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Amy Brenneman Chat
AOL - December 1996
OnlineHost: Your emcee for tonight is AOLiveMC9 (SandyPG).
OnlineHost: Possessed with an approachable sensuality, infectious charm and sharp wit, Amy Brenneman is on an undeniable journey to stardom. She was most recently seen in Universal's
"FEAR" opposite Reese Witherspoon, Marky Mark and Bill Peterson, and before that starred opposite Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, in Warner Brothers' thriller "HEAT," directed by
Michael Mann. Welcome!
AOLiveMC9: Welcome, Amy Brenneman! It's great to have you here with us tonight!
BrennemanA: Thanks! It's good to be here.
AOLiveMC9: Ready for some questions for our audience, Amy?
BrennemanA: Yes.
AOLiveMC9: Our first question is from CmDal:
Question: I saw you in "Daylight." How was it working with Sly and what are you presently working on?
BrennemanA: Working with Sly was a blast, and it really surprised me. I hadn't really seen a lot of his big testosterone movies and wasn't really sure how we could get along. But I found him
wonderfully smart and open and very, very funny and working on an action movie was an embarrassing amount of fun. Next I'm going to do a new play by Craig Lucas on Broadway. I go into rehearsal
next month.
AOLiveMC9: Our next question is from TK420:
Question: How was working with DeNiro?
BrennemanA: It was pretty dreamy. He and I rehearsed a lot and improvised most of our scenes, so we had to really play with each other on a pretty intimate level. He was very warm with me,
extremely open, and pretty much unrecognizable from his macho, unyielding, gun-toting persona. I think I got to see his softer side. And he's a good kisser.
AOLiveMC9: TK420 has another question regarding DeNiro, a bit more personal this time! But I think you just answered it!
Question: Is DeNiro a good kisser? It looked like he flailed?
BrennemanA: Well, I think Bob is a better kisser than his character. You figure he was playing a man who had been in prison most of his life and hadn't gotten to kiss very many women but I can
tell that Bob DeNiro had a lot of experience.
AOLiveMC9: CheezHed6 would like to know:
Question: Is the set of "NYPD Blue" as fun as it looks?
BrennemanA: Yes and no. I haven't been regularly on the set for a year now and toward the end of my stint, David Caruso was leaving the show, so there was some sadness and tension. But, what is
fun about the set are Dennis Franz and David Milch and all the writers on the show, because they're all so smart and cool.
AOLiveMC9: Our audience member CheezHed6 would also like to know about your movie, Amy:
Question: Did you enjoy shooting "Fear?"
BrennemanA: Yes, I did enjoy "Fear." I took that movie because I really like the director, Jamie Foley, who previously directed "Glen Garry Glen Ross" and I thought he was
brilliant and I was right! But the material was very disturbing, and I definitely had moments of thinking "What am I doing?" especially with the dog's head, and I know you know what I'm
talking about.
AOLiveMC9: Psycho349 seems to have more personal matters in mind.
Question: Are you single?
BrennemanA: Well, no. I got married a year ago September to someone who directed me on "NYPD Blue" but I have a lot of single girlfriends!
AOLiveMC9: And a serious question from BRYENW:
Question: What do you look for in a movie role?
BrennemanA: I mostly look to play a three dimensional person which means someone with several dimensions and someone who changes within the course of the story. Unfortunately, that tends to be
rare because I'm a woman. And I also look to see that I connect with the director because that's where the collaboration really happens.
AOLiveMC9: ESProd would like you to look into your crystal ball and tell us:
Question: Who do you hope to work with in the future?
BrennemanA: Tim Robbins. Susan Sarandon. Jane Campion. Ray Fiennes because I just saw "The English Patient."
AOLiveMC9: "NYPD" to "FEAR" and back to "NYPD" again as Danrock1 asks:
Question: Amy, could your "NYPD" character possibly be brought back in the future? We thought you were very good on the series.
BrennemanA: Thank you! I miss it! I think if Kim Delaney wasn't so damn good I would have come back, but there are no plans for me to return in the near future, partly because I'm so identified
with David Caruso, being his love interest, that it would be strange for me to return without him. But it would be fun!
AOLiveMC9: I can't wait to hear the answer to TJAYE420's question:
Question: How do you get roped into doing these live AOL things?
