Jane Kaczmarek Returns to Williamstown Theatre Festival
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee Jane Kaczmarek is not upset if people whistle in her dressing room or wish her good luck before a performance.
"I'm a meat and potatoes gal," the Milwaukee born and bred actress says, explaining why she does not adhere to theater superstitions.
Kaczmarek is in Williamstown to play a lead role in the American premiere of "And No More Shall We Part," on the Nikos Stage from Wednesday, Aug. 10, through Aug. 21.
The drama focuses on a married couple, Don (television and film star Alfred Molina) and Pam, portrayed by Kaczmarek, as they struggle with the most difficult decision in their long marriage: how to say their final goodbye.
The actress is probably best known as the mother, Lois, in the award-winning family television comedy "Malcom in the Middle" that ran from 2000 to 2006 on FOX.
The personification of the concept that 60 is the new 40, Kaczmarek shows no signs of fatigue, during an evening interview, even though she had been rehearsing most of the day.
After I assured the delightfully unassuming actress that I was not hungry — she had offered to get me something to eat- she answered the questions put to her.
Q: Is this your first time with the Williamstown Theatre Festival?
A: No, I was an apprentice in the non-equity company in 1981. I was in a scene with a group of girls. It was great to be with the principal players Blythe Danner and Maria Tucci. I was going to Yale then. In 1988, Nikos (Psacharopoulos) was the artistic director then, I was in "The Legend of Oedipus."
Q: How did you become involved with "And No More Shall We Part"?
A: Fellow performer Alfred Molina and Mandy Greenfield (current artistic director of WTF) had wanted to do it for some time, waiting tor the right time, right space. Then it looked like this summer when Fred would be free. We had just been working together, and he brought the play to me.
Q: The character you portray is terminally ill. How do you get back to yourself after rehearsing such an intense role?
A: (She grimaces) I'm still trying to do that. It does affect you.
Young actors long to play people in the Holocaust and people whose children die tragically. As you get older you realize your days are numbered, and you think of yourself in the same situation as the character you are playing. Sayings like "Youth is wasted on the young," become more meaningful to you.
"And No More Shall We Part" is really challenging. The character I play is in the last hours of her life, and she and her husband are looking back on different times in their marriage. I put myself in that position.
Q: How did you prepare for the part?
A: I read the book "One True Thing" by Ann Quindlan, which helped. [In that story,] the mother is withering away and her daughter is taking care of her.
And I watched several documentaries on doctor-assisted suicide. Classical music and poetry also puts me in the right head I need to be.
I was 60 this year ... I can't memorize lines or retain them. I worked months ago to get the lines down. I would think of how much Helen Keller achieved despite not being able to see, hear or speak.
Q: What or who inspired you to be an actress?
A: I liked telling stories. In high school, I played Annie Sullivan (Keller's teacher) in "The Miracle Worker." I just found there was nothing like it. But my parents wanted me to go into a line of work that would provide me with a secure, steady income. That is why I got a degree in education. I have a teaching certificate.
Q: What was your goal when you started out as an actress?
A: After graduating from Yale, where I did 30 plays, I moved to Los Angeles right away. It was not the usual route actors took, most do regional theater first, but I wanted to be on TV. I wanted to be Mary Tyler Moore but I was more like her friend Rhoda. I had worked in some dramatic roles at Yale, and then on TV in "The Paper Chase" and in "Hill Street Blues," I was hunting down criminals.
In1984, I was in the movie "Falling in Love" with Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep. I thought with those actors it was sure to be a success. It was a big bomb. But I learned something from it: Don't count your chickens ...
I was perceived as a dramatic actress and once casting directors put you in a slot, you only get called for that type role.
Q: Yet you became well known for your role in the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle." How did you get that part?
A: In 1991, I had a (Broadway) role (as the childlike aunt) in Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers," and people said, "Oh, she can do comedy." I was 43 when I was offered the role of Malcom's mother in the sitcom
"Malcolm in the Middle." I didn't want to do it. I wanted to have a baby, and was having fertility problems. But my agent said, "You have to do it." I was pregnant in the first season with my son, George, and then (a couple of years later) with Louisa. It was horrible, nursing, pumping and all that stuff.
Q: How did you feel when you were nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards for your performance in "Malcolm in the Middle."
A: All the years I wore false eyelashes, stayed thin ... and then I was nominated when I was pregnant and all that goes with it.
Q: You have worked in theater, films and TV. Do you prefer one over the other?
A: Theater. People in theater are witty and smart. You spend hours and hours on the lines and getting to know the character. And the audience responds to what you do.
In TV, the most important thing is how quickly you can do it and for how little money. If three scenes are in the kitchen, you do them in one day. Always done out of sequence.
Q: Is there any role you still aspire to?
A: Fred and I are doing "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in early 2017. And that is one on my bucket list. I did it at Yale when I was 25 and didn't know what I was talking about. It will be interesting to do it now. I am looking forward to doing it with an actor of that caliber and in the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Here and now, Kaczmarek is "so Happy to be back in Williamstown."
Tags: actors, Q&A, WTF,
