Jill Hennessy

Jill Hennessy is a Canadian actress and musician who landed two of the better long running television roles of her generation and then largely stepped away from the machine. Her earliest notable credit is a bit part in Dead Ringers in 1988. Then came Claire Kincaid on Law & Order, the prosecutor she played for three seasons during the show's strongest era, when the format still allowed an assistant district attorney to lose the argument and be right anyway.

Crossing Jordan then handed her a lead for six seasons as Jordan Cavanaugh, a medical examiner with an insubordination problem. It was a network procedural and knew it, but Hennessy played the part with a physicality and a temper that leads of that period were rarely allowed, and the show belonged to her in a way ensemble dramas seldom permit.

Film has used her less well: Dr. Marie Lazarus in RoboCop 3, Deanne White in The Paper, Laura in I Shot Andy Warhol, Dr. Victoria Constantini in Most Wanted, Kelly Madsen in Wild Hogs. The more interesting entries are the independent ones, Chutney Popcorn and The Acting Class, the latter of which she also wrote and co directed. Recent work is character parts across prestige and network television, including Jenny Rohr in City on a Hill and roles in Luck, Madam Secretary and Accused. She has also recorded as a musician, which explains some of the gaps in the filmography.