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Jillian Noel Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actress, known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan. A slender, dark-haired beauty with an intelligent demeanor and an attractive alto voice, Jill Hennessy made her Broadway debut as the Puerto Rican wife of the singer in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" in 1990 and, after a handful of TV appearances, got her break in 1993 when she was cast as assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid on the engrossing NBC police and courtroom drama series "Law & Order.” The show had been running for several seasons, but personnel changes had already occurred, and Hennessy's coolly confident manner meshed well with those of her more experienced co-stars. That same year, the Canadian actress played her first prominent feature film role, that of Dr. Marie, the mechanized hero's smart chemist, in the ill-advised sequel, "Robocop 3.” Hennessy later acted smaller supporting roles in the modestly satirical comedy-drama "The Paper" (1994), as Robert Duvall's daughter. and "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996), as a reporter. Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Her father, John Hennessy, was a meat salesman, a job that required considerable travel and resulted in frequent moves for the family. Her mother, Maxine, left the family in 1982, leaving her daughter to be partially raised by her paternal grandmother, Eleanor, in Kitchener, Ontario. She has a younger brother, John Hennessy Jr., and an identical twin sister, Jacqueline, who is a magazine writer and TV show host in Canada. Hennessy has Irish, French, Swedish and Italian ancestry on her father's side, and mostly Gypsy Ukrainian, as well as Austrian, ancestry on her mother's. She graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario and used to busk in the Toronto Subway. Hennessy and her sister played twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. She was short-listed for the role of Dana Scully, on The X-Files. Hennessy is famous for playing Claire Kincaid on Law & Order (1993 – 1996) and the lead role as Jordan Cavanaugh on Crossing Jordan. In 1999, Hennessy displayed her versatility as the patient lover of an Indian woman who has decided to act as a surrogate mother for her sister in "Chutney Popcorn.” She then portrayed the doctor who was able to turn an autistic woman into a genius in the fable-like "Molly" (also 1999). In 2000, Hennessy wrote, produced, and co-directed with Elizabeth Holder an independent film called The Acting Class. Inspired by a true story, the mockumentary looks at the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional acting class. The film co-starred her sister, and included cameos by a number of Hennessy's former Law & Order co-stars. The actress returned to TV once again playing a lawyer, this time one assisting in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in the acclaimed 2000 TNT production "Nuremberg.” Hennessy next portrayed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the miniseries "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot" (NBC, 2001) and was seen on the big screen as a cop in the actioner "Exit Wounds" (2001). In 2001 she portrayed Jackie Kennedy in the film Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot. In 2003 she made a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer. She also appeared on Broadway in the musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story in 1990. Most recently, she portrayed Tim Allen's wife in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs. Hennessy was game for anything when NBC decided to do a two-arc crossover of “Crossing Jordan” and the glitzy “Las Vegas” (NBC, 2003- ). She was brought together with the cast of the other series when the body of a con man found in dead aboard a Montecito Hotel and Casino airplane in Boston. Meanwhile, Hennessy gained wider exposure in “Wild Hogs” (2007), a big, dumb and hugely successful comedy about four down-and-out men (John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) going through respective mid-life crises who embark on a freewheeling, cross-country motorcycle trip in order to prove their manhood. Hennessy had the thankless role of a devoted and affectionate wife of a dentist (Allen) trying to look cool for his son (Dominic Janes). Despite scores of bad reviews, many of which complained about the bizarre, almost obsessive need for the four leads to constantly prove their heterosexuality onscreen, “Wild Hogs” dominated the box office its opening weekend, taking in almost $40 million and making it the first bona fide hit of 2007. On June 9, 2007, she received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. She also has been recording an album in Austin, Texas. Hennessy is multi-lingual, being able to speak Italian, French, Spanish, and German. She married Paolo Mastropietro, a former bartender and sometime actor, on October 1, 2000. Her husband opened a tavern in Northvale, New Jersey in 1999, and named it Hennessy Tavern, after his wife. The tavern is located next to the former bowling alley where the television series Ed was filmed. Hennessy also enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband. They also had a second marriage ceremony in January 2001, which took place at New York City Hall with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani officiating. Their son, Marco, was born on September 17, 2003. On November 21, 2007, she gave birth to her second child, Gianni, in New York City. Hennessy is a fan of the Indigo Girls and a poster of the act hung in the kitchen of Jordan's on-screen apartment. She sometimes makes appearances at music events as a guest guitarist where she usually performs barefoot. |
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