serena williams like you've never seen her before on the olympics, her emotions, men, and heartbreak. >> i think that's tough, to be in love and then it, you know, might not work out. that's life. >> and talking of heartbreak, an "only in america" special. serena and i hit the court with the wimbledon champ in for a bit of a nasty surprise. >> uh! >> this is "piers morgan tonight." everyone's still talking about the big story. president obama's change of heart on gay marriage. one whom who's got strong feelings on the subject is cynthia nixon. i sat down with her several days before president obama took his stand. we talked about that issue and so much more including her extraordinary career from "sex and the city" to her tony-nominated role on broadway in "wit." cynthia nixson best known for her role as miranda hobbs on "sex and the city," but earlier this week she received a tony nomination for her role on broadway in "wit," and she joins me now. cynthia, welcome. congratulations. >> thank you so much. >> not like you haven't had a few awards. two emmys, two s.a.g.s, a grammy now, a tony maybe heading your way. >> i have one from before. so -- >> you do? >> yes, i have one from before. >> anything you haven't won? >> no oscar. no heisman. >> it's a great role that you play in "wit." >> yes. >> it's an incredibly powerful role. at one stage you're completely bald. you play a cancer victim who dies. you're naked on stage. it's very raw and visceral, isn't it? and the parallel with your life and your family, in fact. because your mother suffered from cancer three times. >> three times. >> but is still -- >> she's still with us. she's almost 82. >> amazing. you had this battle with cancer in 2006. tell me, how much of your battle with it did you bring to the role? does it actually work like that? >> it can work like that. but i have to say that my -- you know, you call it a battle with cancer. to me that seems such a big word. i mean, i feel like i had a cancer diagnosis. i had a very small operation. i went through some radiation. and then i was on a particular pill for five years. to me it's not a battle. to me it was like a medical bump in the road that is not fun, you know, but you kind of grit your teeth and you get through it. so -- >> scary, though. >> it's scary. but having had my mother go through it, you know, at that point a couple of times previous, and i saw how well she dealt with it. no, to me i didn't -- other than my experience of being in the hospital, i didn't draw on anything. i really -- you know, i've had some friends who died of cancer, and i've had some friends who died of aids. and so i called on those things much more. and also, strangely, childbirth. >> really? >> yeah. because there is a point later on in the play where my character, vivian, is in incredible, incredible pain, and my only experience with being in incredible pain was childbirth, yeah. >> "the new york times" described your performance as large and lucid and delicate. great phrase, i thought. >> yeah. >> you must be very proud of the plaudits you're getting and now the tony nomination and such. >> yeah. it's an amazing role. to be given. and it's such a big canvas as an actor to paint on is that -- yeah. i feel like we did a great job, we had a wonderful production. but if you really give yourself over to a part like that it's hard not to shine. >> is it totally draining? i mean, when you're playing a role like that, it's so all-encompassing. when you get home at night, is it absolutely like -- >> well, usually, when you're on stage, you get home and you're very antsy or you're very amped up. i've got to say with this role not so much. partly because you spend everything you have but then also in the last moments of the play as she's getting sicker and sicker and then she dies and then there's a part where she's on stage dead. so you do just kind of relax. and so by the end of the play you're just very calm. and also, you get through it. she has so much time on stage where she's hilariously funny, like bringing down the house kind of laughs. and so even though it takes an enormous amount of energy and focus, you get fed so much by that audience response it really -- it energizes you. >> now, talking of energizing things, you've been quite active on the political front. play a little clip from a promotional ad you've done for president obama. >> 2011. times were tough. recession, joblessness. so many of us struggling to make ends meet. but for women times were about to get a lot tougher. >> the time has come to deny any and all federal funding to planned parenthood of america. >> i raise in support of the amendment to remove taxpayer dollars from planned parenthood. >> we remember who turned their backs on us and who voted to keep us healthy. november is just around the corner. soon it will be our turn to vote. >> i mean, the pretty clear message from that was look, if you're a