That has to be a pretty formative experience, right? It’s your first big role, you’re going for broke, and it pays off.
Yeah, I tend to trust most of the time now, at least at the beginning part of filmmaking. [Laughs]
How did you feel when you first saw it?
I do remember David showing me the film for the first time in his screening room, and I was pretty blown away. But I was still afraid that I was over-acting in a crazy way. Even watching it, I was like, “That’s too much. Are people going to get this?”
More recently, you’ve been very open about aging in Hollywood and going through menopause. At one point you said, “I know I’m talking about this, and if it spooks people, so be it.” Did it spook people?
Less than it made people kind of alert and interested. I was spooking myself. The anticipation of getting close to actually having that conversation with people in my industry, I was very, very scared. But once you own something, it diffuses the awkwardness…. There’s been some great work. I mean, even playing a horny therapist in the show Gypsy. Did the show work? I mean, the fans loved it, but not everyone loved it. It didn’t continue on, but that was a highly sexual leading lady role who was well into her 40s. I’ve had other great roles. Babe Paley is up there with Mulholland Drive and 21 Grams and The Impossible. I hope that just continues. Being in the hands of Ryan Murphy, I’m definitely bettering my odds because he seems to be up for telling stories of women at every age. I feel very heartened.
You’re credited as an EP on the shows you’ve worked on with him. Is that important to you now?
It’s just very generous of him. His world is like a well-oiled machine, in how he hires actors over and over again. He does the same with his Head of Departments, and everyone knows how to work well together as a team. So while he’s giving me a voice and a credit in the mix, it’s not like I’m coming in going, “Ryan, I see it differently.” It’s very, very well-thought-out, and I’m happy to be a contributor. Certainly he asks me often about how I feel about a scene or the casting of somebody or other things like that, we consult, but it’s definitely Ryan’s World in a good way. I’m so happy to trust him because he’s more than proved himself.
Do you keep in touch with directors from earlier in your career, like David?
Oh, yeah. David—we text all the time. If ever I’m in Los Angeles, I go up there and have a coffee with him. And Alejandro [G. Iñárritu], I text with—Juan Antonio [Bayona], I text with. I see less of them maybe once every few years at one of those kinds of functions.
David recently shared news of his emphysema diagnosis, which resulted in a real outpouring of love from the community. Did the news hit you in any particular way?
Yeah, of course. I’ve watched him over the years, and he just always loved to live his life his way. He’s not going to let anyone tell him how to live. And he’s still got his humor intact. I’m going to actually reach out to him after our chat because now you’re making me realize I should. It’s been a few weeks.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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