ANDY DRACHENBERG: While you’re most recognized from TV shows like (Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and SNL) and film (the Toy Story series, Scream 2, Uncle Buck, and dozens of others), what I like is how many opportunities your fans have to see your work live. You’ve performed on Broadway twice in the past two yea Your work has moved through several performance mediums — do you like working in a specific one most, or is the constant change invigorating?
LAURIE METCALF- You know, I look around and see posters from all these shows — some going way back to the 1930’s and 1940’s, and I’m realizing I’ve never met a role I wouldn’t like to perform. I find the parts in theatre to be such a luxury. To be able to fully dive into a play, as opposed to a role on film or TV, is something I have always loved. It’s a wonderful job, and I feel very spoiled by it because I get to work with terrific people. There’s nothing better than the rehearsal process. Nothing better — Can’t wait to get to it — to get into the room and start working. I love it. I love it!
AD: So not only are you a quadruple threat to stage (with credits in film, television, and voice over), you also work with some of the most challenging material. In 2008, you starred on Broadway in David Mamet’s November as Clarice Bernstein. We all know Mamet’s style is quite distinctive — how do you remember your experience with November?
LM – Well, I think the whole thing was a discovery! Working on any play is always going to be a discovery because you think you know what’s in there to be found (and you do, on the surface level), but you never know what all the layers are until you start scratching around in it. Honestly, I had been wanting to work on a David Mamet play, and I had always wanted to work with Nathan Lane. When the opportunity came that combined the two of these with Broadway, it was a wonderful mix! I remember I hadn’t been back to New York for a very long, long time… I was doing theatre other places; L.A. of all places! And of course, Chicago. But November was an offer I couldn’t pass up. We had a bit of… ok, a lot, of juggling schedules, especially on my end with my family and living in Los Angeles. It’s always hard to say what I have gained from any one production, but I do believe that the discovery processes all together do further develop my craft and experience as a performer, in a way. I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to let November be a part of that.
AD: Some people say theatre is one of the most community-driven industries to work in. Would you agree? What roles do you think women have played in developing and shaping the theatre and film industries for today?
LM – I think it’s a situation where everyone is co-dependent on each other. Everybody has a role, literally, to play. You try and put together the best team that you can. So in that sense, maybe, if you are a team player, and if you do bring your talent (and by that I mean whichever thing you are doing: acting, producing, or directing) then you’re going to continue to work… and it’s very fair that way. If you can pull your weight, then you can be a part of that team. Everybody has to step up and deliver what they’ve been called on to do. And if you have a weak link in the chain, sometimes you can rally around help. It is very collaborative that way. It’s also gratifying and a little stress-free to be able to just focus on the part that you’ve been assigned to do. In my case it’s acting a particular role. You give your 150%, and work as hard as you can for the joy of it, but also to make the production everyone’s striving to make the best that it can possibly be. I like that aspect of it. I like everybody pitching in, and trying to either wrestle this thing to the ground, and get it to be the best that it can be.
AD: Are there any women in theatre and film today who continue to influence your work and personal growth?
LM – When I see a great performance, I get equally inspired by both theatre and film. Good acting is mesmerizing in a way, and has revealed to me many times over incredible men and women within the play itself. Since I am an actor, I may look at it with a different eye than other audience members; because I’m simultaneously enjoying it and deconstructing it. “What brought on that choice?” “Oh! How interesting to see the action spike there, or, drop there.” Or “Oh, you came in under that laugh. I like that.” It’s a different kind of appreciation – more “technical” I guess. I love to be surprised by an actor onstage when I’m watching, and even more when I’m up there acting with somebody too.
AD: Are there any dream roles or other aspirations you might have for working in the entertainment industry?
LM – Well there are classic roles like Martha in Viginia Woolf, or Amanda in The Glass Menagerie that I think about a lot. But honestly, as I said before, I’ve never met a part that I wouldn’t love to play. Whether it’s a comedy or drama, lead or supporting. Oh!– I do fantasize about being in a musical sometime, I’ve never done that. That would make me a “quint…”
AD: A Quinti-threat!
LM – Unfortunately I can’t sing — but I’m bound and determined to find something! I think it would be such a rush to be able to do that! To hear that orchestra kick in… Naively I say, “Oh yeah, a musical…,” but I can only image how much harder it is. The amount of energy it takes every night – not that there aren’t straight roles that require that too, eight times a week; but I do fantasize about doing a musical at some point.
AD: I know you just left the Broadway stage a few months back, and Toy Story 3 is coming soon, but are there any new projects you are working on in the upcoming months our readers should start looking out for?
LM – Yes! Talk about going from Broadway to… I’m going to be doing a play in a 55 seat theatre — for 10 days only! It amuses me to no end! It’s called Voice Lessons by Justin Tanner, whose had success in L.A. but he’s never had anything produced here in New York. It’s a play that I did a year ago L.A. and a lot of people got a kick out of it. I’m going to do it in the studio space at Theatre Row. So that’s what I’ll be doing for 10 days in May from the 22nd to the 31st. It’s a three character one-act. And the role is a deluded community-theatre actress who demands to take voice lessons from a vocal coach. It will be fun, and I think that’s proof right there that I rarely come across parts that I wouldn’t like to play!
In New York, Metcalf most recently appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed by David Cromer. Laurie has also appeared on Broadway opposite Nathan Lane in David Mamet’s comedy November, directed by Joe Mantello, and Alexandra Gersten’s My Thing of Love, directed by Michael Maggio. Metcalf has also appeared in Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, directed by Ethan Hawke, and Balm in Gilead at the Circle Rep, for which she received Drama Desk, Obie and Theatre World Awards. An ensemble member at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1976, Metcalf is the recipient of seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and two L.A. Ovation Awards. Metcalf won three Emmy awards for her role as ‘Jackie Harris’ on “Roseanne.” She was also nominated for an Emmy, for her work on “Desperate Housewives.” Metcalf’s film credits include Internal Affairs, Desperately Seeking Susan, Toy Story, Bulworth, and Leaving Las Vegas.