InDepth InterView: Carla Gugino On POLITICAL ANIMALS, Arthur Miller, Sondheim Musicals, Roundabout & More!

Today we are talking to a spectacularly talented stage and screen star who has appeared in countless film and TV properties over the years as well as in many remarkable theatrical productions all about her major role on the USA special miniseries event POLITICAL ANIMALS, which concludes this Sunday at 10 PM - Carla Gugino. In her many film roles - including MICHAEL, SNAKE EYES, the SPY KIDS trilogy, SIN CITY, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, WATCHMEN, SUCKER PUNCH, THE SINGING DETECTIVE, WOMEN IN TROUBLE, MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS and NEW YEAR'S EVE, to name but a few - as well as in her string of stage successes - Arthur Miller's AFTER THE FALL, Tennessee Williams's SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, Eugene O'Neill's DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, and, most recently, treading the boards with RoseMary Harris and Jim Dale in THE ROAD TO MECCA - Gugino has displayed a considerable commitment to her craft and a striking sensitivity for the medium she is inhabiting, whatever it may be. She is a true chameleon and POLITICAL ANIMALS offers her a ripe opportunity to exhibit much of her best acting assets and in this career-spanning conversation we discuss the finer points of her complex, Greg Berlanti-created character on the politically-themed drama series, as well as take a look back at many memorable moments taken from her diverse and unique resume. Additionally, Gugino shares one-on-one insights from Arthur Miller and Athol Fugard, reveals her affection for some of her favorite co-stars over the years and fills us in on some of her exciting current and upcoming projects - such as her collaborations with life-mate, writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez, on GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR and the quickly forthcoming HOTEL NOIR (among others), as well as first news on her new feature film co-starring fellow InDepth InterView participant Connie Britton, BY VIRTUE FALL. Plus, Carla imparts her passionate dedication to the stage - particularly to Todd Haimes and the Roundabout Theatre Company, which she calls her "home" - as well as imparts her candid opinions on how audiences have changed over the course of her tenure onstage and onscreen, the role of technology in entertainment today, her musical pursuits and subsequent thoughts on the possibility of pursuing a musical someday (beyond THE SINGING DETECTIVE, that is) - and much, much more!

POLITICAL ANIMALS concludes this Sunday at 10 PM on USA. Visit the official site here.

Chameleon

PC: We live in a very special age, seemingly at the intersection of all entertainment at once - GLEE and SMASH have had a significant impact on the perception and popularity of theatre outside of New York, to say the least.

CG: I know! I know.

PC: How have you seen the environment change from AFTER THE FALL a decade ago until this year with THE ROAD TO MECCA?

CG: Well, certainly, I feel that back when I did AFTER THE FALL it was still a big deal - in both a positive and a negative way - for a film actor to do Broadway. It was sort of like, "Well, is she even qualified to do it?" and, also, "Oh, well, so you are going to go take a lot less money to do a play now? How come?" [Laughs.] You know, that kind of thing.

PC: A "why now?" type thing.

CG: Yes. I mean, for me, it's always been about the stage, so to do AFTER THE FALL and be embraced like I was, since then it had just been a huge part of my life. [Sighs. Pause.] But, yes, it has changed quite a bit - absolutely. The crossover? Also in terms of plays that are successful on Broadway that become plays and movies that become plays and musicals, it's all sort of become this big back-and-forth.

PC: A mutual appreciation society.

CG: Totally. When I am in LA, I always feel like I am going to run into a lot of the exact same people I run into in New York.

PC: It's getting a bit incestuous.

CG: It is, but it's a good thing, I think.

PC: TV is now a major supplier of the best storytelling around - even better than Broadway and Hollywood, it seems.

CG: You know, it's funny, because we were just talking about that same kind of thing with this new film we are premiering next month, HOTEL NOIR - you know, there are still really wonderful independent films being made, but in terms of getting people to be able to see them, the world is changing so much and so quickly these days that the only movies people are going to go see in theaters are the big studio movies - THE DARK KNIGHT RISES or THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN; these sort of big event movies. And, what independent film used to be able to do - you know, independent character studies by auteurs who could allow their voices to be heard, undiluted, which resulted in actors having these wonderful characters to play - instead, that is now what cable television has become; in a really, really clear way.

