Kathleen Turner talks 'Kick-Ass' Molly Ivins
When Kathleen Turner steps into the cowboy boots of Molly Ivins, she just starts to giggle, a girlish sound one doesn't usually associate with the sultry-voiced actress.
When Kathleen Turner steps into the cowboy boots of Molly Ivins, she just starts to giggle, a girlish sound one doesn't usually associate with the sultry-voiced actress.
On Monday, Turner will discuss playing the writer in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, along with playwright Margaret Engel and her sister Allison Engel, as part of the Philadelphia Theatre Company's 2016 Theatre Masters series. (Philadelphia-based actor David Morse is up next on March 21.)
Though the bulk of the night will be a conversation among Turner and the Engel sisters, Turner hopes to open the floor to questions from the audience.
"Interacting with the audience is what it's about. The greatest joy of theater is being right there with people and working and communicating," Turner said. "I enjoy camera work, as well, and you can do things with a camera you can't do in theater, but you're not there with people. I much prefer to be there."
That does not mean Turner is open to every question about her life. "I have been known to say, 'That's none of your . . . business,' " Turner said with a throaty laugh about inappropriate questions.
Turner played Ivins, the Texas humorist and columnist, in 2010 at the Philadelphia Theatre Company and has reprised the role in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Calif., and Washington.
"Every couple of years, I do it because every word this woman wrote is still relevant, which is sad in a way," Turner said of Ivins, who died in 2007. "What she said about our political system and rights and responsibilities as citizens still needs saying. As long as they still need saying, I'll keep saying them."
Turner believes Ivins would have a lot to say about the current election.
"She wouldn't believe that we have this crop of candidates that are so out of whack. She would have fun, but she would be truly, truly shocked and appalled," Turner said.
"I'm frightened. I'm supporting Hillary. Republican candidates would clamp down a woman's reproductive rights, and that's unthinkable. That an entire party would base one of its tenets on controlling women's lives is just mind-blowing. In a way, I'm glad [Ivins] is not here. I think she would be so hurt at what she would see as a failure of our system. She says, 'Don't throw away our rights' - I have to dredge up the lines - 'Do not throw out your rights out of boredom or cynicism or neglect.' You have another job, you are a citizen, and I think that's very true."
Turner can next be seen on screen in The Path, a new drama from Hulu about a Scientology-like cult, starring Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul and Hannibal's Hugh Dancy. Turner minces no words about her character.
"She's a monster! I play [Dancy's] mother, who is a drunk, terrible mess. I think we had a lot of fun. The crew loves me because they go home for dinner on time. No fuss, no muss."
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