PART TWO
Dr. Kerry Weaver entered ER as one of the more contentious characters in the show's history. Complicated, tenacious, tough. And yet, years later Weaver has transformed in front of our eyes each week through the subtle and fierce performance of actress Laura Innes. I sat down with Laura for a long conversation while she was in town. This is the second half of that conversation.
For last week's beginning, please visit www.windycitymediagroup.com
AM: After the relationship on ER with Kim (Elizabeth Mitchell), there was a bit of a hiatus for you at least sexually on the show. And then Kerry fell for firefighter Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal). This relationship was held much farther in the background. Was there a reason for that?
LI: I don't really know, to be honest. I know that the show is constantly moving characters to the front and back.
AM: We got the good things like, was Kerry going to get pregnant? And then a big aha! Surprise! Sandy just showed up at the ER pregnant [to deliver their baby].
LI: [laughing] Yeah. I know. I didn't even know that! And I actually directed that episode! And I'm reading the script going, 'Oh god, I'm going to have a baby!'
AM: The immaculate conception!
LI: They are always gauging these things. Some things happen intentionally, some things just happen by course of us railroading through 22 episodes. My feeling is the character provides spice to the show and if once in a while she is the main focus, that's all right by me.
AM: Of course it was hugely dramatic when Sandy died this past season. It took us even deeper into the heart of Weaver. They keep cracking through her layers. Now she is fighting her in-laws for custody of her son, Henry. How are you grappling with playing a character that had so much armor, now that we as viewers see past the armor?
LI: I look at that two ways. When people are at work, they function differently than they do at home. I remember distinctly being in the fourth grade and my teacher, who was a witch, I just hated her, and then going out to a restaurant and seeing her kids and her family and she was animated and laughing. It didn't seem like the same person. That is a little touchstone for me in terms of Kerry. Because I imagine that she has places where she is more free and liberated … . But in different scenes in small ways even in the hospital, I do try to lace in my history with people, like Abby was there when our baby was born.
AM: Let's talk about Abby Lockhart … think you and Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) need to hook up!!!
LI: [laughing] If only it were true!!!
AM: You both are these conflicted people. You're both single women and smart. (Both) have a hard time having a relationship.
LI: [laughing]
AM: I'm serious. They have obviously made her your only confidante on the show.
LI: Yeah. Oh I would love it. I adore Maura! I would love it! She's my … we two are like connected at the hip.
AM: You can tell it on screen.
LI: Oh that's nice.
AM: You know what, take that back to the producers and writers for me.
LI: I don't know if that would come to be [laughing] …
AM: Carter was sweet but pretty enough to be a girl so I think Abby could go that path (with Weaver). Abby could do this …
LI: I know she's willing ...
AM: ... and Kerry could definitely do this. She's already crumbling in her arms every other episode. A night of massage and you are there!
LI: [laughing]
AM: Critics are saying that ER has had an infusion this season. You are one of the remaining old guard along with Noah Wyle and Sherry Stringfield. What is the secret to the success and longevity of ER?
LI: There are two realities. One is that critics get sick of something and then it is still around and they think, 'Oh! This isn't so bad after all.' And some of it is true. When you are a cast member on a show that goes on this long, you feel the waves of things going well and things feeling tired. The show, generally speaking, has held up very well. I think the biggest reason it has done well is John Wells. He's just an incredible show runner. He's been brilliant about casting. Parminder (Nagra) this year is wonderful and Linda Cardellini. They are very smart about how they integrate new people. He is such a good boss to work for that he creates a very deep team of writers and directors and actors. I direct on the show and from the get go, I never felt anything but support and trust and when you feel that you feel, maybe I do know how to do this.
AM: Is it odd to direct your colleagues?
LI: Yeah. I am used to it now. At first it was very odd. It's like your sister telling you what to do, which doesn't feel so good at first.
AM: You also hopped over to The West Wing set and were Emmy nominated for directing that show. What is that set like?
LI: It's crazy and great. It's very different than ER. ER moves along and everybody is into the work mode and let's be out by 7 p.m. It's a well-oiled machine. People come and they are ready to go. West Wing is much more, how can I put it? There is a lot more talking and discussion, figuring things out. They are very intense, very wonderful, very smart, but the rhythm of the show is very different, so it lends itself to that way of working. And the issues are so deep and complex because every issue is political and emotional … so everyone is digging into all of those pockets.
AM: ER is more a visceral response.
LI: Yeah. It's a little more cut and dry.
AM: Will you direct more next year?
LI: I am. Next year my deal changes to half acting, half directing. So I will be in 13 of the episodes acting and then be directing more.
