Holly Hunter, Hard as Nails

As Detective Grace
Hanadarko on the TNT hit
Saving Grace,

Holly Hunter plays a hard-as-nails yet positively admirable
mess of a human. In real life, it might look as if Hunter has
some of Grace's stronger edges -- that seemingly unshakeable
confidence helps -- but it's remarkably clear that the actress
is a passionate creature consumed with the joy her career
affords her. Advocate.com sat down to talk with the
Oscar-winning actress (
The Piano

) -- and two-time Emmy winner and multi-Golden Globe nominee --
before the curtain rises on another round of new
Saving Grace

episodes this month. Is there an LGBT story line in the show's
future? Hunter tells all.

Advocate.com:Congrats on the show and such a memorable character. If
Grace could, what advice do you think she'd be doling out to
the president?Holly Hunter:

She would give none. I think she's a liver of life, but I don't
think she gives advice. I don't know if this guy needs it. I
mean, he has an extraordinary amount of wisdom, for such a
young man. It's incredible. The world is different.

The group depression has lifted. No need for Zoloft -- at
least about the presidency.

Even though we are in terrible shape economically, I do feel
hopeful.

What are you most excited about in 2009?

Well, I am excited about him. It's interesting to think of a
president as a role model, but I think that he kind of is one.
I think people will listen to him. I think if he said, "I
want all Americans to turn their thermostats down this
summer," I think people will. It comes down to being as
pragmatic as that. If he encouraged all Americans to buy
American cars, he might have an impact. That is the power that
I think he has. Even with things just as practical as that. I
think that guy has the power to have a real effect on us as a
country.

He's spurring us to get involved in our own community. Spark
change.

Definitely.

About Grace, what do you love most about playing her?

You can never anticipate who she is going to be. I think she
gets to play lots of different roles. Even in her job, I think
the job encourages her to role-play with people; to figure out
who she is in order to get information from people. That's just
one aspect. The thing that lures me in the most is the
relationship she has with her own self, which I think is very
conflicted, very passionate, very uncensored. She has a large
soul.