Amy Brenneman

The View (ABC) - May 23, 2000

Amy Brenneman has taken following in your mother's footsteps to a whole new level. For 30 years, she watched her mother put on a judge's robe and go to work as a Superior Court judge. Now, Amy puts that same robe on when she goes to work every day on Judging Amy. The actress grew up watching people work in juvenile justice and hadn't seen anything like that on the small screen. "I was thinking, If I'm going to do television, I want to do something that people haven't seen before," she says. Although Amy's mother is a judge and her father and brothers are lawyers, she never had a desire to follow in their footsteps. "I'm too illogical, too passionate," she says. "I could never do it. "

Amy admits that it is surreal to dress up like her mom and work in a courtroom environment. "We sort of compare notes about how we are on the bench," she says. "I have to say, 'Mom, I'm not a real judge. I can't actually be having this conversation.'" Mom once paid a visit when Amy was about to shoot a scene in which she gives a big summation speech. "I put on my robe and my mother was right there," she says. "I couldn't remember by lines! I'm actually impersonating my mother for a living. It's just so ridiculous!"

Many people still remember Amy for her work on NYPD Blue. Although it was a great experience, she loves that she is no longer playing a girlfriend, but a girl who has boyfriends. Amy jokes that within her first two hours on the set of the hit show, she was naked and shooting people. On Judging Amy, more attention is paid to her clothing. "I'm interested in robe wear," says Amy. "I get this wonderful wardrobe from our department and then we sort of forget...that we have to put a big black blanket on top of whatever I wear."


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