Actresses liked ‘Big Love’ from the start

updated 6:02 p.m. ET April 11, 2006

NEW YORK - There was something about playing the three wives on "Big Love," HBO's polygamy drama, that made three fine actresses answer: "I do," "I do," "I do."

"I was really shocked at myself for signing on without knowing where it was gonna go, or much of anything else," says Chloe Sevigny, who co-stars with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin in this unconventionally devout series (following "The Sopranos" at 10 p.m. EDT Sundays).

"But after reading the pilot, I was so moved by it," she continues during a recent communal interview. "And I was fascinated by my character" — Nicki, the sulky middle wife of Salt Lake City merchant and father of seven Bill Henrickson, played by Bill Paxton.

"I got the call about the show when I was in my car," says Sevigny (whose films include "Shattered Glass," "Boys Don't Cry" and "Kids"). "I went and picked up the script at the agency and read it in the parking lot. I had the meeting the same day and we pretty much signed the deal."

"I had months of auditioning," recalls Goodwin (seen in such films as "Walk the Line" and "Mona Lisa Smile," as well as on TV's "Ed"), who was vying for the role of the excitable, childish third wife, Margene. "They gave me a love scene to do as my screen test. I went into a conference room with, like, 25 execs and a camcorder, and Bill and I were seated in two armchairs.

"I thought, `How on Earth am I gonna do a love scene? I'm going to have to sit with him!' So I crawled over, and I kinda feel like we made out. Then, afterward, I had to leave the room to gather myself. Out in the hall, I thought, 'What was I DOING?!'

"I was pulling out of the driveway on the phone with my agent, saying, `I blew it. I made out with a stranger, and I think I must have upset him.'"

Then another call came in: "Welcome to `Big Love'!"

"I'd really been wanting to do a television series," says Tripplehorn (whose film credits include "The Firm," "Mickey Blue Eyes" and "Waterworld," and who appeared in "Three Sisters" on Broadway). "But I don't like legal dramas. I don't like medical dramas. I was looking for a comedy."

Before accepting the part of Barb — Henrickson's wife of 17 years and the matriarchal focus for the whole family — she initially wavered.

"I went through all sorts of emotions: `I don't think I'm right.' `Everyone is really nice.'" But she trusted the script. "The family situation was handled with such dignity and intelligence and class."

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