Jennifer Finnigan has been working nonstop since she left B&B nearly 20 years ago, racking up a list of impressive credits on CROSSING JORDAN, CLOSE TO HOME, BETTER WITH YOU, TYRANT and SALVATION. Now, she’s enjoying that her latest project, MOONSHINE, a Canadian series, is airing in the U.S. on The CW. “I can’t even tell you enough about this,” Finnigan begins. “It came at a time that was very scary in the world. When this show came to my attention, it was February of 2020. I remember reading it and thinking it was such a special show. I’ve always wanted to do a Canadian show. It was so well-written, and the character of Lidia jumped off the page to me. I was like, ‘Who is this Sheri Elwood [creator] and how does she know how to write for women so well?’ We had all these meetings scheduled to talk about me potentially doing the show, and then the world shut down.”
Fortunately, the show found a way to go on. “Lo and behold, in Nova Scotia in the Atlantic provinces, Covid was so low, it was almost nonexistent for months,” she recalls. “We were one of the first productions in North America to get started. We started shooting and we did all the protocols. I remember flying out of LAX and there were maybe three people on the entire plane. We did a full two-week quarantine, where we weren’t even allowed to leave our front door. But after, I remember leaving the rental house outside of Halifax, and we went to a restaurant. This restaurant was open but not just that, it had music. I was like, ‘Where are we? Are we in the place that Covid forgot?’ It was crazy. I was able to keep my kid in school, and we were able to be social within the bubble of our show. It was a huge gift, not just to be able to work during that time but to work on something we loved, and to form bonds which would never have been that strong if not for the conditions we were shooting under.”
MOONSHINE is a raucous one-hour dramedy that tells the story of a dysfunctional family of adult half siblings battling to take control of the family business. Describing her role, Finnigan enthuses, “This was so much fun for me. I played it as the straight person for the first few episodes and then as Sheri and the writers got to know me they realized, ‘She can do comedy,’ and so they latched onto my quirkiness, and my character becomes increasingly unhinged. By season three, forget it. All bets are off. When I do straight drama, I find myself constantly missing the comedy. I remember so many times in the dramas, I’d try to insert a little comedic read on a line. I’d make the crew laugh but then I’d watch the final cut and anything remotely funny was gone. And when I’m doing a comedy, I miss being able to dig into the more dramatic stuff, so this was the sweet spot for me.”
After MOONSHINE’s first season wrapped, the family decided to stick around in Nova Scotia. “We were completely in a bubble,” Finnigan explains. “Johnny and I discussed it and thought, ‘What are we going to fly back to? Ella can at least stay in school here. She has all these great friends,’ and L.A. at the time was a complete disaster zone. She’s an only child. We don’t have siblings for her to run around with, so it was important that we give her a sense of normalcy, so we ended up staying.”
Johnny, of course, is her husband of 16 years, actor Jonathan Silverman, and they have the rare successful Hollywood romance. “We met on the Fourth of July at a barbecue at the Playboy mansion,” she chuckles. “I was there as an actress, and all the ladies loved BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL. I don’t know why he was there but I think we are the only couple that has ever met at the mansion, got engaged and have been together for nearly 20 years. We spoke for about nine hours. Then, on our ‘official’ first date, he took me to dinner, and he remembered everything I had said that night. He remembered things I didn’t even remember telling him and I thought, ‘Wow, this guy really listens,’ and that was a very good start. I always think that should be the headline, because I don’t know many couples in this business who have lasted as long as we have, and yet nobody ever really pays attention to that. Nineteen years together and 16 married. Isn’t that wild?”
Of welcoming Ella 10 years later, Finnigan reflects, “We started late. We are old parents. We were together 13 years before making the decision and if I’m being completely transparent, it happened on the first try [laughs]. [Parenthood] has been challenging. Ella Jack, or EJ as we call her, is a complex kid. She is spirited. She feels everything deeper. She hears everything louder. She’s highly sensitive. All of these things make for an absolutely incredible human. I have to say it has been so rewarding, and as hard as it can be at times, the highs are so high. She is so joyful and so full of love, and she is so smart. She is the love of our lives. I never want to tell people it’s easy but she is the world to us…. I’m crying just talking about her.”
