Bonnie Hunt is back. The actress, who previously hosted her on talk show, had her own sitcom and starred in numerous classic films such as Jumanji and The Green Mile, returns to TV in Showtime's Escape at Dannemora.
Escape at Dannemora is Hunt's first on-camera TV gig in years. She previously provided voices to Tales from Radiator Springs and Sofia the First. So, how did Escape at Dannemora, the new series from Ben Stiller about the real-life prison break in New York state, land the fan-favorite actress?
"I like Ben. Ben called me at home and he's like, ‘I'm doing this thing, you want to come do it?' And I was like, ‘Yes! I know the whole story, I'll be there,'" Hunt told E! News at the Escape at Dannemora premiere. "I like true stories where there's a consequence for somebody's actions.
In the limited series, Hunt plays Catherine Scott, the Inspector General of the state of New York, and a real person, which was a change for her. Hunt described her as a brilliant woman who kept her cards close to her chest.
"It was interesting to play somebody that you didn't really have a hook, except her intelligence, which is subtle to play," she said.
Hunt studied up on Scott and met with her, and said she has respect for Scott because she worked her way up the ladder to her current position. "She is a doer of good. She's revealing and pulling the curtain back on people who are fraudulent," she said.
Hunt, who has been nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy, said she was a fan of the true crime genre that's currently sweeping television.
"I remember wanting to know everything that was happening because it was just one of those things that was just like a movie in the making," she said.
Click play on the video above to hear more.
Escape at Dannemora premieres Sunday, Nov. 18 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.