A chance to act with Pinsent has Hennessy signing on fast
Actress has one foot firmly planted in Canada with Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
There are certain things Jill Hennessy’s agent might prefer she keep to herself — for instance, that who she’ll be co- starring with determines whether or not she takes an acting role.
The Alberta- born actress felt that way when she accepted a part opposite Dustin Hoffman in the recent horse- racing HBO drama, Luck. And she felt that way about Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, the CBC movie that also stars iconic Canadian thespian Gordon Pinsent.
“Anything with Gordon Pinsent, I’m there,” says Hennessy, on the line from her home in New York City. “I will do craft service. I will shine his shoes for him. It doesn’t matter. Then I found out I would play his mother, which was even more exciting. Gordon Pinsent’s mother! Come on, how could I say no?”
Granted, there are few scenes in which the 43- year- old Hennessy appears alongside the 81- year- old actor.
Pinsent narrates the CBC special as an aging Stephen Leacock, the famous author and humorist, who wrote Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town 100 years ago as a funny and heartfelt ode to small- town Canadiana.
Airing Sunday, the two- hour CBC special mixes a few of the funnier stories and characters from Leacock’s episodic book with some not- so- funny details of his own upbringing. While Hennessy may have been okay with shoeshine duties, she actually nabbed a meaty role in Agnes Leacock, Stephen’s strong- willed mother.
Abandoned by her drunken failure of a husband, she attempts to care for the family alongside 14- year- old Stephen ( Owen Best). The CBC launched the production, in part, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sunshine Sketches.
But it also has deep significance for our public broadcaster. From 1952 to ’ 53, a series based on the book, starring future Canlit legend Timothy Findley, marked the first English- language drama to be broadcast in Canada. For the modern version, the CBC has trotted out a who’s- who of Canadian TV talent. Colin Mochrie plays the comically severe Judge Pepperleigh. Donal Logue plays scheming hotelier Josh Smith. Caroline Rhea is Stephen’s bitterly divorced teacher. Ron James, Sean Cullen and Eric Peterson all turn up in smaller roles. The stories, which involve the sinking of a steamer and the campaign to save the local watering hole from being shut down, unfold in the fictional town of Mariposa, with a bittersweet, gentle and occasionally surreal tone. At one point, Ottawa singer Keshia Chante appears to deliver a soulful interpretation of Burton Cummings’ I’m Scared.
“It was an interesting choice to combine these elements, which a lot of people would think are very discordant,” says Hennessy. “Then you see it put together like this, and it’s just hilarious and powerful and heartbreaking. I just saw a screener a few days ago, and I was laughing my head off with my eight- year- old boy and my mother- in- law, and crying, at times, trying not to let my son see tears pouring down my face.”
Born in Edmonton, Hennessy and her family moved nine times during her childhood. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town was never assigned reading for her in high school. But after landing the role, she picked it up and was immediately taken by how Leacock’s gentle humour seemed a precursor to our nation’s particular brand of comedy.
“I love the lightness of Canadian humour,” she says. “It never disregards the dark or the pain of people, but it also appreciates the joy of the moment and the humility of people.”
Although she may be better recognized for her high- profile roles in U. S. crime series, such as Crossing Jordan and Law & Order, Hennessy says she loves taking on homegrown projects.
From an early turn alongside twin sister Jacqueline as identical call girls in David Cronenberg’s creepy 1988 drama, Dead Ringers, to her more recent role in the Ontario- shot indie thriller, Small Town Murder Songs, Hennessy has kept one foot in the Great White North as a performer.
But for now, she divides her time between New York and L. A. with her husband and two young sons, and is preparing for a second season playing a veterinarian on Luck. She’s also in the middle of recording a second album of singer- songwriter fare.
She showcases these musical gifts near the end of Sunshine Sketches, singing a French- language song that features lyrics she wrote herself. It’s a poignant scene that finally gave the actress the chance to act alongside Pinsent, who wanders in as the elderly Leacock remembering the evening.
“We were supposed to be frozen,” says Hennessy. “We all had to hold still and I had tears coming to my eyes. I’m like, ‘ Uh oh, I’m in trouble. Can they CGI this out?’”