WEBVTT - All Hail the Jeanaissance! 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.640 Hi everyone, I'm Katie Curic, and this is next question. 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:08.480 You know, if you've been watching TV lately, you've probably 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.880 noticed that Jean Smart is having a moment. Or, as 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:14.880 a New Yorker put it, we seem to be in 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.360 the midst of a full blown gena sonce. Here's the 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:22.599 thing about me, sister Knight, I hate good guys for breakfast. 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.480 This all might be news to Geene herself, since she's 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:30.400 been working subtly for more than four decades. After starting 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.000 out as a stage actress in New York, she got 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:36.960 her first big TV role as Charlene Fraser still Field 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:45.240 on the nineteen eighties sitcom Designing Women. Stand Out performances followed, 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:50.360 and shows like twenty four look like a wedding cake. Fraser, 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:57.320 get off. You're asking a pen, Samantha, who will play 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.440 that game? Where do you get guess what? People would 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:04.040 guess what you're thinking about? Saying any words? You mean charades? 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:11.119 I said, no words and Fargo. The point is, don't 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:15.479 assume just because I'm an old woman to my back 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:20.000 is weak and my stomach is not strong. But it 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.399 was her recent one to punch as washed up Las 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.440 Vegas comedian Debra Vance on the HBO Max series Hacks 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:32.000 Coming and as Kate Winslet's mother Helen Fahey and mayor 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:35.600 of East Town that has finally awakened the world to 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:40.000 the genius that is Gene. I don't know how to say. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.119 Oh wait, it just came to me. That was stupid. 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:46.839 I recently got the chance to talk to her about 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.720 her long career, what it feels like to experience a 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:54.720 resurgence of attention at seventy, the sudden loss of her 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.640 husband of more than thirty years, fellow actor Richard Gilliland, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:03.600 and the coming second season of Hacks, which, by the way, 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:10.359 I loved. Hi, Gene, how are you. I'm good, I'm good. 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:15.320 You are doing the proverbial junket when you talk to 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:21.000 what scores of annoying interviewers like me. I feel so 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.320 bad because I've been subjected to the round robin of 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:29.280 a junket myself, and you start wanting to make up stories, 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:36.640 and you just you're so bored with yourself by the right. No, 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:39.240 it's it's everybody's been so nice and the thing has 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.079 been really gratifying. Is that so far everybody who has 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.720 seen some episodes of season two, they got its sneak peek. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.600 Have have just loved it because you know, season two, 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.640 you you want to have something to prove. Well, that's 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:54.799 I was going to ask you about that. It's sort 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.000 of like you don't want to be a one hit wonder, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.959 you know, or that novelist who's got the number one 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.760 on the New York Times bestseller list and is paralyzed 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.240 when it comes to writing a second How much pressure 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.000 was it for you all going into the season two 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:18.040 after season one was so well received. Oh it um, Chris. 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.480 Most of the pressure was on the writers. But no, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.120 you definitely feel like people are going to be gunning 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.240 for you, you know, to say, oh yeah, try and 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:32.720 make me laugh. But uh, when I started reading the 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.119 scripts for season two, I just thought, Wow, they've they've 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.520 They've done it again. It's just was wonderful. Why do 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:44.520 you think the characters in this show are so fun 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.960 to write for? Yeah? No, I mean I you know, 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:53.040 Jen and Paul and Achia. I have been living with 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:58.240 this idea of this character, this woman Deborah for seven years, 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.400 thank god, and made seven years ago, because I would 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:03.880 not have been at the top of the list probably, 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:08.200 So I'm grateful that they've just percolated on it for 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.600 a long time. But they when they said when they 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.280 pitched the show to to HBO, they basically told them 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.560 like five years of the story. I haven't even asked 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:22.640 them where they see this this going, but they I 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:27.080 love the little, tiny, weird details about characters that put in, 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:30.440 the little idiosyncratic things, And especially in season two, they've 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.760 really fleshed out all the ensemble, all the supporting characters 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.440 who have more to do, And it's so much fun 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.279 to watch them because they're all a little demented, even 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:44.200 my housekeeper they are, but they're all so funny, and 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:49.440 there's something so real about them, right, because they're so multidimensional. