Amy Brenneman Plays Another Strong Woman in 'Rapture, Blister, Burn'

"It's just so joyous for me not to be playing a mother because so much of my endeavors involve mothering," says Amy Brenneman. "What I really like is that this is not a fertility play. Catherine is not longing for a baby. She is longing for a home. This play has less to do with society and laws and more to do with biology and age."

The play in question is Gina Gionfriddo's "Rapture, Blister, Burn," now running at Playwright's Horizon. The topical drama, with lots of comic one-liners, centers on a rock star academic (Brenneman) who is single and childless and her grad school friend Gwen (Kellie Overbey), a stay-at-home wife and mother. Both women believe they've made the wrong choices and engage in a risky experiment in an effort to redefine their lives.

Brenneman admits she relates to Catherine, specifically being told "she's too much," or guilty of "thinking too much," especially before she was married (to writer-director Brad Silberling). Translation: you're too intelligent and/or maladjusted to land a husband.

On the flip side, Catherine's childless state is a tad alien to Brenneman who is now the mother of two youngsters. "I spend my days thinking about the needs of others," she concedes. "When I was offered the play, it was a huge agonizing decision. I've never worked away from home. Catherine knows nothing about that. She does what she wants to do. One of my challenges was not judging her and learning to enjoy her freedom."

Brenneman says complexity is the key to all the characters she's drawn to. Consider the roster of women she's played on television-from the emotionally ambivalent psychiatrist Violet Turner on "Private Practice," to the unorthodox attorney Amy Gray on "Judging Amy," to the morally compromised police officer Janice Licalsi on "NYPD Blue."

The Ritual of Theater
Brought up in Glastonbury, CT., Brenneman always wanted to act, but "My parents dissuaded me from the idea that there was a profession called acting," she recalls. At Harvard University, Brenneman majored in comparative religion. She emphasizes religious traditions are not all that removed from theater and film. Both involve storytelling and ritual. Interestingly, Brenneman is still toying with the idea of returning to divinity school to earn her graduate degree.

Though there was no undergraduate theater department at Harvard, Brenneman co-founded Cornerstone Theater Company while she was a student there. The company has been in existence 25 years, and is now based in Los Angeles. It was initially a touring company and from the outset its mission has been developing projects that bring together artists of all ages, cultures, and professional experience. Brenneman toured with the company for six years before settling in New York. Some regional acting followed and not long thereafter Steven Bochco offered her a role on "NYPD Blue." "He was snooty about wanting New York actors," notes Brenneman. "The show was a cultural event and I was never bothered by the nudity or sexuality because the characters had such humanity."

Brenneman made her feature film debut in "Heat," a crime drama starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. She was especially impressed with De Niro's level of relaxation in front of the camera. "You can't get that unless you are in front of the camera a lot and it's no longer a special occasion," she says "He also understood the editorial elements in filmmaking. In theater, the actor shapes the performance. On film, the actor creates bits of authenticity which will be shaped later. You can take a pause and if they don't like the pause it'll be edited out. In that way, film is actor friendly. You can be more relaxed."

A major turning point for Brenneman was creating, producing, and co-starring in "Judging Amy," a drama loosely inspired by Brenneman's mother who served as a judge on the Connecticut State Supreme Court. (Brenneman's dad is an attorney). Working on the show certainly raised the bar in terms of the kinds of roles she'd consider. "It also lifted me out of an actor's passivity," she says. "I no longer wait to be chased. I think of the path of creativity more than acting per say."

Brenneman has written a play and likes offering dramaturgical input as an actor. Still, she doesn't demand changes in another writer's scripts, but admits, for example, she voiced her concerns to Gionfriddo that Catherine didn't get punished at the end for "being uppity," she remarks. "There was some language about Catherine finding a man. My character's mom said, 'I'll give you two years' and [another character] said 'I can find you a man in two years.' Those lines were pulled. It's not about Catherine finding a man, but about her knowing she's going to be okay. I suppose the changes were informed by our conversations. But the changes were also more true to what Gina wanted to say."

"Rapture, Blister, Burn" will run through June 24 at Playwrights Horizons, 416 W. 42nd St., 212-279-4200, www.telecharge.com.

Outtakes
-Earned three Emmys, three Golden Globe and SAG noms for "Judging Amy," SAG Award and two Emmy noms for "NYPD Blue,"
-Appeared in such films as "The Jane Austen Book Club," "88 Minutes," "Daylight," "Your Friends and Neighbors," "Casper," "Mother and Child."
-Performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Rep, and American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), where she performed her own piece, "Mouth Wide Open."