Finnigan could also cry happy tears over being cast on B&B in 2000, her breakthrough role in show business. “That experience helped shaped me into the actor I am today,” she praises. “I always say to Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] that B&B raised me, in a way, because I was so young and naive.” As for her favorite B&B storyline, Finnigan smiles about the scandalous tale of Brooke getting pregnant by Deacon while he was married to Bridget. “I think that’s the one everyone else remembers, too,” she winks. “That moment [of reveal] with the baby monitor and Bridget hearing her mother and her husband talking about their unborn child? I still remember that day! I was in this white lacy dress, and I had to keep myself in such an emotional place, yet I had to react to nothing but a white plastic baby monitor sitting on the table, going through the throes of disgust and sadness and devastation. That was no small feat for a young actress! I’m proud of myself, even when I watch it still.”
Finnigan recently found herself back on B&B’s set after hours. “Weirdly, our cousin’s company, Hackman Capital Partners, acquired CBS Television City,” she shares. “They own many studios in L.A., and so they took us on a little backstage tour a few months ago. I wrote a note and slipped it under John McCook’s [Eric] door. He emailed me right back and said ‘Finnigan! JenFinn! What were you doing here?’ It was so great to see all the old sets. It felt like coming full circle.”
Besides conversing with McCook, Finnigan is still in touch with Maeve Quinlan (ex-Megan). “Maeve is truly like my sister,” she beams. “I was a bridesmaid at her wedding, and she comes and stays with us all the time. We are family.” Another close soap pal is Erin Cardillo (ex-Esme, PASSIONS), who co-created and wrote for SIGNIFICANT MOTHER, which starred her hubby, Silverman, and B&B’s Krista Allen (Taylor). “Erin was also on a soap, but I only got to know her when Johnny was doing her show,” Finnigan relays. “I freaking love her. We hang out all the time. She is such a smart cookie. She is a dynamo. I’m still friends with everyone at B&B. It’s not a daily basis kind of thing but we always check in and reach out and comment on each other’s Instagram posts. And, I must say that I love Katherine Kelly Lang [Brooke] so much. She is the greatest. I have such love for everyone on that show.”
She also has a lot of love for her MOONSHINE alter ego. “I want to see more stories about women in their 40s,” Finnigan notes. “I was able to dig so deeply into this woman; I hope that other women my age relate to her the way I do, and that she makes them laugh and feel understood. The reason I still do what I do is to, hopefully, touch people, and examine how we relate to people. I feel really connected to Lidia and I’m so excited that the U.S. will finally see what I’ve been doing for the last few years.”
What’s In A Name
There is a sentimental story about why daughter Ella’s middle name is Jack. “My father was the most important person in my life,” Finnigan relays. “He was my hero. He was truly an angel on this earth and when he passed, I lost a part of myself. I always knew if I had a child, and for whatever reason I assumed I’d have a boy, [that I’d name it after my dad] and then when I found out I was having a girl, I was like, ‘Okay, pivot.’ We were trying to find a perfect name to go with Jack. Our best friend was [the late] Bob Saget, and he had a whole line of suggestions he gave us, like Monterey. Monterey Jack [laughs]. He had so many awful suggestions that made us laugh so hard, but I had a dream the night before finding out the gender and in the dream, her name was Ella, and that became her name.”
Just The Facts
Birthday: August 22
Hails From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Marital Bliss: Married Jonathan Silverman on May 22, 2007. “We’ve been married 16 years and together for 19. He stole all my good years [laughs]. But I love that my trophy husband is a phenomenal dad and that we are such a solid unit.”
Ella Enchanted: Gave birth to daughter Ella Jack on September 29, 2017.
Family Ties: Her father, Jack, was a popular radio personality on CJAD radio in Montreal from 1972-2005.
Award Shelf: Finnigan won three consecutive Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Younger Actress from 2002-04. “I think I was the first to do that in the younger actor category, right? I remember I thought I would be in the book of world records — but the extra volume that no one cares about [laughs].”
