Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993 TAG: 9305010306
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKIE HYMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In "Stephen King's The Tommyknockers," airing May 9 and 10 on ABC, she plays a woman who becomes obsessed by an evil force.
Then, on May 18-19 on CBS, she co-stars with Gary Cole in "When Love Kills: The Seduction of John Hearn," the true story of a woman who manipulates a man into committing murder for hire.
Landing "bad girl" parts doesn't trouble Helgenberger, who won an Emmy as best-supporting actress for her portrayal of a prostitute in ABC's Vietnam drama "China Beach."
"I'm really grateful for these roles because they're attention-getting. They tend to be flashy," said the actress.
Asked why producers choose her for such parts, she said, "Some people think that I have a real dark side that's apparent, that I have depth. I'd like to think they think I'm sexy."
But, she added , "I would love to play a true heroine, that's what I'd like to do next."
Well, not quite next. "In the immediate future, I'm going to do a play," she said. "We don't know what yet, but in my husband's words, it's going to be something that `sparkles. ' " Helgenberger said she might work with a Seattle theater or that her husband, actor Alan Rosenberg of ABC's "Civil Wars," might direct her in a Los Angeles production.
In the meantime, however, the actress said her recent roles have challenged her both physically and artistically.
Based on a Stephen King novel, "The Tommyknockers" is about a writer (Helgenberger) who finds a mysterious object in the woods and unleashes a strange force. Only her lover (Jimmy Smits) appears immune to it.
"The Tommyknockers" was shot on location in New Zealand. Although her 2 1/2-year-old son accompanied her, Helgenberger said, "I was terribly homesick. It's a beautiful country and the people were gracious, but it's remote."
Helgenberger and Smits performed some of their own stunts, she said, adding, "After the last take, we were both wincing in pain."
The challenge of "When Love Kills" - which also features Julie Harris, Michael Jeter and Shirley Knight - was to depict a woman capable of manipulating a bodyguard into murdering her husband and brother-in-law for the insurance money, then setting up a murder-for-hire scheme.
Helgenberger said she listened to taped telephone conversations between John Hearn and Debbie Banister, the real man and woman on whom the movie was based.
"She has a high-pitched voice which is quite soothing, but she's lying through her teeth," Helgenberger said. "It's quite startling to hear someone like that."
In the movie, Hearn advertises his bodyguard services in Soldier of Fortune magazine when he meets Debbie Banister (Helgenberger), who persuades him there's more profit in murder. After he kills her husband and brother-in-law, she takes over the husband's security company and accepts an order for another slaying.
"Obviously, it was stuff that I couldn't relate to in my personal life," Helgenberger said, "so it was a real challenge for my imagination. Sometimes it was very difficult."
Starring in two TV movies in one month is quite a coup for the actress, whose credits include the Steven Spielberg film "Always" and the TV movie "Through the Eyes of a Killer."
"I've been on a roll workwise," she said. "I certainly know that my position in television is way up there, and that's a nice feeling to know the stuff you're going to be offered is the best.
"I try to pick something that's different from the last thing I've done because I think one of my strengths is my versatility," she said.
by CNB