PC: As goes the motto of USA, home of POLITICAL ANIMALS, "Characters Welcome."

CG: Exactly! Exactly. It's really nice.

PC: What amazing opportunities POLITICAL ANIMALS is affording its actors - you, Sigourney Weaver and Sebastian Stan, especially.

CG: I know! And since you brought him up: Sebastian is just so good, right?!

PC: He is the standout of the series.

CG: He is. Sigourney is so amazing, too - and Ciaran Hinds and Ellen Burstyn; it's just an amazing group to work with.

PC: Not to mention James Wolk, who is a little bit your junior - so, I am compelled to ask: do you enjoy a younger man?

CG: [Big Laugh. Dramatic Pause.] It always depends on the man!

PC: Touché.

CG: But, yes, to answer your question, I really love that storyline with James and I because it is not something that people expected.

PC: It was a big twist when your affiliation was revealed.

CG: Yeah, it was - and, in fact, I didn't even expect it myself, in the reading of it! So, it wasn't expected or predictable, but it was the right way to go, I think - and it was all set up really well. I think that there's a big difference between something that feels inevitable and something that feels predictable, you know?

PC: Of course. An illustrative distinction to make.

CG: There is just a certain point where it's like - especially in that particular case - "You know what? I don't know how there's any way these two aren't going to do this." But, the way it was done was not predictable, so it all worked.

PC: Once the waiter popped that bottle of wine, though…

CG: Right?! [Laughs.] That's when you just had to know they were going that way.

PC: It was a beautifully rendered scene, as well - the whole series has had a stylish sheen to it; particularly these last two episodes. Have you watched the show yourself yet?

CG: I have seen most of the episodes - and, I agree; it is beautifully shot. I know that that is one thing that Greg Berlanti wanted to put in it was that kind of long-lens look; to make it all very cinematic. I do think that that episode, particularly in terms of speaking about theatre, is interesting because Episode Five really feels very much like four one-acts.

PC: Totally. What an insight.

CG: You know, you have Ellen and Brittany Ishibashi progressively getting stoned in TJ's room; and, then, you have TJ - Sebastian - and Ciaran in the hospital together, which has its own kind of music going on; then, you have Sigourney, who is basically trying to save the planet… [Laughs.]

PC: Far from an understatement in this case, though!

CG: Yeah, Elaine is dealing with a lot in that world - especially in terms of the submarine and all of that.

PC: The fourth one-act would be the plane scene with you and Josh's character, then.

CG: Right. And, what was interesting was that for the plane scene, which we shot over a two-day period, we did it pretty much straight through so it really did feel like we were shooting a little one-act; we were all in that one small set, so they were able to use these great dancing lights as we were heading into the sunset to put across all of that. I thought it was really great how the light came through the windows and how that was all done.

PC: Truly striking cinematography.

CG: I am so glad to hear that the show has impressed you and some other people in that way - it's so hard to do things stylishly like that when you are shooting so quickly like you do in TV.

PC: When Liev Schreiber did this column for EVERY DAY, he and the director, Richard Levine, spoke so favorably of working with you. That film was like a three-week shot, right?

CG: Yeah, it was really short. You wrote about that?! Oh, wow! Really? That's just so great to hear. Liev's amazing.

PC: Was that a fun film to shoot? It turned out really well, I thought. Your character should have her own sequel to herself!

CG: [Laughs.] Oh, from your mouth to God's ears! I'll take it! I'll definitely take it.

PC: Richard said he has some ideas on how to do it!

CG: You know, honestly, I do feel so fortunate in all ways and I think - and I am sure you feel this way as well, in your way - that you always are hungry for more and there is always more you want to accomplish; like, for me, I love to act and I just want to be doing it every second, but I am also very picky so that combination can sometimes be tricky for me. [Laughs.]

PC: I can imagine!

CG: But, I do feel really blessed to be able to have played some really amazing characters - like in that and in some other things. I just feel like I have so many more left to play, though. You know, for me, it's so sort of weird to be at this point and having acted since I was a kid and still kind of feel like I am at the beginning, on some level - in a good way.

PC: Always auditioning - the actor's plight.

