Dr. Jordan
Cavanaugh is fugitive Jordan Cavanaugh no
longer.
Jill Hennessy's title character was cleared
of her boyfriend's murder in the recent
sixth-season premiere of "Crossing Jordan,"
the NBC drama series that has resumed on
Sundays. The medical examiner hid in
Washington, D.C., while her Boston morgue
colleagues devoted themselves to proving her
innocence. It wasn't easy, since they had to
work around a new, by-the-book peer (Brooke
Smith).
"I assumed they'd try to wrap it up fairly
quickly," Hennessy says of Jordan's flight,
which drew boss Garret Macy (Miguel Ferrer)
to her side. "Otherwise, they would have had
to write a lot of episodes with Jordan out
of the morgue and on the streets.
"A small part of me was hoping Jordan could
get into some political espionage, with a
'West Wing' flavor, but it's nice for the
audience that has been following the show to
see that all their questions are answered.
They're not being led on."
The season starter also went a long way
toward re-establishing Jordan's maverick
spirit (as with the forceful stomach punch
she gave Garret at a key moment). Hennessy
reflects that quality was "what really
appealed to me in the show's pilot. The show
has changed considerably, but it is so nice
to get back to all the characters' roots.
With Jordan, you get to see her demonic,
dysfunctional, messed-up side more clearly
this season."
A regular character is killed off this week
on "Crossing Jordan," which was supposed to
get an earlier start on the season. Its
return was moved up to October but
ultimately put back to January.
Hennessy insists the occasional bloodiness
of the series isn't being toned down. "We
were told to keep our content the same. In
season six, there's no reason to hold
anything back, so we figure why not just go
for broke? We're doing honest yet disturbing
stories. I think we've got some of our
edgiest scripts yet."
With "Crossing Jordan" creator and executive
producer Tim Kring focusing on his hit NBC
show "Heroes," Hennessy is working with
three new show-runners, one of whom she
knows from her days of playing prosecutor
Claire Kincaid on "Law & Order."
A huge benefit, the actress maintains, is
that "we're getting scripts in such finished
form at such early dates now, and it's nice
to hear how excited everyone is on the set.
It's so rare to get a script more than one
day ahead. Sometimes, you get it on the day
you're shooting it."
This year could provide some groundbreaking
moments between Jordan and Garret. They came
close to their first kiss in the season
premiere, and Hennessy claims, "I begged the
writers, 'Is there any possibility that
maybe he could just give me this long kiss
to distract the police? Or even to distract
Jordan?' They said, 'Well-l-l, maybe not
this episode.' I'm fighting for it, though.
I mean, come on. Throw us a bone."
While she might want to push the envelope
when the cameras are rolling, Hennessy also
has the role of doting mom on the "Crossing
Jordan" set. Marco, her 3-year-old son by
husband Paolo Mastropietro, is a frequent
visitor.
"By now, he knows everyone, and I'll bring
him in for rehearsals and some of the
filming," Hennessy reports. "He knows to be
quiet when he hears 'Action!' I'll ask him,
'When can you make noise?' He'll say, 'When
the director says, "Cut!"' It's tough when
it's a dialogue-heavy day with a lot of
medical speak, but he lightens the mood."