AM: You began your theater career at Northwestern and on Chicago stages. What do you remember most about that time?
LI: It was such a great time. It's a wonderful and a fantastic place to begin. I had no idea how lucky I was.
AM: Favorite show?
LI: I worked at the Goodman in David Mamet's play Edmund. And that was the most exciting thing. It was such a great play and part. It was thrilling. I couldn't actually believe I was getting work! Most exciting was when I went to this group audition and got cast in Christmas Carol at Goodman. I remember they called to tell me I got the part and I just couldn't believe it. I was on the EL and I was probably as excited as I have ever been. I thought I am actually going to be able to do this.
AM: Would you return to theater?
LI: I would love, Love, LOVE to. I would love to direct in theater. I would love to go back and do a play. It's funny because I went to see Prince in Minneapolis [in concert] and it was so great and it made me want to get onstage so much! He is so theatrical and precise and incredible.
AM: How does it feel to be a straight actress and a lesbian icon at the same time? You know you are, right?
LI: I guess I know I am.
AM: You are on the covers of lesbian magazines and there are Web sites for you.
LI: There is a funny story about that. I did this cover a few years ago [for a gay magazine] and we had this whole wardrobe of clothes but every picture was of me in a muscle T. [laughing] Every single picture. Like where was the picture in the little suit or the little blouse? So the cover was me in the T and I am sure they airbrushed my boobs because they looked so big in the picture [laughing] … and I hadn't shown my 13-year old-son. He knew I was doing it, but he doesn't really pay that much attention. So we went to his school conference that night and he goes to this great school that is very liberal and it was in the library [laughing] … on the magazine rack and everyone is going, 'Hey Laura!' But I don't know. When you get in this position, you just feel like yourself. You don't think of yourself as being on a TV show or being an icon. You just feel like Laura. That's what's so weird about celebrity.
AM: You also have become a strong voice for gay rights. You've been honored by HRC and other GLBT organizations. Why is it important to you to carry that voice into your life?
LI: One thing that happens to you as an actress is you have an imaginary experience of something that feels real to you. So you if you do a movie [as I did] for a woman working for environmental issues [after her child got sick], I got really interested in that. You have that experience. So in the same way, playing this part, you feel like you've been through in some way some of these things. My awareness has just been raised so much by it. I have a lot of gay and lesbian friends. I have always been very liberal. I did the AIDS walk and everything else. But now going through this [with Kerry Weaver] on a day-to-day basis, it's very meaningful to me and I am absolutely amazed and dumbstruck that we live in a world where people can't marry the person they want to marry, that they are discouraged from having children, that they are harassed and brutalized and this has been going on my whole life. I knew that … but when you kind of live through something in your imagination [as through this character], you LIVE through it. I am not saying that I really know what that's like but I am just so amazed! Can I even imagine as a straight person not just marrying whom I want? Not just having my kids? It never really crossed my mind. It's just a revelation. And I want to hang from the rafters and say, 'This is so appalling and unbelievable.'
AM: What do you want for Kerry Weaver?
LI: I want her to be happy. I want her to be in a great relationship and have her son and have more kids and keep her job going well ... and to be freer. But on the other hand, when something bad happens, it is such a good storyline [laughing].
Laura Innes will return as Dr. Kerry Weaver next season on NBC on Thursday nights.
Pierce, Curry and Azaria in Chicago
David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria will head the cast of the eagerly anticipated new musical, Monty Python's Spamalot.
Monty Python's Spamalot, a new musical lovingly ripped-off from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, will make its World Premiere at Chicago's Shubert Theatre, 22 W. Monroe St, Dec. 21, 2004 through Jan. 16, 2005. Tickets are on sale for groups of 20 or more by calling (312) 977-1710. Spamalot is part of the Neumann Homes Broadway In Chicago 2004-2005 Season Series. Season Series tickets are on sale by calling toll free (877) 890-0174.
Spamalot will begin previews at Broadway's Shubert Theatre Feb. 7.
Directed by Mike Nichols, Spamalot features a book by Eric Idle, based on the screenplay of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Monty Python creators Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, with an entirely new score featuring music and lyrics by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, along with three songs from the 1975 film.
Three of today's most celebrated and popular stars of stage and screen will lead the musical quest for the elusive Holy Grail. Spamalot will star Emmy Award-winner David Hyde Pierce (Sir Robin) who is best known from TV's Frasier; two-time Tony Award-nominee Tim Curry (King Arthur), who rose to international fame with the Broadway hit The Rocky Horror Show; and, Hank Azaria (Sir Lancelot), Emmy Award-winner for The Simpsons.