INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR ELIZABETH MCGOVERN
Education Dramaturg Ted Sod spoke with actor Elizabeth McGovern about her role as Mrs. Conway in Time and the Conways.
Ted Sod: Will you tell us where you were born and if you had any teachers who had a profound influence on you?
Elizabeth McGovern: I was born outside Chicago in Evanston, but I was raised in Los Angeles. My mother is a teacher—she was never my teacher—but I would say that she had a profound influence on me. I had a writing teacher in my junior or senior year of high school, whose name is Christine Adams, who had a very big impact on me. She taught a method of thinking clearly about things, and I’ve always remembered it. I really responded to it.
TS: Was becoming an actress something that you always knew you wanted to do?
EM: Well, I probably did deep down, but I didn’t like to admit it. I thought that coming from an academic family, it was a silly profession to pursue, but in a subconscious way, I really wanted to act. I always did plays in high school; that was definitely the most vivid memory of my high school experience. It brought life into Kodachrome for me. I attended a school in North Hollywood, and it wasn’t until I was aimlessly applying for colleges that an agent came to see one of the plays we did and asked me if I wanted to go on some auditions for summer work and I did. That led to a job, which got me started in my career before I even got the chance to think about it too deeply. I let the decision be made for me in a way. It was a very odd way to get into this profession. I do believe in it as a profession now. I think that there is some good that you can give to the world, and that keeps me going.
TS: Is this the first time you’ll be performing at the Roundabout?
EM: No, it’s not. The last thing I did in New York was Hamlet at the Roundabout. I played Ophelia, and I think that production was twenty- five years ago.
TS: Why did you choose to do the role of Mrs. Conway? What do you think the play is about?
EM: For me, the play is about—and this may sound pretentious—the shades of light and dark that make up a family. It is encapsulated by the title, because what you see is this microcosm of family life at two different times in its existence. One time is very happy, and the other is quite the opposite. You experience the dynamics that have gone into creating both those realities. Both of those realities are very true for the family; one is very dark and depressing, in which none of their dreams have come to fruition and they’re all bitter and angry, and the other is a reality in which they are at the cusp of their lives and they’re full of love, gaiety, and joy. J.B. Priestley, the playwright, has woven a tapestry which for me adds up to a complete life experience—it includes both light and dark, and you can look at it from two different angles. You see the way that this family and their actions affect and bounce off one another and create both unhappiness and happiness.
TS: Would you give us some insight into your process as an actress? What are the challenges of playing Mrs. Conway, and what are the challenges of doing a period piece like this?
8 ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
EM: That is an interesting question. I have spent a lot of time in this period. I’ve been embodying it for quite some time and living the reality of it. In fact, weirdly, I’m currently doing an independent film which is also set in this period, so I’m destined to always be in a corset and early 20th century dresses. It is almost part of my unconscious now; all of the things that at the beginning of Downton Abbey might have been research for me are now really deeply in my bones. I’m not an expert in a historical sense, but I have lived in it in my imagination. I feel research makes my job more fun and fills in the space between the lines in terms of my own imagination. Research allows me to bring things to life inside my brain, but I don’t know if it is absolutely necessary—it’s just a lot of fun. I think my process as an actress is to really study what is in the writing and getting all my clues from what that writer teaches me about the character and her relationship to the other characters. I like to let the writing guide my work and then be open to what the director is suggesting in terms of characterization. Also, for me, it is very exciting to respond to other actors and what they are bringing to their roles—that will influence me, too.
TS: I’m curious about how you view Mrs. Conway even though rehearsals haven’t yet begun.
EM: At the moment, I am really fascinated by Mrs. Conway because even though she is a mother who obviously adores her children, as a person, she is so unevolved; she is not self-aware. I would describe her as a crap mother; I can’t think of a better way of putting it. She has a lot of love and passion, but so little emotional intelligence. You can see her wreak destruction on her kids without meaning to, and
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