Working with Stephen King.
Is that something that youre still doing?
But isnt it exhausting to mine your emotions as ruthlessly as you did inThe Howling?
Yes, it is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
Hardly any films have tried a narrative in such a confined space.
MaybePhone Booth…wasnt that something that intimidated you before taking the role?
As an actor, are you kidding?
You go My God!.
I get to have this role for all this time.
The minute I readCujo, I knew that mother.
I am the quintessential mother-caretaker.
Now that I have a child I understood that even more.
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Hell, no!
And I was very very active in getting that changed.
And obviously it doesnt work in the book.
Oh, I think so.
It opened up enormous opportunities for me, and interestingly enough not so much in films, but TV.
The one thing that it really pigeon-holed me into, though, was mothers.
Id done a lot of TV playing hookers and astronauts…a plethora of different types of roles.
You know, I just had a wonderful series on a year ago calledSons And Daughters.
Well, I know it played over in the UK, cos I got recognised.
I could go from one incredibly funny, sarcastic scene into a highly dramatic emotional heart attack.
Well, everybodys finished filming now because of the strike!
Im hoping that theyll have me back I did three episodes.
Do you enjoy working with Jason Lee?
Well, I havent gotten to work with Jason very much.
You must have met every make-up and prosthetics technician in Hollywood in the last thirty years…
Yeah!
Doesnt it break the spell a little?
Im thinking here aboutThe Howlingand how well you reacted to Rob Bottins work.
They took the transformation weeks after I filmed that.
What I was acting with was air and Joe Dantes voice walking me through it.
Is that hard to do at seven oclock in the morning?
Then I dont have to do anything.
But youre so busy now that Im amazed you have any time to talk.
What turned that crisis of confidence around?
Funny you should ask.
And answers just started pouring in.
So being in demand for work is just a symptom of the balance you describe?
The world works the other way around but most of us dont know that.
Is the book in which you outline your insights going to be available in the UK?
Well, I certainly hope it will be, yes.
No all my life Ive been a teacher.
When I was in high school I taught dance and at YWCA and several dance studios in Kansas city.
I have a degree in teaching I taught high school for a year.
I truly think as actors that we always teach.
Whenever you teach, you learn more than you teach.
So youre listening as well as speaking?
Well, youre rediscovering yourself all over again.
This is why I chose to do it.
We dont want BS, we dont want lack of integrity.
You move rapidly between films and TV, as do many other very successful actors now.
Is there any remnant of the old stigma about movie actors doing TV?
Well, I dont think so.
Glenn Close goes back and forth all the time, quite successfully.
I would say so, yeah.
It certainly is going to be a tour de force, kind of likeCujo.
Were hoping to shoot that in January, because it got pushed off from September.
Can you tell me anything about your character in The Stalker Within?
[pause] Im trying to rememberThe Stalker Within…oh oh!
I truthfully have done so much work this year that I had to kind of pull it up.
The directors father had a heart attack while we were shooting, and we had to close down.
So we havent finished it yet.
Thats why I couldnt bring it to mind.
Truthfully those films are some of the hardest films to shoot.
Im so blessed that hes so giving of that praise.
You know, I always wanted to play a nun.
I dont know…maybe it was Audrey Hepburn when I was young.
Is it a life that maybe attracted you at one point?
[laughs] No, never.
Maybe I was a nun in another life.
Or a future life!
But theres a forties movie with Ida Lupino the name escapes me- and shes in an insane asylum.
Cant remember the name of it but thats one I would like to remake also.
Find out more about Dee, her life, work, writing and projects atwww.deewallacestone.com.