CG: It's true. But, you know, I definitely feel as passionately as I have ever felt - maybe even more, I don't know. It could be moreso, now, actually, because - to be honest - I actually sort of fell apart when I started acting. I just love it so much - so, this year has been so amazing for me because, you know, for example, I got to work with RoseMary Harris and Jim Dale and Athol Fugard…

PC: THE ROAD TO MECCA. Was that a joyous experience? It's a lesser-known play. How did you get involved?

CG: Oh, yes - I loved the experience. The way that it came about was Todd Haimes, who runs the Roundabout.

PC: How so?

CG: Well, he really took a risk on me back when we did AFTER THE FALL - so many seasoned Broadway veterans really wanted to do that role. Michael Mayer, too - who directed that and did a brilliant job - felt really passionate about me being in it and he really fought for me. So, the Roundabout really became like a home to me. So, in the last eight years I've done four plays in New York and I have gotten to play some of the best roles I've ever gotten to play anywhere. I am so lucky.

PC: By the very best playwrights, as well - Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller…

CG: In speaking of Arthur Miller, what's interesting is that he passed away about a year after our production of AFTER THE FALL, so we got to kind of see him remembering his own play as we rehearsed it and did it.

PC: That must have been so fascinating - in particular, to an actor.

CG: Oh, it was. You know, he wrote that play long before. I remember he said to me at one point after we had done the first run-through in New York - and I remember being so terrified to do it in front of him for the first time; we all were - he looked at the script and he said, "You know, I forgot what I wrote about in that play. I thought I was writing about people, and I was, but now I realize I was writing about a change in time: from 'one-for-all' to 'everyman for himself', and we've never gone back."

PC: That is so thought-provoking.

CG: Isn't that so interesting? I know you are the theatre guy, so I think it's so important to talk about what we do and about these classic writers that have these strong voices and have these amazing insights. They are everlasting.

PC: They really are. He was constantly reevaluating it - the work never really ended.

CG: No, it didn't - and isn't that kind of amazing? That's the way it always is, I guess. Like, when I look at a film years later, I feel differently, too. You know, one of the strange things in film is that you watch yourself age - and I don't even mean just get older, which is true, but you also see all the phases of your life, no matter what you are going through. There are things that you remember when you are watching yourself - where you were living; what you were doing; what state of mind you were in at the time - and, you think, "Boy, I don't know if I played that role right now that it would come out of me in the same way because I am such a different person." I have always found all of that really fascinating and I think that that's what so unique about theatre is that it just exists right there in that moment.

PC: Ephemeral.

CG: It is. It will always be different from film - film is something that you will always have; theatre will never be that. It's much different. So, I've thought a lot about playwrights - I can picture that if you live a long and successful enough life you will get to see your play being done over and over again and you must reinterpret it every time you see it; you must, don't you think?

PC: I do. TV is much less disposable now than in the old days, particularly since DVD sets and Netflix live on forever. It's a very special time - POLITICAL ANIMALS is itself a special TV event.

CG: That's so, so true. It's something that everybody is obviously trying to figure out right now - you know, you can't really quantify how many people are watching something.

PC: You really can't.

CG: Many people - maybe even most people - don't watch something live when it is on anymore. They just don't - those days are done.

PC: It's the reality of the day.

CG: You know, I just got my hands on LUTHER - this show with Idris Elba for BBC America. It's a pretty cool show and he is really brilliant in it. So, I got those DVDs and I think I watched every single one of them in a week! [Laughs.] You know, basically, Season One was six episodes and then I think they did four more later on. So, I have no idea if that show was short-lived because everyone watched it much later, like I did, and it was cancelled, or that they didn't continue it or whatever for other reasons. It's a real shame if that's true, that it was cancelled because of that.

PC: Speaking of which: has POLITICAL ANIMALS been officially renewed yet?

CG: We haven't heard yet, so I don't know.

PC: Since it has been billed as a special event, is it open-ended? Is there even a pretense that it could continue?

CG: Yes, that pretense does exist - it could continue and these characters could continue. I think that what it comes down to is that Greg had an idea about how he kind of wanted to set all of these characters up, and, by the end of Episode Six, there is closure to things, but there is a lot left in a cliffhanger-like manner, as well. What has been especially interesting - and Sebastian Stan and I have been talking about this a lot, actually; and, also, Sigourney and I - is that we all feel that these characters are really rich and really complicated and really delicious to play. What I love about Greg's writing is that he never tried to simplify - he is always about trying to make it more complex and give it more, more. He said that one of the best things about being the creator of the show and one of the things he said to me when we first sat down to talk about the show is, "I will never ask you to be smaller than you are."

