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At least not in her professional life.
Before the end of the year Hunt will have four major films in release.
Dr. T & the Women in which she stars opposite Richard Gere opened this weekend.
Next Friday, she stars as Haley Joel OsmentÕs alcoholic mother in Pay It Forward.
For the holiday season sheÕll play one of Mel GibsonÕs love interests in What Women Want and Tom HanksÕ girlfriend in Cast Away.
She has already begun work in Woody AllenÕs as-yet-untitled detective film playing his sidekick.
Nightly fans can catch her on reruns of Mad About You, one of the most popular TV series of the past decade.
Then thereÕs her sticky personal life.
After being a couple for almost five years, Hunt, 37, and Hank Azaria, 36, walked down the aisle last July.
This July they separated claiming they were still very good friends.
Rumours had her rebounding into the arms of her Pay It Forward co-star Kevin Spacey but they are no longer being seen together in public.
ÒThe only shot I have of putting my personal life in order is not to talk about it and to ask people to respect that decision,Ó says Hunt.
In person, Hunt is the epitome of cool.
She has porcelain features, a regal carriage and impeccable taste in clothes.
ÒI have a team of experts who have gotten me to look cool for today. It worked. I look cool. TheyÕre exhausted.Ó
Hunt admits she is not always this cool and confident.
ÒWeÕre all subject to being uncool. There are things in our life and in our history that makes us feel uncool.
ÒI think weÕre all really just five-year-olds in the playground. We just donÕt want to be embarrassed or rejected.Ó
HuntÕs father Gordon Hunt is a director and acting coach. Her grandmother is a speech teacher and her mother Jane Hunt a photographer.
From early childhood, all Helen could think of was being an actress and it happened when she was cast in the 1973 TV movie Pioneer Woman.
For the past 28 years sheÕs never stopped working on stage, in television or in films.
Her crowning glory came in 1997, when she won an Emmy for Mad About You and an Oscar for As Good As It Gets.
ÒThe Oscar is a dream come true. ItÕs the one impossible dream you have if youÕre an actor.
ÒWhen your name is called, time stops for you and you have five seconds of absolute bliss. Then reality sinks in and you discover you forgot to thank some very important people.
ÒMy Oscar is displayed nervously but proudly on a bookshelf.Ó
In Pay It Forward, Hunt plays Arlene, an alcoholic trying to raise her son (Osment) in Las Vegas by holding down two jobs.
By day sheÕs a cashier at a casino and at night she works as a waitress in a strip club.
ÒFor my research I went to pickup bars and strip clubs in Vegas....
ÒIt made a huge difference in the way I played Arlene,Ó she insists.
ÒI saw that the women are very much in control in these bars and that itÕs the men they wait on who are intimidated.
ÒI realized that for Arlene this would probably be the best time of the day.
ÒShe could drink and she could hide behind her body. Those are things that bring a little comfort to her life and she can also be sexual in an intimidating way, which was not the case in her real relationships.Ó
Pay It Forward is the story of a little boy (Osment) who tries to teach his family and friends how to deal with generosity and kindness.
When a person does something for you, donÕt pay it back. Pay the kindness forward for three other people.
ÒItÕs a wonderful sentiment. I know that when IÕm generous, I feel much better.Ó
After having worked with him in What Women Want, Hunt insists Mel Gibson Òis the guy who pays it forward all the time in such a quiet way. He really is the greatest, kindest, warmest guy.
ÒIf you squint, you can see little angel wings on his back.Ó