BrennemanA: I want to reach out and touch my people. Just kidding, I've only done one before and I really enjoyed myself. I'm kind of an online junky and I was curious how it works.
AOLiveMC9: Mocha2224 is obviously a big fan of yours and would love to know:
Question: You seem in great shape. What do you do to stay fit?
BrennemanA: Well, this Christmas I ate a lot of sugar and I seem to have lost a pound! Thank you for the compliment. I do running, and I do a lot of yoga and hike with my dog and get physical with
my husband. That's burns a lot of calories. I have never dieted because I'm not disciplined enough.
AOLiveMC9: And now for a more "ghoulish" question, from EdBass111:
Question: Were you the teenager in "Casper?"
BrennemanA: I was the teenager's mother. I was the dead mother of Christina Ricci. But I got to act along with the star, Casper.
AOLiveMC9: TJAYE420 asks:
Question: Will we be seeing you on the screen anytime soon?
BrennemanA: You can see me on the screen now in "Daylights" which is still in theaters. I made a film last summer called "Nevada" which will be in theaters sometime this year
and then you have to come to New York to see me on-stage this spring.
AOLiveMC9: Speaking of "Daylight," Jarben has a question about the stunts in the film:
Question: Some of those stunts in "Daylight" looked pretty dangerous. Were you ever a little nervous before you started filming each day that something could potentially go wrong?
BrennemanA: Yeah! But then I figured that "Rambo" was there and he would save me if anything went disastrously wrong. Actually, I got more scared after the stunts when I realized how
close I came to real injury, but while I was doing the stunts I was energized and real excited and could finally express the real tom-boy side of me. Any movie where I don't wear hi heels is a
good movie!
AOLiveMC9: JVires805 has a question about Donnie W:
Question: Did you like working with Donnie W?
BrennemanA: You mean Donnie Whalberg?
AOLiveMC9: I think so, Amy!
BrennemanA: Because I worked with Mark Whalberg, his little brother.
AOLiveMC9: L8forDeat asks:
Question: Do you miss New England much and do you ever get back to CT?
BrennemanA: I miss it terribly, and I'm actually lying in bed in my parents home in Connecticut right now! My parents are downstairs!
AOLiveMC9: Db2Anthon has one of those "what come first, the chicken or the egg" type questions:
Question: Is it mostly hard work or luck breaking into acting?
BrennemanA: It's equal measures of both. I think you have to train like crazy and be ready to do good work because you never know when you will get your opportunity and you have to keep your eyes
open. You always have to remember that your main focus is to always do the best work you can.
AOLiveMC9: TJAYE420 is interested in the play you are involved in, Amy:
Question: Can you tell us anything about the play you are starting to work on?
BrennemanA: As I said, it's by Craig Lucas, who wrote "Prelude to a Kiss," and is one of the few amazing American playwrights writing today. I play a woman living in Manhattan who
desperately wants to go beyond my world which is getting smaller and smaller.
BrennemanA: The role is very courageous and funny and sweet and I get to work with Julie Kavner and I plan on forcing her to talk like Marge Simpson any time I want.
AOLiveMC9: Here's a question for you from Starlib:
Question: What was it like working with William L. Peterson?
BrennemanA: Wonderful! I didn't know Billy Peterson until I was cast in the movie, but I found him a total blast, very smart and sexy. He also comes from theater so our work styles were very
similar. We both have no interest in the "star trip" or most of what passes for work in Hollywood.
AOLiveMC10: Here's a question from Tryme6137:
Question: How did you become an actress? Is it a must to have a portfolio?
BrennemanA: I became an actress first by performing in local musicals in the town where I grew up in Connecticut. I never thought about doing it professionally because I had never known anyone who
had been a professional actor, though I always thought that I would go to medical school or law school but then I realized that there was nothing else that I liked to do.
BrennemanA: But I trained and went to college for years before I had pictures for agents. That part of it really freaked me out.
AOLiveMC10: Cenyth asks:
Question: Do you miss working with the cast of "NYPD Blue?"
BrennemanA: I missed them a lot when I first left, especially Dennis but at this point I am enjoying making movies and meeting people like DeNiro and Stallone. So, I really can't complain.
AOLiveMC10: CFrelreln would like to know:
Question: Amy, what aspect of your training did you find the most helpful?
