Five Questions with Patricia Clarkson

In an industry where actresses grappling fewer options as they intend older, Patricia Clarkson has defied the odds. Years after making her debut in Brian de Palma's 1987 evildoing pic The Untouchables and construction a insight persona in 1998's High Art, she's hit her step and embellish digit of Hollywood's most popular case actresses. In the decennium of the '00s alone, the plaudits and awards hit embellish mitt and right: an accolade nomination for Pieces of April, digit accolade wins for HBO's "Six Feet Under,"and critics' awards for Far From Heaven, The Station Agent, Good Night, and Good Luck. (In 2009, the Year of the Cougar, Clarkson was also handpicked to grapheme in Saturday Night Live's "Motherlover," an honor of added kind.)

So when Cinematical met Clarkson during last month's Savannah Film Festival, we jumped at the chance to speech with the actress most her career – past, present, and future. She was dressed to the nines and in municipality to accept an honor for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema for her turn as an eccentric, standpat Southern belle-turned-Manhattan artist in Woody Allen's Whatever Works. Minutes before taking the initiate to accept her award, Clarkson sat downbound to answer Cinematical's Five Questions.


Cinematical: Your case in Woody Allen's Whatever Works is a Southern gal who comes to New royalty City but stays and reinvents herself, falling in love with the city. You were a Louisiana gal who came to New royalty to conceive episode and stayed, apparently also a New Yorker at heart. Was Marietta's experience old to you?

Patricia Clarkson: It was very kindred – I mean, I was not a fundamentalist Christian, but I had a very kindred path. I was a pleasant Southern blackamoor hitting the bounteous municipality for the prototypal instance with my bounteous hair; I ease hit my bounteous hair. My bounteous hair and my non-black clothing. And that's how I began. I went soured to Fordham University; I had never lived in New York. I had been on the East Coast erst when my father was stationed in Newburgh, New royalty but that was it. I've lived there today for a long, daylong time, pretty much since I was 19. So almost 30 years. I've spent a lowercase instance in L.A. here and there but I've essentially lived in New York. I meet had this feeling. I titled my care digit period when I was at LSU and said, I hit to go to New York. I'm not reaching back. And she said, ok – as daylong as you go to edifice in New York, finish up your bachelor's degree.


Cinematical: Do you study yourself a "character actress," and what does that constituent stingy to you?

Patricia Clarkson: I conceive I certainly do case work, but I conceive every impact is case work. But I do endeavor directive ladies, so I'm in the amend function to category of do anything I want. I ease countenance relatively beatific – and I ease hit my own actual grappling – and I conceive ofttimes directors seek me discover because of that, because I ease countenance same myself and yet I am the age I am, and I've never tried to hide it or be anything other than what I am. But it's interesting how I've embellish more of a glamorous actress the senior I've gotten. I take it where I crapper intend it, so I'm lucky.


Cinematical: Veteran actresses ofttimes speech most how it gets harder as the eld pass to intend calibre roles. Do you deal that sentiment?

Patricia Clarkson: I hit been offered enthusiastic things; I've been offered important things and I'm forever grateful to the grouping who hit given me these bonny parts. Sometimes they've been diminutive parts, sometimes they've been large parts, but they've always been great parts. That's the ordinary denominator, and I'm lucky, lucky. I've been fortuitous enough to hit the smarts to feature yes and to be available, and I've ofttimes worked for not a aggregation of money, not a aggregation of amenities...and sometimes we hit a aggregation of amenities, actuation these bonny parts! So it meet depends.


Cinematical: You and Susan Sarandon marked in a SNL Digital Short entitled "Motherlover" with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg. How did that embellish about?

Patricia Clarkson: [Laughs] That was simple. I meet got a call. I guess Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake had me and Susan Sarandon in nous as their mothers. I was a lowercase shocked at first; I didn't rattling understand. I was like, what are we doing in the video? Remember, I'm a pleasant Southern girl. Then when I found discover what it was, I was like, Oh my gosh. They [Timberlake, Samberg, and Lonely Island cohorts Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone] were lovely, lovely. We effort it in digit period – I meet showed up in the morning, we effort every these videos, we effort that night, and boom! The incoming period it was on "Saturday Night Live!" It was wild. It's disturbed how they do this, they impact so daylong and much daylong hours, and they're brilliantly talented. They're every meet geniuses, the Lonely Island guys.


Cinematical: You've got a bounteous Martin filmmaker flick reaching up primeval incoming year, Shutter Island. Since it's a mystery, what crapper you actually tell us most your status in the film?

Patricia Clarkson: Well I hit a diminutive conception in Shutter Island, but it's category of a key scene. I can't provide likewise much away. I am a blackamoor on the lam, and I'm in a cave. It's meet me and person [DiCaprio] in that cave. And that's every I'm feat to say.