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.120 I think, each and every one of them. You see 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.520 them being funny, you see them being sad, you see there, 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.920 you know their regrets and longing. You see them try 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:04.160 to find themselves still after all these years, right, And 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.960 I think as a result of that richness, so many 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.200 people relate to it. When you first got the script, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.520 did you just eat it up, Jean, did you just 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.680 say I have got to have this role? Absolutely? Absolutely? 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.080 Eye and Tech I was so I was. I've never 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.280 said this before, but I walked into the room with 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.240 the producers and I said, um, because my agent called 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.880 me and sent me the script. Is said they they 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.840 want you to do the script. And I just couldn't 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:34.920 believe how great it was. And I working around and said, 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:39.080 you're right, I'm absolutely perfect for this. Um, you should 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:44.680 hire me. Um. But no, it's it ticked off every box. 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.640 I mean, if I could have described what I hoped 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.400 my next project would be, it just had everything. It 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.840 just had everything. What when you say everything, I mean 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:57.600 it had it had It had the humor, it had 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:03.359 the intelligence, that had the pathos, that had offbeat fun stuff. 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.760 I mean, it had Vegas, had sequence, a leopard print 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.360 and mean it was like and Martinis. I mean, how 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:16.200 could I say Now? It has that weird mother daughter dynamic, 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.960 which to me is also so fun and actually at 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:27.280 times painful to watch because you know, they're just so 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.279 different and they really have it. They really have a 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.760 difficult time connecting, and and that's why I think there's 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:40.880 also kind of another mother daughter relationship that's part of 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:44.440 the show. Right. Yeah, No, I absolutely think you were 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.920 absolutely right. And you know, Caitlin Olsen is so amazing 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:51.560 as DJ and when you find out that DJ actually 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:56.080 stands for Deborah Jr. It's like, oh no, she actually 0:06:56.200 --> 0:07:03.960 mannered kind of like George Foreman, right exactly. Yeah, I mean, 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.320 Caitlin is so amazing, she says. I know, she says, 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:07.960 it's like I'm a sixteen year old trap in a 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.840 fourty year old body. But but it's sad too, because 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.240 you know, as a parent, I'm sure you know, you 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.320 feel like you never get it right, you do too much, 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.320 or you do too little, or you you know, and 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.640 and Deborah feels like I just wanted you to be 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.640 with me, and her daughter sees it as you dragged 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.960 me all these horrible places with horrible people and when 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.600 I was a kid, and you know, And I think 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:35.680 it's particularly complicated when you have a mom which I 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.880 can relate to in the public eye in terms of 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:43.360 a daughter, you know, when I have two daughters establishing 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.880 their own identity. I'm wondering if, if if this resonated 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:53.240 with Eugene Um in terms of your own kids. No, absolutely, 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.720 I think I think I think it must be. I mean, 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.440 I have no idea, but it must be very hard 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.840 to have a kind of a famous parent. Um. I 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.480 remember when my oldest was young. If I would be 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.680 out in public and people would ask for an autograph 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:09.760 or something, I would if I was with him, I 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.440 would try to just really nicely say I'm so sorry. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:14.160 I hope you don't mind if I say no, I'm 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:16.520 just I'm just mom today. You know, I'm just mom 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:18.640 right now. And people are always very nice about it. 