WHO IS SHE?
Forty-three-year-old New Orleans native who debuted as Kevin Costner's wife in The Untouchables in 1987, then toiled in relative obscurity until resurfacing in a string of indie hits like High Art, Far from Heaven, All the Real Girls, and now The Station Agent. She also had an Emmy-winning guest spot as Ruth's sister on Six Feet Under.
WHAT'S HER SPECIALITY?
Though Clarkson says all her roles are different, she has carved a niche playing the tortured, fortysomething artist (see High Art,All the Real Girls,Six Feet Under and The Station Agent). "It's a very good niche," she says. In The Station Agent (see review page 25), she plays Olivia, a divorced painter coping with the death of her child by forming an unusual friendship with a train-loving dwarf (Peter Dinklage) and a garrulous hot-dog salesman (Bobby Cannavale). The role was written specifically for her by actor-director Tom McCarthy, who gave her a chance to break out a little by reining it in. "I do tend to play a lot of characters who are very forward and vocal and there's a kind of recessed, come-hither quality to Olivia that was a different terrain for me," Clarkson says. "In some ways it's closer to me than I've ever played in a film before, maybe because it was written for me, although Tom didn't know me that well so I'm not sure how that came about."
IS SUCCESS SWEETER AFTER 40?
Clarkson seems to have it all now -- a flourishing career and a handsome, talented new boyfriend by the name of Campbell Scott. But it was a long and winding road getting here, starting with a pit stop as a speech pathology major. "That was a crazy moment, but it was good for me because it gave me two years to realize what I of course knew, that I absolutely wanted to be an actress." She finished her B.A. in Theatre and went straight to Yale University School of Drama for "three intense, kick-ass years" in the M.F.A. program. Then came The Untouchables, followed by a decade of small parts in movies, TV series, and the odd Hallmark Hall of Fame weepie. Clarkson confesses her belief in herself sometimes faltered. "I was seeking something professionally that was not coming my way in my twenties and thirties. But I would say for the most part I came back to having faith. If I lost it, it would come back."
WHAT'S IT LIKE DEPOSING PARKER POSEY AS QUEEN OF THE INDIES?
Clarkson bristles at the question. "Fortunately most people don't think of me that way," she says. Then she lays on the Southern charm and sass. "Look, to be mentioned in the same breath as Parker Posey is always a compliment and you know, I'd rather be the Queen of Indies than the Queen of Big Cheesy Studio." Never mind that she just finished filming a Disney movie called Miracle, due out in January. "That was a great experience, because first of all Kurt Russell is an amazing actor and the director, Gavin O'Connor, did Tumbleweeds so he's got [so] much indie blood," she says. "So it was like old-home week even though it was a big studio film. Which is nice. I mean, I like being paid. I have no objection to money and a trailer and craft service. But the reason I did the film was Gavin O'Connor." Her indie cred is safe with us.
Kim Linekin - The Eye