Out of sight, out of mind.
Jill Hennessy knows.
“When I was pregnant and walking the streets of New York, people would stop and say, ‘Catherine Zeta-Jones!’ ” recalls the star of NBC’s “Crossing Jordan.” “Long, dark hair and pregnant. It gets confusing.”
More Top Picks Best Deep Fryers
The confusion is understandable. After all, Hennessy’s show, in which she plays an unconventional Boston medical examiner with a stormy past, had been shelved for 10 months to accommodate Hennessy’s pregnancy. The Canadian-born actress and her husband, actor/restaurant owner Paolo Mastropietro, had a son, Marco, in September.
Now, Hennessy is back on her day job–“Crossing Jordan” returned Sunday night.
Hennessy, still best remembered for her role as the ultraserious assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid on “Law & Order,” is looking forward to juggling a career and motherhood.
“I really appreciate that I can have a job and have a child at the same time,” she says. “Everything feels a lot richer now. I can go to work with people I love, be a creative individual and then see this beautiful human being who smiles every time he sees me. It’s so wonderful to incorporate both in my life.”
Jordan Cavanaugh can be very intense, but look for her to smile more and lighten up a bit.
“We will see more of that,” Hennessy says. “It’s good to balance heavy drama with some levity. I miss playing the comedic aspects of this character … where she’s zany and a little over the edge.”
Although “Crossing Jordan” is far from being a “CSI”-like hit, it has a modest following. Was NBC upset that Hennessy wanted to take time off?
“Not really,” she says. “I know I was putting a wrench in the machinery … but they immediately came up with a great plan.”
And that plan was to shoot the first six episodes of season three right after season two wrapped. Hennessy says most of the episodes were in the can by July. Of those episodes, Hennessy says, her character will be absent from only two.
“A lot of people did seem a little upset [when it was off the air],” Hennessy says. “It’s nice to see how many people are so involved in the show. That … made me feel pretty darn good.”
———-
Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])