TRIPLE THREAT NYU graduate Marcia Gay Harden is one of the most in-demand (and award-winning) actresses onstage and screen. She won an Oscar for portraying Jackson Pollock’s wife, Lee Krasner, in “Pollock,” a Tony for her role in “God of Carnage,” and has starred in “Damages,” “Trophy Wife,” “The Newsroom” and “How To Get Away With Murder.”
Third Degree With… Marcia Gay Harden
By The Editors | Photo: Marc Cartwright/Corbis Outline
The Oscar- and Tony Award-winning actress and humanitarian (she’s an ambassador for Help USA, an organization providing housing to the homeless) is back on the big screen this month starring as Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey, the adoptive mother of Christian, the handsome protagonist with a penchant for BDSM, in the movie adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey. Here, Harden fills us in on some of her own guilty pleasures.
What five iconic figures would be at your dream dinner party?
Mozart, Carol Burnett, Theodore Roosevelt, Cleopatra and Maya Angelou. Can Martha Stewart cook?
Favorite role to date?
Harper from Angels in America. From the first words to the last out of her mouth.
Do you prefer theater, film or TV?
As a card-carrying exhibitionist, I love them all for different reasons. I do think the most immediate and exciting is theater.
Worst job you’ve ever had?
A singing cocktail waitress at the Gaslight Club in D.C., dressed in a skimpy outfit with fishnets. The outfit was fun, the singing wasn’t. Someone once gave me a $100 bill to not sing. Sigh.
Who would play you in your film biopic?
Whoever gives my eulogy.
What was the last thing you Googled?
How to spell ‘eulogy.’
What are you really good at?
Wanting to be really good at things, like: pottery, losing 10 pounds, volunteering, having good posture…
Favorite word?
Heinous
Who’s the funniest person you know?
Bradley Whitford. During Trophy Wife, he had such a vicious sense of humor—usually directed at me—and I adored it!
First celebrity crush?
‘Head ’em up! Move ’em out! Rawhide!’ I hum it in my sleep. Clint Eastwood, of course! I still have a crush on him.
What’s your definition of sexy?
Mystery, curves and fun
What would you never be caught dead in?
A parachute
Do you prefer phone calls or texts?
For expedience, phone calls—get ’er done—but the control freak in me likes texting.
TV guilty pleasure?
That would be Sons of Anarchy.
What does no one know about Marcia Gay Harden?
I’m secretly ridiculously shy. That, coupled with my horrible short-term memory, especially when it comes to names, makes me a real pleasure to have at a party.
What always surprises you about New Yorkers?
Other than the unspoken acknowledgement that there are no real traffic lanes in NYC? I’m marvelously surprised again and again at just how well the city works, and at how much the people—who come from all walks of life—love culture.
Read the original article: www.modernluxury.com
