Everyone begins their life with hope – a hope they will find love, find a job or a career they like or love, make a living. For actors that all is especially true because it’s brutally competitive as well as being a field where, especially at the start, you have no control. Or the only control is the power to say ‘No.’
‘Pieces of a Woman’ is a brutal study of a domestic tragedy and its often inexplicable aftermath. It’s won lavish praise for the performances of its 2 stars: Vanessa Kirby as Martha, the woman of the title, and Ellen Burstyn as Martha’s domineering, wealthy mother Elizabeth. In a recent Zoom interview with the two of them only virtually together, I began by asking Kirby, 32, what her first steps were into realizing Martha.
Vanessa KIRBY: I think for me the film, when I read it, I started to sort of begin to piece together who I thought she might be. It became really clear that this was a character study of grief in a way –because this is somebody who has a very specific reaction to the trauma, and one that, you know, is somebody who really doesn’t show it outwardly. So I had to begin to understand why.
And why her reaction is what it is, which is, you know, really keeping it all inside until she’s absolutely pushed. So it was a combination of trying to properly investigate why she is the way she is. And then of course, really the biggest part probably, was spending a lot of time with women who had been through this [a loss during childbirth] and have lost in this way. And families too! That became the third and most important component really. Because I just felt like I had to be as faithful as possible to their experience. I couldn’t possibly have begun to understand, even for a second, what it was like without them. So it was a combination of my own work really trying to understand who Martha as a character was, with the real stories of women who had been so brave in overcoming and going through that.
Q: I wanted to ask you both: Every actor when they begin in this profession, they have no idea whether they’ll have jobs, whether you’ll succeed. Both of you had I think rather significant turning points in your career where things just broke through finally. For you Ellen, with ‘The Last Picture Show’ and playing Princess Margaret in ‘The Crown’ for you, Vanessa. Do you agree with that? And can you talk a little bit about what that moment felt like when you realized your life was suddenly — the dream you’d had to do this job — it was suddenly going to be really possible? And how you determined, where to go on from that point?
VK: ‘The Crown’ [2016-2018] really was a turning point for me. I realized that too and you know when I realized that? I realized it when I was going for meetings in LA. and I was walking into rooms to meet various different producers or directors or whatever. And they had watched something I’d done of their own accord. Not because my agent had asked them to before the meeting. Or, more often than not, not watch anything at all, you know, that I had done. Because I’d spent so many years doing theater and obviously sometimes it’s like 300 people that see you one evening and it’s a moment in time and then it’s gone and then that work’s never recorded. So I kind of was used to that. So when suddenly I was in something that people happened to watch because they wanted to was really like quite shocking to me and kind of amazing. And I don’t think I’ve ever taken that for granted at all.
And I actually am so proud that this little film about this very female story, and something that’s really difficult to talk about, very difficult to watch I’m sure, I’m so proud that it’s on Netflix. Which is a totally global platform; that it might go into people’s homes and make them begin conversations, you know. That, I hope, I mean I do feel that the same way as ‘The Crown’ going on and maybe the people that need to see this will.
Q: Okay!
Ellen BURSTYN: That was beautiful Vanessa. The moment that comes to mind: I was a model. And one day I decided to be an actress. And I walked around and said to everybody I know, ‘I’ve decided to be an actress! I’m going to do a Broadway play this fall. Does anybody know how I can get an audition?’ And to my surprise somebody said yes. Got me an audition. I got the lead and started my career with a lead on Broadway. And I continued acting for I’m not sure how many years, maybe 10 or 12. And I was doing guest shots on television, and some not very interesting movies.
And I was I guess I would describe myself as a babe. I was cute. You know, a pretty girl. [Kirby: You’re still a babe! What are you talking about!] I got those kinds of parts. And one day I was cast in a movie [as Ellen McRae] called ‘Goodbye Charlie’ and the stars were Debbie Reynolds, and Walter Matthau and Tony Curtis. I was sitting on the set, all made up and ready for my first scene. And I said, ‘Wow! This is it! This is the big time. Next step is I’m playing Debbie’s part.’ And I heard this voice in my head that speaks to me every once in a while, not very often. It said, ‘I don’t want it.’ I was absolutely shocked but I knew what that voice meant, which was, I had been noticing actors like Marlon Brando and Jimmy Dean and other actors of that level.
And I knew they knew something I didn’t know. And I didn’t know what it was. And in that moment I determined to find out. And I knew that all the actors I admired — and actresses — were members of the Actors Studio. And were students of Lee Strasberg’s. So I packed up my kid and my dog and my piano and my books and I went back to New York to audition for Lee Strasberg eventually and started studying with him. I studied with him in his private classes and auditioned for the Studio. Failed my first audition, got in on my second. I studied with him for about seven years. And one day I did a scene in class. And I knew I had done it right. I knew I had gotten to the level that I call ‘the art of acting.’ And when I finished Lee said to me, ‘How long have you been studying with me dear?’ I said seven years. He said, ‘That’s about what it takes.’ So, I knew my career would change at that moment — that I was doing quality work as opposed to.
And the next time I had an audition it was for [1971’s] ‘The Last Picture Show.’ And I was signed up for one part, the part of the waitress [which would be played by Eileen Brennan]. And when I finished he [co-writer/director Peter Bogdanovich] said, ‘Oh now read this other part.’ And I read the other one [the adulterous wife that won Cloris Leachman an Oscar]. And then he said, ‘Okay now read this one’ [Lois Farrow who loves Sam ‘the Lion’]. So I read all three parts. And he said, ‘Okay, well, we know you’re in the film. Now we just have to figure out what part you’ll be playing.’ So I knew I was in better shape now as an actress than I had been.
