Celebrity crush: Jennifer Finnigan

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This week's new entry spotlights a former soap actress now working on a USA Network pilot called Wild Card about lawyers in Las Vegas.

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Name: Jennifer Finnigan (images | Web site | Twitter)
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec, according to her Wikipedia profile. Hmmm. I didn't realize she was an emissary of Our Strange and Savage Neighbo(u)rs to the North until writing this entry. I guess they really *do* look a lot like us ... or much better, in the case of the celebrity crushes.

(Though that might explain her similarity to fellow crush A.J. Cook, who is also Canadian. They must be related. There are only about 20 people in that country, so I figure they're all extended family, right?)
Best Known For: Jennifer possibly reached her widest audience on the daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful, where she appeared from 2000-04. I first fell under her spell on the primetime legal drama Close to Home, where she played a new mother and prosecutor in Indianapolis, Ind.

More recently, she starred in the romantic sitcom Better With You, which I remember hearing zero about before it came on, or I would have made a point of watching it. (Apparently this was a common enough problem for it to be canceled after just one season -- though I think it aired all its episodes.)

She also made three appearances on USA Network's The Dead Zone as a psychic love interest for Anthony Michael Hall's protagonist and appeared in 10 episodes of the forensic crime drama Crossing Jordan over two seasons.

Humble Beginnings: Jennifer did modeling and acting as a child and teenager, IMDB notes. Early TV roles included a recurring part on The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo and an appearance on the kid-friendly horror-ish shows Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Big Wolf on Campus. She guest-starred on The Fearing Mind, which starred fellow celebrity crush Katee Sackhoff. And several years before she worked with Josh Cooke on the short-lived romantic sitcom Better With You, she worked with Josh Cooke ... on the short-lived romantic sitcom Committed.
Obligatory Edgy Stuff: She's married to Jonathan Silverman, star of the Weekend at Bernie's movies. I'm not saying this is evidence of an insidious Canadian plot to conquer America through very polite zombies, mind you, just stating the facts.

Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: She's a sparklingly pretty woman who can play dramatic or comedic roles with equal skill. (Or, on The Dead Zone, both at the same time.) If all our future Canadian overlords are so beautiful and charming, I surrender without a fight. 
Film and TV-movie Credits: Conception (completed) (Amazon | iTunes) * Cookie (short, completed -- also producer) (Amazon | iTunes) * The Last Christmas (2010 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes) * Wedding for One (2010 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes) * Committed (2010 short) (Amazon | iTunes) * What Color Is Love? (2009 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes) * Inside the Box (2009 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes) * Beethoven's Big Break (Amazon | iTunes) * The Coverup (Amazon | iTunes) * High Hopes (Amazon | iTunes) * The Stalking of Laurie Show (2000 TV-movie) (Amazon | iTunes)

TV and Web Series Credits: Better With You (2010) (Amazon | iTunes) * Head Case, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Head Case, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Head Case, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * The Dead Zone, season 6: "Exile" (Amazon | iTunes) * Close to Home, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * Close to Home, season 1 (Amazon | iTunes) * The Dead Zone, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Committed (2005) (Amazon | iTunes) * Crossing Jordan, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes) * Crossing Jordan, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * Largo Winch, season 1: "Cheap Thrills" (Amazon | iTunes) * The Fearing Mind, season 1: "Good Harvest" (Amazon | iTunes) * Are You Afraid of the Dark?, season 2: "The Last Dance" (Amazon | iTunes) * Student Bodies, season 3 (Amazon | iTunes) * La Femme Nikita, season 4: "There Are No Missions" (Amazon | iTunes) * Big Wolf on Campus, season 1: "Muffy the Werewolf Slayer" (Amazon | iTunes) * Student Bodies, season 2 (Amazon | iTunes) * The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, season 4 (Amazon | iTunes)