Lesley Ann Warren
Interview By: Mike Masri
MikeMasri@TheCinemaSource.com
This veteran actress, who will be turning 60 later this year despite easily looking twenty years younger, knows her job and knows it well. Her career began on Broadway then jumped to television and finally to the big screen. Over the years she has mastered certain acting techniques, to the point where they have become second nature to her.
"You know, as an actor, you always call on certain emotional realities that mirror the character's reality, you know' the experience. That's part of what you do to create a role. You look for what the character's feeling and what in my life makes me feel that way. You're bringing your own personal history or relationships to the reactions of the character."
That is exactly what Lesley Ann Warren did for her role as Peggy Stuckman in When Do We Eat', her newest movie which hits theaters on April 4th. After sitting down with her and director Salvador Litvak, it's easy to understand why she's part of this amazing ensamble cast.
"I go where the role and director is. It's always my first question, whose the director' It's like the most important thing to me when that relationship works it's the most exciting collaborative piece' it's awesome!"
In the 15 minutes or so that I sat with these two, their chemistry was clearly present. They seemed to get along like old friends, which may be an attributing factor to this soon to be successful film. For Warren, the people she will be working with is just as important as the script in front of her. Luckily for us and her, she meshed perfectly with the cast and played a superb role.
"Meredith Scott Lynn, who plays my step daughter, and I bonded immediately at rehearsal. I mean we were like crazy together' we couldn't stop laughing, [but] we were supposed to be enemies in the movie. Sal (Litvak) had to jump in - but, this was his first movie and he was very concerned that we wouldn't be able to create that animosity on screen if we were laughing together constantly. At one point he actually wanted to separate us, you know' I'm like' trust us, we will do it for you."
Warren and Lynn upheld their word, since they did seem to have that tension on screen that Litvak was looking for. This is just further proof of Warren's outstanding acting abilities. She overcame her natural emotions and put on a completely fake fa'ade that could convince the most pessimistic viewer.
"I don't think I'm like Peggy, in most ways. Do you know what I mean' There are certainly aspects of Peggy that I relate with; her relationships with her sons, a lot of her emotional inner lining. Yea, I mean we're very different people at heart it becomes very sort of metamorphosis, there are aspects of you that are tapped into. When I'm too close to a character it's wrenching to break away, I don't want to break away."
The good thing to know is that breaking away wasn't really a problem for Warren this time. The character of Peggy was a 'no-strings-attached role.' "It wasn't a role where I went' 'I know her,' but I thought it would be interesting to illuminate another kind of Jewish woman from the one portrayed in television."
The entire idea of swaying away from television to do a movie is something different for Warren. She's done movies in the past and has another two planned already, but the majority of her career has been spent on television.
"I like doing movies. The theater is unbelievably exhausting, you want to die. I did a musical about 9 years ago on Broadway and it's hard' really hard. Television is really fast, so the luxury of having rehearsal time or discussion time isn't there."
Warren likes movies, but is far from sticking to just them. Besides two more movies being scheduled for release she's working on new shows as well. She wouldn't mention the name of the show, but did mention that she will start work on a new pilot sometime this April. It's probably another stunning role to add to some of her more famous roles on shows such as Desperate Housewives and Will & Grace.
