From a briefcase to a turkey baster

'Law & Order' veteran has a very different role in this love story

by Michelle Tomko

Thanks to Hilary Swank's recent Oscar win for Boys Don't Cry, it seems to be very trendy right now to be queer, and the lesbian roles can't come fast enough.

But before all this hype, sultry former Law & Order prosecutor Jill Hennessy met filmmaker Nisha Ganatra, who asked her to take a role in her 1999 lesbian movie Chutney Popcorn.

"She was accepting an award at the New York Women in Film festival," said Hennessy. "They held a ceremony at the Screening Room Café. I just approached her at the bar. I hate to say it, but I walked up to her in the bar and said 'Great acceptance speech.' She probably thought I was trying to pick her up."

"It must of worked, I guess," laughed the actor.

The film is on the Sundance Channel this month as part of their Out Loud series. In it, Ganatra and Hennessy play lovers who are struggling with family, committment issues, and Hindu tradition.

The Gay People's Chronicle spoke with the down-to-earth young actor about her supporting role as assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid, her role in making that character a feminist, and the challenges of playing a lesbian in her new film.

If you only know her from her wool suit days, the actor definitely has more to offer. "That's such a small part of what I do," she said.

Michelle Tomko: Let's get this out of the way first. Were Claire Kincaid and Jack McCoy ...?

Jill Hennessy: I'll tell ya I grabbed his ass a couple of times. When Sam [Waterston, who plays assistant D.A. McCoy] first started, they wanted to give him this, like, real hot bachelor kind of reputation. Which Sam was okay on but he wasn't totally crazy about.

They wanted me to have an affair with him. Sam and I were both against it because we thought it would sacrifice our business integrity. They kept trying to write it in. We had no choice. You gotta do what the executive producers and writers want. We just tried to have fun with it. And every once and a while when we would be rehearsing a scene I'd say, “Okay, Sam, in this scene I'm going to grab your ass.” And he'd say "Yeah, do it."

Are you sorry that you left?

No. They were my family for three years. I saw them more than I think I ever saw my family. I really do miss them.

As a viewer, I love the structure of the show. When I was on it, they really had taken pains to not have it move into the realm of melodrama, [with] scenes where you're always going to the strip clubs and the body is always a naked woman. Of late, they seem to be going in that direction. But it's getting them higher ratings.

As an actor, I never really wanted to be in anything over three years. I begged them for a three-year contract. I didn't want to get caught being stereotyped as an attorney. That's probably already happened, because in that show you don't get a lot of range.

Exactly.

You were the feminist voice?

I begged to have a voice. For the first year it was tough. They didn't want me to be too pro-active. I was the fall guy. Michael [Moriarty, Waterston's predecessor] was there to pick up the pieces and make the case work.

I would say, "Look, this person is saying this line, and my heart is screaming out this, would it be possible for me to react like this?" and they would say, "I don't know. I don't think we can do that."

Then by the second year I actually started to work with the writers and actually wrote a lot of my own dialogue. All that feminist stuff, they didn't want it.

So you actually battled for all those limes? One episode, the line they had written for

me was "Jack, I'm not a feminist." I said, "Why not make her a feminist?" Somebody, who shall remain nameless, said “Come on, all feminists are lesbians and they hate men." So I said "I disagree." I literally rewrote the

scene.

So you're a twin? Indentical? Yeah. Same egg baby. Same egg. What was it like for you? Did you go through an identity crisis?

Yes and no. It was always cool being a twin. When you're young it's awesome. But as you start to get older you start to hear comments like "Oh how cute, you're the fat twin and she's the skinny twin. Or she's the actress and Jaque's the writer." It's very interesting how people create these division lines as opposed to letting two people be whatever the hell they are.

Huge. If I could, I would be the third Indigo Girl.

Do you ever perform?

I haven't done it for ages. I used to do a lot of clubs in the East Village and I played with a band at one point. When my sister comes down I try to sing with her. I just bought a guitar yesterday. I saw this awesome blue guitar in a pawn shop window. How do you approach your romantic interest in the movie?

I just try to take the real person. I try to react off of what I love about the person, or what is beautiful or sexy. I never like to substitute. I want to deal with the person I am with otherwise I feel like I'm acting in your head. Nisha was just so awesome. I'd be lucky to have a girlfriend like that.

Even Nisha's mother was like "Oh Nisha,

Jill Hennessy with her Chutney Popcorn co-stars.

You've gone from Law & Order to now doing a lesbian film. How do you make that leap?

I never think of it as a leap. I guess it's the way I perceive roles. I really try to go for stuff that turns me on. Who is the most fascinating human being to play?

Did your agent say, “No. They pegged you as a lawyer. Now they are going to peg you as a lesbian?”

What's really cool is nobody mentioned anything like that. I'd be more concerned about having played a lawyer than a lesbian.

Is the movie autobiographical for Ganatra?

I'm sure she drew some from her personal life. But a lot of it is a mixture of people. I remember one couple that was trying to get pregnant and I think they actually did do the whole turkey baster thing.

You seemed like you were having a lot of fun in those scenes?

We had the best time. The whole shoot was just a pleasure. If every film could be like Chutney Popcorn, I would be thrilled. If they were going to do Chutney Popcorn the Series, I would be right there.

Are you happy with the finished product?

Yes. Totally. In different cuts, our relationship was a bit more prominent. But what Nisha was finding was that the relationship of the mother and daughter really helped flush out such a huge issue of the family. Trying to maintain who you are as an American girl, as a lesbian, as somebody who wants a committed relationship, and still wants to maintain her Indian heritage and her love of her family and mother, but how to hold it together.

She created that whole issue of self-identity for every character. Every character got to go through their own arch.

I saw a picture of you playing the acoustic guitar and you were quoted as being an Indigo Girls fan.

Jill is such a nice girl. Why don't you and Jill go out?" [said the actor in her best Indian accent], and Nisha would say, "Mom, Jill has a boyfriend!" and she's like, "Yes, but still." So you haven't had a lesbian experience?

I think women are incredibly sexy and beautiful. I just haven't had sex with them.

I'm glad you asked. Because there seems to be another set of rules reserved for straight people. It shouldn't be an issue. As an actor, you're going out to play people. What turns me on about being an actor is getting involved. For months, I was having a relationship with Nisha. We had the best time. How did your boyfriend handle that? He was well loved on set. He hit it off with Nisha.

When you get to a level with people where you're being so open, and so honest with yourself and allowing yourself to be attracted to this person you're working with, to really be in that moment, is the way I think you get the best results.

If you had to boil it down, what is this movie about?

There's so many things going on. I'd say it's about finding your own personal path and enjoying life to its fullest and not letting the misconceptions and prejudices and rules put on you by society sway you from what might make you incredibly happy.

I can't imagine what it was like for Nisha to do a film like this.

She had a lot of courage. At the first screening in Los Angeles, most of her family was there. When that love scene comes on the screen, we were sitting right in front of the family, so we didn't know how they'd react. She and I were holding hands and shrinking.

So it transcended to you?

Oh yeah. I hope I'm not offending her family.

What's weird is on that set, it was so close, that after a while I was getting really protective of her, like she was my girlfriend. I heard Continued on next page