Emmanuel Itier: How is it working with Scarlett Johansson?

Laura Linney: She is amazing. Well, first of all, she’s so spectacularly beautiful that it’s hard–she’s really stunning. She stuns you a little bit, she’s so beautiful. And it’s amazing for me to watch these young, colossally successful young actors. They have careers that are… no matter what age they would be, they would be colossally successful. To be that successful at 21, not only with the A-list movie career, but the lipsticks and the ad campaigns, and the L’Oreal and all of the stuff that she does, it’s amazing to see her negotiate her way through all of this. And she’s, like, a happy person.

EI: How real do you think this film is?

LL: Oh, I think it’s pretty real. I’m a woman of privilege. Oh yeah.

EI: You wouldn’t act that way…

LL: You mean growing up, did I have a nanny?

EI: Do your children have…

LL: I don’t have children. No, I don’t have children. And I would hope that if I was lucky enough to have children that I would not have a nanny. Babysitters–absolutely. And when you work long, long hours, someone’s got to be there, but there are a lot of people who have fulltime nannies, and that’s the primary caregiver. And thank God for them. I mean, thank God for them. I mean, I grew up with a lot of people who had a woman like this in their lives, and I can’t imagine where they would be emotionally without them.

EI: You grew up in Connecticut, right?

LL: I grew up in Manhattan, on the upper east side.

EI: Did you have nannies?

LL: Not nannies, no. I was more sort of Scarlett’s character, growing up. My mother was a nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. I was raised by a single parent. She worked very, very hard. I was fortunate enough to go to a private school, which someone else funded. My grandmother funded that on my father’s side of the family. So I was in school with a lot of kids who were in a whole other status of life than me. So I would go visit them, I would go to their homes, and it was just a whole other thing. I mean, I’d never seen anything like that. My mother and I lived in a one-bedroom, very small apartment. And I would go to these apartments that were playrooms. They’d have playrooms. I was just stunned. There was one girl who I went to school with who was from a very, very wealthy family, and they had a playroom and it was literally out of a storybook. She and her sister had these amazing beds. I remember there was a polar bear from floor to ceiling. It was astounding. It was wealth beyond…and she was raised by a nanny. Her parents would sort of drift in and out, but you never saw them. You never got to know them.

EI: Did you think this was good or bad?

LL: I don’t think it’s ideal. I mean, I certainly don’t think it’s ideal. But it’s certainly what it was. There are a lot of parents who have nannies who are not bad people. And then there are a few who are really not good parents. So not everyone who has a nanny is a terrible parent.

EI: In terms of people you know now, did you ever explore a conversation about this with regards to the movie?

LL: I’ve heard a lot of people talk about child care–how difficult it is to find, and people who have one person who they rely on, they want to keep. Entrusting your child with someone is a big, big thing.

EI: Don’t you think it’s kind of gotten out of hand in some ways?

LL: I don’t have children, so I don’t…I haven’t had really in depth conversations with people on the topic because I don’t think it’s, quite frankly, my business. But I’ve certainly observed my friends who I think are really great parents. The really best parents I know, Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson, are fantastic parents. They are great parents. They’re great parents also because their children have a good sense of relationship between parent and child. There’s no boundary between them. They’re not like peers. These are the parents and these are the children, and the children feel wonderfully secure and they’re happy, good kids. And in fact, I think that’s the most impressive parenting I’ve seen.

EI: How many kids do they have?

LL: They have two boys.

EI: One of the things you did most effectively was when you started to let down your guard and relate to her, and then you pulled back. How was that timing established?

LL: It’s just something that I just sort of did. And it’s like those people. I mean, she’s a mess, this woman. She’s erratic–she’s a mess. God knows what pills she’s popping or what she’s drinking. There’s all that stuff going on, so her behavior’s going to be erratic. And she’s spoiled. And she doesn’t understand why her life isn’t working out the way she thought it was going to. She’s done everything right. She went to the right school, she married the right man, she had the child, she decorated the apartment, she doesn’t know what’s going…”I’ll put on a nice dress, I’ll Botox my face, I’ll do everything…why is my life not happy?” And then those people become miserably bitter.

EI: You never look…

LL: I’m always in Salvation Army clothes.

EI: How was it wearing the clothes in the movie?

LL: Not terribly comfortable, I can certainly say that. A lot of that clothing is gorgeous, but not the most comfortable. I loved the Dior gown–that red dress was beautiful and very comfortable. And I loved the Pucci stuff.

EI: Was that something more recent, or a collector’s item?

LL: I think they made that dress for me. I’m not quite sure, but I think so. I love the Pucci stuff. I love the Pucci stuff also because I remember my mother wearing Pucci. I mean, Pucci is such a fun, interesting… all of that color and it’s sort of modern, but now it’s not modern. You know all that stuff. But it was fun wearing all that stuff, yeah.

EI: Your mother directed. Do you recall ever calling for help from her, like Annie did in the movie?

LL: Oh, absolutely. Oh yes. The one time I really babysat was for a child in the building who was an unusually large four-year-old. He was like a truck, this kid. He was huge. And I was left with this child who beat me to a pulp. I was kicked, I was hit, I was slapped, I was pinched, pulled my hair, ripped my clothes… I was completely out of my league, and I think I was 11 and I didn’t know what I was doing. I called my mother because I was just panicked, and they just had their carpets cleaned and I was allergic to the carpet cleaner on the carpet, and I couldn’t breathe… I mean, it was a mess. I was traumatized. And my mother came down and completely took care of the kid. She wasn’t afraid of the child. I was terrified of him. I was terrified of this kid. God only knows what he’s doing now. He’s head of the mafia or something.

