Poker queen Tilly plays cards right with film, TV role
From poker to bedpans?
Fresh from her historic win at the World Series of Poker, Jennifer Tilly dons nurse's togs for the sweet, fablelike ``Saint Ralph,'' opening tomorrow.
In June, Tilly - a 1994 Oscar nominee for ``Bullets Over Broadway'' and notoriously famous for her over-the-top work as Tiffany, the human and doll version in the ``Chucky'' horror movies - won the Ladies No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Competition, becoming the first celebrity to win an event at the World Series of Poker.
"I'm not sure how I did that,'' Tilly said. ``My boyfriend Phil Laak is a professional poker player and really obsessive.''
They met at a celebrity event and went to poker tournaments together - though no one took her seriously at first.
"It was like a `Saint Ralph' thing. I thought, `I'll show you - I'm going to the World Series of Poker and win the big gold bracelet,' which is like an Olympic medal.''
With 14-year-old Ralph (Adam Butcher) as its hero, the Canadian-set ``Saint Ralph'' takes place 50 years ago at a private, all-boys Catholic school. Ralph's father has died, and his mother is comatose in the hospital. Ralph believes that his winning the Boston Marathon would be the miracle needed to pull his mother out of her coma. Like Tilly at the poker table, no one takes Ralph seriously.
Tilly's sexy Nurse Alice, unlike the demented Bride of Chucky, offers no hint of any hanky-panky with virginal Ralph.
"That would be a little frightening,'' she said. ``Nobody seduces this kid except for his age-appropriate playmates. That's why we set it in the 1950s. It's a very family-friendly film.''
Actually, there is another reason Nurse Alice only mothers Ralph.
"When I shot these scenes, my character was a lesbian,'' Tilly said. ``I thought it was intriguing. You'll notice places where the lesbianism has been mercilessly excised.''
That's why, as Ralph runs the climactic 1954 Boston Marathon and they cut back to Nurse Alice and his mother as the radio broadcasts the live race, ``It's like a loop in a porn film, and I keep having the same expression,'' she said. ``That's because my girlfriend comes in and we have jubilation and a little PG kissing, and they had to cut it out. The director said it detracted from the Ralph story. Although I wish there was a little more of me in it, I understand.''
Tilly's career as a high-stakes poker player - she goes to London this month for a $2 million tournament - is now in jeopardy.
"I accepted a television series, so I think it's going to put a crimp in my career.''
Her high-profile Monday-night CBS series ``Out of Practice'' was created by the producers and writers behind ``Frasier'' and co-stars Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler.
"I haven't done a series since '91 with `Key West.' I'm a recurring role, and I'll be out in a year unless I want to stay. It's the best possible situation in doing a series,'' said the commitment-phobic actress.
Which is why this once-married, once-divorced veteran says, "I don't think I'd get married again. I'm always looking for the out clause. On the series, I'm, `How many episodes do I have to do?' I'm crazy about Phil, but whether in a series, a movie or a relationship, I think they should only be together as long as they want to be together. Not because of a piece of paper.''
