Bonnie Hunt Says Her Experience as a Nurse Made Her Choose Family-Friendly Roles

Bonnie Hunt at the premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' "Red One" in New York on Nov. 11. Theo Wargo/Getty Images

After over four decades in Hollywood, actress Bonnie Hunt is proud of the roles she’s taken on and credits her previous passion as a nurse for keeping her grounded.

In an interview with The New York Post published Nov. 15, Hunt said she worked as an oncology nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago before getting her breakthrough role in the 1988 blockbuster “Rain Man.”

The “Jerry Maguire” star criticized the downsides to show business, where as a newcomer it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of it all.

“This business can make you so self-obsessed, so insecure and reveal that you are pompous or a narcissist,” she said.

“The one gift patients always give me is perspective,” she told the Post. “They let me in when they’re facing their own mortality.”

Born in 1961 in Chicago, Hunt studied nursing at Loyola University. She said caring for patients influenced her to choose “family-friendly” films, valuing the importance of family and how crucial it is to cherish time together.

“On purpose, I was very selective. I wanted to do things that were more timeless and could be seen by entire families. I really did, that’s why I went into show business,” she said.

Hunt had voice roles in a number of Disney/Pixar films including “A Bug’s Life,” “Zootopia,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Toy Story 3” and “Cars.”

Hunt is an avid patient advocate who says she has learned that human contact, love, or even storytelling brings comfort that is transformative.

“You can watch some story together as a family and escape your worries, your heartache. It’s medicinal in a way and that’s what drove me,” she said.

Best known for her roles in “The Green Mile,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” and “Jumanji,” Hunt has a resumé that lists her as an actress, comedian, writer, producer and director.

In the mid-1980s, she co-founded An Impulsive Thing, a three-woman improv comedy troupe, and appeared in a number of popular television series including “Grand,” “Davis Rules,” “Bonnie,” and later as a talk-show host on “The Bonnie Hunt Show.”

She has earned 17 award nominations, including one for a daytime Emmy for outstanding talk-show host in 2010.

In 1996 she was named best supporting actress by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for her work in “Jumanji.”

In her latest role, Hunt plays a modern day Mrs. Claus in the new action-comedy holiday film, “Red One,” starring alongside Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, which hit theaters  nationwide Nov. 15.