As any desperate housewife knows, some sordid stuff goes on behind the white picket fences of suburbia. But on the new CBS crime drama Close to Home, which airs on Tuesdays at 10pm, it's very serious business. As a new mom just heading back to work as a prosecutor, 26-year-old Jennifer Finnigan brings passion and compassion to her starring role as Annabeth Chase. Known to nighttime TV viewers from the sitcom Committed and a guest arc on the drama Crossing Jordan, Finnigan is actually best known by daytime fans. She won three Daytime Emmys in four years for her role as Bridget Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful. She sat down for an interview with iVillage about her new show and her new love.
Your character juggles a career and motherhood, something a lot of women will relate to.
Yes. Men are very touched by it, but women have such a level of identification with it. They say, "I was crying when I saw you trying to work and pump breast milk at the same time. That's what I went through." I'm proud to represent women in that sense.
Unlike Annabeth, you're not a mom. Did you have to adjust to working with an infant?
Before I started acting I was a babysitter ‑- that was the extent of the experience I had with newborns.
So what do you relate to most about Annabeth?
Her strength and her poise and her passion. This character is every actress's dream. Female characters as strong as this are hard to find on TV and in film, especially in a procedural drama. To be able to spend almost half the show on their personal lives and see that vulnerability and that softer side at home provides an opportunity to really flesh out a character.
Did you do any research on the character?
I've talked with a prosecutor in Indiana who's a working mom, and I've spoken to a lot of new moms just to see how comfortable they are with their own child at first. I spent a lot of time holding the babies ‑- we use twins ‑- because I wanted to feel natural with them. I was like, "How do I hold the head?" because they're so fragile. But their mom was there and told me exactly how to do it. The more time I spent, the more I felt connected with the babies. It shocked me.
Did it make you want a baby of your own?
I do.
Last year you became engaged to actor Jonathan Silverman. Have you set a wedding date?
No, we're enjoying being engaged. And frankly, with the start of this new show, the hours are so intense that the thought of trying to plan a wedding at this point is impossible.
How did you meet?
We met at a barbecue, at a friend's house. A mutual friend introduced us. It was instant when we connected. We instantly made each other laugh. We spent 12 hours together that day, from two in the afternoon till two in the morning, just talking and laughing. We had an amazing connection.
How did he propose?
One of my favorite places in the world is New Zealand, and he took me there for Christmas. Christmas Eve, he got down on his knee and pulled out a little box.
What do you and Jonathan like to do together?
We love to go to eat out at restaurants and absorb each other because we know that time is scarce for me right now. I'm really grateful that I was working on Committed at the start of our relationship because the hours were conducive to having a normal life. These aren't. I'm in almost every scene. We haven't found a place to live together yet. We're still living in separate abodes 15 minutes apart ‑- not terrible but difficult nonetheless. But I'm prepared to kiss my personal life good-bye for a few months. I'm very dedicated to this right now. I'm essentially a workaholic, so I'm prepared for this and I'm grateful. Luckily I don't have a child at home.
How did your sitcom and soap experiences prepare you for this?
I was 20 when I started on The Bold and the Beautiful. I was so naive, this little girl from Montreal, and it taught me everything. Learning 30 pages of dialogue a day taught me discipline. Committed was an amazing experience. I had no idea I was a comedian. Now I know I am. But my true love is drama. As much as I love doing comedy and having a six or seven hour day and coming to work and laughing all day, to tell stories that are important ‑- that's everything to me. Yeah, I've had days when I come to work and do a really intense scene and it almost made me feel sick. I'd really have to disengage from it and shake it off when I got out of there. But at the end of the day I watch a product like this and I feel like I'm really doing something that matters.
