Actors/Actresses: September 2008 Archives

Amy Brenneman has successfully transitioned from the courtroom on "Judging Amy" to a shrink's office on ABC's "Private Practice."

But it's been quite an adjustment for the actress who created "Amy" - based on her own mother's real-life experiences as a Superior Court judge in Connecticut - to segue into the role of Dr. Violet Turner on "Practice."

"I was telling my husband last year, `I feel like I was married and now I'm dating somebody new and they're different,"' she said. "With `Judging Amy,' I always knew what the show was about because I made it up. This, it's not family and she's not a mother. It's a workplace thing. And we met her last year in such a kind of hysterical (state).

"But what I love about her is she's super, super smart. This year she has many more cases and I love that. Probably in another life I was a shrink. I love those days when it's just me and the guest actor (as a client). It's not disimilar to what Amy Gray did, really being the trusting person for somebody to tell their truth to."

But being in nearly every scene of a one-hour drama was quite a workload and on "Practice," she gets to share that load with a stellar cast that includes Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, Audra MacDonald, and Tim Daly, the brother of Tyne Daly who played her mom on "Amy."

"That's the only way it would really work," she said of the acting ensemble. "As much as I loved `Judging Amy,' once I had my second child, it was like I can't be away 18 hours. It's just no joke, that schedule. So with this, I have heavy days but then I have lighter days and I can take kids to school. It was either that or nothing because they're so little. I'm not gonna miss the whole thing."

"Practice" was spun off from a May 2007 episode of "Grey's Anatomy" in which Walsh's character of Addison moves from Seattle to Los Angeles to join the staff of Oceanside Wellness Center.

The series debuted to strong ratings last fall but had only completed nine episodes when Hollywood's writers strike put a halt to production of scripted shows.

But the cast members returned to work this spring and have already completed filming nine of the 18 episodes ordered by ABC.

"We feel like we're just getting going and getting a rhythm and getting to know each other better," Amy said.

Violet has not been lucky in love so far. She began the series recently split from a boyfriend and remains pained by it - especially after he marries a younger woman just a few months after their break up.

"Violet is slower than the other kids on the block in terms of jumping in and out of situations.

"She's a little damaged," Amy explained. "There's lots of other fun stuff. I kiss Pete (Tim Daly).

"I kiss Tim. That's just wild to me because I know Tim from Tyne. It's like kissing my brother (laughs)."

While Amy's fans love seeing her on "Practice," there are many who have been waiting for "Judging Amy" to be released on DVD.

So far, nothing.

"The reason it hasn't been, honestly, is it was a famously acrimonious co-production between 20th Century Fox and CBS," Amy explained. "It's really weird. Neither one wants the other to really benefit from it. It's crazy. You have someone who spits their gum out and it's on DVD.

"It's like insane. That's 133 episodes. I'm sure it will but people should call and write, seriously."

When Angela Bassett lights her cheatin' husband's clothes on fire in "Waiting to Exhale," audiences cheered. Her performance as Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do With It" won her the Golden Globe. But my favorite role of Angela's was as Stella in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." The fact that a young and hot Taye Diggs played her young lover was just gravy. Angela is dope! (I've been wanting to say that about someone for the longest time).

Here is my newspaper column, published today, about this stunning actress:

This sounds like a dream come true for any television show: Angela Bassett is checking into NBC's "ER" this fall for what is expected to be the long-running medical drama's last season.

Angela, the Oscar-nominated star of "What's Love Got to Do with It" and such films as "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "Strange Days," and this year's "Meet the Browns," had two good reasons for accepting her first regular series gig: son Slater Josiah and daughter Bronwyn Golden, twins born on Jan. 27, 2006.

"I'm a mom now and (the set is) 15 minutes from our house, so that went into it," she said when we chatted last week. "And they promised me a great role, to work me hard, to get me wonderful, complicated stuff to do. I'm always looking for that opportunity to grow and to stretch."

Angela, who has been married to actor Courtney B. Vance for 11 years, will portray the hospital's new emergency room chief Dr. Cate Banfield.

"They've upheld the standard of excellence for 15 years," she said of the show. "I thought it would be a great company to be associated with and be a part of. It's the final year, so out with a bang."

I spoke with Angela at a brunch in Denver during the Democratic National Convention that celebrated the screening of "Gospel Hill," a film directed by Giancarlo Esposito.

"Gospel" is set in a black neighborhood where race relations are strained when residents are being forced out of their homes to make way for a multimillion-dollar golf course development.

Angela plays a woman who works to expose the profiteering of a black community leader (Esposito) who supports the project. She pushes to get her husband (Danny Glover) involved, which is a challenge because he withdrew from the community after his brother, a civil-rights leader, was assassinated three decades earlier.

"I loved the opportunity to play against Danny and to play a mature, grounded, driven, passionate, on-fire female. I was really impressed," she said. "It was a great, great time."

She was still feeling emotional after the film's screening in Denver the night before: "The way the audience responded to it - words like `divine' and `perfect' and `it had me in tears.' It was great. It's such a labor of love."