TV Channels
June 2009
Pinkett Smith in familiar role
By Kate O'Hare, Zap2it
Thanks to PKBrin94 for the scan!
The odd spelling of the
title of the TNT drama
"HawthoRNe," premiering
Tuesday, is not a typo or a
veiled poke of some sort at
the Los Angeles-area community of Hawthorne, which
is right next to Inglewood,
where the abandoned hospital that houses production for
the show is located.
Instead, it's the last name
of the main character, Christina Hawthorne, with the
"RN" done in capital letters
to stand for her profession -
registered nurse.
Created by John Masius -
who won two Emmy Awards
for his work on the 1980s
hospital drama "St. Elsewhere" - "HawthoRNe" is
set at Richmond Trinity
hospital in Richmond, Va.,
where Christina, played by
Jada Pinkett Smith - whose
100% Womon Productions is
a partner in the project - is
the chief nursing officer.
With her counterpart and
friend, Chief of Surgery Dr.
Thomas Wakefield (Michael
Vartan), Hawthorne battles
on behalf of her nursing staff
and patients.
Also starring are Suleka
Mathew, David Julian Hirsh,
Joanna Cassidy, Christina
Moore and Hannah Hodson,
who plays Camille, the widowed Christina's teenage
daughter.
On many levels, it's a
familiar position for Pinkett
Smith, the daughter of a
nurse and single mother.
"My mother's very focused," Pinkett Smith says.
"She's very organized. I love
that.
"As soon as something
like a physical trauma or a
medical emergency happens,
her analytical mind kicks in
right away.
"That's one of the things I
learned from her to put inside of Christina, that she's a
problem solver, period. If
there's any problem, she'll
fix it, and by any means
necessary, no matter whose
toes she has to step on, no
matter who gets upset with
her. I really admire that
about her."
On the other hand, Christina's sometimes single-minded problem solving can
cause problems of its own.
On a bright April day, Pinkett Smith and Vartan are
shooting a scene in the hospital parking lot, in which
Christina makes a promise to
a patient's husband, only to
have Wakefield chide her for
offering what she may not be
able to deliver.
"He basically is here to
clean up Christina's mess,"
says Vartan, sitting at a picnic table among the dressing
trailers. "That's so far what's
happened in the first few
episodes, not so much a
doctor as therapist and counselor."
"Exactly!" says Pinkett
Smith, calling in the next
day. "That's what he does.
He's my advocate on the
show. We have quite a history together. We're friends,
but he doesn't like how I do
things.
"He thinks that I'm really
smart and values that, but he
doesn't like how I do things.
Most of the time, he ends up
in the middle of everything."
© 2009 journalgazette.net
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