by Gill Pringle
Jacki Weaver had been working, mainly on stage, for almost 40 years when she was offered the role of Melbourne crime mum, Janine “Smurf” Cody in Animal Kingdom. A remarkable performance, her portrayal earned her a best supporting Oscar nod, effectively launching the second half of her career and exchanging Australia for a new life in Hollywood.
Netting a second Oscar nod for Silver Linings Playbook, she’s become so in demand, she rarely takes time off, even working during the pandemic.
But Australia will always be home, so when she received the script for Penguin Bloom, to be shot in Sydney, Weaver, 73, couldn’t resist.
Based on the true story of mum-of-three Samantha Bloom, a woman who found solace from an injured baby magpie as she healed from her own devastating injuries, Weaver plays Bloom’s mother.
Did you enjoy returning to Australia to film Penguin Bloom?
“It was lovely to be able to speak in my real voice because I’m an American in all the films I do now. The only time I wasn’t American was when I played Emily Blunt’s mother [The Five Year Engagement] and of course I was frightfully English, which wasn’t a stretch for me because my mother was English.”
What drew you to the Penguin Bloom story?
“Well, it was a thrill to work with Naomi [Watts]. That was the big drawcard for me plus I thought the story was beautiful. But I’ve never worked with Naomi and I’ve loved her since Mulholland Drive which was a long time ago, so it was a real joy to finally work with her.”
Naomi tells me how much she loved working with you and was delighted to find how naughty and mischievous you are. Can you speak about that?!
“I don’t know if I’m that mischievous. I thought I’d really settled down in my dotage! I guess I’m a bit jokey – I don’t mean to be. I’m not sure what she means. She might come up with something that I didn’t think was naughty at all.”
There’s a lot more pressure on actors when they’re playing a real living person. Did you meet Jan, Sam Bloom’s mum?
“Yes, I did meet her, but we’d already started filming by then, so I already had a handle on who she was because it was a very good script. So, when I did meet her, I was pleased to see I wasn’t going completely in the wrong direction. That is something you have to bear in mind when you’re playing a real person. You don’t want to get it really wrong and you don’t want to hurt their feelings either. I’ve played a few real people. Just recently I did a film in Montana [American Murderer] where I played a real person, and we didn’t meet her, but we had photos of her, and I did look very like her when they finished their magical make-up work.”
Mother and daughter relationships can be quite tricky. Were you thinking about your own mum when you played Jan?
“A little bit yes. I adored my mother, she was a wonderful woman. But I think a lot of mothers and daughters, I’m not going to say all, do rub each other up the wrong way sometimes, especially in their late teens and early twenties. Also, that character of Sam’s mother, she’s devastated by the predicament her daughter is in and she’s so upset, she can’t help but be fussy and naggy and just irritating really. All of us have had mothers so I think we understand that.”
So, what was the conversation when you did finally meet Jan?
“It was very fleeting because it was just on set. I guess we were both a bit shy, but it was a pleasure to meet each other. But I don’t know what she thinks of the film. I hope her feelings haven’t been hurt by the way I portrayed her.”
And you’ve played many mothers over your long career?
“I did play a mother [Kath Pettingill] once who was real, and let’s be frank, a real bitch. I’ve played a few of those. But luckily, she was dead, so she didn’t know. But with Animal Kingdom, which was loosely based on that dreadful crime family, it wasn’t a biopic, but she was much worse than what was in our script but apparently, she was incensed. And the thing that she was most angry about was that my character was kissing her sons on the lips – so it just shows you where some people’s priorities are. Murder and mayhem is alright but don’t kiss your boys on the lips! That was a shock for me and that was a directorial choice. I mean, I have a son and I adore him, but I haven’t kissed him on the lips since he was two years old. And when David Michod said ‘kiss him on the mouth’, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness’. I’ve got a chill now just thinking about it because it’s so inappropriate and kind of spooky. And David Michod said that the only place where he went to do publicity where they didn’t question him about kissing on the mouth was in Italy. He said Italian mothers had no problems kissing their sons on the lips.”
A film like Penguin Bloom causes the audience to imagine how they themselves would handle a similar predicament, do you agree and what was your own personal reflection?
“Yes, I think everybody’s life has heartache, not necessarily tragedy, but the older we get, we’ve all known death and sadness. But to see something so dreadful that happened to Sam Bloom, I don’t know if I could have coped. I think I would have just gone into a spiral and it’s extraordinary how she did cope, and she was helped by physical endeavour that helped her too as well as the bird story. I think what’s so good about Penguin Bloom is the hope that’s there, even at your lowest, you can find a purpose.”
Talk about the birds?
“Well to be honest, I think magpies are horrible. I hate magpies. They used to attack children on their way to school, that’s why we used to wear hats on the way to school in the bush was because they’re nasty things. But I was only in scenes with them a few times, but I was terrified. But the patience of the trainer was amazing I think, and also the patience of our director, Glendyn Ivin.”
What was it like working with Glendyn?
“He’s such an extraordinary man. He creates a very good room, that’s what we used to say about directors in theatre; he runs a good room. And Glendon runs a great set because he’s so calm and sweet-natured which is important.”
Penguin Bloom is in cinemas now.
