liiiiwy':. uttim tum to fluwml female
t lmum [ms has led to roles in Jimlahyme (far In"), llw liumau Show (lmlow loft) and Myst“ flivw (below right) as Well as fun I‘lhml tum m. Wmuly m Hm Savages (above)
liycs are suddenly forced to care for their father (Philip Bosco). who is suffering from dementia.
‘lt‘s unusual to receiye a script that's in perfect condition hefore you start.' says l.inney of her iiiyoiyeiiient in 771(‘5ill‘(i§(’y "Iamara and I had met preyiously on a moy'ie that didn‘t materialise for either of its. so we already knew each other. The hard part was getting financed. he made a few of these smaller films I tend to he attracted to them and they always get made. You haye to he Very patient. hut if the material is really good. it will get made. I realise I'm not an enormous draw for film financiers. and I'm grateful to 'I‘aiiiara and her producers for sticking with me and Phil when they could haye got the moy'ie made with higger-name actors.‘
So. what was it that attracted her to The .Sizi'irges'.’ ‘Well it was the whole idea of what you do with a parent who is ageing and who neyer really lo\‘ed you.‘ she replies. ‘I’aiticularly when the child is already challenged. as Jon and Wendy are. 'I‘hey‘re hoth a mess in their own ways. What I liked was that Wendy isn't a typical protagonist. She lies. cheats. steals and is adulterous. She‘s also a kaleidoscope of energy ~ she ricochets all oyer the place.‘
Wendy. in other words. is exactly the sort of trouhled female character Linney grayitates towards. ‘Iior an actress Wendy is so much fun to play.’ she agrees. "The borders of her character
‘IT'S UNUSUAL TO RECEIVE A SCRIPT THAT'S IN PERFECT CONDITION BEFORE YOU START '
are \ery far apart: she‘s narcissistic and yet she‘s yery giy ing and empathetic. \Vhat's interesting is how you make somehody with such e\treiiie colours seeni feasihlc and not ridiculous. You don't want to turn it into farce. you want the material to moye you in a different way.'
Born on Manhattan‘s l'pper liast Side iii loot l.inney grew up immersed in the theatre as her father Romulus was a playwright and drama professor. although she hyed with her cancer nurse mother after her parents diyorced. li'ollowing an undergraduate degree. she studied acting for four years at the prestigious .hilliard drama school in New York and iii .\Ioscow. hefoi'e heading to Broadway. \Vhile acknowledging her line of theatre. l,iniiey admits that she now appreciates ‘filiii for the sake of film. I find myself enjoying the film community and the work they do. and that's why I loye coming to festiyals. 'l'hrough film a wry different element has heen added to my life. which I ney er thought would he there.‘
(‘urrently engaged to Marc Schauer. haying diy'orced her first hushand Day id .-\dkins in 2000. l.inney has already completed filming on The (My oft/re I'i'nu/ /)(‘.\lfII(lli(IIi in Argentina. alongside Anthony Hopkins. She also stars opposite I’aul (iiamatti in the forthcoming llll() mini-series ahout the president John Adams. one of America‘s liounding l'athers. and the first amhassador to Iingland after the War of Independence. The husy actress is also returning to Broadway later this year to play the Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons.
Whateyer the project. Linney‘s acting credo remains the same: she's there to ser\ e the story. ‘You know, sometimes you watch an actor in a hig emotional scene.‘ she says. ‘You see the tears and hear the shouting. hut you feel nothing. Io me that’s hecatise the acting is not connected to the story. I rememher one first-time liliii director in a panic. telling me that my character was suPhosed to he upset. and I said. "We're old} (in page two. she's still going to he upset on page eight. we'll get there." Sometimes you don't play eyery emotion in one scene. hecause you want people to get to know your character oycr a couple of hours. It‘s always more powerful if you can build up to it.‘
The Savages is out on Fri 25 Jan.
MAD BAD DADS
Linney's new film The Savages features a nonchalant and neglectful father figure in the form of Philip Bosco. Paul Dale savours some of cinema's other bad dads
Grandpa Idwin Hoover In Little Miee Bunahlne 2'
Bill Cleg in Spider '
Jack Torrance in The Shining 2: v ’1
Faderen in Featen 1'
Bernard Borkman in The Squid and the Whale l' "r i =‘.
Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaume ‘:
{,4 4 I J {I . (, It
’1 '1 1 I: s» " ll sr {I / -" (I 1 r. 1‘1 1 J J
THE LIST 11