woman and you're thinking you were to vote in november you should be voting for president obama, not the republicans. >> absolutely. certainly not mitt romney. certainly not mitt romney. >> do you think he's anti-women, mitt romney? >> that's a very strong thing to say. but i think he doesn't have a sense of women's health, and i think particularly women living in poverty about how difficult it is to have access to not just contraceptive health care but general health care. and i think that president obama said recently -- it was so -- he said women aren't a special interest group. they're more than half of the population. and it's not like women are children. you know, women are half the population. and they know how to take care of themselves if they're only given access to health care. we shouldn't be making these decisions for them, but we should let women make their decisions for themselves. >> right. were you a bit staggered like many people by the way the republican race went and its rhetoric about women's issues? >> absolutely. i don't think we've seen an attack on women's health like this in the last 40 years. yeah. i mean, i think these people certainly are -- we know they're anti-abortion. but they're also anti-contraception. but i think this attack on planned parenthood, you know, about 3% of what planned parenthood does is abortions. 97% is women's health. like right now in texas. rick perry is trying to shut down and stop all federal funding to planned parenthood. well, 40% of the women living in poverty in texas are served by planned parenthood. that is their primary doctor. so what you're saying, then, if you cut all this funding, half of the poor women living in texas have no medical care. >> being dispassionate, has barack obama done enough for women's health issues? i mean, it's obvious the republicans have taken a rather strange look at this. but has he done enough as president? >> you know, there are certain issues on which we can never do enough. >> you are engaged to be married. >> yes. now, you were with a man for a long time. >> for 15 years. we have two children together. yes. >> two children. and now you're going to be marrying a woman. >> yes. >> and that's created a lot of interest, as you'd expect. you said this, which i thought was fascinating. "the fight for gay marriage is often portrayed in political terms, democrat versus republican, liberal versus conservative, but for couples like us this is about something simpler and more personal. i want to be married to my girlfriend. i want us to have a ceremony. i want all our friends and family to come. i want our kids to be there. just like that historic night last month on a subway platform, i want it to be a moment i will always remember "till death us do part." i like that. >> thank you. >> it kind of took all the politics and the stigma away from the whole thing and said you know what? i just want to do what other people do. >> yeah. i mean, certainly it is a political issue. but when you break down why gay people want to get married to each other, they want to get married for the same reasons that anybody wants to get married. they want to celebrate their love. they want to make a lifelong commitment. they want to gather their friends and family around them and say this is the person i'm going to be with for the rest of my life. >> how have you found all the scrutiny on your life? because you've been i think quite brave in the stuff that you've said. >> it's not been so bad. >> you've copped a little bit of flak but a lot of praise, too. it's one of those things, isn't it, where you put your head over the parapet. did you expect what was coming your way? >> you know, when news of christine's and my relationship broke, there was this tremendous -- you know, we were on the cover of two new york daily newspapers. she had british -- her parents, who live on a little island off of seattle, had british journalists in suvs on their lawn. i mean, it was a wild explosion. but there was not really too much to say so, it sort of came and went pretty quickly. the flame burned very high, and then it pretty much has been kind of a slow ember since then. >> when you look at the debate, i've had a lot of people here, we had kirk cameron famously came in here and said some pretty outrageous things, i felt, using christianity as an excuse. how do you wrestle with people who've got religious convictions about it? >> well, you know, i think that the thing is that gay people, that there are a lot of myths about gay people, that they're sick or they prey on children or they're harmful to children or they're causing the destruction of the -- of traditional straight marriage. and i think as people personally and on television and all these -- reading the newspaper come to see more and more gay families and gay couples, i think that these myths are disappearing one by one, which is great. and now we have a whole