Jillian Noel Hennessy

Jillian Noel Hennessy (19 November 1975) is a Canadian singer and actor from Canada. Her most well-known work is her role on the American television show Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons as well as Crossing Jordan, on which she was the main character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She has also appeared in movies such as RoboCop 3 and Most Wanted, and the indie film Chutney Popcorn and The Acting Class which is the latter of which she also co-wrote and directed. Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. John Hennessy, John's father, was a marketing and meat sales/marketing executive. The position required a lot of travel , which meant the family had to move frequently. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary was a divorcee in 1982 and left her daughter to be partially raised by her paternal grandmother Eleanor, in Kitchener, Ontario. John Paul Hennessy Jr. is her younger brother. Jacqueline is her identical twin sister and is a writer for a Canadian magazine and host. Hennessy is of Irish as well as French, Swedish, Italian and Swedish ancestry from her father, and most of her Ukrainian Roma and Austrian heritage from her mother. She attended Grand River Collegiate Institute and Stanley Park Senior Public School. Hennessy along with her sister and her first performance was as twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers. She was not selected for the role of Dana Scully on The X-Files according to Gillian Anderson, the actress who ultimately got the role.She appeared on Broadway in the musical Buddy the Musical - The Buddy Holly Story in 1990.In 1993, she was on the show as Dr. Marie Lazarus in RoboCop 3.In 1993, Dick Wolf signed Hennessy as the assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. The role was played by her for three seasons before leaving the show in the year 1996.