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.560 And this happened several times, and finally my my son 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.000 looked at me and he said, no, Mom, it's okay, 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.080 it's okay, you can sign it. It just means they 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.080 really like you, you know. So that was really sweet. 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.840 And then my my my youngest, he didn't like it 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:36.320 when he never wanted to watch me in anything. I 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:38.800 think it made it seemed creepy do him to see 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:40.880 his mother pretending to be somebody else. I'm looking kind 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.600 of different, and he didn't like it if I'd come 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:44.280 home with all the hair and the makeup and everything. 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.720 He he just wanted me to just just be mom. 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.440 So they don't seem any worse for the wear. In 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.240 terms of you being in a hype, you know, in 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.319 high profile jobs, or having a mom who was on 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:04.320 TV or in movies, well, I don't know, I'm sure. 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.040 I just try to tell myself that if they have 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:10.080 any issues, it's not because of me, and it's between 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:16.120 them and their therapists exactly. More with the very smart 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:29.760 Gene smart. After this break, well, let's talk about sort 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:34.479 of the whole ensemble cast. I think obviously Hannah e'inbinder 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:40.440 is is a revelation. She really is wonderful in the 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:45.959 role and provides such a great contrast to to Deborah's character. 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.000 Tell me a little bit about working with Hannah and 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.200 where she came from, because she just seems to have 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:57.120 exploded onto the scene. Gene. Yes, I know. Apparently our 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.960 producers were fans of her comedy because Paul Downs is 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.120 also a stand up comic who plays my manager Jimmy 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.080 so brilliantly. Um, but so they had her on the 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:09.920 list of girls to audition. I guess a lot of 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.680 actresses read and then they brought me in to do 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.320 what they call, you know, a chemistry read for the 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:21.319 last handful of young women. And uh so I watched 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.920 some of Anna's stand up on online and I just 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:32.240 was taken with how she seemed so confident on stage 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.679 and she but she was very kind of quirky, and 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.360 I've never seen anybody do a routine quite like what 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:39.920 she was doing. And I just thought she was amazing 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.840 because she took her time and everything was very small, 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:45.839 and it was just I just thought she was hilarious. 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.760 And uh, I actually called her the night before our audition, 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:56.240 just to introduce myself, and I think I called two 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.360 of the girls. I didn't call all of them. Feel bad, 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.719 but I just wanted to put them at ease a 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.280 little bit, you know, because that's always weird to be 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.320 in that position. And plus we had to meet. It 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.320 was like something out of a spy movie. We met 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:14.880 in this huge, dark, dark, empty sound stage with one 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.240 light bulb on a stand like you're gonna be interrogated 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:21.319 and tortured, right, you know, and two straight backed chairs 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:29.840 about sounds very off off Broadway. Yes, through plexiglass, you know, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:35.760 because of COVID. Yes, it was insane. So I'm glad 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:37.720 that we had chit chat on the phone a little bit. 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.559 But but she was great. She was great, and she 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.000 was definitely my my first choice, and I was glad 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.040 they at least let me have some input, and luckily 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:52.160 they agreed with me. And after we've been working together 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.000 about two weeks. She was she was still she was 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.520 stealing awe of me back then, but that's completely gone. 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.080 She came up to me and she said, I just 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.200 really wanted to thank you because you know, I heard 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:06.559 that you really went to bat for me with the producers, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.319 and I said I did. I said you were absolutely 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.880 my first choice. I said, in fact, I told them 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:13.959 that if they didn't hire you, I was gonna do 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:22.199 the show. And she said really, I said, no, I'm nice, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.040 but not that nice. I hesitated for just a second 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:27.599 before I say, said, should I say this is just 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:29.880 too mean? No, she's a comedian, she can take it. 