Al Weisel
Idol Chatter: Vanessa Redgrave
By Al Weisel
Premiere, September 1998, p. 40
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MINOR ROLE to Vanessa Redgrave. Whether it's her wordless appearance as Anne Boleyn in A Man for All Seasons, her Oscar-winning supporting role in Julia, or her star turn in the upcoming Mrs. Dalloway, she ensures that her time onscreen is never less than riveting. The 60-year-old actress, who has been nominated for five Oscars, is no less arresting in person. In between takes on the TV miniseries Bella Mafia, she gates at her costar Franco Nero, father of her son Carlo, as if they had just met on the set of Camelot. When she recalls her first trip to Paris with director Tony Richardson (Tom Jones), her husband of five years and father of her daughters Natasha and Joely, she becomes 24 again ("I wanted to do something special, so I had my hair turned totally white"). Though she remains a stalwart leftist—her unpopular positions over the years, particularly in support of the PLO, have often caused Hollywood to keep her at arm's length—she refuses even to let the topic of politics be broached. But she's as outspoken as ever on just about every other subject.
You've been moving recently between art-house films such as Mrs. Dalloway and big-budget Hollywood films such as Mission: Impossible.
There's nothing wrong with Hollywood or big budgets as such. I wish everybody got bigger budgets. Hollywood has made quite a lot of shit, but it's made a lot of brilliant, classic films.
How did you find working with Tom Cruise?
Tom's a wonderful actor. He's rather like Spencer Tracy. Spencer Tracy only did little touches to make his characters different; he was always also Spencer Tracy. And it's the same with Tom.
What intrigued you about the upcoming meteor-disaster movie Deep Impact?
I decided as soon as I met [director Mimi Leder] that I wanted to work with her, even before I had seen the script. I can read people's language even if they're not talking. I don't have that kind of confidence in many people.
Do you think women directors bring a new perspective to Hollywood?
I don't think that women are better at some subjects than men or men better at some subjects than women. At the same time I'm well aware that still you will not find many black people on a film set, you will find in certain jobs men being hired rather than women. Without affirmative action you can't break a tradition of certain people being excluded. When I did Camelot, women didn't do makeup. It was a male preserve. Women worked in the wardrobe department.
How do you create a character like Julia?
I just knew her as if I had once met her. There was a very good costume person. We worked on things that would never be seen onscreen, like rather large sandals that she wore and being somewhat careless about what colors she had on. Mrs. Wilcox in Howards End, like Julia, was someone I knew for years. It was like osmosis. Her entire character would be revealed by her talking very slowly.
I'll tell you what acting is like. There was this fantastic exhibition of Picasso's early years. The first time I went, I saw the whole exhibition in case I couldn't come back. The second time, I spent two hours looking at nine pictures. I let them enter through my eyes into my thoughts
and actions. After 30 minutes of standing in front of one, I saw things I never would have seen. It's the same when you're learning about a human being. That's why I'm often striding around looking rather fierce, because actually I'm thinking.
What was your first impression of Franco Nero?
He was lovely, a very good choice to play Lancelot. He was very pure and honest—as the French say, sans reproach. And he was younger than me. Eventually we discovered we both loved doing the same kinds of things.
What kinds of things?
Shooting clay ducks and fishing.
What's it like to fall in love on the set?
Oh, please don't get into all this rubbish. Treating art as if it were a sort of vicarious little ice cream.
You've maintained good relationships with the men in your life.
I've been very lucky. Jeanne Moreau said she'd like to end her life living in the same house with all the men she'd ever loved. I thought, Yeah, absolutely. That would be great. For them that might be the end! [Laughs]
What is your relationship with Howards End director James Ivory like?
Some people like getting a lot of direction. I like not getting a lot of direction. There was one exception [with Ivory] on one specific scene. He wanted me to remove a certain quality he thought my character wouldn't have. We both passionately defended our points of view, and then rightly I did what he said.
Did your father, Sir Michael Redgrave, ever tell you what he thought of your film career?
No, he didn't.
Do you think he was proud of your work?
I know he was. He would say something simple, like, "That was really good." Then I would know he was really pleased because he was a very stern critic. We acted together in a lot of theater and he would give me a lot of notes. While it was often agonizing, it was great. It was like having a master class.
When you played Anne Boleyn in A Man for All Seasons, you communicated so much without words.
You can only do that with someone like [director] Fred Zinnemann. When I gave him my little idea, he liked it very much.
What was your little idea?
That she was always laughing. She was so excited that she just laughed and laughed and laughed. I wish it were more possible for people in this industry to ask one another questions about how they do what they do, but it's not.
Why not?
Because of the level of triviality in the entertainment media. And still, what's amazing is how films spring up that fight against the tide. There's a lot of fantastic work coming up despite all the general trends to eradicate it. It's coming up! It's coming up everywhere! [Throws up her arms wildly] That excites me.■
Al Weisel is the co-author, with Larry Frascella, of Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, being published in October 2005.