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Henrie's Recipes
Helen still in the Hunt
Posted Wed, 08 Nov 2000
By the age of six Helen Hunt already knew that she wanted to be an actress. By the time she was nine she had already studied acting, hired an agent and landed a role on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", playing the daughter of Murray Slaughter.
A number of television roles ensued, including a part on the series "It Takes Two", and a role in the made-for-tv drama "The Quarterback Princess". These roles led to a bigger, recurring part on the smash-hit hospital drama "St Elsewhere". Amidst all this she still found time to appear in two huge New York theatre shows - "The Taming Of The Shrew" and "Our Town", but was to find that theatre work was becoming increasingly difficult to get, as theatre producers regarded her more as a television actor.
Hunt got her silver screen career off the ground with a role in "Peggy Sue Got Married" in 1986, in which she played the daughter of Nicholas Cage and Kathleen Turner. It was about this time that she started dating actor Matthew Broderick, whom she met on the set of "Project X", and had a romance with him that was to last two years.
It was one of her earlier screen performances that really caught the eye of the Tinseltown bigwigs, in the movie "Waterdance", and this part paved the way for a successful film career. The role was a tough one and Hunt says she "pursued it like a bloodhound". Through this role she gained the reputation of being an exceptionally hard worker, a reputation that was enhanced by co-star Eric Stoltz' comment: "People don't realise that Helen's the hardest-working gal in showbiz". This appraisal of Hunt has stuck with her throughout her screen career.
It took until the mid-90's for Hunt to really come into her own as a superstar - first there was the television series "Mad About You" which garnered four consecutive Emmy Awards, and a television audience of 25 million for the 1997 season finale of the show, which saw the birth of Jamie and Paul's baby. Hunt and co-star Paul Reiser were paid $1-million per episode for the 1999 season. Then there was the 1996 big-screen blockbuster "Twister", which was one of the biggest money-spinners in movie history. This was followed by a Best Actress Oscar in 1997, for the comedy "As Good As It Gets", in which she co-starred with Jack Nicholson, in a performance which had critics falling all over themselves trying to heap the most praise on her.
The year 2000 has seen the talented actress shoot no less than five films, including "Dr. T And The Women", the Oscar-nominated "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey and "What Women Want", and she already has more lined up for 2001. With a successful screen career, and an appearance on People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list, it seems Helen will be in the Hunt for a long time to come.
