With your performance
in The Shadow, one could swear you were the real deal. Are you the real Margo
Lane?
Indeed, any time I am performing my ultimate
goal is to become the person I am portraying. So, yes, I am Margo Lane.
And this is why I do this work. It is significantly for the delicious feeling
that a transformation has taken place and that I am this character. It is
actually a body sensation more than an intellectual one and it is
delicious. In fact, one long held memory from the first grade is of
playing that I was a horse. And I remember that, without a doubt, I was a
horse! The remembrance of this amazing reality is in large part I think,
what made me realize the possibility of this transformation!
Are you a fan of The
Shadow?
I have to admit that I was only a little child
when this show was on the radio and my parents did not allow us to read comic
books growing up, but I have always been a fan of fantasy. And I
particularly love the fact that the Shadow’s powers come, not from some
superhuman power, but the power of the human mind. I love that he was required
to learn and devote himself to a discipline and overcome his own challenges in
order to obtain these powers.
Indeed, the Shadow “knows what evil lurks
within the hearts of men” because he has experienced and overcome his own dark
side. It is an exploration all actors must face.
What helped you get
into character?
I did do research on the program “The Shadow”
and read reference works and articles about the radio program, the books, and
the various film portrayals. I particularly researched the real people
upon whom it has been speculated that the character of Margo Lane was based,
socialite Brenda Frazier and actress Margot Stevenson and watched some period
films like the detective show “The Thin Man” with William Powell and Myrna Loy
to get a sense of the times when Margo and Cranston first met.
As a female actress,
do you find roles like this rare?
Indeed, it can be challenging to find roles
where women are the ones with power and where they are central to the story
especially for mature women where roles as mother, grandmother, crone, or other
stereotypical roles predominate. Although, I was playing “the mother”
here, it was a mother who also held special powers and who had a colorful and
significant history and involvement with the story.
I’d certainly like to have the opportunity to
develop this character as one who uses that power!
You look amazing for
your age! What’s it like to be a mature Actress in the indie film industry?
Thank you for your kind compliment, but one
thing that is an advantage to being an older actress is that there is less of
an expectation that one have a particular “pretty look” that I know is limiting
and confining to younger women actors. Again, as a mature woman actress
it can be a challenge to find roles that are not stereotypical both as
character types with uninteresting dialogue, and not much of a character
arch. It is also very unusual for any story to have more than one
significant role for a mature woman though there can be multiple roles for
younger men and women.
What got you started
as an Actress?
I was attracted to performing as a young girl,
but it was for the most part as a dancer and I danced well into my
thirties. And though I acted and sang in high school and took part in
competitions (and twirled a baton as a majorette and played the flute), by
college in the late sixties and early seventies I became devoted to the idea of
creating social change and social justice through politics and the law and I
went to law school and became an attorney. There, as they say, I simply
acted on a different stage – persuading others to believe my version of
reality. (And I also had five wonderful children with whom I played much
pretend and to whom I read many many books even through their middle school
years.) But I was ultimately motivated to return to acting. I
realized that theater and film had the power to create change in ways the
adversarial nature of the law cannot. By taking audiences into the lives and
thoughts of others, they can be exposed in profound ways to see the world
through new eyes. In this exploration both actor and audience can be brought to
completely new understandings of “the other”.
You being an award
winning Actress is a powerful statement. What advice can you give women entering
this industry as a career?
I would encourage young people to devote
themselves to work for which they can sustain a deep passion and
commitment. And if acting creates that magic for them, it is what they
must do. However, whether one is going to act or become a lawyer, or
businessperson, or doctor or nurse, or engineer or psychologist or whatever, go
to school and seek experiences that expand your knowledge into fields and
worlds beyond your own. Learn as much as you can about life and about the
lives of others, and read, read, read. Explore, travel, enjoy nature and
all matter of art.
If you want to act, it is particularly
imperative that you must know what it means to live fully in order to portray a
full range of human experience. Explore different realms of human
expression in music, literature, philosophy, and movement. Expand your
own consciousness and attain deep personal understanding of your own psyche
through whatever means works for you. And then study the craft of acting.
Even if one has innate talent, it is critical to develop an understanding of
the skill of acting – just as one would learn and practice any art form.
I recommend formal schooling for that though I also know that many have found
training in free standing acting schools and specialized conservatories.
And then one must also find mentor’s to lead you through the maze of the
demanding “business of the business”. One must realize that, like all
other professions, this is a business and you must develop business and marketing
skills in order to be successful. And if I were beginning today, I would
take the time to develop companion skills in writing and theater and film
production.
And HAVE FUN!
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