NEW DVDs:
NORDIC NOIR An international triumph whose fans include Stephen King, ‘Bordertown: Season 1’ (Blu-ray, 11 episodes, 3 discs, Kino Lorber, Not Rated) follows brilliant Holmesian Finnish detective Sorjonen who has Asperger’s as he relocates for what he hopes is a quieter life in a small town near the Russian border with his wife and teenage daughter. Ha! His partner is Detective Constable Lena Jaakola, a fiery former Federal Security Officer in the Russian Federation (FSB). Her history may prompt further Russian gang criminality in Finland that includes selling deadly drugs to teens. There’s also sex trafficking, a dog fighting ring, a woman miraculously rescued from a cage at the bottom of a lake and a politician’s shady mall development. Initially broadcast here in the US on Netflix. In Finnish with optional English subtitles.
FAT YES BUT HOW JOLLY? Mel Gibson is the ‘Fatman’ (Blu-ray + Digital, Paramount, R), a gray-bearded eccentric who goes by the name Cris Cringle and so, yes, is that ‘Fatman’ otherwise known as Santa Claus. Besides ranking among the strangest movies Gibson has ever made in his lengthy career ‘Fatman’ benefits from the presence of Walton Goggins as, what else! a wily, crack assassin. His hit man has been hired by Billy, a disturbed 12 year old boy who (deservedly) got a lump of coal in his stocking and now wants revenge. Special Features: Extended, deleted scenes with optional commentary from directors Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms. There are also storyboards and a cast and crew commentary led by Gibson.
SIXTIES LEGACY PART II Rod Serling’s ‘Twilight Zone’ remains among 20th century television’s greatest hits. That’s the reason it has devoted fans like the Oscar-winning horror aficionado Jordan Peele whose ‘The Twilight Zone: Season Two’ (DVD, 10 episodes, 3 discs, CBS DVD, Not Rated) continues Serling’s emphasis on socially conscious storytelling. ‘S2’ boasts eclectic work from its eclectic cast: Tony Hale, Colman Domingo, Ethan Embry, Billy Porter, Christopher Meloni, Gretchen Mol and Gillian Jacobs. Special Features: Gag reel, plus deleted/extended scenes.
A WITCHY ‘90S REVIVAL A quarter-century ago, back in 1996, an R-rated movie about teenage high school witches called ‘The Craft’ became an influential hit and featured rising star Robin Tunney (who would go on to co-star in ‘The Mentalist’) and Neve Campbell who became a star with the ‘Scream’ franchise. Among those who auditioned and were rejected: Alicia Silverstone and Angelina Jolie. Now comes ‘Blumhouse’s The Craft LEGACY’ (Blu-ray, Columbia Pictures, PG-13), a ‘continuation’ with unknowns, hoping to strike another magic connection with an audience. Special Features: 4 alternate scenes, writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones’ introduction and 2 featurettes.
CROSS COUNTRY DYSFUNCTION Two terrific actors – Charlie Hunnam and Jack O’Connell — face off in ‘Jungleland’ (DVD + Digital, Paramount, R). These 2 scream dysfunctional as brothers desperate for a dream of bare-knuckle fighting championships — Jack boxes while Charlie trains and hustles. Their dream hampered by Hunnam’s gambling addiction, O’Connell’s lapses in the ring and then a wild and wildly dangerous cross-country ride with Sky (England’s Jessica Barden), a beautiful young woman (in these movies, they’re always beautiful and very young!) who is to be deposited out West, far from the film’s many Massachusetts’ locations which include Fall River. Ridley Scott is among the producers. ‘Jungleland’ is handsome, violent, sleazy and always vibrant. Director Max Winkler is Henry’s son.
DOUBLE DOUBLE TOIL & O WHAT TROUBLES ‘Spell’ (Blu-ray + Digital, Paramount, R) as in ‘under a spell?’ which is what happens to Omari Hardwick, a pilot, when he wakens after a plane flight to discover he’s in some godforsaken attic, wounded and alone, with scary Ms. Eloise (the perpetually fab Loretta Devine). Can he rise and revolt, or at least outwit the witchy Eloise before the blood moon rises? Special Features: 15 deleted scenes, including alternate opening and ending and ‘The Art of Hoodoo.’ ‘Toys of Terror’ (DVD, WB, R) tells what happens when the new house with the magic box in the attic is opened and crazy things begin to happen. Really crazy things, like toys coming to life. So is it a Merry Christmas? Or, more appropriately, a VERY BLOODY Christmas? Special Features: A making of and a featurette: ‘Toys of Terror Come to Life.’
AMAZING, TRUE & HEROIC Secretly filmed amid real life-threatening danger, the illuminating documentary ‘Nasrin’ (DVD, Virgil Films-Kino Lorber, Not Rated) is a portrait of political prisoner and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh. She is a leader of the Iranian women’s rights movement. Narrated by Oscar winner Olivia Colman and featuring journalist Ann Curry, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and filmmaker Jafar Panahi. In English and Farsi with optional English, Farsi & Spanish subtitles.
INCARCERATION BLUES – RECORDED In 1976 ‘Changin’ Times,’ a celebrated vinyl record was released by Ike White, a musical prodigy who had been since he was 19 in prison for a life sentence – murder. Yes, that LP was made behind bars. This remarkable documentary ‘The Changin’ Times of Ike White’ (DVD, Kino Lorber, Not Rated) records White’s trek from incarceration to freedom and his subsequent reinvention as David Maestro, a musician for hire. With previously never-seen archival footage.
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Stephen Schaefer’s Hollywood & Mine - Boston Herald
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