Maura Tierney is back on the job six months after treatment for breast cancer prompted her to drop out of the NBC dramedy Parenthood. The 44-year-old actress will soon take to the stage in the satirical play North Atlantic, as a member of a Cold War-era peacekeeping force aboard an aircraft carrier. Written for the Wooster Group, a performance collective, in 1982, this iteration of the musical also stars Frances McDormand.
The Emmy-nominated ER actress, who also appeared in a guest stint on Rescue Me last year, declined to comment on her return to acting, but her publicist told EW exclusively, “She has finished treatment and is doing very well, and is happy to move forward with the next phase of her life.”
With a run scheduled for Feb. 10–21 at L.A.’s Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater and March 10–April 25 at New York’s Jerome Robbins Theater, Tierney’s turn in Atlantic happens to coincide with the March 2 premiere of Parenthood — now starring Gilmore Girls vet Lauren Graham in the role of Sarah, a harried single mom played by Tierney in the pilot. (The rest of the original ensemble, including Six Feet Under’s Peter Krause, remains intact.) This TV take on the 1989 movie had been set to debut in September, but Tierney’s departure from the project delayed production last summer. Now that her health is back on track, here’s hoping her return to TV won’t be far behind.
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Glad to hear it! I’m sure she will be back soon.
this is great news. I always liked her back to the NewsRadio days
So glad she’s doing well!
YAY! WONDERFUL NEWS! Congrats to Maura! I respect her even more now that she dealt with all this under-the-radar and didn’t get herself splashed all over magazine covers. I bet networks will clamour to get her in a pilot that they will be filming soon for September launches.
yay! glad she’s doing better
So happy she’s doing well – her fans have been waiting for this good news for a long time.
i’ve been a huge fan of maura and the work she’s done for over 10 years now, and it broke my heart to see her have to go through something like this. she’s my hero, and she’s given me hope that my own mother can beat breast cancer. thank you, maura. we love you.
And during this period, her father also died, so she’s had a rough go of things lately. Glad to hear she’s doing better. Hope to see her on screen soon!