EI: Did you enjoy being the monstrous character?

LL: Yeah.

EI: What prompted this? This is the third or fourth film in which you played a character like this. You seem to be enjoying troubled mothers.

LL: Oh, not really. It’s certainly not a conscious decision. I’ve played a lot of lawyers.

EI: Lately you’re gathering insights into this.

LL: Yeah, and I think it’s also just your age. You know, I’m lucky enough to be able to keep working, and that’s just sort of what you grow into. At least they’re interesting mothers.

EI: Mr. X was kind of a bad father.

LL: He wasn’t a nice man. Not a nice man.

EI: He tried to kill a baby. Do you have any advice…

LL: Paul Giamatti. We just worked together for six months playing Abigail and John Adams, so I spent a lot of time with Paul.

EI: Do you have any advice for him?

LL: Paul, Paul, Paul…Paul needs to just sit on a beach and relax.

EI: In light of all these mothers, you could be writing the guide book.

LL: Yeah, but it’s not real.

EI: You have to come up with some pretty interesting insights. What would you…

LL: … As an actress–to play it…

EI: Yeah, but…

LL: The psychology of it is only about how I’m going to perform it, not about the reality of the situation. I have no insight into that. I look for things how to technically bring it to life. So all of my thinking is not…no one is one thing. You can start just with that. Whether you’re playing someone who is good or bad–if their function in a piece is one thing, no one is one thing. And just with that knowledge, it gives you a lot of freedom.

EI: There were some things that were pushing it one level further. Did you guys find that? In the directing, were they asking you to go a little more?

LL: I think those are questions you’d probably have to ask Bob and Shari. I wasn’t really involved in that, to be honest. I know there were a lot of conscious decisions made about the sort of heightened reality of all of it. It’s certainly not magic realism or anything like that, but there is a fantasy, with a big undertone. I just tried to play it as honestly as I could, knowing what I had learned and seen about women like this, and from the primary resource of the book and the script that they had written. So I wasn’t really…disappointing answer, but I really wasn’t involved in that.

EI: Did you find inspiration, like you said…

LL: I grew up in the neighborhood, so that was my hood growing up, so I grew up with them. So I know these women and I used to go to their homes and play with their children, so I know these women. And I know I have a few friends who, unfortunately, could have been Mrs. Xs of their community, so it’s unmistakable.

EI: Do you think they’ll see themselves in this movie?

LL: Nah, probably not. I mean, a few might.

EI: Do you think Mrs. X has been changed for good?

LL: I think, in this movie, she will continue on to be a…she will try. She’ll try to be better.

EI: But in reality… ?

LL: Never. She’d never… I think once someone is that damaged, they might get a little better, but I don’t think that they would. It’s a nice idea, it’s a lovely idea, and appropriate for the movie. But in reality, these women just become more and more horrible.

EI: Do you have any stories to tell?

LL: That I would tell you? About mothers that…yeah, there was the mother who would never come out of the bedroom. I have a friend who lived on Park Avenue and I would go play there, and you know this woman never came out of the bedroom. She always had a headache. She’d sort of say hello. And looking back on it, she was hung over. Or God knows what’s going on in there. But when you get to an age as adult and you look back on your childhood friends, and then you think of their parents has human beings, then all of a sudden a lot of things become more clear.

EI: Do you have any other upcoming projects?

LL: I have this one called Savages, which is coming out the day after Christmas, with Philip Seymour Hoffman.

EI: Tell us about your experience and understanding of Ms. Adams.

LL: Abigail? Lots of research, and I’m still…I can’t stop. I’m still reading the books now. I’ve become more and more interested. The more you learn about that period of time and those people, and how it all happened and what was going on, you become more and more obsessed. I understand now these people who become obsessed with American history, because you go from person to person. All of a sudden, you learn about John Adams and then you want to learn about Ben Franklin, and then you want to learn about Thomas Jefferson and then from Thomas Jefferson, you want to learn about Monroe and Madison. It just sort of goes.

EI: Would you want to do more historical dramas of that period?

LL: Well it’s great to be a perpetual student. It’s really fun.

EI: Did you admire her?

LL: Tremendously. Tremendously. She was a remarkable woman, without a doubt. And she wasn’t trying to be remarkable. She was just doing what she was doing. It’s interesting to see someone over a lifetime, what happens. And also these people became famous. And what happens when people become famous, regardless of what era you live in, whether you’re here, whether it’s Colonial time, whether it’s French Revolution, like, how does fame affect people?

EI: You haven’t been in a historical thing in a long time, have you?

LL: You know, I’ve worked so much, it all blurs together. I don’t even remember, to be honest with you. But no, I haven’t. The period stuff is enormous fun, but the corsets will kill you. It’s tough. I don’t miss that at all.

EI: What’s going on with your theater efforts?

LL: I’m doing a play in the spring.

EI: Tell us about this.

LL: I can’t yet. But I’ll…

EI: Can you tell us which production?

LL: It’s The Roundabout. I’ll be at The Roundabout in the spring.

EI: Are there any things that you’re seeking out?

LL: You know, it’s usually whatever comes along next, to be honest. There are so many great actors out there, and there are really great directors, and you find yourself in unbelievably unusual situations. I worked in Argentina this past year. And then I was just in Budapest for two months. Amazing.

EI: What film was that for?

LL: For John Adams, because Hungary doubles for France. It was amazing.

EI: And Argentina?

LL: It was for a film called City of your Final Destination, which is a movie with Anthony Hopkins.