Jill Hennessy's Slim Secret: Veggies, Yoga and Kids' Leftovers!
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Jill Hennessy: Pop star? The former Law & Order actress is returning to her musical roots with a new album she wrote and produced with her husband — mostly from the kitchen table of their New York City apartment. The wise-cracking, down-to-earth mother of two, who starred in the hit NBC series Crossing Jordan for six years, recorded the album with her husband, Paolo Mastropietro, while she was pregnant with her second child, Gianni, 17 months. Ghost in My Head will be released online in June.
Juggling an album release, starring in the just-released movie, Lymelife, with Alec Baldwin, Emma Roberts and Timothy Hutton, and parenting two energetic boys (Gianni’s big brother, Marco, is 5 ½) was no easy feat, says Jill, 40. “The album that my husband and I produced is finally coming out on June 16,” she told PEOPLE at a party Monday night for chef-to-the-stars John DeLucie’s new memoir The Hunger at The Waverly Inn in New York City. “We sit at the kitchen table and we work on distribution, publicity, graphic art and design and stuff.”
While she tries to eat lots of veggies to stay slim, that didn’t always happen while they were producing the album, she says. “I’m a vegetable freak. I love vegetables. But because of all the work we’ve been doing, I end up not eating as much as I should.” Or chowing down on her kids’ leftovers! “I end up eating peanut butter and jelly crusts, ham and cheese, carrot and celery sticks and coming to events like this and hoping there’s food,” she says laughing. “That’s exactly what’s been happening lately.”
Chasing after the kids and squeezing in mommy-friendly workouts when she can keeps her in shape. “I love yoga,” she says. “I was doing yoga during pregnancy. It’s something I could do while the baby’s down for a nap and I have five minutes to myself. Or I’ll get up twenty minutes early and do some sun salutations. It clears my head and it’s fun. I feel like I’m a little kid playing again doing stupid things with my body and I love it.”
The Canadian-born actress started her career busking in New York City subway stations, singing Green Day, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen covers – and making $15 an hour, to boot. She was in a band when she landed the Law & Order gig, starring as DA Claire Kincaid in the early 1990s, which made her a star. At this point in her life, she’s thrilled to be releasing her first full-length album.
“She’s always singing around the house,” says Paolo, who met Jill when he was working in a New York City Bar more than ten years ago. “I used to ride her around this [West Village] neighborhood on a bike. What I love about her is that she’s so laid back.”
Beyond the music and the acting, Jill says she loves being a mom more than anything. On Mother’s Day, she says she and Marco enjoyed a little one-on-one time – indulging in a meal of macaroni and cheese and attending a concert. “I was sitting next to him, thinking, ‘This little guy is so cool. I can’t believe I’m related to him!’”
— K.C. Baker
