Mary McDonnell Vault is your online resource dedicated to actress Mary McDonnell. You better know Mary for her role as Captain Sharon Raydor for the TNT crime series The Closer & Major Crimes, Not to forget one of her most important and intense roles, as President of the Universe Laura Roslin in Battlestar Galactica. A prolofic actress in TV like in Cinema, with roles in movies such as Independence Day, Donnie Darko, Dances with Wolves, Sneakers, Mumford, Passion Fish and many others. Site is comprehensive of a big photogallery with events, photoshoots, magazines, stills, an extensive press library to collect all the articles and interviews on her and a video gallery section for recorded interviews, sneak peeks and trailers of her projects. We claim no rights to know her personally and it's absolutely respectful of her privacy and paparazzi-free!!!

Mary McDonnell savors her star role, but must work to reshape it, in ‘Major Crimes’

Don Kaplan

December 26, 2012

Article taken from Daily News

Millions dream of becoming the star of a major network drama, but for one actress, the dream come true led to some bittersweet moments.

With the first season of “Major Crimes” under her belt, two-time Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell is now the star of one TNT’s most-watched dramas. But she’s working hard behind the scenes to transform her role from being a part-time pain in the neck into full-time fan favorite by next summer.

“There are moments when I’ve gone, ‘What have I gotten myself into?” McDonnell says. “It was a bit frightening at times.”

And with good reason.

McDonnell, 60 — a familiar face on TV from her roles on shows ranging from “ER” to “Battlestar Galactica” — is also well known for her iconic role in the 1990 movie “Dances with Wolves.”

But she was thrown into the improbable position of having to take the lead in the spinoff of “The Closer.”

On the long-running crime drama, Kyra Sedgwick played Brenda Leigh Johnson, a CIA-trained L.A.P.D. deputy chief who had a reputation as a “closer”— the nickname given to interrogators who not only solve cases, but obtain iron-clad confessions that lead to convictions.

Last year, Sedgwick felt it was time to move on and left the show. But TNT, hoping for another hit, brought back nearly the entire cast in “Major Crimes,” the first episode of which aired immediately after the “Closer” series finale.

But now, McDonnell was the star. Her role, Captain Sharon Raydor, had sometimes been an adversary for Sedgwick’s Johnson. Now, Raydor was the lead.

“I would ask myself, can we pivot this situation in a way that is truthful?” said McDonnell.

“We also wanted to honor the fans and not turn them away, and we knew how much these characters were beloved and knew how much [Sedgwick’s] Brenda Leigh Johnson was beloved. So it was one of those situations where it was very humbling to do this, as opposed to, ‘Isn’t this great we are doing a spinoff?’ ”

So far, so good. With over 7 million viewers last fall, TNT renewed “Major Crimes” for a longer 15-episode second season that starts next summer.

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Script developed by Never Enough Design