Picture this: Emmy nominees Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore tie for the big win when the awards are handed out next month
When I recently suggested the scenario to Lange, she said it would be quite fitting because the real-life characters they played in Grey Gardens, Big Edie and her daughter Little Edie, were inseparable. Lange and Barrymore are both up for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for their work in the Michael Sucsy-directed HBO production.
"Oh, wouldn't that be great," Lange said. "I think that would be poetic justice. It would be the perfect end to our little journey here."
So what was it like for Lange to transform herself into a delusional recluse who lived with her only daughter in a decrepit East Hampton home full of cats and raccoons? Read on to find out, plus Lange reveals her hope of returning to Broadway.
Do you remember the first time you saw the Grey Gardens documentary?
I didn't see it when it came out in the mid-'70s. I really wasn't aware of it until about maybe 10 years ago, but then I became obsessed with it. There's just something about these women. You can't get enough of them. I must have watched it probably a dozen times.
I read somewhere that for you to perfect the scene in which you sing "Two for Tea" while sitting up in bed, you prepared by staring in a mirror and doing it over and over again while watching the documentary.
This was my singing coach. I had never sung, but once I committed to do it, he asked me if I wanted to do my own version of it or did I want to do it according to the documentary. I said, "Let's do the documentary and let's do it moment by moment, beat by beat."
