Monday, January 6, 1997A staunch believer in reincarnation,
Shirley MacLaine brings her character in 1983’s "Terms of
Endearment"
back to life in this season’s "The Evening Star."By Emily
Forster
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The money is not important. The praise from critics means
little. Even three Oscar nominations and a win for Best Actress are
not mentioned when actress Shirley MacLaine is asked to name her
greatest single professional accomplishment. She chooses instead
the simple fact that she has survived.
"I am most proud of my longevity," says MacLaine, who attributes
her long Hollywood career in part to lucky decisions. "You know how
when you’re doing something you don’t realize how life-transforming
it is? And then a year or so later, you will realize that decision
you made changed everything."
Several decisions have had this effect on MacLaine’s life.
Choosing a career as an actress gave her the opportunity to join
the outskirts of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack. Publically admitting her
faith in reincarnation forced her to deal with negative press. And
more recently, choosing to play Aurora Greenway, the character she
won an Oscar for, in this year’s sequel to "Terms of Endearment,"
"The Evening Star," gave MacLaine another chance to play her
favorite role.
Sitting in a Beverly Hills hotel, the 62-year-old actress
explains how she felt about taking on the character of Aurora
again. She felt that the story of Aurora was not complete after
"Terms of Endearment."
"I always wondered what happened to Aurora and the
grandchildren," MacLaine says, "When Larry (McMurtry, author of the
books "Terms of Endearment" and "The Evening Star") wrote the
sequel, I didn’t think that the book worked in terms of a
structure, but I thought it worked in terms of the richness of
Aurora’s life."
Improving the script’s structure didn’t keep production behind.
Finding someone to direct the script, however, was a different
story.
"We went through this period of many directors," MacLaine
recalls. "I think they were afraid of being compared. And as a
result of that, it took two years."
Prospective directors were not the only ones hesitant to get
involved with "The Evening Star." MacLaine felt tentative because
although she already knew and loved Aurora, in this film she would
play her as the focal character.
"I wasn’t intimidated of the character at all because she was a
part of me," MacLaine says. "Where she would fit, the context in
which she would live, and act, and entertain, I had a problem
with."
Despite her concerns, MacLaine delved into the role of Aurora
again and she found herself awestruck for the second time by the
power of this character.
"I felt more comfortable being her, had more fun being her than
any other character I’ve ever played," MacLaine says. "What I like
about Aurora is that she could be a real person in a family of
dysfunctionality, which we all have. And it’s how she was dealing
with the dysfunctionality that was real and not overdone. I think
she is one of the best American female roles ever written."
Another plus to playing Aurora again was doing scenes with Jack
Nicholson. According to MacLaine, when Nicholson plays the
character of Garret and MacLaine assumes Aurora their chemistry
takes on a life of its own.
"I don’t know why it works," MacLaine admits. "I can’t figure it
out and neither can he, but when he showed up and I was playing
Aurora and he way playing Garret, I blushed, I giggled, I fixed my
lipstick, and he just looked at me. He wouldn’t do that in real
life and I wouldn’t do that in real life. I don’t know what happens
and I don’t know if we could play other characters and get away
with it. We wanted to do a whole picture together, but I would have
to be Aurora and he would have to be Garret. They’re both such rich
characters and they have such an impact on each other."
After playing such a realistic, well-written character, MacLaine
now faces the same dilemma she did after she finished "Terms of
Endearment." She has to find another role that will live up to her
raised expectations from playing Aurora.
"After I did ‘Terms of Endearment,’ my follow up picture was
‘Cannonball Run II’ Â that was a great career move," jokes
MacLaine before she explains, "I didn’t work for a long time (after
‘Terms’). There are female roles around when you get older that are
good, but they’re not that prevalent."
This lack of good female roles is a reflection on society.
MacLaine feels that women today are not portrayed realistically in
movies because they are not understood.
"Many men don’t even know what to say to a woman anymore, in
their lives or on the screen," MacLaine says. "I think we have an
obsession with the youth culture. We’re all addicted to this
action-adventure stuff. My theory is that films changed because of
the Vietnam War. We were all into feeling and women-driven pictures
and all that stuff in the ’50s and ’60s, and then we lost this war
in front of the whole world and went from movies about feeling to
movies about trying to win."
So in this youth-obsessed, aggressive culture, just how does an
older woman find good roles? MacLaine has stopped worrying about
it.
"I used to have a dance teacher who said, ‘Expect nothing and
life is velvet,’" MacLaine recalls. "I am learning more and more
each year to not be so goal oriented, but to involve myself with
the process of the moment. That way you don’t rip off the past or
live too much in the future."
FILM: "The Evening Star" opened Dec. 25.
Rysher Entertainment
Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine, r.) and her housekeeper Rosie
(Marion Ross) are friends in "The Evening Star," a continuation of
the Academy Award-winning (Best Picture) "Terms of
Endearment."Rysher Entertainment
MacLaine is Aurora Greenway; Bill Paxton plays her
therapist.