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Tavis: Amy Brenneman is a talented actress who garnered three Emmy nominations during her terrific run on CBS's 'Judging Amy.' She first became known to primetime TV fans through her Emmy nominated work on 'NYPD Blue.' Her latest project, though, is the new film 'Nine Lives.' The movie features a stellar cast that includes people like Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, Lisa Gay Hamilton and others.

Tavis: Amy, nice to have you on the program.

Amy Brenneman: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

Tavis: It's nice to meet you. I was saying to you before we started, you're like the envy of all women. You had a baby four months ago, and look at you. You look great.

Brenneman: I did, yes. Thank you, thank you so much.

Tavis: Four months ago. Wow. All right. Baby's doing well?

Brenneman: He's doing great. Yeah, he's in the dressing room right now.

Tavis: Oh, all right. I gotta go meet your little...

Brenneman: Hi, honey.

Tavis: Is he watching you in the dressing room?

Brenneman: I think so. I think it's all a blur to him.

Tavis: All right. This - series, this film 'Nine Lives,' is really done in an interesting sort of way. So it's like nine stories about women at critical points in their lives. But they're really like short films, like 10 to 14 minutes each. And I'm told they're shot continuously. So for you actors, that meant no retakes. It's like you roll camera and we stop in 10 or 15 minutes when the story's done. How - challenging was that?

Brenneman: Well, it's funny. When I - 'cause Rodrigo, the writer-director, put it out there at the very beginning, "This is how we're gonna shoot it.' And at first I thought, oh God, you know, yeah, you can't stop and you can't - if you blow a line. And then I had this thought like, oh, it's just like a play.

Tavis: Like a play.

Brenneman: Like, that's where I come from. That's a play, you know? And then when I thought about it that way, it got really exciting, and I think all of us went through that. And Lisa Gay Hamilton, we were on a panel the other night and she said, you know, it's really the way you wanna shoot it, because it's absolutely continuous. You're not doing the last scene first, you know. So when you really stop and think about it, it's like, oh. A lot of fun.

Tavis: Tell me more about the story line in your particular piece.

Brenneman: The story line is, well, with all of the pieces, you sort of - they start out sort of mysterious. Then you catch up to what's going on. I show up at a funeral with my parents, and it's unclear who's died, but everybody is giving me the cold shoulder. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be here. And then the reveal is that it's the funeral for my ex-husband's wife. So the idea is I left my ex-husband, played by Bill Fichtner, he remarried, and then she, it's insinuated, killed herself.

So I'm kind of showing up to snoop around. And then in that clip we just saw, he's telling me, "I never loved her. It's always been you. Be with me, be with me," and I'm saying, "You're crazy," you know, "We're at the funeral for your wife.'

Tavis: Have you seen the other eight?

Brenneman: Yeah.

Tavis: Okay. Are they all serious, is it all like drama? Is there some - some laughter in here or just...

Brenneman: Yeah. Oh, yeah. - I think it's - I really think it's amazing. I did another film with Rodrigo and loved that film, too. This one, I think, is even more, diverse in its tone. There's some very heavy ones and then some very light ones, and all of them, what's incredible is he - in such a short amount of time, you fall in love with these characters. You fall in love, every one of them, and you're left wanting more. Each one ends and you're like, 'oh, wow, you know, I just got caught up and sucked into this woman's life.'

Tavis: When we think of - television, we think, at a minimum, of a 30 minute show, oftentimes an hour show. Movies, hour and a half, two hours. Longer than that if they're epics. Nobody thinks of getting a point across in 10 to 14 minutes, you know. I mean, I was just thinking, 10 to 14 minutes is the range of this conversation. What you guys did here is like a whole short story in 10 to 14 minutes. You think it's effective?

Brenneman: Yeah, I do. I think it's more like poetry. I think it's a different art form. Rodrigo has said that his hope is to bring the segments down. He wants to do stories that are, like, two minutes long. But what he said once which I loved was he said, "You know, I wanted to get that feeling, you're - walking home, you know, it's dusk. You look up at a house, you see a lighted window, and you see some people doing things.' And you know how you do, you just get really fascinated.

And then they leave the window and you're done, but you've - you get sucked in. And that's kind of the way he writes. It's - some of the writing is very enigmatic. He himself does not wanna know whatever back story you come up with as an actress, you know. He's like, "If it's working for you, that's fine," you know. So it's really like, these little tiny - it's like people watching.

Tavis: So this project is 'Nine Lives.' Much to the chagrin of your fans, 'Judging Amy,' had like six lives.

Brenneman: Yeah.

Tavis: You got six seasons out of it. I wonder whether or not you miss doing the project as much as your fans miss the project being there. Of course, it's in syndication now. But you miss doing it as much as your fans? 'Cause - there were a lot of people that thought that project went away, even after six seasons, went away way too soon.

Brenneman: I think it went away abruptly, you know? And I do have regrets for that. And, you know, the networks have to do what they do, but I had said to them, January, "It's like if you think you're gonna pull the plug, can you let us know so we can finish it up?' And they said, you know, we really can't. We had a very strong year. They said, we have to see the other pilots.

