Finally, after a lot of searching and digging, it was simply the love of family that gave me a road into the character. Once I got into that, and we delved into what it would be like to survive cancer and the ability to see how precious life is, it became easier to play her.

Early life and education
Tripplehorn was born in Tulsa Oklahoma the daughter of Suzanne (née Ferguson) and Tom Tripplehorn who was once a guitarist with Gary Lewis & the Playboys. Tripplehorn's grandmother Jean Neely appeared in the film Reality Bites in which Tripplehorn also had a role. More recently Jeanne Tripplehorn starred opposite Bill Paxton in the HBO drama Big Love from 2006 to 2011.

Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn (born June 10 1963) is an American film and television actress. She became famous through her supporting role in the 1992 erotic thriller Basic Instinct and went on to star in films such as The Firm (1993) and Waterworld (1995).