BrennemanA: Well, I ran a theater company for about five years and had to do everything, not only acting but raising money, designing sets, casting the play, teaching children.
BrennemanA: So, all of that really kicked the prima donna energy right out of me! I think what served me well in this business being a hard worker and staying humble and knowing that this is a
collaborative art form and we all have to learn to work together.
AOLiveMC10: SMS32150 asks:
Question: What did you do before your acting career?
BrennemanA: I went to college. I studied religion at Harvard, although I was acting all the time at Harvard, mostly doing classics. For about 3 or 4 years after Harvard, I traveled around the
country with a theater company that I started and then I started to want to make some money, so I moved to New York and booked a Tampax commercial that supported me for about a year. I felt really
lucky.
AOLiveMC10: AZforNE would like to know:
Question: Do you enjoy, I mean really enjoy, acting, or is it just something you put up with?
BrennemanA: Good question! I enjoy making a living at what I love to do. I will say that for an actor, theater is much more fun because you are really creating the performance every night. Movie
making is much more tedious and boring for an actor.
AOLiveMC10: Eavoreadi asks:
Question: How was the stress during filming of "NYPD Blue?"
BrennemanA: The stress came from having to complete a lot of work in a short amount of time. Also, the producer and writer, David Milch, is incredibly creative and would constantly change material
or throw new material at us, which makes the show as wonderful as it is, but at times we would feel like we were just scrambling to keep up. But I like to work that way.
AOLiveMC9: SS512 wonders:
Question: Amy, what do you hope to accomplish with your fame as you grow to be more and more successful?
BrennemanA: I hope to produce material that I really like. I just read a novel written by the sister of a friend and for one of the first times in my life, I thought, "This would make a great
movie!" So I hope to become more bold about starting up projects.
BrennemanA: I also hope to do a lot of outreach kind of work with children, teaching them about theater and acting and writing and sharing some of what I've been given.
AOLiveMC9: Amy, here's a question for you from RWill1895 about working with Stallone.
Question: Amy, did you understand Stallone clearly when he spoke his lines & did he go around the set asking everyone to call him "Sly?"
BrennemanA: I learned to understand him quite well, but I understand the problems and everyone called him Sly from the beginning, but my favorite nickname for him was "Mr. Stunt,"
because I would constantly tease him about how big and strong and fearless he was, and how he could do anything, because he was "MR STUNT!" I think I must have annoyed him to no end.
AOLiveMC9: One of my personally favorite questions come from HappyKat9:
Question: Who were your role models growing up?
BrennemanA: Probably Katherine Hepburn, my mother, a woman named Chris Gullotta, who directed me in plays when I was in junior high and high school, and really instilled a love of expression and
communication. And maybe Joni Mitchell because she expressed so well all these feeling that I couldn't.
AOLiveMC9: We have a question about the Craig Lucas play from LewisDNYC, Amy:
Question: At what theater will the Craig Lucas play be performed? Who else will be in it?
BrennemanA: It will be performed at the Mitzi Newhouse at Lincoln Center beginning in March and so far Julie Kavner is the only cast member I know of but it will be directed by Joe Mantello, who
directed "Love! Valor! Compassion!" last year on Broadway.
AOLiveMC9: Grttn asks:
Question: Amy, What was your favorite movie this year?
BrennemanA: "Secrets and Lies" and "Jerry McGuire."
AOLiveMC9: Our last question of the evening comes from Kumo9:
Question: Amy, what do you like to do in your spare time?
BrennemanA: I like to talk for hours with my girlfriends, drink coffee, read the New York Times, snuggle with my basset hound, and look at my husband's face. Those are my favorite activities. It's
amazing how much time all those activities can take.
AOLiveMC9: Thank you, Amy Brenneman, it was wonderful having you here with us tonight!
AOLiveMC9: Thank you all for joining us this evening. You really had some great questions for our guest.
BrennemanA: It was my pleasure!
OnlineHost: Thanks for joining us in the Oldsmobile Celebrity Circle this evening. Remember, Oldsmobile brings an exciting guest online every Monday through Friday, and transcripts from the events
can be downloaded using keywords: "Oldsmobile" or "AOL Live" within 24 hours after the event has ended.
OnlineHost: Copyright 1996 Oldsmobile; licensed to America Online, Inc.
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