'Grey's' Star Jessica Capshaw 'grateful' for her family ties

By Gayle Jo Carter, Special for USA TODAY
 "It reminded me of The Blind Side," saysGrey's Anatomy actress Jessica Capshaw about her first read of her new Lifetime movie, One Angry Juror (Nov. 15, 9 ET/PT), in which she plays a tough New Orleans lawyer serving on the jury of a murder trial. What "resonated" with Capshaw, 34, was the movie's "inspiring story about someone taking on more than they really could or should in the name of justice and fairness."

 Of course, an "ideal" three-week shoot schedule during a hiatus from her "day job" as Dr. Arizona Robbins on Grey's and a chance to get some girlfriend cred didn't hurt.

 "Lifetime does a phenomenal job of finding these stories that are incredibly accessible to people," Capshaw says. "Since doing one, (I) have found out there are friends that you know and see on a daily basis that are Lifetime movie junkies. So I sort of went, 'Wow, this is a totally untapped area for me.'"

 Having already played a lawyer during her two seasons on The Practice, the Missouri native knows which job is a more comfortable fit. She recalls a conversation she had with Grey's co-star Kim Raver. "We already know how good we have it, but when you go do something else and you have all these costumes and fitting, you're like, 'I can't wait to put my scrubs back on.'"

 Many assume as the daughter of actress Kate Capshaw, who married Steven Spielberg when Jessica was 15, going into the "family" business was an easy path. Sure, she acknowledges "the impact" that growing up around "phenomenal storytelling and tremendous talent" had on her. But, she believes "in a lot of ways it was actually not helpful to have famous parents because there is definitely a very human feeling of, 'Well, when you come from all that, who wants to see that girl succeed.' You want to see the underdog succeed, the girl who spent her last two dollars on the bus ticket."

 Now that she's overcome that by being, she says, "the hardest-working person in the class, on the stage, in the audition," she's "really grateful" to come from where she came from. "I'm really happy that I get to say, 'I grew up amongst all of that and managed to find my little piece of the pie,' because that's really hard."

 What is helpful, says Capshaw, about coming from an "entertainment family" was the advice they could give her from their experiences. She took her mom's words, "You need to build a life and then you have to go off and do your job," most to heart.

 Hence, her college degree from Brown, her six-year marriage to Christopher Gavigan, the CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World, and children Luke, 3, and new daughter Eve, born Oct. 20.

 "I do feel very sated right now," she acknowledges. "I couldn't feel more fulfilled."

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