Emmy-nominated Maura Tierney, who plays Nurse Abigail 'Abby' Wyczenski Lockhart in the number 1 hit series E.R, happily admits that she could never live in the small town inhabited by her latest screen character, in the dark comedy Scotland Pa. "I'm definitely a city gal through and through; there's no way I could live in any small towns." In Scotland pa, directed by her husband, Tierney is Pat McBeth, loosely based on Shakespeare's venomous Lady Macbeth. But far from medieval Scotland, this contemporary take of the Shakespearean tragedy is set in a fast food restaurant, where the power hungry McBeths aspire to take the fast food century onwards and upwards. The film is also set in the seventies, and satirizes small town Americana within that time period. Interestingly, Tierney, now 37, admits that she would have quite liked living in the seventies. "I've often thought I've missed my real time. I felt like I should have grown up in the late 60's or early 70's because I think I just would have been an excellent hippie. You know, I'm not very ambitious. I'm usually all about, you know, hanging out, so I think I would have done well in that world." Tierney, who plays an often stressed out and morose Abby on E.R, is much more laid back. "I keep on forgetting to wear my wedding ring, a classic example of how formality bores me." Tierney is opposite to her more gregarious husband, Billy Morrissette. "He's a lot funnier than I am." Morrissette, a former actor, may not have consciously created Pat McBeth with his wife in mind, but certain aspects of her personality crept in. "I do swear a lot and I had no idea Billy was even thinking of that."

Tierney was born in Boston and started to develop an interest in acting "in high school and then studied acting in college. So I think it was always something I was interested in", the actress recalls. Tierney thought she'd give LA a whirl so she "came out here because three of my friends were moving out here after we graduated so I came with them. I was just gonna spend two months out here, go back to New York. But I got a job, met an agent and then ended up staying here."

The young actress had her first starring role on television in Norman Lear's comedy series "704 Hauser" (1994). Tierney's additional credits include starring in the television films Out of Darkness (1994) (TV), Student Exchange (1987) (TV) and Crossing the Mob (1988) (TV). She guest-starred in the series "Growing Pains" (1985), "Family Ties" (1982) and NBC's "Law & Order" (1990). Tierney starred with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock in the feature film Forces of Nature (1999), opposite Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Instinct (1999), alongside John Travolta and Emma Thompson in Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998) and opposite Jim Carrey in Liar Liar (1997). But she is best known for two lauded TV shows: 1995's Newsradio and now, ER, playing the often-sad Abby. Asked about whether the character has grown much, Tierney pauses. "I thought there was last year, but then maybe not. However I thought there were a lot of issues resolved in the end, with her relationship with her mother. I think there was this moment where the character was allowed to be a lot more vulnerable and allowed to be taken care of by her mother and her mother was kind of acting like a mother. And I think it has changed the character a little bit, but this year, you know, this year the focus has been a little bit off Abby so we'll see."

Tierney does promise that Abby will be going through a lot during the February sweeps period. "There's still a lot of trauma happening with her," and Tierney is content to continue with ER as long "as the point doesn't come where I lose interest. It's still a great show to work on and those people are great."

It's a very different Tierney in Scotland pa and she relishes the change of pace. "I miss doing comedy, and this piece is so refreshing." The actress and her husband are developing other projects, "that is when I escape my day job." But what a day job it is!

SCOTLAND PA OPENS IN LIMITED RELEASE THIS WEEK.