Although
Jill Hennessy, the star of NBC's
Crossing Jordan (Sundays at 10pm/ET), sure
steamed up last night's episode with Jerry
O'Connell, the ME's future with Woody looks,
alas, complicated. TV Guide asked Hennessy about the
duo's dynamite dynamic and more.
TV Guide: So
are we ever going to see Jordan and Woody [Jerry
O'Connell] do the deed? It seems like every so often...
Jill Hennessy: They dance us around like
puppets every season, it seems. Like moths to a flame,
and when the heat gets too hot, they pull us away. But
the episodes [airing now] are ones where Jordan and
Woody get a lot more… intimate.
TV Guide:
Details, please!
Hennessy: I can't get too specific, but there's
an indication of something that's almost like a
threesome.
TV Guide: My
jaw just dropped. Do they have a future?
Hennessy: Oh, gosh. Things get so twisted that
they're sort of forced apart. Let's just say she's not
the one in control of where it's going.
TV Guide:
What's your theory about the Jordan-Woody chemistry?
Hennessy: Jordan likes the danger. She's a
medical examiner, he's a detective, they have to work
together on crime scenes all the time, which is just not
kosher. She's a slightly messed-up, left-of-center,
go-for-broke wild girl who's only gone out with
musicians who drink too much. He's a Wisconsin farm
dude — on the exterior, he's a nice, calm, collected,
sweet guy but between the sheets, perhaps, a panther.
TV Guide: What
was it like to play a volatile character after your
three quieter years on
Law & Order?
Hennessy: Very cathartic. I loved the character
on Law & Order [ADA Claire Kincaid] because
attorneys have to be restrained. Jordan doesn't think
about diplomacy and decorum. I do things I wouldn't do
in real life. In real life, I'm too concerned about
being impolite. I don't want to step on people's toes.
Jordan just lets things fly. It's fun.
TV Guide: You
used to support yourself by playing guitar and singing
in the subway. What kind of songs do you sing to your
2-year-old son, Marco?
Hennessy: Right now he's into Green Day.
I sing a lot of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." He knows
the first couple of lyrics. I've got to get him to play
harmonica.
TV Guide: A
toddler backing you up on harmonica? That's an
unsettling image.
Hennessy: [As if to son] "C'mon, play,
play! Stay in tempo! Dance, monkey, dance!"
Wouldn't that be horrible? [Laughs]TV Guide: Do
you whip out the guitar at parties?
Hennessy: Oh, yeah. I just played at a Project
Angel Food benefit.
Michael Chiklis (The Shield)
called me about it. He's a good friend and a great
singer. Everybody else at the benefit was sort of a
Broadway belter — incredibly talented. After the first
act, I was telling Chiklis, "Look, dude, let's tie some
bedsheets together and go out the window." But it ended
up being great. I got a long round of applause, which
was very nice.
TV Guide: Part
of The X-Files lore is that you, Gillian Anderson and
Cynthia Nixon (Sex and
the City) all competed for the role of Scully.
True?
Hennessy:
Yeah! Gillian and I were friends. I
love Gillian. She gave me a ride back from the
audition in the convertible she rented. We were
listening to Nina Simone when she said,
"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell anybody, but they
just told me that I got the part." I was like, "That's
awesome. I'm, you know, disappointed for myself but very
happy for you."
TV Guide: You
once said, "I get paranoid when I do a character for
more than three years. I don't want to lose my acting
chops." Uh, Crossing Jordan is on Season 5.
Hennessy: Yeah. [Deadpan] I lost my
chops years ago. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. [Laughs]
No, the great thing is that the show is really hard to
peg. People aren't sure if it's a straightforward
procedural or a comedy or a drama or a relationship-type
show. The thing about this character is she's always
different, so you're never trapped in a niche or
formula. At least you keep it fresh, you know? You're
not just coming in, running on a treadmill every day.