PC: What a bode of confidence in you as an artist.

CG: I really found that to be so liberating because, again - and this is another way TV is changing - I have played a lot of great roles and I don't want to get on a soapbox, but I think that so often, at least previously, women oftentimes got the role of the wife or the girlfriend or the mother; I think that is starting to change, though. In those roles you become more about the idea of what someone is really like as opposed to exploring the complexities that exist behind everything. So, the short answer - which I just took a really long time to say - is that I think we would all be really excited to continue to dig into these characters. This particular group of people is equally passionate about what we do and we are really hungry to make it better every time, so I hope we can continue. And, you know, if it doesn't continue then it will have been a really great six episodes that is different than anything else out there, so it's a win-win.

PC: The flashback de-ageing was very well-rendered. How was that achieved in the 1997 sequence? You look 21!

CG: Believe me, I know! [Laughs.] I just saw that and I said, "What did you do?!" I was like, "Can I get that walking around with me?"

PC: Wouldn't that be fabulous?

CG: [Laughs.] But, no, in all seriousness, I don't know. I do know that it is obviously lighting and computer stuff - you know, now they can do anything with a picture. So, honestly, I don't know what they specifically did in this particular case.

PC: You have been in some seriously effects-heavy films - SUCKER PUNCH, SIN CITY, WATCHMEN. How do you deal with all the technology?

CG: Well, I know that on WATCHMEN it was interesting because I aged up - they had to cover me with tons of prosthetics. I don't think I've ever done younger since this technology has been available - I think this is the first time I've been fifteen years younger.

PC: Given the incredibly small amount of clothing your character wears in SIN CITY, how was that overall effect rendered? There is very little left to the imagination.

CG: I know, right?! SIN CITY was cool because I don't think I would have necessarily done that role if it had not been my fourth movie with Robert [Rodriguez], because I trust him implicitly. And, also, what was so interesting was that Frank Miller was with us the whole time, co-directing.

PC: How did the process work with two directors onset?

CG: Well, we would have three monitors going at the same time - of the green-screen of what we were actually shooting - the first one was the actual frame from the graphic novel; the second was Robert's animation of that frame of the graphic novel; and, then, the third was us in green-screen. Then, also, there was another monitor that was just in black and white.

PC: That's a lot to juggle.

CG: Yeah - I have to say, it was such an interesting exercise. As an actor, generally, I come at something from the inside out - you know, I am working by doing. That's even how I learn my lines - I don't learn them by rote, I have to kind of figure out who I am and why I am saying something and then it comes to me much more easily. In the case of SIN CITY, it was so especially interesting because it was such an outward process; going from the external to the internal.

PC: Can you give me an example?

CG: It would be the kind of thing where, you know, Lucille gets up on her right elbow, not her left; or, she looks up to that light in this way; or, they'd say, "There's that slat in the window and it has to be right above her nose on the right side."

PC: Precise precision.

CG: Yeah, it would be the type of thing that would be so technical that the fact that I was so scantily clad became in some weird way less significant. [Laughs.]

PC: There was so much else going on there was no time for distraction.

CG: Everything was about making it as true to the images as possible - Robert Really wanted everyone to feel that he was being as true to the books as possible. Obviously, since SIN CITY, people have gone even further with the green-screen process and all of that, but that film was really groundbreaking - he really wanted to make people feel like they were flipping through the pages of a graphic novel.

PC: And it does. Is it true there will be another SIN CITY? Rodriguez recently confirmed he is in pre-production on it, I believe.

CG: Yes - there is a lot of talk about that. I do believe that it will happen, too. It will be a prequel and whether my character is in it or not I don't know yet, but I have a feeling that it is going to happen - they have been talking about doing it now for so, so long and I keep hearing more and more people talking about it recently, so I think that it will happen soon.

PC: Also on the sequel front - is it true there may be an ENTOURAGE movie happening sometime soon, as well?

CG: I know! [Laughs.] I know. I hear all these rumors, too, Pat! I think of them all as fun rumors until I am proven otherwise...

