Interview: Jill Hennessy On Showtime's 'City On A Hill' Season 2: 'The Show Is So On Point With What's Going On Now'
(CBS Local)- After a successful first season, Showtime's "City on a Hill" returns this Sunday at 10 pm EST/PST. Actor Jill Hennessy made a name for herself in 2019 as Jenny Rohr, the wife of Kevin Bacon's character Jackie Rohr. The show takes place in Boston during the early 1990s and tells the unlikely working relationship between Aldis Hodge's character Assistant DA Decourcy Ward and Bacon's character FBI veteran Rohr.
CBS Local caught up with Hennessy to discuss season two, what's it's like working with Bacon, and how she pulled off a kissing scene with the show's star during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's been such a joy, and particularly this season two, with a world pandemic and everything that is going down culturally and socially, this show has kept my head together," said Hennessy, in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I work with people I dearly love like Tom Fontana, Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge, and Lauren Banks. The cast is phenomenal, and the writing is so on point. You don't have to worry about memorizing your lines because you get your scripts, and it's so real and so authentic."
Hennessy likes to prepare for her scenes by running lines with her kids. The actor says that the series tackles a lot of important issues in this season, which means a lot of different voices get heard.
"Even though the show is set in 90s Boston, it is so on point with what is going on now," said Hennessy. "They moved a lot of the action from Charleston to Roxbury. The introduction of Pernell Walker's character Grace, a community activist, brings an essential point of view. It's a slice of life that you really need to see that I don't think you've seen before in a lot of films and TV shows that have focused on the Boston story."
The actor describes her character Jackie Rohr as an open wound trying to heal herself. Hennessy spends most of her time on screen with Bacon, and the experience working with him has been invaluable.
"It literally gave me something to look forward to that I had a kissing scene with Kevin Bacon," said Hennessy. "I am not joking, especially in a time of COVID. Kudos to the production team, the crew, and the cast; our COVID protocols were so good. It's a joy to play this character. This season she finds herself going to therapy, and there are a few themes throughout the show of recovery, self-help, and growth."
Watch "City on a Hill" on Showtime and the Showtime app.