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.040 And I remember we ran into each other at the 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:38.240 Vanity Fair Oscar dinner, which was kind of interesting. But um, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:42.400 I remember you telling me about her background and her mom. 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.640 Can you share with everybody? Sort of because when I 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.240 heard that, I was like, are you kidding me? Yes, 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.120 speaking of kids growing up with famous parents, her mom 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:58.479 is Lorraine Newman from SNL fame, fabulous comedian, and uh 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.560 so it was kind of in her blood. And she 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.320 started doing stand up in college and she's been doing 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:08.480 it ever since. And she her boyfriend is also a 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.720 successful stand up comic. He's got a show in New 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.320 York right now. It's been they keep renewing it and 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.920 renewing it and renewing it. And he's very funny, very nice, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:20.000 very nice guy. And it must be nice for Eugene 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.480 as somebody who's who's been around for a while to 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:27.360 see to see this, this kind of a breakthrough role 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.520 for this young woman. It must be really exciting to watch. 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.240 And wait, oh, it is absolutely. I mean, I'm so 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.120 happy for her, and I won't insist on my five percent, 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:42.520 but you know, but no, and it's she said, it's 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.119 really you know, changed things for her, you know, and 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.280 and uh, she said she thinks it's made her a 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.880 better comic. And but you know what, it's true. It's 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.120 true about singers too. To be a really good stand 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.040 up comic, And I also think to be a really 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.640 good singer, you have to really be an actor, you know, 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.800 you to act your material. So I don't I don't 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:06.800 think it's you know, surprising that you know, she's as 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:11.600 good as she is. She's just so she's just so natural. Um, 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:17.720 I can't believe it's really her first role. Meanwhile, I mean, 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.280 you're amazing in it gene and it's so you know, 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.560 for me, somebody who's watched you my whole life and 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:29.880 cheered you on in all the iterations that you've been in, um, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.560 it's just been. It was. It was so exciting for 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.240 me as a fan, and I'm sure for you as 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:41.320 the the lucky recipient of these roles to have this 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:45.160 incredible year. You know, I I don't want to bore 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:48.760 you with the genisance and all that jazz, and you know, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.600 the New Yorker writing Jeane Smart never went anywhere, which 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.720 is true. But having said that, it was a pretty 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.480 great year for you because you had Hacks, which was 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:05.280 awesome and continues obviously in season two to be awesome. 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.880 But you had Mayor of Easttown. And I know that 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:13.320 you have said the fact that these two shows came 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:18.200 on simultaneously almost is one of the reasons that people 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:22.320 really stood up and took notice of your performances because 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.600 it was such a study in contrast, I mean to 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:27.800 say the least, Yeah, no, And I meant that because 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.720 you know, there are so many brilliant actors out there 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.400 who never get the credit for for what they do. 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.000 And I was very fortunate that I too, amazing roles 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:42.680 that were so incredibly different into beautifully written projects, high 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:48.920 profile like back to back, and so people had a 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:53.120 chance to sort of compare, you know, and look. But 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.160 you know, it's true, most actors, even even the three 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:01.200 of the Actors Union that actually makes a living at acting, 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:08.360 even among those lucky people, there's very few of them 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.720 to whoever really get the chance to do to show 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.960 what they can really do, because unlike any other art form, 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.280 you kind of have to wait for someone to invite 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.240 you to do what you do and to give you 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.760 the opportunity. And unlike being a writer or a painter 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.160 or a dancer, I mean you can. You can do 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:30.720 all those things on your own. Whether or not you're 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:32.560 gonna pay it, that's another matter, but you can at 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:37.040 least do them. You can practice them, you can express yourself. Yes, 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.560 you can't really do that as an actor. I suppose. Yes, 