| A lot of psychiatry is portrayed as trashy emotional nonsense,'' says Carolyn McCormick. ''Look at this year's movies-they're either murderers or they're sleeping with everybody who walks into their office.'' And look to NBC's grit- and-grime crime drama Law & Order for the exception: McCormick's no-frills, no-bull police psychiatrist Elizabeth Olivet, the first woman invited into the show's previously all-male inner circle. Introduced in several episodes last season, McCormick is now a full cast member with more frequent appearances (''Thankfully, I'm never brought in for decor,'' she says) and more to do; she'll be at the center of a rape case this fall. And yet, following Law & Order's all-business tradition, Olivet's life after work remains shrouded in secrecy. ''It gives viewers room to imagine,'' says McCormick. ''Does she have a boyfriend? What does her house look like? She has a fuller life than you see, but nothing is spelled out.'' McCormick grew up in Texas and spent years acting on stage in California before moving to New York. Not enamored of TV, she warmed to Law & Order after her husband, actor Byron Jennings, guest-starred. Since joining the cast, she has made a specialty of maintaining Olivet's cool demeanor in the face of one special-guest-psycho after another. ''I look at people on the show break down and cry, and sometimes I think, 'I want to do that!''' she says, laughing. ''But the character is a very respectful portrayal of the profession, not something touchy-feely.'' So emotional flamboyance will come by tiny degrees. ''The other day, I was doing a scene and suddenly, I thought, 'Wow-I finally smiled on Law & Order!''' And to shore up her future, she scans the tabloids. ''I'm looking for any cases,'' she says, ''where the psychiatrist saves the day.'' |
