Catching up with Jessica Lange
by Liz SmithDate: April 7, 2006
IT WAS one of those "high noons" at Michael's restaurant and VIPs were pushing one another aside to get to their favorite tables, soon to be laden with french fries and their alternative, the Cobb salads so favored by the gods of literati.I was having lunch with a goddess - Jessica Lange - one of America's greatest, most intelligent, distinguished and beautiful actresses. Lange has won two Oscars (Blue Sky and Tootsie) and every other kind of nomination under the sun and she is to be honored on April 17 by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. (I believe she deserved the Oscar for her 1982 turn in Frances.)
With her longtime press agent, Leslee Dart, we three had a good time, as the world beat its way to our table to pay homage - such as the smart man who edits Daily Variety, Peter Bart, to ABC's Cynthia McFadden.
Jessica is a mature woman, still gorgeous in her prime, laughing about how Hollywood flashes a distinct lack of interest in actresses over 35. She seemed amazed when I told her that her Academy Award-winning performance in Tootsie is one of my all-time favorites. "You know, I never realized it could have such an effect. I made that picture thinking I was just 'the girl' in the movie!"
Jessica is the mother of several almost grownup children and still very much "with" her very own "cowboy" - the gifted writer/actor Sam Shepard. She has been living in New York for the last two years and says, "I am just thrilled to be back in the city!" She is looking forward to her big night because the Film Society of Lincoln Center is a grand organization. For her own event, I'm told those honoring Jessica will include Sydney Pollack, David Strathairn, Jeff Bridges, Ann Roth and, of course, Sam Shepard. "He could hardly say no!" giggles Jessica of her life companion who comes and goes from his ranch in Kentucky.
Ms. Lange has a movie, Bonneville coming in the fall, with Kathy Bates and Joan Allen as her girlfriends, all taking a life-changing road trip. This is a dark-humored comedy, with the acerbic Christine Baranski as the nemesis.
You have heard a lot of late about Grey Gardens, which is now a musical off-Broadway. But any minute Jessica will begin filming her own version for a film with Drew Barrymore. This is an original screenplay based on the lives of "Big and Little" Edie Beale of East Hampton - Jackie O's cousins. Lange will star as Edith Bouvier Beale Sr. She also has in the works Sybil, a remake of the famous Joanne Woodward-Sally Field hit, for CBS-TV. And she hopes to do The Glass Menagerie in London in the future. "I am unemployed," laughs Jessica.
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