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.160 you can put together a one woman show or something, 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:47.480 but it's um you have to be invited to do 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.320 what you want to do. And I think it's interesting 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:54.320 when you were when you're called versatile, I never thought 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:59.560 of this because basically you said, well, that's what I'm 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:04.479 that's what I do right, I mean is right? Um, 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.000 But having said that, it must have been fun for 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:13.560 you to play two such different characters. Um, mayor's mom 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.239 who was a total pisser. I guess that's what they 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:22.320 might say in Delco right. And then you obviously are 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:28.000 playing depravants who's completely I mean talk about a completely 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.640 different kind of woman. How I mean, did you ever 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:35.399 get them confused? Or how was that sho? Now? They 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:40.919 were just again so so well defined and and in 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:46.680 both cases, I was working with such amazing group of actors, um, 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.920 amazing actors, and I think in both shows, I mean, 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:52.320 what a gift that must be. And you know, I 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.679 interviewed Kate Winslett for mayor of East Town and I 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.359 did her first television interview when she was to annec 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.200 yes or maybe wait no sorry? I think it was 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:08.080 sense and sensibility and she was so lovely because they 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:13.040 had that predated Titanic and um, you all must have 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:17.000 gotten on famously. I hope that's a yes we did. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.960 She has invited us to London. I hope we get 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:25.280 to go. Um. She's such a doll. She she she 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.800 called me the other day because she found out about 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:31.600 the Star on the Walk of Fame and and she 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:38.439 was doing her alter ego. His name is Hortensio. No 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.840 one told me about just start the Boston's. I just 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:46.400 said she something marvelous And when did that happen your 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:52.439 star last week? And and what was that? Like? I 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.040 was nervous for some reason. I was really really nervous. 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:57.560 I don't know what what that was. I don't usually 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.760 get nervous. But um, but it was very nice. My 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:07.400 friend Joe Montana spoke, and Hannah spoke. She was hilarious. Um. 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:12.760 She started she started saying things like, you know, Jean, 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:14.800 you know, I just I love you so much and 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:17.440 I'm so happy for you, and you know, and every 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.920 day being with you has been, you know, such a joy. 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.120 I wake up in the morning and I I look 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.960 in your eyes and then she says, wait a second, 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.399 because I'm sorry. I lost I lost my place. I 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.240 lost my and I thought she really had lost her 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:38.480 place and she said, what what, oh God, I'm sorry. Um, 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.040 and she holds up this folder with her She was 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:44.080 I switched to folders and she holds up this folder, 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:51.480 says wedding vows it's ridiculous. But Linda Bloodworth Thomas and 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.159 who wrote Designing Women, was actually going to speak, but 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.719 unfortunately she got COVID. She was just heartsick about it, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:02.760 and so show very nicely wrote this beautiful speech that 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.359 I could not have paid someone to write. Um that 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:13.720 Linda had written. Uh, really nice. More with Gene Gene 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:25.960 the Comedy Machine right after this, Well, of course I 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.680 have to ask you a couple of questions about Designing Women, Geen. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:33.920 And you know, again, that was a very formative show 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.960 for me, just at the same time Murphy Brown was, 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.480 and it was one of the first shows that really 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:44.199 showed the lives of working women. And I mean, what 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.760 are your most vivid memories and why do you think 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.600 that show was such a hit. I think it was 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:58.800 a combination of Linda's really unusual writing, because unlike any 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.399 other sitcom i'd ever same. She would give us page 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:07.320 long speeches, um, which just doesn't heard of in a sitcom, 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:09.719 and sometimes she'd rewrite the right before the audience came 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:13.000 in and be like, oh God. And uh, we said, 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.600 you know, she's lucky. She's got four actresses who were 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:18.200 like word processors. We just choped to turn it out. 