Marcia Gay Harden, the star of Lifetime’s Love You to Death, exclusively opens up to Us Weekly about her love for boating, guilty pleasures and bad nicknames. Read on to learn more about the Oscar-winning actress.
1. I make kick-ass jam from handpicked blueberries. I also make a fiercely decadent zucchini bread.
2. To clear my mind, I love to canoe down to the marsh on my lake in the Catskill Mountains, but if I’m in California, collecting sand dollars on the beach does a good job!
3. My nickname is super unglamorous. It used to be Mutt, meaning mutt of the litter. But as kids, my sisters stopped pronouncing the t’s, so it became … yes, Mudd.
4. Most fervent wish? A cure for Alzheimer’s.
5. My mother has influenced every aspect of my life! From my genes to teaching me about grace and tenacity.
6. I once paid cash for a 1929 Chris-Craft boat and took it up the Erie Canal on a four-day trip.
7. I can blow a piercing whistle from an acorn shell.
8. If I weren’t acting, I would probably devote my time to pottery.
9. I’m really bad at relaxing. My mom used to say I burn the candle at both ends.
10. In a movie about my life, I would love Melissa McCarthy to play me. She’d make all the sad parts sad but also funny!
11. My old acting teacher Ron Van Lieu gets credit for the best advice ever: “You are enough.”
12. I have everything in the world I’ve ever wanted. Hmm … except a Fisker!
13. The hardest lesson is the best lesson: Forgiveness is a gift to yourself.
14. A fun date night for me is dinner at a new restaurant, then a small jazz or folk venue, and seeing stars in the sky on the walk to the car.
15. My personal mantra: “You are what you think you are. Honor yourself and others will honor you.”
16. I love rustic Adirondack style. Quality, not fancy. Natural, no plastic.
17. I don’t really pay attention to what other people think about me.
18. My nighttime ritual consists of reading. I’m always reading!
19. My guilty pleasure? Skinny-dipping, for sure.
20. I love to dance! Late ’70s funk!
21. Marcello Mastroianni once made grilled chops for me in the fireplace of his Paris apartment in August.
22. Most memorable movie experience was watching Patton on my Navy father’s aircraft carrier.
23. I fell in love with theater watching Medea at the Parthenon in Athens.
24. I love camping in national parks: Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone.
25. Right after my divorce [from Thaddaeus Scheel], I rented an RV and drove my kids [Eulala, 20, and twins Julitta and Hudson, 14] across the Southwest. It was the most amazing, liberating trip.
