You wouldn’t believe it by looking at her, but Mary Louise Parker has been a successful actor for over two decades.
Now 46, the Southern star first came to attention in the US as a theatrical actress in her late teens and she has always managed to incorporate time on the boards no matter where her TV or movie career has taken her. That movie career kicked into gear in 1991 when she co-starred in the excellent weepie, 'Fried Green Tomatoes', but her TV career has brought the most acclaim, thanks to her recurring role on 'The West Wing' and her starring role in 'Weeds'. A single mother with two young children, Caroline and William, Mary Louise is back on the big screen currently in the enjoyable action drama, 'RED', where she holds her own against the blokey stars of the movie, Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman. "I love being in Ireland", she tells me when we first meet. "It’s such a literary culture. I mean people actually read here!"
Michael Doherty: What I liked about RED, Mary Louise, was the fact that the relationship between yourself and Bruce had an old-fashioned, screwball comedy feel to it. Was it a factor in your choosing the role that you would get to emulate the likes of Carole Lombard and Rosalind Russell?
Mary Louise Parker: It’s funny you should say that because that’s exactly how Bruce articulated it when we first met, and it was also what I had in mind. I like those women you mentioned a lot and I particularly like those Preston Sturges movies where the relationships start off really contentious but you know they’re going to end up just fine. They just don’t make them like that any more!
In that regard, this is not a typical Mary Louise Parker role...
No, I usually get offered things that are dark because I am dark! So I liked the idea of playing someone positive, unsophisticated and happy.
As an actor with a theatrical pedigree, the ensemble nature of this film must have been satisfying. You had Helen Mirren with her RADA tradition, Bruce from TV and John Malkovich from Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago...
Right. Most of the time it was me and Bruce and John working together and we did feel like a little troupe and we did have great fun with that. It was also awesome working with Helen because we talked about theatre the whole time we were on set together. I feel instantly bonded to someone who has also done a lot of theatre.
Perhaps it’s a badge of honour that you have acted live and there’s only you and the audience, whereas in movies, you can do take after take if something goes wrong?
Yes, that’s probably true, but it’s also true that people used to make fun of me for talking about theatre so much. I was doing a movie once and during a break one of the actors walked by and said, ‘can’t you talk about, like, anything other than theatre for five minutes?’ It isn’t that sexy a thing to do in Hollywood, even though more and more actors are trying to legitimize themselves by doing plays. I don’t care what people say; I love theatre.
You obviously have a busy TV schedule, courtesy of the ongoing success of 'Weeds', and you’re also doing more movies, so is it tough to find time to do all you want?
I can’t work straight through the year because I have my two kids so. Basically, I do my TV show and then maybe one project in the off season and then one more if it’s a cameo type thing. I need a chuck of consecutive months off to be with them. I don’t read many scripts unless they are actually offered to me. I’m not very competitive so I’m not going to read a part and then try to have dinner with a producer, or something! I’m not that charming that I would get part in that way anyway! My agent wouldn’t give me something that required me to be three months away because of my kids.
So you’re getting the balance right between being a mom and being an actor?
Somebody once told me that you’ll never feel you have enough time off to be a mother. I also want to be with them more and be a better mother. My mom said you always feel like that when you’re a mom. You never feel like you’re doing it well enough, I guess, but I try, and I love being a mother. It’s the most important role of my life.
I enjoy the quirky pieces you write for Esquire, Mary Louise. I was particularly taken by the article about the ten albums no man should have in his collection if he wants to woo a woman because I’m ashamed to say I have about five of them, notably the Rodgers & Hammerstein set! Is there a DVD equivalent of that music list?
Wow, that’s hilarious; nobody has ever mentioned that piece to me before! As for the DVD collection, if I went to a guy’s house and his collection consisted entirely of sports documentaries and porn, that might make me feel he’s not going to be my ideal mate!
Did you have a grand plan when you started out in the business?
No, I had no grand plan: I just wanted to work and work, have some success and some failures and keep doing it until I can’t learn my lines any more. I never would have been a huge movie star anyway; I don’t have that sort of look and I don’t have those sort of qualities, anyhow: people think I’m a little bit strange and dark. I wanted to work and work and I have, so I’ve been luck and I’m happy.
You’ve spoken before about how strange you find it when people recognise you in the street. Are they all 'Weeds' fans?
It’s an interesting question. In New York, it tended to be people who had seen me in the theatre. Now a lot of it is about Weeds or West Wing. I’m happiest when people recognise me for theatre because it’s all mine. On TV, they piece a lot of things together and there are so many elements that aren’t down to you, but in the theatre, it’s all about your performance.
Final question, Mary Louise, are there enough decent roles out there for women over the age of, er, 29, in Hollywood?
Maybe I’m kidding myself but I don’t think I have had fewer opportunities as I’ve gotten older. I’ve had decent roles over the years. Of course, sometimes I might see something and say I could have played that, blah, blah, but I’m not very competitive. This part in RED could have been played by someone who is 29 and I’m 46 so that’s good. I don’t really have much to complain about!
Mary Louise Parker: 10 Key Films
Howl (2010)
Red (2010)
The Assassination of Jesse James . . . (2007)
Red Dragon (2002)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
The Client (1994)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café (1991)
Grand Canyon (1991)
Longtime Companion (1989)
Michael Doherty
