Back Stage West
Nov. 29-Dec. 5, 2007
By Nicole Kristal
It's been a long time since Mary-Louise Parker has been typecast as the "long-suffering girl next door" (aka the girl who always dies in movies). Though she earned those stripes for bringing audiences to tears by croaking in films such as Fried Green Tomatoes and Boys on the Side, those performances—which formerly identified Parker's 22-year career—have seen been replaced by her 2001 Tony Award-winning turn as Catherine in Proof and her now-signature role as Nancy Botwin on Weeds, which won her a 2006 Golden Globe for best actress and Emmy nominations this year.
Parker is quick to dismiss what the public and critics deem her breakthrough performances. She says her role in Tomatoes was not her favorite work (she never even saw the finished movie) and says her Broadway turn in 1990's Prelude to a Kiss probably led to more notable roles. "I've had a few things that got noticed, but it's hard to say," she notes. "I've been more of a 'lower, steady trajectory' than
kind of 'burst into flames' kind of [actor]." Parker's career has been characterized by the roles that she has turned down as much as by those she has accepted. In 1998 she rejected the opportunity to replace Shannen Doherty on Charmed; in 2004, Parker opted not to take the role of Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, which freed her up to accept the lead role in Weeds.
BARONESS OF BUD
Parker says working 10 months a year on a network television show didn't appeal to her. "I felt like I would get lost int hat world. I wouldn't get to spend any time with my kids," she says. Weeds requires a commitment of only three and a half months per year. And it's hard to imagine that a role on Desperate Housewives would have artistically sated Parker, who enjoys living in New York and playing complex characters in Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. "I'm just not really drawn to the heroic unless it's some sort of like, abstract heroism. I just like playing real people, and real people to me have layers and are ugly and messy and strange and funny and, you know, they contradict themselves. A lot of times the template for a heroic part is generally someone that doesn't contradict themselves and remains more of a quality or an essence rather than a true human being," Parker says. "That would be a big drag for me, because I always want to know what's perverse about people—or sad or inspiring. I just think there's always more to mine there. People are kind of endlessly fascinating to me."
And the people, namely Showtime subscribers, have found Weeds and Parker's role as a pot-dealing mom endlessly fascinating. According to Nielsen Media Research, the show ranks as Showtime's most-watched original comedy series, with a growing viewership that's split almost equally between men and women. This can undoubtedly be attributed in part to Parker's appeal as Nancy: Women want to be her; men want to be with her. Nancy provides a fantasy quick fix to life's more challenging financial and personal problems, and the actor's approach to playing the attractive—albeit reckless—instant-gratification junkie cultivates the character's humanity.
"I'm not trying to make her America's sweetheart," says Parker. "I don't really care if she's sympathetic or not. I think you get into trouble when you try to think about making someone sympathetic. I want to sympathize with sick peopel or old people or foster children or hungry people. I don't want to sympathize with people I am watching on TV. I want to watch, and I want to become engrossed in their lives, and I can't become engrossed in their lives unless I feel like I'm watching whole people. If I feel like I'm watching actors, I just kind of check out and I don't really give a shit, you know?"
To flesh out her character in preparation for the role, Parker met with the writers of the show and presented the character background she had created: She made Nancy a former dancer, which informed her gestures and posture, and made certain decisions about her wardrobe, which Parker later refined. She also sent a detailed letter to Brian Dannelly, who would direct the pilot, about her ideas for the character, which have since evolved. Though Parker has publicly aired her grievances about the editing out of many of her acting choices on the show, she doesn't want to retread past statements. But she admits she's more of a theatre person: "On stage no one can edit you, really; they just let it go."
That said, her acting choices on Weeds that survive the editing room add depth to her character. In one scene this season, after a particularly victorious moments, Nancy struts into her boss's office dripping wet and takes advantage of him. Parker blocked the entire sex scene. "It's not like someone said, 'I think it'd be great if you put your stuff right in his face,' you know? It was thought out. It was a character moment that happened to look kind of really nasty and interesting, I guess," she says. "She just really wanted it, and she's instant like that."
JUST SAY NO
Parker doesn't relate much to her iced-coffee drinking alter ego. Aside from not drinking caffeine and finding Nancy's parenting skills atrocious, the actors doesn't share much of the character's signature fashion sense or listen to the same music (Parker likes alt-country but imagines Nancy would need something with a faster, possibly techno beat.) But she shares one attribute with her character: She doesn't smoke weed. "I'm not really into it as a drug. I don't really like the smell. I'm not really that into being around people when they're high," says Parker, who nevertheless favors decriminalizing the drug. "I think it sound be legal because it would be cleaner and safer and better for the economy, and a lot of people need it for medicinal purposes. I think it's good to have a nonsmoker be in favor of advocating making it legal."
Because of Nancy, Parker attracts a fair share of stoners in public. One even solicited the mother of two for drugs. "Some guy stopped me on the street and was like, 'Do you have a bag?'" says Parker, who responded, "Yeah, a diaper bag."