generation of children, they say that there are 2 million children living in the united states who have been raised by gay couples. >> i had one of the leading exponents. zack walls came in. who's an extraordinary young man. and he had both his mums sitting in the audience, which i thought was great. and as he said, kim kardashian's marriage lasted however many hours it was, and he listed a whole lot of others in his book. i thought it was a smart point to make. >> yes. >> that actually it's respecting the sanctity of marriage is much more important, i think. are you as happy as you've ever been in your life? >> i am definitely as happy as i've ever been. happier i would say than i've ever been. >> you finally worked out what would make you happy? >> well, i wouldn't say that i was unhappy before. but i feel that i have found the absolute perfect person for me. we have a wonderful family. we have three kids. they're thriving. i'm very happy with my career and my home. and so yeah. >> life is pretty good for you, isn't it? >> life is pretty good. >> i can't let you go without a quick mention of "sex and the city." let's take a little watch of you in action. this is great, this bit. >> a big apartment to buy for just you. >> i have a lot of shoes. >> maybe the boyfriend will move in? >> no. no boyfriend. just me. >> i have a son who owns his own business. >> no, thanks. i'll take it. >> i love that character. >> yeah. she's great. >> have you seen "girls," this new -- >> i haven't. but i want to very much. it sounds amazing. >> everyone says it's the new "sex and the city." i've read that a few times. >> yes. >> but it's getting a bit of traction. >> it sounds amazing. >> what do you think "sex and the city" gave american women? what would you like its legacy to be to american women, do you think? >> i think that "sex and the city" showed that it was okay to be single. even if you were in your 30s. even if you were in your 40s. even if you were going to be single for the rest of your life, that that didn't mean you were sitting at home pining by the phone, hoping that somebody would call, that you could have a rich, full life. you could have a rich, full sex life. you could have fun and adventures and work and great friends. and just because you didn't have a ring on your finger didn't mean that you weren't happy. >> and you are living proof that it could all come crashing to glorious utopia. >> yes. yes. >> star of broadway. blissfully happy in your life. the tony awards are on june the 10th, 2012. it's been a real pleasure. >> thank you. for me too. >> best of luck. i hope you win. >> thank you. >> good luck. >> thanks. >> coming up, my interview with the woman who's heating up "the client list," jennifer love hewitt. 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[ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee anywhere when you book with our new app. you'll never roam alone. so six months? >> yeah. >> okay. so we can spend pretty much every minute together? >> right. see, exactly. >> and i can fall even more in love with you. >> you could. >> yeah, and then it will hurt that much more when you leave. >> jennifer love hewitt taking hollywood by storm in the '90s when she joined the beloved cast of "party of five." since then she's been consistently working in film and television. currently starring in what is i have to admit my guilty pleasure, lifetime's "the client list." jennifer, welcome. >> thank you. >> who would have thought that fresh-faced little girl would become my guilty pleasure in "the client list"? >> i'm happy to be your guilty pleasure. >> this "client list" thing when i watched the movie which i didn't realize was entirely your creation. you came up with, it you produced the thing, you starred in it. >> it's been almost six years since i sort of started coming up with the idea, my manager and i, and it's been great to see tun fold. it's great. >> what was the concept? i know what the obviously idea in the movie was and now the series. but why did you want to do this? >> there were a lot of articles being written about, you know, single moms' sort of economic hardship and sort of how they were supporting their bodies and the idea that a lot of women were having to help their husbands make money for the family and everything, and so we just thought it would be a really interesting idea for sort of an ex-beauty queen in texas with these two kids to sort of find herself in this situation. and people have liked it so far. >> who likes it? is it watched more by men or women? >> it's pretty even, actually. i mean, we've been able to get a lot of guys to come and watch lifetime, which is nice. i'm excited about that. but you know, women love it because it's very oddly empowering for them and there's lots of abs on the show. they're really enjoying that part of it. >> and it comes at a time when there's this book, "fifty shades of grey," which