They couldn't let us know. So, I think all of us had that feeling of like, oh, we didn't get to tell the end of the story. You know, we didn't get to finish up. In terms of the grind, I don't miss it. It's hard work, a single lead show. And now I have two children. I'm enjoying not working so hard. But, you know, I've always said it was the greatest job. If I could have done it for six or eight hours a day instead of, you know, 14 to 16 that would have been great.

Tavis: Yeah. This probably isn't a fair question because the answer to this question, then again, maybe you'll appreciate the question. I don't know. We'll find out in 10 seconds here.

Brenneman: What is the question? That's a good (unintelligible).

Tavis: That long, that super long setup for a very simple and not complex question. But I was about to say that the answer to the question, the answer to the question may very well be...

Brenneman: What is the question?

Tavis: ...the source. Hold on, hold on, hold on. (laughs) The answer to the question, Amy, may very well be the source of like a two hour movie. So I'm not sure you want to answer this. But the question that I was about to ask, that I will now finally ask now, is, if the project had the opportunity to close out, what would the close have been?

Brenneman: It is the subject of a two hour movie. I sold a two hour movie.

Tavis: See? See this? You see, I wasted all this time.

Brenneman: Although, I don't know, I don't mind talking about it because, and I don't mind saying this on the air, the reason this two hour movie might not get made is because we are a co-production of CBS Productions and FOX, and they just can't figure out the business model.

Tavis: I can't imagine two networks not being able to figure something out, two competitive networks.

Brenneman: You know what I mean? It's like I want Sumner Redstone to talk to, you know, who's - get it together. So I sold this movie. It may or may not happen. However, along the way, I hired a writer and we, you know - for anybody that watches the show, we ended the show with me leaving my job in sort of this dramatic way.

And so we always said, "God, I wonder if she would stay away or if she'd come back.' So we were exploring all those questions, and hopefully, I have a good faith the movie will get made, but I got very depressed hearing about these, like, mega-companies that can't get it together. So that's sort of where we're at right now.

Tavis: So you begged me for the question, and I should still be begging you for an answer 'cause that's the best I got, but anyway.

Brenneman: That's the best you got. If it doesn't get made, I'll come back and tell you what it would have been.

Tavis: I'll let it go. All right. Everybody knows, speaking of 'Judging Amy,' that the movie was inspired by your mother, who was a superior court judge. Have you and your mother had a chance to talk about the Harriet Miers selection by Mr. Bush?

Brenneman: Yeah. Yeah.

Tavis: Care to share - what your mama said?

Brenneman: (laughs) Well, she doesn't really trust anything that Mr. Bush does, I have to say that. So, it's all kind of suspect. I mean, she thinks it's very disconcerting to have somebody's first appointment be on the Superior Court. It'd be really nice if this woman had actually served as a judge, you know, so we could see if she has any skills.

You know, Harriet Miers isn't as bad as she could be, you know, so my mother kind of thinks there's even worse guns in the - it was sort of like, you know, 'Let's Make a Deal.' She said, "Well, I don't know. Like, should we be happy with this because it could be worse? Or do we reject that?'

Tavis: I've been fascinated by that very notion, whether or not people should be people who are suspect, for those who are suspect, whether they should be happy with the fact that she is not as bad as perhaps a Scalia or a Thomas. If you are not of that ilk, or whether or not as a woman specifically you have to say to yourself, "well, we at least have a woman to replace Sandra Day O'Connor.'

It reminds me, it's akin to the debate that happened inside of black America when Bush, number one, appointed Clarence Thomas, a black man, to replace another black man. Half the black people were like, "Well, at least we got another brother to replace a brother.' And the other half was like, "No, - no. I'd rather have a white guy who was doing the right thing, than a brother replacing a brother just because he's a brother.'

Brenneman: Yeah, it's very, I mean, I'm happy to say - I think this is true, I think I have this opinion, that I'm sort of beyond like it has to be a woman. It's like I try to look more at sort of the politics beneath it. I got sort of on her side because I heard this commentary, I mean, not her side in a big way, but it was actually an NPR radio commentary.

Where - I don't who it was, but they said, well, you know, she hasn't, she doesn't have a broad life experience because she hadn't been married and had children. And I thought, well, that's - you know, you can have a broad life experience even though you haven't - you know. So that was, I think she's sort of an enigma. She sort of confounds people, which may not be a bad thing.

Tavis: How did you get to be political anyway? 'Cause you've spoken at rallies. I mean, you are a very political person, very engaged.

Brenneman: I don't know. I don't know. I never really was. I mean, I was in my heart, and I never really stepped out about it too much. Probably becoming a mom. I mean, I spoke at the march for, you know, women's health, reproductive freedom, a year and a half ago, because I have a daughter, you know. And I just thought, oh, my God. Like, I can't even imagine her having less freedom and less support than I did. So, I think you do sort of want to keep the planet going for those you love.

Tavis: Well, that's the best reason, if you're gonna get involved, might as well do it for your kids, and now your new kid.

Brenneman: Now my new kid. Yeah, he's a boy. He'll be fine. He's a white male.

Tavis: (laughs) Yeah, oh, to be white males and be okay.

Brenneman: He's got it covered.

Tavis: Nice to meet you, Amy.

Brenneman: Nice to meet you, too. It's a pleasure.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. Thanks for watching. See you back here next time, and keep the faith.