Maura Tierney, closet hippie

[Brian Damage]

MAURA Tierney, secret hippie, plays Woody Harrelson's love interest in "Semi-Pro," which opened Friday. She also plays Abby Lockhart on "ER," now in its 14th season.

After so much time on "ER," are you looking forward to the end?

It's a very, um, it's mixed, you know. I've been on the show for a long time. This year I think [they've] written some of the most challenging stuff for me. It was so fun. It's not like I withered away and died there. . . . But it is a long time to play one character. Part of me is ready to not play that character anymore. Part of me, I know, will miss it.

I want to know everything -- everything -- about "News Radio." People who are into the show are freaks.

I like that freaks are into the show. We were freaks, and everyone was really young. . . . It meant a lot to us who made it. I also think it was this show that was under the radar, and if you got it, you were onto something.

Was it as raggedy around the edges as it seemed?

Yes, absolutely. Comedians are weird, dark people most of the time, I find. So Dave Foley, one of the weirdest people; Andy Dick, out of his mind; Phil [Hartman]; Joe Rogan, a stand-up comic. These funny people are kind of dark inside.

Your Internet Movie Data Base entry talks a lot of smack about News Radio. ["Mediocre at best."]

That's not nice. I'll have to write a letter of protest to IMDB!

People aren't often mean to you, are they?

No. Well, it depends. You know that website Television Without Pity? I don't think they do "ER" anymore. And there's also these alternative news groups. I went on them once every two years or so -- because you have to be really prepared. And these people, they're not professional critics, but they can be very mean. And it's also very, very nice! But the mean things stick with you.

Have you been watching the Paul Rudd-Seth Rogen kind of movies? There's not a lot of women in them.

No, there's not. It's sort of like this movie too. It's about the guys. I'm the girlfriend, that's OK. . . . But you know the director, Ken Alterman, whom I loved, he wanted to make a "Slap Shot." A straight-up, R-rated comedy in the '70s. Or a "Bad News Bears" that's less goofy, and maybe macho. . . . Maybe bawdy. And I think he succeeded. They swear. They don't just bonk each other on the head.

What would have happened to you if you were born five years earlier [in 1960]?

I would have just wandered the country. Living in communes. I'm not an overly ambitious person. Going to anti-war protests. Or maybe I would have ended up in Jonestown.

So you're easily influenced.

No, not so much! But I dunno. I'm a little obsessed with that.

How hard-core are you?

All that stuff is really interesting to me: that time, the attitudes, you know. I can't explain why Patty Hearst, the whole story is so -- these new ideas were introduced, and some people took it and ran with it in the totally wrong direction.

So there's a dominant box-office form of comedy. And it has 1.5 roles a year for women. You're a funny woman! What do you do for a living in this era?

You mean if I wasn't on TV? I mean, I'm always wary about saying there's no great roles for women. I guess it's true and it's not true. It is the marketplace. Which is a little bit sad, in terms of what studios decide people will think is funny. . . .

I think the decisions about what entertains people are made before they know what entertains people. Now it seems really, really about the bottom line. But there is also new media! And it's easier than ever to make a movie now. . . . If I'm frustrated, I should write a movie or shoot a movie. And 25 years ago you couldn't.

Could you hit the Internet?

I don't even necessarily mean the Internet. You could get an HD camera and make a movie for $100,000. I like to go to the movies. But there's always stuff going on with webisodes. People are just making stuff, just because they want to create it.

Maybe you'll be the one to do it!

Maybe! People are doing it. . . . Maybe I'll just start a commune with people who have played medical professionals on television. And we'll just pretend to fix each other.


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...ck=1&cset=true