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What can you tell us about the role you play in Gaslit?
I play Martha Mitchell who really was a bit of a rags-to-riches kind of woman. She came from a small town in Arkansas and a family that lived below the poverty line. She met John Mitchell, they fell madly in love and then he became the Attorney General to the President. On the surface, it sounds like a pretty great little timeline to portray, but it was all the things in between that attracted me to the role––the big, drunken party version of Martha. That stuff is fun to play.
How much did you already know about Martha Mitchell before Gaslit came to you?
Not much at all. Almost nothing, actually. I had heard of her, but I didn’t know much about her as the big, outspoken and the hugely opinionated person she was, and also that she was very shy and didn’t like public speaking. There are all of these paradoxes about her that were fun to get to play with and then of course there is the fact of how devoted she was to her husband and her family.
What did it take for you to transform into Martha Mitchell physically?
It was nothing compared to Sean’s herculean prosthetics but I had this piece that I wore on top of my teeth to kind of change the shape of my mouth a little bit. I remember one time Sean and I had a scene where we are supposed to be kissing. He knocks me off of the couch and he jumps on top of me and I was laughing so hard that this thing popped out. It’s loose in my mouth while Sean is trying to kiss me.
How did you find the chemistry with Sean Penn as John to your Martha?
It was really always there. Sean and I have been good friends for a long, long time and we were able to bring that to this. There was no need to fake it. Sean came over to my house with (director) Matt Ross to read through all of the scenes. We sat at the kitchen table and read just these John and Martha scenes, their entire love story, and it was just a joy to figure out how to portray this beautiful, tender and fun relationship that then turned very sour.
But this is the very first time you and Sean have worked together. You have never done that before.
It’s strange, but yeah. I just feel so lucky that the stars aligned to bring us together for something with such great characters, a great story and in this great time period.
We also get to see you returning to romantic comedy later this year in Ticket to Paradise. How was it to work with George Clooney again on that movie and to work in that genre again?
It was heaven. It was everything that you would imagine. It was fun and it was outrageous. The world has been through such a dark time, so Ticket to Paradise is our attempt to just bring a little sunshine into popular culture and to make people laugh and smile again. And if it’s half as fun to watch as it was for George and I to make, then it should be awfully entertaining.
How do you approach going from playing someone like Martha Mitchell to a romantic comedy role?
It’s always different and the same. For me, there is always one piece of the puzzle that reveals itself to me early on––like the character’s hair or something like that. Once that first piece of the puzzle reveals itself to me, then the rest starts to fall into place.
What is it that makes you want to keep testing yourself in such a variety of film and TV projects?
I just love the circus of it all. It’s a funny, nutty business and the hours are so long that it’s hard to not live in a trailer. I’m just super amused by all of it and I love the camaraderie. I love the incredible team effort it takes to tell these stories. I love the feeling of newness of a scenario or a person that is not me. There lies the challenge, to separate myself and my personality to be somebody else. It’s a funny job to have but I love it.
How do you choose projects?
I follow what I call my internal compass. I read a script and when I finish it, I know if I want to do that or I don’t. That is what I have based my choices on for the past 30 years.
Do you have any plans in the future to work with your husband again?
I think we have worked together seven times and I love working with Danny. I don’t know how it is for him though… you’ll have to ask him! We haven’t got anything coming up but I would love to do something else.
You are one of the most respected and recognisable stars in Hollywood. How hard does that make it for you to enjoy a normal family life?
I have never been a person that attracted that kind of energy that means you can’t just go to the grocery store. When people do speak to me, it’s usually pretty normal–– like I’m their neighbour or something. ‘My daughter looks just like you,’ or ‘Oh, you cut your hair,’ those are the kind of things people approach me with as opposed to anything I can’t handle.
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