PC: What are your own personal thoughts on print media versus the web and the discussion your character recently had on the show about a blogger having such a bigger audience than a newspaper and what all of that entails?

CG: It is a different time - we are in a really interesting time, aren't we? I mean, I don't think that you can't deny the value of either. I think that there is something to be said for having something tactile in front of you that you digest over a period of time, and, also, there is the alternative. You know, it's just like how I have a complicated relationship with test screenings for movies.

PC: How so?

CG: Well, for certain movies - huge blockbuster kind of movies - sometimes that can be helpful because you are trying to reach such a massive, massive audience; and, you know, you are sort of insular in terms of your process in making the movie so you want to get the sense of what an amalgamation of people feels about it to give you some perspective. Speaking of that, Keith Gordon, who was an actor and is now a wonderful director…

PC: THE SINGING DETECTIVE, that he directed you in, is a mini-masterpiece.

CG: Aww! I love it! You're one of the very few people who have seen it.

PC: Mel Gibson's greatest performance.

CG: Oh, my God! Isn't he amazing in it?!

PC: He put up a lot of the money to get that movie made in the first place, true?

CG: Yeah - he really did. It's true. That movie was his baby, for sure.

PC: It's a truly indescribable movie musical more people should see.

CG: I know! I totally agree - it's such a strange little creature. Robert Downey, Jr. just is incredible in it, I think. He's amazing.

PC: It may be his best performance, as well - one of them.

CG: Yeah, I really love that film so much and I love working with Keith so much. Keith made a really good point to me when we were making that. He said that the problem with having people come in and the whole process testing a movie is that, by nature, the people that they get to come in look at it as a test; like school. They are already coming at it from the place of, you know, "Do I feel positive or negative? Do I like it or don't I like it? What works and what doesn't work?"; all these questions, as opposed to coming at it as a film experience.

PC: A world of difference - particularly insofar as impressions.

CG: There are so many movies - some of the greatest movies of all time; many of my favorite movies, even - that I wasn't sure if I liked them or not when I walked out of the theater. And, you know, I had to go back a second time. So, I think that testing puts people in the wrong mindset - you know, "Maybe it's OK to like the bad guy - you're supposed to." It's like, "Maybe you don't have to make the bad guy more likeable after all - this is the way it is supposed to be, even if people hate it." So, like with print versus web, I feel like there's great value in both - I can fit both perfectly in my life. Sometimes you need both. It's about balance. You know, I'm kind of a Luddite anyway - more because I'm a little slow on the uptake than anything else [Laughs.] - so, I will read the news mostly online, but I will get the Sunday New York Times delivered every week, in person.

PC: There is an unmistakable old world allure to it.

CG: It's a ritual - it's a ritual that I want to have. But, I admit, it is much more convenient to get it online. And, also - and I'm sure you know this much better than I do - the fact of the matter is that if you want to or need to know a piece of news quickly, you just have to go online; there's just no other way about it.

PC: Unquestionably.

CG: It's just the only way to do it - and, on top of that, if you wait to read it in print, you'll be the last person to know about it; that's where it gets very tricky. So, of course, there's also the argument that if it is up that quickly then the quality has to suffer - and that's obviously the argument of my character, Susan Berg, to this young reporter. You know, she says, "Hey, you have to do the research! You have to ask a million questions before it's ready to be given to the public." But, now, you don't have that kind of luxury of time like you used to, which is why I think there is a lot of that "New New Journalism" - based on the book [THE NEW NEW JOURNALISM By Robert S. Boynton]; I used that a lot in my research for this character. That book was extremely helpful to me in terms of reading it before POLITICAL ANIMALS to get a handle on her.

PC: The author makes a lot of good points in that book.

CG: I find it to be such a fascinating movement because I think that that is where more long-form journalism can exist - on the internet. There are people who research subjects for months or even years and then sit down to write a really significant piece about it, but that doesn't take the place of something very of-the-moment and topical at the same time.

PC: Space is a major limitation of print, as well.

CG: It is, it is - and the internet is where the more comprehensive, really research-based stuff is appearing now. It's a whole new time.

PC: We were talking earlier about some of your theatre work - what stays with you most from your journey with THE ROAD TO MECCA just a few months ago?