(Sept. 29, PDI Entertainment)
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
“I’m a working actor—at this point in my life, I’m employed,
and to me, that is a success,” said “Resurrection” actor Michelle Fairley
during a recent teleconference with Asian writers.
“I’m very fortunate,” added Fairley, 50. “As women get
older, they don’t always find work… I don’t take any of this for granted. I
work very hard, and I respect the people I work with.”
Perhaps best known as the beleaguered widow and mother
Catelyn Stark in the fantasy-drama series “Game of Thrones,” the Northern Irish
thespian subsequently appeared in similarly popular shows “Suits” and “24.”
In the second season of “Resurrection,” she plays Margaret
Langston, recently revived after being dead for decades.
Excerpts from Fairley’s replies to the Inquirer:
What attracted you to “Resurrection”?
I would say the complex nature of Margaret Langston,
actually. [And the conversations] I had with the writer and the producers,
about how they wanted the character to progress. Also, when I was sent the
DVDs, watching the production values of the show, the quality of it, and
working with the actors here in Atlanta —they’re
wonderful.
How do you feel about previously playing powerful women who
died violently in “Game of Thrones” and “24,” and now someone who has
resurrected, for a change?
(Laughs) Well, actually, it’s a lovely change! Usually, when
you get killed, that’s you out of the series. So the lovely flip side to this
is that, [Margaret] may have died, but she’s had a chance to come back again.
And I absolutely love it… It’s the quality of the writing and the quality of
the character that you, as an actor, go for. It doesn’t matter if they live,
die, become reincarnated or resurrected again. You [have to] have love and an
enjoyment about what you’re given to work with. She’s in a second round here,
so it’s fantastic.
How do you feel about being part of mostly American-produced
projects?
I feel incredibly privileged to be here working. There are
so many actors in the world, why does one person get a job over another person?
Nobody knows… I know there are many actors in my position who can do this part.
But thankfully, I was the one who got it. And I want to make it work.
Do you have a dream role, and if you do, what is it?
I don’t have a dream role. The dream role, I think, is the
one that pushes you… the one that makes you work and think… I don’t want
anything to be easy, I want to work hard for what I do, and if that means
walking for hours, talking to myself, trying to work my mind into the mind of
what this person is doing—I want to know that, I want to get there. I want to
understand it. So anything that pushes me, that keeps my interest… and teaches
me something, I want to learn as well.
Who influenced you, growing up, and who are the actors you
admire now?
Theater was a very big inspiration for me, growing up.
That’s where I first had my first experience of going, “Oh my gosh, this is
wonderful! What are these people doing?” [And] getting lost in the battlefield
of it, in the story of it.
And then of course, as I got older, [there was] cinema as
well. I completely loved movies like “Sophie’s Choice” and “Deer Hunter,” and
there are so many wonderful old black-and-white movies… of Joan Crawford, Bette
Davis. I just loved all of that! Wonderful, proper, old-fashioned storytelling,
characters, strong women…
Meryl Streep is still going; if anything, she’s even stronger
today than she was in the days of “Sophie’s Choice.” Jennifer Lawrence is
incredible. And there are so many… actors, filmmakers, and directors [now] who
are amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment