Kyra Sedgwick reminds folks that 'The Closer' is back for five winter episodes

She cited episode eight when Brenda took the law into her own hands and left a gang member to be annihilated by his fellow gang members. In the next five, "all these people are trying to influence her to take jobs she's not interested in... Everyone is telling her what her aspirations are for her."

Brenda, for instance, never wanted to chief's job even though she thought about it. "She is such a malleable person. While she's incredibly intuitive of other people and their motives," Sedgwick said, "she knows nothing about herself or is very interested in herself. She can easily be jostled around."

And while Brenda is influenced by her husband Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney)  for sure, assistant chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons) is her biggest influence, Sedgwick said. And his pending departure has her very concerned. "She's married to her work and her boss" as much, if not more than poor Fritz,  she said.

Sedgwick, a New York City resident whose oldest daughter just left for college, now has more time to do films during the offseason. She is working on  "Man on a Ledge," playing a New York City journalist. "It's sort of like 'Taking of Pelham 1,2,3,' " she said. "It's a thriller. It has Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris.  It's a great cast. It's fun. I have a good part."

Okay, time for one more question, the TNT publicist said. So I ask her about her Emmy victory in September, an upset win over favorite Julianna Margulies from CBS's "The Good Wife."

"I was in total shock, I have to tell you," said Sedgwick, who had been nominated four previous times. "I never thought after five years I would win... it was a wonderful surprise. Everyone works really hard here. I felt like it was an award for the show."

On TV

"The Closer," TNT on Mondays at 9 p.m. starting Dec. 6 for five weeks

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By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog