Harry Connick Jr.’s new gal pal loves the water

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Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gambel, left) and Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) work together to rehabilitate an injured dolphin named Winter in the film “Dolphin Tale,” based on a true story

Updated: November 17, 2011 12:46AM

Harry Connick Jr. is no stranger to turning on the charm.

“I fed her. I would stroke her. She responded very well to my touch,” says the sexy crooner when asked about bonding with the female star of his fall movie. “I even held her like she was my baby.”

He’s not talking about his supermodel wife, Jill Goodacre. The recipient of those caresses was Winter, the dolphin who played herself in “Dolphin Tale,” opening Friday.

“The dolphin was just so relaxed that she let you do anything,” he says. “Then I’d stop and realize she could cut my head off.”

Wait, didn’t he at least sing to her?

“I didn’t do any of my songs. I don’t know how much they hear,” he says. “Dolphins respond better to high-pitched whistles and hand motions.”

The film, which also stars Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, is about the unlikely friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap. Connick plays a marine biologist who rescues Winter and brings her to his rescue facility. Enter Dr. McCarthy, an eccentric played by Morgan Freeman, who created prosthetics for war veterans. He makes a new tail for Winter.

“Part of the reason I did this film was for my kids,” Connick says. “I’ve got three daughters who feel the same way about dolphins and horses.

“No offense to horses, but there is just something about dolphins,” he says. “I don’t know, man. They’re just pretty cool. You could even think about them as a pet, but it would be kind of tough to get a dolphin and keep it in our pool.”

The 44-year-old Connick says he fell in love with the dolphin script, which is based on Winter’s real story.

“Believe me, I don’t have anything against all the other movies out there, but it’s nice that these family films have their place,” he says.

Of course, part of doing the film was swimming with the dolphins.

“I had done the whole swim with the dolphins before,” Connick says. “Doing this movie, I was in the water with Winter every single day. It was crazy.

“She had the most charming personality. I couldn’t believe what the trainers could teach her. There was this one time they actually taught her with hand signals to close her eyes and play dead. Winter blew air bubbles and sank to the bottom of the pool. How did she do that?”

Connick says he isn’t quitting his musical day job.

“I don’t really think of my career in terms of it being a career. I don’t wake up saying, ‘What can I do for my career?’” he says. “I think, ‘What can I do that will make me happy?’ With movies, I say, ‘What’s within me that can be changed by playing this other person? How do I grow organically into this person?’

“Basically, I just do the stuff that feels right,” he says. “I’m not trying to be a movie star. I never even tried to be a music star. I’m not going to kid you and say, ‘I don’t know how this happened.’ You gotta play the game.”

To that end, he says with a laugh, “You gotta go to the awards show and dress up. Even that’s not so bad.”

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