February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ask Dana Delany why she seems to enjoy playing wealthy, angst-ridden women so much, and you might be a bit surprised by her reply.
“My answer is, I like the clothes, which is true; I do get great wardrobes,” the Irish-American actress laughed while chatting with reporters on the New York set of her new TV series, “Kidnapped.”
Of course, playing this type of character allows Delany to do more than simply drape herself in Prada, she said.
“I find that the dichotomy of somebody who seemingly has it all, but is dealing with tragedy in their life, is an interesting one,” explained the former star of the TV shows “China Beach,” “Pasadena” and “Presidio Med.”
“Because we all know that nobody has the perfect life,” added the popular tele/film actress who has also appeared in the Broadway productions of two Ireland-set plays: Brian Friel’s “Translations” and Hugh Leonard’s “A Life.”
So, after living in California for the past two decades, the stunning 50-year-old redhead has been lured back to New York, the place where she began her career, to play another rich, troubled woman coping with misfortune.
In the first installment of “Kidnapped,” set to premiere Sept. 20 on NBC, Delany and Timothy Hutton play a wealthy Manhattan couple whose teen-age son (Will Denton) is abducted. Delroy Lindo and Jeremy Sisto play the investigators determined to bring him home and unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding his disappearance over the course of this and the next 21 episodes.
Groomed at two of the best schools on the East Coast, she admitted her first-hand knowledge of how the other half lives helped her understand her “Kidnapped” character’s lifestyle and mindset.
“I went to Andover (prep school) in Massachusetts,” she said. “So I grew up with some of these people.”
That said, the Wesleyan University grad emphasized it was important to everyone involved, including series creator Jason Smilovic, that the characters be richly drawn, three-dimensional people, not cartoon-ish stereotypes.
“I think (Smilovic) was very clear from the beginning that this was not your clich