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Early in her career, actress Mimi Kennedy chose to work primarily in television so she could raise a family and involve herself in community activism.

When her agent suggested she audition for a role as assistant secretary of state in the new movie "In the Loop," she knew she could do the role, but she wasn't sure he was serious about her doing a movie, she said from her home in California.

"I don't usually go up for movies; it's been mostly a television career," she said. "I saw it was a feature film and that the BBC was producing and that it was a lead role, so I really wasn't sure.

"I called my agent and said, 'Is this really the British Broadcasting Corporation, or is it, you know, Baby Bupkus Corporation?' "

The agent assured her it was legit and that the producers wanted a woman who understood American politics and could handle the lead role of a peace-loving assistant secretary of state.

"Well, I've been to Washington doing my activism, and I thought, I really know this milieu. I can do this."

Kennedy, whose brothers, Dan and Jim, and sister, Susan, live in Chattanooga, is perhaps best known as the hippy mother on "Dharma & Greg." Over the years, she's appeared in dozens of televisions shows since attracting national attention in the original Broadway production of "Grease."

Her film credits, which are far fewer, include "Pump Up the Volume" and "Erin Brockovich.

In the satirical "In the Loop," the U.S. and U.K. leadership is all for an unnamed war in an unnamed country. An ill-chosen word by a British official sets off a firestorm of political posturing.

Kennedy's character, Karen Clarke, gets caught up in the middle of the drama, along with James Gandolfini, who plays a general opposed to sending American troops into battle because they might get hurt.

"She's a powerful woman," Kennedy says of the character. "I loved playing her.

"She is not the top man. You get the sense that she is a holdover from the previous administration, so she is not in lock-step. She's also having dental problems with her veneers throughout. It's very funny."

She said the dialogue in the movie is a huge part of the fun, though she cautions "people sensitive to the F word" might want to give it a miss.