Kyra Sedgwick: She spent most of the past decade raising her son Travis, 15, and daughter Sosie Ruth, 13 (Dad is actor Kevin Bacon). Now Kyra Sedgwick is back in the spotlight playing a cop in the new drama The Closer, premiering June 13 on TNT.

ON GOING BACK TO WORK My manager kept calling me about this project. I said, 'Don't send it, I'm not going to do it.' But after I read the script I got a good feeling. Then I thought, "I can't do this. What about the kids?" Kevin said, "I'll stay home with them. You should go for it." I was really grateful for that because it meant him not taking a job for 4½ months.

ON KEVIN'S SUPPORTING ROLE We read each other's work and talk about why we like it and why we don't. I sit down with him and say, "There's something wrong with this scene. How can we make it better?" He'll give me ideas.

ON PLAYING A T0UGH COP We live in a male-dominated world. I can remember being 16 on a soap opera and the director called me "honey," and I turned and said, "Don't call me 'honey.'" He was like, "Whoa." But he never called me honey again.