The TV Chick

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Nurse Jackie panel at The Paley Center in New York. Check out my write-up here. It was there that I got to chat with Edie Falco and Eve Best who were both so lovely.

I wanted to know first and foremost why people root for Jackie. She is a drug addict who cheats on her husband and it doesn’t make sense to root for her. But the show has a brilliant way of turning her into a hero. Edie wasn’t quite sure. She joked “Oh I don’t know. Because she’s nice. She thinks she’s funny. She’s good at what she does, and I think she aims high. I think she falls short a lot of times, but I think she really does want to do good.” I think part of the reason why we do love her so much is because she is a great nurse. She is constantly helping people (sometimes cutting corners to do so) but has an incredible work ethic and really cares about her job.

However, I wanted to know if anyone would ever catch on to her secrets. I knew Edie wouldn’t spill all the details, but she said “I don’t know. She’s pretty good at covering, so I’d be surprised.” I’ve always thought that if people find out (I guess besides Sam), it could unravel the entire show. So I think it will take a while before anyone truly catches on. I then asked her about what it’s like playing a character who leads a double life. “Fun, because it’s like getting to play two characters in one.”

And I wanted to know who she related more to: Mrs. Soprano or Jackie. I always want to know how people relate to their characters so I though this question made sense given Edie’s decorated career. “You mean as far as their lifestyles are concerned? Oh gosh, I think I fall right smack in the middle of the two of them.”

Shortly after speaking with Edie, I got to chat with Eve Best, who plays Dr. O’Hara. Dr. O’Hara is one of my favorite characters on the show and I absolutely love her friendship with Jackie, her interactions with Zoey and her new romantic dilemmas. She was so incredibly sweet in person, and I was thrilled she was at the event (she wasn’t scheduled to be there).

I first wanted to know what her favorite part of playing Dr. O’Hara is. She laughed and said “The clothes. No seriously, working with the cast. Love it. Love them. Love working with Edie and all of them. It’s fantastic.” When asked if she’s anything like Dr. O’Hara, Eve responded “Like Dr. O’Hara?” she laughs, “I’m exactly like her! No, I’m not at all. I’m naturally a very scruffy person.” (Side note: seeing her in person proves that she is anything but scruffy) “Oh no, I am. It’s kind of strange to me to be cast as [her]. The last part I played before I did this show, I played a pig farmer, and I had bare feet and mud all over my legs and arms, and I took to that role more easily than I took to dressing up in Dolce and Gabbana every day for work, but you know someone’s got to do it.” And may I say, Eve, you do it marvelously.

I asked her if she missed the pig farmer role and she candidly replied “No I don’t. I don’t miss the mud.” I delved deeper into her fashion sense on the show and asked about a favorite designer or outfit she’s worn on the show. “For myself, I like Calvin Klein and I like Burberry too. I have to say that because my cousin works for them.” She did declare herself a “fashion clutz” and that she didn’t know too much about fashion, but she looked fantastic.

Because her scenes with Zoey are some of my favorites, I asked if there would be any more of them. “Oh I hope so, yes. Yeah, she’s fantastic and really fun to work with so I hope we do more.” And I asked for a little teaser of what was coming up in the rest of the season, and she asked if we had met her girlfriend yet. I told her that we had, and that was all she was really allowed to say. In her defense, she had been in England so she wasn’t quite sure what we were up to. Whatever the rest of the season holds, I know that I look forward to it.

Nurse Jackie airs Monday nights at 10 pm on Showtime. Be sure to tune in tonight for a new episode!