Interview with Lesley Ann Warren

While researching AfterElton.com's 25-year retrospective on the classic musical romp Victor/Victoria, I had the great fortune to speak with actress Lesley Ann Warren, whose Oscar-nominated turn as the hysterical chorus girl Norma Cassady is one of the film's crown jewels. During the interview, I asked Warren — whose career spans her breakout performance in the 1965 TV movie Cinderella to roles on Will & Grace and Desperate Housewives to the upcoming series In Plain Sight — about her gay fan base, her growth as an artist and, of course, the groundbreaking film that meant so much to her and to audiences everywhere.

After Elton.com: So how did you get involved in Victor/Victoria and what was your first reaction when you read this character, Norma?
Lesley Ann Warren: Actually it's a funny story, because I'd been out marketing, and I had my hair in braids and had a baseball cap on. And my agent called me and said, "You have to go in and meet with Blake Edwards right away on this movie — he's leaving for London tomorrow." And I said, "I can't — I have no makeup on; I — I've got a baseball cap on …" He said, "You've got to; he's leaving; it's important; you've gotta go right now!"

So I put some makeup on in my car, left my hair in braids, still had the baseball cap on. And I went in — I knew nothing about the role, nothing about the movie, really — and I went in and met with Blake and we had a fabulous meeting and laughed, and he told me the story and kind of outlined what this character was about. And in 15 minutes he said, "Do you wanna do this movie?"

AE: Wow.
LAW: Yeah. And I had been a Blake Edwards fan — I think I had seen Breakfast at Tiffany's 11 times. Days of Wine and Roses three times, you know, The Pink Panther — I was a huge, huge fan. So I said, "absolutely," even without reading the script, "whatever you want me to do, I'm there."

So then I went home. And this character was not blond; she did not have an accent; she had no musical number. She was basically the quintessential chorus girl-wanting-to-be-a-star type person. I thought the script was really quite brilliant and funny and wonderful, and so I started to think about what would be the quintessential New York chorus girl.

So I came up with a whole history for her and designed this character in my head, and then I thought, well she's gotta be blond, and she probably grew up reading movie-star magazines, and Jean Harlow is probably her idol … and so I had all these ideas for this character, and I called Blake after a couple of days and I couldn't get him on the phone. He was in London, and he was crazy busy.

I spoke to his producer, who spoke to him and he relayed back to me that he was sending his hair-and-costume person over from England, and we were gonna design this character, in my bedroom. Which we did! And then I came to London and had my first makeup and hair tests and screen tests, and I was terrified because I thought, you know, I've so gone out a limb that he's either gonna love it or he's gonna completely hate it and I'll be fired.

AE: He obviously loved it! How did the musical number get added?
LAW: Blake was insistent that everyone come to dailies — painters, grips, the actors — because he wanted to see where the laughs were. So we all were at dailies one day in the middle of shooting — and the shooting was about four months long — and he turned to me and said, "Do you dance?" And I did.

AE: Of course.
LAW: I said "absolutely," and he said, "I want to see more of Norma; I want to give her a musical number." And I was of course beyond excited, and he threw in Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse, and they wrote this fabulous number and we rehearsed it for about three weeks, and then we shot it.

AE: The film is hugely significant in terms of gay visibility in American films. During filming, were you conscious that it was so groundbreaking?
LAW: I don't think so — certainly not to my knowledge. You know, when you're in the middle of creating something … it's a very introspective process. I remember having the conversation with my publicist at the time, you know, on the phone, and she said, "How's it going?" And I said, "You know, all right, I'm trying new things, I don't know." I'm sure that's how we all felt about the movie and its sociological or political exploration into gender identification and all that.

AE: In rewatching it, I'm amazed at how front-and-center the gay stuff is. Who was responsible for the strong sympathetic voice that the film has?
LAW: Blake at that time had complete artistic control. He really answered to no one. I certainly wasn't privy to the creative conversations that he would have at the studio level, but I'm certain that his imprint and his decision-making was paramount.

AE: There's so much hope and humanity, and there's such a keen balance between the flamboyance and masculinity — Blake was responsible for all of this?
LAW: There's no question. Absolutely.

AE: Was there ever any concern on anyone's part that the film was "too gay"? Or "too out there"?
LAW: No, actually — and the reviews were all stunning. I remember, when it opened in New York, the kind of tremendous acknowledgement of the film and all of the people in it. Also in L.A. — I honestly can't speak for what it did in the rest of the country; I was wrapped up in the whole excitement of what it was doing for me … [Laughs.]

But I know that people would tell me that they'd go back and see it six times. There was a repeat attendance in the major cities that was groundbreaking. Still to this day, people love that movie. It's just a real classic.