By Josephine Agostino
Helen Hunt still isn’t sure what women want. But at 44, the Oscar-winning actress knows she has all she needs. She and her partner of seven years, screenwriter Matthew Carnahan, have happily made a life for themselves away from the spotlight of Hollywood, with their daughter Makena’lei and Matthew’s son Emmett.
Major movie roles alongside Mel Gibson and Jack Nicholson, and million-dollar-an-episode pay cheques for sitcom Mad About You meant Helen could focus on her family — until her next “baby” came along — the film she’s written, directed and starred in, Then She Found Me.
What do you love to do with your daughter?
Well, she’s never seen any TV in her life, so that leaves lots of time for other things. She and her father garden, we go to the park, we bake bread, that kind of thing. She goes to a school that encourages that, so her friends won’t be seeing me on a late-night TV talk show or anything.
Do you have a TV in your home?
Her father and I watch a bit of TV before we go to bed, but we don’t have it on when the kids are around.
You were a child actor from the age of nine. How did you avoid going off the rails?
I was lucky enough not to be in any successful show or movie back then. I did a lot of little things like an after-school activity. I had a normal life. I can’t think of many people who have huge success as kids who go on to have careers.
How did Salman Rushdie come to play the character of a gynaecologist in Then She Found Me?
There’s a scene where people are praying and I wanted this character to be Indian, so you wouldn’t know which God they were praying to. I auditioned actors and approached him and he was interested, so that’s how it happened. He could not have been more professional, he did a terrific job.
Are you just as comfortable being a director as you are playing the lead role?
There wasn’t much of a separation between the two. I just did whatever needed to be done; it felt like all like one job.
Does your daughter show any qualities of an actress?
I would never begin to imagine what she’s going to be. She’s three years old and she’s become herself very quickly. She’s very funny and expresses herself when she doesn’t like something, which makes me very happy. I’m glad when she says, “I don’t like it”.
How would you describe the type of mother you are?
It’s important for my daughter to feel like there’s someone in charge of the day, it makes her more secure, that I have a plan.
How did winning an Oscar change your life?
I don’t know that it did. It was an exciting, stressful night, but there’s theories it could go either way. I have no idea what it did for my career.
What was the Mad About You experience like from the inside? It was such a huge show around the world.
I was very lucky, because that gave me the financial freedom not to have take jobs that I didn’t like. On a daily basis it was the hardest work I’d ever done, it was like standing at the bottom of a tidal wave. Paul [Reiser] and I are still friends, so I feel very fortunate and I was old enough to appreciate it.
Would you consider returning to TV?
Absolutely I would.
What is your favourite show at the moment?
Californication with David Duchovny. I love it. I’d like that job!
For more of this interview, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale May 19).
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