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Live Mum Walking
In this exclusive interview with Susan Sarandon, the 63 year young screen idol talks about being lucky, being a mother and being in The Lovely Bones.
From her screen debut in Joe (1970) to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Atlantic City, Bull Durham, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil and Dead Man Walking, to name just a few, Susan Sarandon is undoubtedly one of the greatest of modern actresses. Sarandon now appears as Grandma Lynn in Peter Jackson's highly anticipated, The Lovely Bones, and she tells Filmink how she couldn't resist the opportunity to play this character, despite it being a smaller role.
So you're the "fun gal" in this movie.
"You mean I'm the comic relief. It's not hard in this movie. Everybody was cut quite a bit in the final version of the movie, but Grandma Lynn is still so strong and you know who she is. She was fun because she says what everybody thinks but doesn't dare say. She's without empathy and smokes and drinks and is fun."
Did it bother you that you have a smaller part?
"Before Peter sent me the script, he said, ‘I know it's a smaller part but it's a critical part because she's the one who literally brings the life back into the family. It bothers me when I do smaller parts and half of that is cut out. That has happened and there is always the risk of that. But for me, after all these years in the business, I just concentrate on the process while doing it and give up on the idea on how it will turn out because you have such little control over that. If you want to know exactly what your audience will see, you do theatre. So I jumped at the chance to work with Peter Jackson. He's someone who really has a vision and is very much in control. I loved his film Heavenly Creatures, and I think this is in that vein. For me when I read the book, which was way before the movie, I wasn't that interested in heaven. I thought, maybe that would be an instance where the film version will be more interesting than the book, where you're focused on how the family is dealing with everything and she's on the peripheral. That has happened. He has focused more on her and the family is more peripheral. But I found it all fascinating. And the nice thing about doing small parts is that they aren't long commitments."
In the book, she shines after Susie's death. Before the tragedy she was an outcast who didn't fit into the family.
"She's so self-absorbed. Some material was cut that explains her back history but I don't think she was interested in being a particularly good mother. She is the last one who you would think would rise to the occasion, but finally she's the one who keeps the family together. I remember that when my grandfather died, my grandmother opened the curtains and let the light in, and I told Peter of that image and he put it into the film. And I saw that as a funny thing because she has to learn how to use the vacuum and clean the house while she's smoking, and she can't cook or do dishes or anything. But at the same time she is the one who says everyone has to get on with their lives and stop mourning - we have to move on. When the kid says, ‘Where is she?' And she says, ‘She's in heaven.' When he says, ‘There's no such thing as heaven,' she says, ‘Okay, she's dead.' I thought that was hysterical. So I like her. I like her spirit and abrasiveness and self-involvement."
Is she disappointed in her daughter?
"Rachel and I had a couple of huge scenes that were cut. In the book Abigail is having an affair with the detective, but those scenes were filmed but cut from the movie. So I confess that my husband had an affair and I know that's what's going on with her, and that's one of the things that sends her out the door and away. I don't know if Grandma Lynn is disappointed in her daughter but she understands that she's hurting. She sees that Abigail is stuck and tells her that she has to move one way or the other. She is the impetus for that. So many mothers don't forgive themselves for not being perfect, or so many mothers won't admit that they have moments when they hate their children. Grandma Lynn is someone who definitely can say, ‘Well, you drove me crazy, I hated you, too.' So from her mother, Abigail probably gets permission to be a less perfect mother than the one she'd like to be. I miss some of those cut scenes because I think they were interesting because by trying to be such a good mother, Abigail has put her artistic side on hold and hasn't found a way to incorporate her imagination into her mothering as much as she'd like to. She felt she fell short in her mothering and hasn't been able to forgive herself. Grandma Lynn is so unorthodox that I don't think she'd be disappointed but just wants to make her understand that enough time has elapsed and she has to do one thing or another. And she decides to go away."
Did you feel pressure to be a good mother?
"Well, I'm the oldest of nine children so I had a lot of experience in chaos and lack of privacy. Certainly it's different when it's your own child. I also became a mom really late, against all odds. It wasn't that typical. I was determined to have fun with my kids. Some of what I considered important and not important, many mothers wouldn't agree with. I wanted to be there with my kids and was lucky that I didn't have a 9-to-5 job. I was able to do just one movie a year or take them with me while they were growing up. I thought they should always be with me. Most of the time, I didn't work in the school years, just the summers. A lot of the bigger movies I did were in the summer because I was able to push them to the summer. You want to be perfect, feed the kid the right food, and all of that. Sometimes that can take the fun out of it. You just do the best you can. You have to learn to apologise early on. I still tell them I'm sorry."
When you were twenty did you have a goal to work so consistently all these years?
"I completely fell into acting. I never studied. And I'd take a year off after the birth of my kids and say I'd never work again. I saw acting as a great means to an end but didn't think it was an end in itself. I love to travel, and the family-like collaboration, and all the characters I get to play. But actresses didn't work past forty when I started out. I'm now sixty-three and still working so it's crazy. But I didn't have a plan. What has gotten me through is flexibility and adaptability. If something came that I wasn't expecting, such as The Rocky Horror Picture or when I got the book of Dead Man Walking, I was able to change directions."
You also became a better actress, right?
"But you know what's funny - a lot of people can do the really good parts. What happens is that if you start to get good parts, you continue getting the good parts and those people get better and better. It doesn't mean I'm inherently better than someone else. Sigourney Weaver, Jessica Lange, others could have done Dead Man Walking. They'd have done it differently but been good. They're all good, but I just happened to get the book and take it to Tim [Robbins]. There are so many actors who are great. I just got a few good parts and then developed a few good parts. So the more you work on substantial things with better directors, you're learning curve is pretty damn good. Surviving for a lifetime in the business is another talent. Look at Keira Knightley - the way she started out, you wouldn't know she would become quite good. She learned and became better. Making the transition from being young to old is difficult."
What about Saoirse Ronan?
"She's amazing. She's not so little anymore. She got so tall. She's so gifted. And her family is fabulous. When they sent me the audition tape that her dad did in their backyard, she is so open and has a face that the camera loves. She's really focused and a hard worker. In Atonement and City of Embers she was great."
She says when she grows up she wants to be political too.
"Really? I was just trying to get her down to my ping-pong club. She is really special. I think it helped her to grow up outside of Hollywood. She's had nice parts already."
The Lovely Bones is in cinemas from December 26, 2009. For interviews with Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Peter Jackson grab the latest issue of Filmink Magazine.
Photo By: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment
