Maura @ Parminders Wedding

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TCC Inauguration Ball – Interviews

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Maura @ The Creative Coalition’s Inaugural Ball

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Neil LaBute Presents The Grand Illusion: Tales of American Couples

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre – Date (?)

There is arguably no more creative voice on the topic of modern relationships than that of playwright (Reasons to be Pretty, The Shape of Things), filmmaker (Lakeview Terrace, In the Company of Men) and short story writer (“Seconds of Pleasure”)Neil LaBute. He introduces three stories about relationships by John Cheever, Raymond Carver, and a story of his own. Stories will be performed by Andrew McCarthy (Pretty in Pink) and Maura Tierney (News Radio and E.R.).

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Maura in the Improper Bostonian’s Health & Fitness issue

Show-stopper – Maura Tierney closes the ER

the Improper Bostonian – Jan 7-20, 2009
by Jonathan Soroff

Soroff On MAURA TIERNEY

ER star Maura Tierney lauds Tina Fey and recalls her Catholic school days.

Born and raised in Boston, ER fave Maura Tierney is the daughter of former city councilor Joe Tierney. She grew up in Hyde Park, attended Notre Dame Academy and studied at NYU before leaving to pursue stage work. After moving to L.A., she landed a part on a hit comedy series “Newsradio”. Tierney, 43, later earned an Emmy nomination for her role on ER. Her screen credits include “Liar Liar” with Jim Carrey, Primary Colors with John Travolta, Forces of Nature with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock, Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson, and Baby Mama with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. In 2006, she starred in the off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute´s Some Girl(s). With ER wrapping, Tierney joins the cast of Denis Leary´s TV show “Rescue Me”. She divides her time between L.A. and New York.

Jonathan Soroff: The last time we spoke was probably 3.000 interviews ago for you, around when you did Liar Liar. Do you remember what I asked you?

Maura Tierney: I do not.

JS-Oh, good. That means I can use the same questions, and you won´t know the difference.

MT-You can try.

JS-Ok, let´s start with the filming of Baby Mama. Did Amy Poehler and Tina Fey make you wet your pants?
MT-No (Laughs). It´s funny On set, yes, they´re funny. But a lot of times, comedians – and I´ve worked with a lot of big, famous ones – are very serious people in real life. They are smart. They´re usually intense. So Tina Fey´s a lovely person, but when she´s working, she´s really working. Very focused.

JS-Is Jim Carrey funnier than those two?

MT-They´re funnier than him, if I had to rank them. They´re very diligent, hardworking people. They aren´t clowns.

JS-So what´s funnier to you: an anvil fallin on a coyote´s head or a mouse nailing a cat´s tail to the floor?

MT-Neither of those things do I find particularly funny. I don´t even think I laughed at them in cartoons as a kid. I was an extremely sophisticated child. (Laughs.)

JS-If you were a real doctor, what kind would you be?

MTWell, judging by the amount of money I pay my dermatologist, the most lucrative would be that. But I wouldn´t want to be a doctor.

JS- Could you fake it in a real ER?

MT – No, because I´d probably start saying all the stuff we say on the show, like, “Clear! Blah blah blah!” and the real doctors would be saying, “What the hell is this person talking about?”

JS – Ever had to do any emergency medicine in real life?
MT – No. But someone did choke at my house one time, and I didn’t respond. I had a friend there who was a real nurse, and a fake doctor – me- but it was my friend Michael who did (the Heimlich). The person started choking on his steak, making the signal, and we were all freak out, but Michael, who´s a writer, just did the Heimlich and then finished his drink.

JS – What would you do if I started making weird choking noises right now?

MT- Oh, gosh. Hang up and (tell) my publicist, “Jonathan sounded funny. You may want to look into that”.

JS- Most bizarre or obscure medical condition you came across on ER?

MT – I believe on one episode we had a bunch of children infected with monkeypox. I´m not sure if they made that up or if it´s a real thing. But the hospital was put uner quarantine.

JS- Is there a person you would never work with again?

MT – Yes. It wasn´t on the show, and I can´t even describe the situation, because it would be obvious. So let´s leave it at that. But I will say that the older I get, the less patience I have for stuff. The point is to work and be collaborative and hopefully create something that´s interesting for people to watch. Not to jerk yourself off. We´re all narcissists in this business – I think actors generally are – but there´s a line, y´know, where someone else´s narcissism gets in the way of mine. (Laughs.) Then I refuse to work with them again.

JS – You were nominated for, but didn´t win, the Emmy. Why don´t you just recite the acceptance speech you had prepared right now?

MT – Oh, God. Y´know, I truly don´t remember, because it was two months after 9/11, so none of that seemed at all important. I was more thinking about the fact that I was on a TV show about emergency medical workers, and in real life, there were all these emergency medical workers trying to save actual lives. Winning an Emmy didn´t seem so important.

JS – In high school, were you a drama queen?

MT – No. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school. The concept of drama queen didn´t even exist there.

JS – Did the nuns beat you to within an inch of your life with a ruler?

MT – Psychologically and emotionally, yes. I think maybe being an actor comes out of that repression.

JS – Last time you found yourself actin in real life when you wanted the other person to think you were being sincere?

MT – How´bout two minutes ago?

JS – Is Grey Anatomy ER lite?

MT – Never seen it. I don´t watch other medical shows.

JS – So you´ve never seen Scrubs?

MT – I saw the musical one.

JS – It´s like ER´s wiseass little brother. Last question: When are you going to come back to Boston and make a movie about your hometown?

MT – I want to direct a movie in Boston, and I have no desire to direct anything else, ever. I really don´t. But if I did a movie in Boston, I´d want to be in charge of it, because they usually get it wrong. A few movies have (gotten it right), but mostly they don´t.

Caption: “The older I get, the less patience I have for stuff”
Credits: Tara (TDWD)

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/2009_01_05_Maura_Tierney_fakes_out

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