STAR CHAT WITH PATRICIA CLARKSON
Tribute's Bonnie Laufer hears from the multi-talented Patricia Clarkson about her role as a dying mother in Pieces of April.
Streaming Video: Windows Media LO - HI (links to tribute.ca)
B.L. What a role for you! I can't imagine that when you read the script you didn't burst into tears. How did you feel after reading it?
P.C. I was exhausted because I was shooting Six Feet Under and I got the script late one night and I started reading it L.A. time about 10 pm and then I called my agent and woke her. I got about two-thirds of the way through and I said, "I am doing this script. I haven't even finished it and I want to do this part; get someone on the phone now." And she was like; "It's one o'clock in the morning." Then I finished it and it was even more beautiful when I got to the ending. What a journey - it was so powerful to me and I loved every character in this script. Every character was so beautifully drawn but of course I loved Joy and her beautiful sense of humor and ferociousness, and the fact that she let everything hang out, warts and all.
B.L. She was so multi-layered - was this one of your more challenging roles?
P.C. I think it was maybe the most of all I've played and for many reasons. Physical, emotional, the intimacy of this script. The personal side of the story because I know Peter Hedges off camera and I knew the journey this film would be. It was a journey as a woman for me to play a woman going through this grave illness and it's a fear we all confront as women. Fortunately I have never been through breast cancer but it is a huge fear in all of our lives that's far too prevalent. It was a complicated emotional journey to take and I had to rise to it.
B.L. Did you get to spend time with Katie Holmes on the set and did you get to know her?
P.C. It was crucial for me to meet Katie before shooting because it would carry me through the film. I lucked out. You forget that she is this big old star. I found her so accessible and I just fell I love with her and that was the perfect feeling for me to have. I find her so soft and vulnerable and so welcoming and I was so deeply touched by her when I met her and spent some time with her and that was oddly really crucial for me to play this part.
B.L. I have to ask you about Dogville, another spectacular role for you. What was it like shooting that movie because for me it was like watching a play?
P.C. It was intense. Lars Von Trier is a fantastic and complicated director. Again it was a great journey to be on. I loved working with him every day. He was very improvisational, he was very unpredictable and I loved working that way. Every day you'd show up and it was like a play. It was a very intimate family-like atmosphere; we became very close on that set and we worked every day from 9 to 5.
B.L. What surprised you about Nicole Kidman?
P.C. Her grace and her sweetness, she is truly sweet but she is also a hell of an actress.
B.L. What would you want audiences to take away from Pieces of April; it makes such a great statement.
P.C. I think we are inescapable of our families. It's in our body, in our blood and in our soul and you better value it while you've got it.