A REAL RUFF TIME
Broadway star's dogs taught her to love again after divorce
When Chilina Kennedy, the star of Broadway’s “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” decided to adopt, she thought she was doing it for Molly.
That was six years ago. Kennedy was living in her native Canada, and Molly — her Portuguese water dog — hadn’t been the same since the actress and her husband of 6 ¹/2 years split up in 2009.
“She became lethargic and didn’t even want to eat,” Kennedy says. “When I went to work, the look of sadness on her face broke my heart.”
So Kennedy decided to find Molly a friend, a dog who needed a home.
Six months into her search, she found a 7-month-old, poodle-terrier-dachshund mix on a rescue Web site who looked perfect. And her name was . . . Dolly.
“Dolly and Molly,” says Kennedy. “I had to see [her].”
An ASPCA staffer led her to a cage in the back, where a puppy cowered. She barely looked up, no matter how much Kennedy gently coaxed her.
“I don’t think this will work,” the shelter worker said, explaining that Dolly had been taken from an emotionally abusive home and was terrified of everyone. But Kennedy was determined, and persuaded the ASPCA worker to let her take Dolly home, just for an hour.
By the end of that hour, little Dolly and big Molly were chasing each other around Kennedy’s yard and eating out of the same dish.
Over the next few weeks, Molly went from being morose to playing like a puppy, while Dolly’s fear and aggression faded into a happy calmness.
“They healed each other,” Kennedy says. They healed her, too. There were times after the divorce when loneliness overwhelmed her. One night she sat on the kitchen floor and cried.
“My dogs licked my face,” she says. “I couldn’t stay [down] because I had to care for them.”
Three years ago, they added a new member to their pack, actor Jacob James. He and Kennedy had acted together in high school. He called her out of the blue and they started dating.
Last year, the couple, their 5month-old baby, Henry, and Molly and Dolly moved to New York, where Kennedy took over the role of Carole King in “Beautiful.”
And Molly? She’s 13 now, her black coat stippled with silver. But she has gentle Dolly, now around 7 years old, by her side.
On Saturday, Kennedy will join some 30 other stars at the annual pet adopt-athon, Broadway Barks. As she’s learned firsthand, “A good pack can heal anyone!” Broadway Barks, July 30 from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in Shubert Alley (between 44th and 45th streets and Broadway and Eighth Avenue); free.