VITAL DIFFERENCE NO. 2: Inventiveness.
Maura Tierney possesses the most unique set of acting tools I have ever seen. Even amongst the greatest artists, only a handful of them can truly be said to be originals. Watch any Tierney performance carefully, and you will see physical gestures that perhaps no other human being could accomplish. Every now and then, an actor comes along whose body gestures are so naturally graceful beyond the capabilities of most human beings that they are astonishing to watch in their own right. Watching Maura Tierney act is a delight for me because she never ceases to amaze me with her endless invention of totally original yet expressive and natural body gestures. Moreover, this is not a sporadic talent. She can consistently and repeatedly invent a gesture of the hand, arm, body or face that totally surprises me. These gestures are so inventive as to be beyond conception, and thus I am constantly and delightfully surprised when I see them. Who else could have invented the flick of the wrist that provides the comedic exclamation point for the line "Why don't you just tell him that you don't need some?" in the "Goofy Ball" episode of NewsRadio? In the same episode when the staff sets up the date for Dave and he turns to Lisa for her opinion, Tierney invents a graceful gesture involving a thumbs-up sign that still amazes me to this day. In "Chocks", a big office argument over Matthew switches off when it turns 6 o'clock, leaving Lisa, as boss, at a loss for what to do. Tierney creates a series of subtly hurried, purposeless body movements to both convey Lisa's moment of apoplexy and generate a visually comic moment. In "Super Karate Monkey Death Car," Andrea waves to Lisa through the break room window. Tierney uses a series of brisk hand and body movements to convey Lisa's nervousness. In short, Maura Tierney invents visual forms that can be appreciated for their own beauty.
Some
of Tierney's inventions are especially remarkable because they are of
a type that no one else would even dare attempt. 
For
example, near the beginning of the "Abby Road" episode of ER,
nurse Carol Hathaway approaches Abby with an air of complete familiarity
(Abby had helped deliver Carol's babies earlier in the season). By the
expression on her face and the forced smile it is clear that Abby does
not know who Carol is. Tierney then delivers the coup de grace
- she diverts her eyes away from Carol and gives the faintest wink.
With this gesture alone, Abby mercifully transforms Carol into a partner
and co-conspirator in this little game instead of leaving Carol hanging
out to dry. The little wink says, "You're going to have to tell me who
you are so that we can get ourselves out of this embarrassing
situation." Another example can be found in Dead Women in Lingerie
when the sleazy immigration officer says "Good afternoon" to Tierney's
Molly Field as she walks by. After passing him, Molly silently makes
a facial grimace that indicates "Yuck!" I doubt that anyone else would
have ever tried this as it would be too cartoonish, but Tierney plays
it so perfectly that it works with charm and grace.