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:22.280 But um, it was the first time you've seen just 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:27.480 basically just women, with the exception of our Garling Misha Taylor, 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:34.520 just women and working women, um, single women, uh, and 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.359 also Southern women. Southern characters were usually depicted in a 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:42.280 very one or two dimensional way. Um, so that was fun. 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.280 Although at the first table read for the studio and 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:50.239 all the suits, uh, everybody was happy. Everybody loved it. 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:52.800 And then we were talking to Linda and Harry and 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.639 they said, but they don't want you guys to do 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:59.919 Southern accents, but they love the show, right, that was 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:04.959 what I said. I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:06.919 don't say that, you know. And I was the only 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:08.800 Yankee in the bunch, you know, I was the only one. 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:14.320 And I thought, you can't just take away the accent. 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:17.840 It's not the same person. An accent is part of 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.880 a person, every part of them. And did you say 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:24.720 and it's it's it's in Atlanta, folks, thank you. They 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:29.480 were afraid that people would not understand what we were saying. Damn. 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:34.359 So anyway, we kind of soft and they were trying 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.440 to be more careful the first towards the bed, but 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:39.600 then they finally just kind of never said anything else, 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:42.320 and we just didn't pull out. I was like, oh 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:43.879 my god, I can't imagine what the show would have 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:45.800 been like if we all sounded like we came from 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:49.600 you know, Chicago or something. Well. One of the reasons 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:53.800 I love Designing Women is not only were you all 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:58.080 quote unquote steel Magnolia's, but it was quite political. And 0:22:58.240 --> 0:23:02.800 of course Linda, long time friend of the Clinton's um, 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:08.919 had a lot of very strong feminist messaging in that show. 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:14.840 So beneath sort of the pretty exterior, Uh, they were 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:21.160 very strong, very tough, and quite political, especially I think 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:24.879 Dixie Carter's character. It was it was. It was really 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:31.320 Dixie and Annie's characters. Because Delta and Delta's characters Susanna 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:37.119 and me Charlene, we were rather woefully unenlightened, but you 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:41.720 provided I think feminism or anything like that. Yeah, it 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:43.440 wouldn't have been it wouldn't have been real if we'd 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:46.439 all been on the same page. But it was funny because, uh, 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:50.320 we were all Democrats except for Dixie, and Dixie was 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:55.639 the one who had the long, limberal rants. And she'd say, okay, Linda, 0:23:55.880 --> 0:23:58.960 she says, but for every one of these I get 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:03.800 to sing a song, so she bartered with them, you know. 0:24:04.480 --> 0:24:07.600 And and Dixie was the loveliest person. I still miss 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:11.040 her dearly. I know, I was so so sad she 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:14.960 um she she died when she was just seventy of 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:22.959 endomitrial cancer. And um, of course married to the legend. 0:24:22.320 --> 0:24:26.639 Oh my god, how I mean we got married Richard? 0:24:26.680 --> 0:24:30.199 I got married in their rose garden. That must have 0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:35.240 been beautiful looking white colonial Where was their rose garden 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:43.000 in bell Air? And um? Also, uh, my sister. I 0:24:43.040 --> 0:24:47.119 think Dixie died I think in March or April of 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.800 two thousand ten. And my sister had died at the 0:24:50.800 --> 0:24:55.520 age of sixty one in January, so it was. And 0:24:55.560 --> 0:25:02.159 then my best friend died in August. Awful, terrible year, terrible. 0:25:02.200 --> 0:25:06.800 How did your sister die? Should brain cancer, glib bust, dolma. 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:10.240 That is a very tough my sister. Also, I have 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:16.119 two sisters. My oldest sister died of pancreatic cancer. And uh, 0:25:16.200 --> 0:25:21.359 it's just it's just, you know, excruciating to say the least. Well, 0:25:21.920 --> 0:25:24.280 since we're on that subject, you know, you and I 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:27.879 are both widows. I lost my husband when I was 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:37.360 forty one to colorectal cancer. And you lost Richard very recently, um, 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:41.639 and and and very suddenly you had met on the 0:25:41.680 --> 0:25:46.000 set of Designing Women. He was in the show. Memory 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:49.000 of the show, I'm sure, I'm sure it must have 0:25:49.040 --> 0:25:52.000 been something to fall in love with your you know, 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:55.920 your fellow cast member. But um, tell me a little 0:25:55.920 --> 0:25:58.280 bit about him, because I looked him up, you know, 0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:01.400 and preparing for this interview, of course I recognized him 0:26:02.080 --> 0:26:05.399 and he had such a nice space. He looked like 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:11.760