The actress who played
nurse Carol Hathaway on NBC’s “ER,” will star as attorney Elizabeth Canterbury
in the new Fox series “Canterbury’s
Law.”
Elizabeth, a defense
attorney, is not the most pleasant character in the series. She is funny, but
caustic, and she goes very far in order to win, trampling laws and ignoring
ethics.
"I find her so interesting and so
two-dimensional," says Margulies of her character, according to USA Today.
"I read it and thought it was a cable show, and that's what I was looking
for. To me, she seemed like she was spinning off her orbit. She's
self-medicating — and that's something I fought for in the pilot. I think this
character tries, when she's not working, to get out of her skin. She's not a
very likable character, and she doesn't apologize for it."
Also serving as the
producer of the series, Margulies said she fought to keep the show as real as
possible. In the pilot episode, viewers learn that Canterbury’s son has been missing for five years.
When producers suggested that the attorney’s son should appear in the second
episode, Julianna totally disagreed.
“My wish as a producer and as an actor is that
his case never gets resolved because that’s real life,” Margulies said. “I will
fight to the death that this doesn’t get resolved. I want to protect the
integrity of the pilot. I fought that tooth and nail.” The actress thinks that
the missing son situation can very well explain the nature of Canterbury’s
character, that is why the situation should remain unresolved. Julianna
confessed that she was 4 months pregnant when she filmed the scene revealing
Elizabeth’s son disappearing. She said it was a very difficult scene to play.
Julianna Margulies became famous with her role
as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the NBC medical drama “ER.” She was on the show for
six years, from 1994 to 2000, and received multiple Emmy nominations for her
performance. She won an Emmy in 1994.
Julianna was part of the original cast of
actors, which included Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, George Clooney as
Dr. Doug Ross, Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis, Noah Wyle as medical
student John Carter, and Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton. Her character and
that of George Clooney were involved in a relationship that resulted in their
having twins.
Since leaving “ER,” Julianna has starred in
“Evelyn” alongside Pierce Brosnan and “Ghost Ship” with Gabriel Byrne, as well
as the 2001 TNT miniseries “The Mists of Avalon,” joining a cast which included
Anjelica Huston, Joan Allen, Samantha Mathis, Michael Byrne and Michael Vartan.
She has also appeared on television series such as “Scrubs,” “The Sopranos,”
and “The Lost Room.”
The new show has its
premiere tomorrow at 8.p.m. on WXFT. There are only six
episodes for now and Fox will decide whether to bring it back this fall.
