Tierney's long shift on 'ER' is nearly over

When Maura Tierney joined the cast of "ER," the show had already been on the air for more than five seasons. And she had absolutely no clue that she would end up being on it for more than all of the original cast members except one.

"No, I didn't," Tierney said in a conference call with TV critics. "But then it worked out that it was such a great job. And the show kept going on, and they kept wanting me to stay there. So it was really a very, very fortunate thing for me."

Although a comment from a reporter interviewing her not long ago took Tierney aback.

"He called me one of the more elderly cast members," she said. "I was, like — Wow! Elderly."

Certainly not elderly, but Tierney's character, Dr. Abby Lockhart, has been through more than her share of drama since November 1999. She's dealt with a ne'er-do-well ex-husband; broken romances; alcoholism; a mentally ill mother; a mentally ill brother; an unexpected pregnancy; an extremely difficult birth and the near-death of her son; an unexpected wedding (to Dr. Luka Kovac, played by Goran Visnjic); Luka being taken hostage and threatened with death; not to mention all the enormous drama surrounding the hospital.

All this drama is in no small part because of Tierney's talents and what "ER" executive producer John Wells calls "writer Darwinism."

"Writers write to people who can really act, and Maura's an extraordinarily talented actress," he said. And so you know that whatever you bring to the character, she's going to give you something that's unexpected and moving and wonderful. So Maura has sort of created that for Abby's character by being so terrific. ...

"Truthfully, like in any business or sport, you go to the person who can really deliver for you, and Maura proved, really right from the beginning, that she was never going to take the easiest choice in the scene. (She) always was working hard to try to find something interesting to do with the character, which is no small feat over the number of episodes that we do."

Tierney certainly isn't complaining about everything her character has been through.

"The writers, I feel like, have taken great care of this character," she said. "I mean, it's hard for everybody when you're on a show for a long time to keep it interesting. And I think always Abby was really protected by the writers because, you know, they were always interested in keeping it real."

And all the trials and tribulations in Abby's life actually make work more fun, she said.