Center Blog

Patricia Clarkson became a hero in the LGBT community when she spoke at the 2009 HRC Dinner in New Orleans (her hometown) and passionately declared her belief in marriage equality. In this talk, she said that we must all fight and that she “fights by giving angry speeches wearing fabulous shoes.” Fabulous shoes were a theme throughout the evening.

On Monday, Sept 20, at The LGBT Center, Clarkson was interviewed by Bill Goldstein, the editor of the books site of The New York Times on the Web. Together they made an appealing couple, naturally flowing between topics with enjoyable stops to explore a few topics.

Clarkson outlined her history. She studied acting at Louisiana State University and mentioned the close connection she felt with Tennessee Williams (whose tombstone reads “The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks”). She moved to NY and transferred to Fordham to get her bachelor’s degree. From there, it was off to the Yale School of Drama, where her early stage career took off.

Many people don’t know that the original 1997 production of Richard Greenberg’s play “Three Days of Rain,” was based on two of Clarkson’s relatives and was originally written for Clarkson. Clarkson said that Julia Roberts, also a Southern girl, played the same role “magnificently” 10 years later on Broadway.

Clarkson talked about her activism. “Hope is a call to action, not a substitute for it.” And she stated that while Obama may have disappointed many of his supporters, “the alternative is unthinkable.”
Clarkson also said that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell sounds more like a movie title than a government policy implemented by Bill Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar. I like the sound of ‘Patricia Clarkson stars in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” at 7:30. Don’t miss it!’ This sounds like the kind of movie I’d be in.”

Clarkson describes herself as “mercurial,” saying that she’s currently living alone, “but the night is young.”

Then Clarkson described some of her favorite movie roles and told stories about their filming. While she was making “Cairo Time,” she was mistaken to be a very high class prostitute, since a sheik in the hotel could not believe that such a beautiful woman would be staying in the presidential suite by herself. She described the extreme heat wave and hot pleather pants (they couldn’t afford leather) that helped her express her lethargy as a heroin addict during the filming of “High Art” with Ally Sheedy. And she talked about the extremely low budget for “Pieces of April,” where she had to share sandwiches with Oliver Platt for lunch, but went to the Academy Awards for her nomination in the film wearing clothes and jewelry that cost more than the entire production of the movie.

In response to a final question, Clarkson described both the high points of her career and a low point, when she had to seriously consider what she wanted to do as her career came to a standstill when she reached her 30’s. Thankfully for all of us, she realized that she had no other skills and wanted only to act. Now she’s looking forward to playing Tallulah Bankhead – if the production gets approved – so she can lower her whiskey-sounding voice even more. And she can pay her mortgage and buy even more fabulous shoes.

Five Patricia Clark movies and one series you must see:

“High Art” (1998) – Clarkson’s breakthrough and Lisa Cholodenko’s major film before this year’s “The Kids Are All Right.”
“Far From Heaven” (2002) – Todd Hayne’s tribute to Douglas Sirk, a film about 1950’s race, sexuality, and class with Clarkson as the suffering wife.
“Pieces of April” (2003) – A black-sheep daughter invites her dysfunctional family to her miserable NYC apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
“The Station Agent” (2003) – Three outcasts (including Peter Dinklage, who has dwarfism) share their losses and, perhaps, become friends.
“The Dying Gaul” (2005) – Craig Lucas’ film about a gay screenwriter and the cerebral affair he has with the wife of his film producer.
“Six Feet Under” (2002-2005) – Clarkson was only in seven episodes, as the sister of Frances Conroy and a friend of Kathy Bates, but together were unforgettable. As a group, they were referred to as “The Three Tenors” by Alan Ball’s production staff.

Two small but juicy roles:

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008) – Woody Allen casts Clarkson as a conventional parent to two experimental college girls.
“Shutter Island” (2010) – Martin Scorsese uses Clarkson in one scene, alone in a cave with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Three current Patricia Clark movies you can see now:

“Cairo Time” – A whirlwind romance with the handsome and exceptionally sexy Alexander Siddig.
“Easy A” – A teen comedy based very loosely on Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.”
“Legendary” – A big family drama, staring the wrestler John Cena.

– written by Howard Williams