Maura Tierney opened up to Us exclusively about 25 things you might not know about her — including her love for doing laundry, her first job working in a deli and who’d she cast her to play in a movie. Read on to learn more about The Affair alum and The Report star.
1. I’m not much of a cook. I’m more like a prep cook. I like to wash and chop and measure for the cook and clean as they go. I’m better at the eating part of meals.
2. My favorite book of all time is Lolita.
3. I can salsa dance on stilts.
4. My mother is the most influential person in my life. Her name is Mary, but her friends call her Pat, and my [late] dad called her Jess.
5. I’ve had two dogs, both pugs — Rose Kennedy and Mac. I loved Mac the best.
6. I’m excellent at sewing. I used to sew with my mom. She’d sew outfits for me and I’d sew little versions for my dolls.
7. The best splurge I ever made was on a private skydiving lesson on the Costa Brava in Spain.
8. If I weren’t an actress, I’d love to be writing a novel.
9. I have a temper, which I always regret losing.
10. I’d cast [former News-Radio costar] Dave Foley to play me in a movie about my life because he’s funny and looks good in a dress.
11. I don’t ever let anyone else do my laundry. I find laundry very relaxing. I like to go to laundromats in foreign countries.
12. I have a mantra because I do Transcendental Meditation. You’re not supposed to tell anyone what it is, and I never have. I think it’s the only secret I’ve never told anyone.
13. The last thing I do before I go to sleep is worry about not sleeping.
14. I don’t believe in the phrase “guilty pleasure.” Why should people feel guilty about being happy?
15. My first celebrity crush was Paul Michael Glaser. I was allowed to stay up late on Wednesday nights to watch Starsky and Hutch.
16. Last week when I was running in Hudson River Park, a man jogged up next to me and asked for a selfie — while we were running! I declined.
17. The one item I couldn’t live without is my headlamp.
18. My first job was working in a deli. I smelled like pickles literally all the time.
19. I’m obsessed with tiny things.
20. In L.A., I drive my dad’s 1982 Mercedes convertible. I love it because I think about him every time I start the car.
21. I like to shovel snow if it’s not freezing out.
22. I work with a New York avant-garde theater company called the Wooster Group and have toured all over the world with them.
23. I can chop wood.
24. I’ve never watched a reality show. Ever.
25. I know every line from the film Ordinary People.
Tierney’s new movie, The Report, is out in theaters Friday, November 15.
