Short Takes : Actress’ Past Follows Her in Role

Art has imitated life for Emmy-winning actress Marg Helgenberger, whose “China Beach” character K. C. once worked in a meatpacking plant just like Helgenberger did.

Helgenberger said the TV show’s writers made K. C., who is a prostitute, a former meatpacker after the actress mentioned in passing that she worked for two years at a Nebraska packing plant while trying to break into theater.

In one episode, K. C. explained how she learned to numb herself to the harshness of life after watching the slaughtering of a cow.

“It’s hard work. It really is hard work,” said Helgenberger, 31, who was in Omaha recently to visit her mother. “Any of those assembly line jobs are tough, you know, and you have to respect people for doing it.”