling anymore.
RD:
What was it like growing up as a teenager without a
maternal figure?
Hennessy: It forces one to be so self-reliant,
especially as a girl. Young women have so much pressure;
they have to appear a certain way; behave a certain way.
Not having my mother there forced me to figure out how
to deal with situations – How should I dress? Should I
wear makeup? Should I not?
RD:
Your career took off with Law and Order. When your
three-year contract expired, why did you leave such a
high-profile role?
Hennessy: For the very reason that it was high
profile. I was becoming a typecast; I was trying to
audition for the movies, and what was frightening was to
find out that a lot of casting directors didn’t want to
see me because they thought I was a buttoned-up attorney
type. I loved the show, but I wanted to play other
characters.
RD:
What role has been the most challenging so far?
Hennessy: Jacqueline Kennedy, whom I played in a
miniseries. I knew that in playing somebody so
recognizable I’d practically be begging for scrutiny.
Also, one of my worst fears is to offend people, to
dishonour someone as respectable as Jackie. But because
I was so afraid, I wanted to tackle this.
Jackie
had a particular way of speaking, a not-quite-British
accent, so I got a dialect coach, and every day I’d
listen to tapes of Jackie to get into her cadence.
Afterwards, a few people stopped me, and one person
said, “My good friend was Jackie’s chauffeur and says
you’re the only person to get her joyful qualities, her
voice.” That’s what resonated with me, hearing from
people who knew her that I got a general sense of her.
RD:
In an industry that worships youth, what’s your
philosophy on aging?
Hennessy: I don’t believe in fighting it. And it
would be terrifying to believe 36 is over the hill! Some
of the hottest women I know are in their 50s. What
really ages you is to feel inactive or unneeded, and I
felt that way sometimes in my 20s. So age is more a
state of mind.
RD:
You have been described as the “thinking man’s hottie.”
Do you think being sexy, intelligent and down-to-earth
are contradictory qualities?
Hennessy: Oh, no. I can only think of what I find
attractive. I love to see someone who’s comfortable with
themselves and goes the extra mile to make other’s feel
comfortable. When I worked with Richard Gere on Autumn
in New York, he’d come to work so relaxed and go out of
his way to say hello to everybody. If he discerned that
somebody was feeling upset, he’d ask them what was going
on, try to help them. It was classy. I find that very
sexy.
RD:
Your identical twin sister is a freelance editor and
writer in Toronto. Do people ever stop Jacqueline in the
street because they think she’s you?
Hennessy: All the time, but she’s very gracious
about it. I apologize to her, but she says, “No, no –
I’ve met the nicest people.” People tell her, “You
really inspired my daughter to go to college.” She’ll
say, “Actually that’s my sister, but it’s really good to
meet you.”
RD:
You once told an interviewer you liked a man who
embraces life and wants to be on a long journey with no
particular plan or destination in mind. Is that an
approach to life that still appeals to you?
Hennessy: I love somebody who’s open to options. It
can be good to have a plan, but I’m a big believer in
seizing the opportunities life throws in front of you.
My husband, Paolo, is passionate about life, has a lot
of courage and loves to seize the moment. I find that
very attractive.
RD:
Being a Canadian among Americans, how do you react if
anyone speaks out against our refusal to join the war in
Iraq?
Hennessy: That’s never come up; I hear nothing but
praise for Canadians. At least where I live in
California and in New York, the admiration and respect
people have for Canadians is astounding. They perceive
us as incredibly open, level-headed, down-to-earth. They
feel we don’t react impulsively to situations.
RD:
Lots of actors use their public profiles to influence
politics. Have you ever been tempted?
Hennessy: I’m an actor and I go to work and recite
somebody else’s dialogue. If I were to go out and
express my political beliefs, I would have to take a few
years off and study what I wanted to talk about. I’m not
an expert; I try to watch a broad range of media to get
different points of view. There are always three sides
to every story: your version, my version and the truth.
Unfortunately, I see some people speaking who seem to
have heard only one point of view and that’s dangerous.
RD:
Do you miss Canada?
Hennessy: I miss it so much it makes me cry
sometimes when I think of it. I love the United States,
and I’m very grateful for what this country has given
me. But now that I’ve got some credibility behind me,
I’d like to someday go back and produce films in Canada.
Also I would love to record a duet album with my sister;
she’s a brilliant singer. We’d do a bunch of Canadian
covers – Blue Rodeo, Gordon Lightfoot, Sarah McLachlan.
RD:
Do you still play guitar?
Hennessy: I play for my son. And when I was
pregnant, we recorded a soundtrack for Crossing Jordan.
It was a dream come true. I started playing when I was
in Toronto; I’d play on Queen Street West for food money
and that was one of the best jobs I ever had. I’d play,
then go to the store and buy some yogourt or a can of
soup.
RD:
So you went from leaving home at 17 to busk in Toronto
to being a happily married mom and an actor with your
own TV series. Do you think that’s fate or
self-determination?
Hennessy: I would say mostly self-determination; I
had a clear understanding from a young age that I loved
acting. But in this business, you also have to be in the
right place at the right time.
RD:
Many people see acting as being about glamour, acclaim
and good money, but is it really like that?
Hennessy: All we hear about in the press are the
A-list actors’ salaries, the $20-million salaries, which
is not really the case for most. When you do luck into a
role – and thankfully I have a great job and I’m earning
more than I thought I ever would – you still don’t know
if you’ll ever work again. I learned a long time ago
that if I got $200 for a role, it went right in the
bank, except $5 a day to buy some food. It’s wonderful
to have some security now – but still, right into the
bank!
It turns out I'm having more difficulty even getting the
images onto this screen. If someone would like to offer
advice on how to do that, I would greatly appreciate it.
