Geraldine Page, Interiors

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Diane Keaton

"....The only things that distracted me from my discomfort in the role were legendary Geraldine Page and Sandy Meisner's favorite actress, Maureen Stapleton.

"Every morning Geraldine Page trudged to the set in rags, lugging two shopping bags full of mending. She'd bend over, pull out her husband Rip Torn's old clothes, and patch his pants while she was in the makeup chair. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that one of the greatest actresses in the world was a bag lady. If anything, her homeless appearance added to her charisma. When Woody gave her direction, she smiled, nodded her head politely, then completely disregarded everything he said. Before one of her extremely emotional close-ups, I stood next to the camera, about to feed her my lines, when she point-blank asked me to leave. As I watch from a distance, I understood. My presence would have stolen her freedom. Maybe all that Neighborhood Playhouse sharing with your fellow actors, all that living truthfully together in the given imaginary moment, wasn't for everyone. Geraldine Page was an acting genius. Rules don't apply to genius."

-- Diane Keaton, Then Again, (Random House: 2012), p. 144-45

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home