Actress Missed the Boat

By RICHARD HUFF, Daily News Staff Writer -- Over the weekend, plenty of people flocked to see the new big-screen film "A Perfect Storm" starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane. Few, however, did so with as much interest as Susanna Thompson.

Thompson was set to appear in "A Perfect Storm" until the producers of "Once and Again" came calling. She took the TV gig.

Life is built on tough decisions, no doubt.

"It was very difficult," Thompson said of this one. "I love feature films. And TV has been very generous to me, but I don't always get excited about some of the work. I was very excited about 'Once and Again.'"

Thompson fell into the either-or predicament after an actress originally slated for the "Once and Again" role got pregnant and had to bail out of the series. [Note from fansofonceandagain: To those not already aware of this story, the actress who "bailed out" was Harley Jane Kozak. She played Karen in the original pilot, which was filmed in April or so of last year. By the time ABC picked up the series, she was pregnant, so the producers offered the role to Thompson. Kozak later appeared as the very pregnant mediator in "Mediation."]

By then, Thompson had begun the sailing and swimming lessons neessary for her part in "The Perfect Storm," which is built around a disastrous commercial-fishing trip.

"There was something about 'The Perfect Storm,' the unknown challenge, the unknown bigness of it," said Thompson, who next month appears in TNT's "High Noon."

"Once and Again" is built on the budding relationship between two fortysomethings (played by Billy Campbell and Sela Ward) who are dealing with dating again after separating from their spouses. Thompson plays Campbell's ex-wife, who — besides coming to terms with the fact her ex is dating again — is also exploring single life.

Thompson tried to work out a deal with the producers of "Once and Again" that would allow her to do both, but that turned out to be impossible. Movie shooting schedules are notoriously unpredictable, and it was too much of a gamble for the "Once and Again" folks to have her try to do both.

She has no regrets.

"I truly know that 'Once and Again' is where I belong," Thompson said last week. "But I am curious to see the film."

Production on next season's episodes of "Once and Again" begins later this month, Thompson said. She said the producers, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, have been tight-lipped about future story lines. She's hoping her character goes through a period of growth while getting closer to her kids.

It's interesting to me to see the awkwardness and the struggles and the conflicts that come up when people start shedding their old selves," she said. "I'm really curious to see where that all goes." __NY Daily News (July 3, 2000)