'The Closer' Kyra Sedgwick on husband Kevin Bacon's 'The Following': 'A great part for him'

Kyra Sedgwick is closing one chapter of television in her household, but another is about to open.

Husband Kevin Bacon will star as an FBI agent dealing with a network of serial killers on FOX's midseason series "The Following," and Emmy winner Sedgwick -- whose TNT police drama "The Closer" begins its final run of six episodes Monday, July 9 -- has plenty of advice for him as he starts his first continuing TV gig since his early-1980s stint on the now-defunct CBS daytime serial "Guiding Light."

"It's so crazy," a laughing Sedgwick tells Zap2it about the couple's two series dovetailing. "I don't think that his could have happened while I was doing mine, but I guess it could have. It is so very interesting, though ... and I can only hope to be as supportive and loving and wise as he was for me."

Sedgwick read the "Following" pilot script while Bacon was considering it ("We always look at each other's stuff"), and she reasoned there was "nothing like it on TV. It was very scary, and I thought the lead character had a long way to go, which is wonderful. You get just enough to pique your interest in the first episode, and I just thought it was a great part for him."

And as for any professional tips Sedgwick might have for her spouse as his new adventure gets under way? "Oh, honey! I do, and I will. What it's really about is understanding and honoring how much it takes out of you. It's about what you do to keep your energy going, because anyone who does a one-hour drama will tell you it's a marathon. That's probably true of half-hour comedies, too.

"It's a huge, huge commitment and a responsibility to be a series lead," Sedgwick says from knowing it only too well, "and it comes down to how you take care of yourself while carrying that rock up that hill."