apparently every woman's reading this thing. >> yes. >> and you know about this phenomenon. >> i just got my copy pf i haven't read it yet. >> the premise seems to be that women get more turned on by the written word. >> yes. >> and men are more turned on by the visual. is that basically what this is all about? >> yes. i think we like to hear things. you know, even in conversations we like -- if we ask you how your day is, we want a long, hour-long example of how your day was. men are like how was your day? great. are you wearing a bra? fantastic. you know what i mean? that is how we work. so -- so i think the "fifty shades of grey" thing is, it's a real turn-on to have all those sexy words. >> you gave me a brilliant way in to the next part of this interview, which is your recent appearance on "jimmy kimmel," because to tee this up the promotional material for "client list," to put it mildly, was a bit eye-popping. >> yes. >> so eye-popping that they had to remove the original posters because too many cars were crashing with men all over america driving straight into lampposts and they replaced it a slightly more measured poster. >> yes. >> but jimmy kimmel decided to save a particular piece of the original for you as a little treasure. let's watch this. >> i feel like i'm going to be a little sad now had they take them down. it's been nice to be -- >> we're all sad about it. they took the big one down across the street from us. >> i know. so soon. >> we're considering filing suit, actually. but we have a little surprise for you. >> what is it? >> we saw that they were taking it down, and we were able to -- guillermo, come on in here. we were able to actually take one part of the -- we were able to get one square. [ cheers and applause ] so there is -- i don't know if you want to -- >> no. >> i don't know if you want this for your home. >> that was brilliant television. >> it was great. >> it also gave some idea of the sheer gigantic scale of that poster. >> i mean, massive. there was nothing more terrifying in my whole life than turning around and seeing them look like that. >> we have actually lined up the two posters here. so let's have a look at what all the fuss was about. because i couldn't really see what was wrong with the original one on the left. and the one on the right's a little bit -- well, don't take this the wrong way. but a little bit boring by comparison. >> i think so. i mean, living in l.a. fire really long time i thought the idea was always to have bigger boobs, not smaller. >> yes. >> it was quite shocking to me. i was like really -- and to not know who was messing around with them for me has been really the odd part. >> yes, who did that? >> what person decided you know, what those need to be smaller so i'm just going to -- >> you're the first actress in hollywood to have a boob reduction. without any involvement. >> it's very strange. but i did keep the poster from jimmy. >> you did? >> yes. they're in my home. >> you have a big house. where have you put them? >> i haven't exactly where they're going to go yet. >> now, your middle name really is love. >> yes. >> apparently, your friends and family all call you love. >> they do. >> let's take a short break. when we come back, i want to talk to you about love. >> okay. >> because you've had a checkered relationship with love. >> yes. >> do you think true love is out there, jennifer? >> i think so. >> waiting to lure you in? >> at some point, hopefully. >> let's discuss after the break. >> okay. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today ♪ i can go anywhere ♪ i can go anywhere today ♪ la la la la la la la [ male announcer ] dow solutions help millions of people by helping to make gluten free bread that doesn't taste gluten free. together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything. solutionism. the new optimism. what are you doing here, baby? breaking our vows? huh? >> you left me. it was the only way i could make enough money. >> take it off. not that. the ring. take it off. >> jennifer love hewitt returning to tv with "the client list," a hit new show on lifetime. 10:00 on sundays. gets pretty racy there. >> it does, right? saucy. >> let's talk about you. because you came to hollywood three decades ago. >> yeah. wow. >> you don't actually look old enough to have been here three decades ago. >> thank you. >> you did. what is hollywood like? >> i mean, i think it's a great place. it's been great to me. i've been able to live my dreams and met really amazing people and have had -- i've had a pretty good time. i understand that other people have different, you know -- different realities here. but for me it's been pretty great. i've really enjoyed it. i feel really lucky to get to be here. >> have you ever been lured into the hollywood temptations that bring so many of your peer group crashing to the ground? >> no. i've worked a lot. so i'm always really sleepy. so i