Interview with Lesley Ann Warren

AE: Thinking more about your recent roles, you definitely have that quality in [the 1999 Steven Soderbergh film] The Limey.
LAW: Yes. I did a movie recently called 10th and Wolf, and unfortunately — because I loved this movie — it didn't get a wide release. It played in New York for a little while. Great cast: Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Giovanni Ribisi. It just didn't play for long enough to play nationwide. But in that, I play a woman who is definitely a victim of her circumstance, and it ends tragically.

AE: Speaking of which, you've been involved with a lot of projects as of late that were produced or directed by gay men. Do you think that your popularity with gay audiences has led to your involvement with these projects?
LAW: You know, I don't know — probably. I hadn't even thought of that. I got the call from Max Mutchnik and David Kohan to do the show [Will & Grace]. I didn't know what the part was, but I was a huge, huge fan of the show. All they told me was that she was going to have a funny laugh.

And with Desperate Housewives, you know Marc Cherry. … It's funny — my son was doing a project at Warner Brothers as a producer, and two of the writers for Desperate Housewives were developing a script, and he said to them, "You should totally have my mom on your show; she'd love to do your show." They went to Marc Cherry, and then Marc called me and said, "I have an idea."

So my son really got me that one, but I think you're right — I think that there's a definite world of fans out there that have a lot to do with the characters and work that I've done.

AE: One of my favorite projects of yours was director Thom Fitzgerald's horror allegory, Wolf Girl.
LAW: Wasn't that an interesting piece?

AE: Definitely. How did you get involved in the project?
LAW: Same thing — you know, the director requested me. And I had seen his first movie, The Hanging Garden, which I thought was just incredible. So I read the script, and I just really wanted to work with him.

AE: The first film I ever saw you in was Clue, in which you played Miss Scarlet. It's one of my favorite films and boasts one of the most amazing comedy ensembles ever assembled. What was it like being on the set with all of those amazing actors?
LAW: That is another one — that movie has so many fans, and they're usually — I don't know how old you are, but they usually saw it in their teens. We had the most hilarious time making that movie — one of the funniest sets I've ever been on.

AE: Who was the troublemaker?
LAW: We all were! There really wasn't a troublemaker, it was just that everyone was so funny, and we would constantly be making each other laugh all day long. I mean, I could barely get through a scene with Martin [Mull, who played Colonel Mustard]. I would be just crying from laughing so hard. And everybody was kind of like that; it was crazy.

AE: What can you tell me about your upcoming project, In Plain Sight?
LAW: My daughter, who's played by Mary McCormack, is a U.S. Marshal for the witness protection program, and she's very tough, assertive, in control, sharp, excellent at what she does. Her sister, my other daughter, is a crack addict. And her mother likes to party a little too much and has left her last husband and moved in with her daughters. So she has a very dysfunctional family.

AE: Your character has little dogs, likes sunbathing and drinks in the afternoon. Sounds like the kind of mom character that will be popular with gay men yet again.
LAW: [Laughs.] She's a bit of a diva, but has this sort of big heart. The way they described this character is she's 55, she looks 45, and she dresses 25 — and her name is Jinx. So you get the picture, right?

AE: You were a performer from conception, from what I can tell.
LAW: Pretty much! [Laughs.]

AE: Did you have a Toddy in your life, like Victoria does in the film?
LAW: I had many mentors, really. My ballet teachers initially were my mentors, and then Lee Strasberg was my mentor when I started to study acting; he was an great mentor. Agnes de Mille was my first choreographer in my first Broadway show, and you can't get more legendary than that. And then Eugene Loring, who was also a legend in ballet and did my choreography for Cinderella. And then Richard Rogers, and Ginger Rogers was there, and Walter Pidgeon, Jo Van Fleet. [In] my first movie I got to work with Geraldine Page.

AE: Another interesting project in your filmography that I'm curious about is the never-aired 1976 TV series Snip, a show about hairdressers that capitalized on the success of the Warren Beatty film Shampoo.
LAW: Seven episodes and none of them were seen. Never aired. [Laughs.] You know, I wasn't unhappy that it didn't air. I had a great time doing it because I totally love David Brenner, and we had so much fun. He's so funny and so great. But it was an ill-matched, ill-conceived project.

AE: I had read that NBC pulled the episodes because the show featured an openly gay supporting character, Michael, played by Walter Wanderman.
LAW: Oh, really? I didn't even know that! The character was extremely, flamboyantly gay. That may have been true — I didn't even know that.

AE: Apparently it wasn't the best choice, because shortly afterward, Billy Crystal's character on Soap became the first gay prime-time character, essentially making history.
LAW: Right. That's interesting — I didn't even know that. Maybe that was the reason.

AE: And did you know the show was huge in Australia ?
LAW: No!

AE: It was sold to a network in Australia and became a highly successful miniseries.
LAW: Wow! I had no idea — that's so funny! I love it! You know, Will & Grace is huge in Australia, and of course Desperate Housewives.

AE: You may have an entire fan base of Snip-heads down there!