Photo Source: Frederick M. Brown
Weaver has performed in dozens of American plays Down Under—from "Death of a Salesman" and "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" to "A Streetcar Named Desire," "They're Playing Our Song," and "Steel Magnolias"—and has had no trouble mastering American accents, as long as the character is not from the South. New York speech is second nature to her; indeed, she says, "At heart I'm a New Yorker."
The veteran actor, who freely admits she is 63, says she gave up on the idea of a career in America a long time ago and now regrets it. Drive and ambition were never her strong suits, she acknowledges, adding that timidity played a role in her choices. "I always felt that in Australia I'd be up against 30 actresses for a role but in New York it would be 300 actresses." In recent years, however, she's had a change of heart. "I've become more driven as my demise is looming," she quips.
Weaver is currently starring in "Animal Kingdom," a dark Aussie crime drama directed by David Michôd, making his feature debut. Set in Melbourne's violent underworld, "Animal Kingdom" tells the story of a low-level criminal family headed by a seemingly genial but thoroughly wretched matriarch (Weaver). Members of the jolly clan battle renegade cops while betraying each other.
"To be honest, I was flattered that a young director I had never heard of wanted me to do it," says Weaver. "Also, I don't play many villains. I usually play sweet roles. The challenge in playing a sociopath, a woman with no conscience, is to avoid moral judgments and not to play her wicked from the start. The thing about these people is that they hide their wickedness. They draw people in. She makes people believe she is a sweet old granny, but of course she's not. She seems to love her boys, but if she did, she would not be encouraging them to be leading their dreadful, evil lives. She's benefited from their criminal activities. She's a bad piece of work." Weaver says it with relish.
Still, story takes precedence over her character. "I'll play a tiny role if it's a great story," she continues. "I don't need to shine." As for directors, Weaver seeks collaborators, "not puppeteers who micromanage." Good directors have clear visions but are gentle, she notes: "I've heard that Clint Eastwood doesn't let anyone shout. He doesn't even call 'Action.' When you're ready, you start. That sounds like heaven."
A Cinderella Story
Weaver always wanted to act. "My parents said I came out of the womb acting," she recalls. "I pretended to be other people since I was 3 or 4." Her career was launched early when she attended an audition for a Christmas production of "Cinderella" in Sydney. Clad in her school uniform, the 15-year-old Weaver read for the lead and landed it. Though she finished high school, from that point on she has worked steadily as an actor. "My career has had its ups and downs, but I've never been out of work," she says. "There were some projects I didn't like as much as others, I've done a game show and been a television reporter, but I never had to do a soap."
She says, her preference has been stage work because of the sense of conspiracy that evolves between the actor and theatergoer: "You both want the production to succeed." On a film, the crew takes on the role of audience, leading to an organic relationship between actor and crew. Yet in a 48-year career, Weaver has done approximately 14 movies, compared with 100-plus plays.
She loves New York theater—couldn't get enough of it during her many visits. Starting in 1972, she came every year for more than two decades. "I would go to everything, but my best record was 30 plays in three weeks," she says. "I worked out that you could do 10 shows a week if you go seven nights and three matinees." A high point was visiting "the Algonquin and thinking about the Round Table. It was quite shabby at the time, but it appealed to my romantic nature. I felt I was sitting there with S.J. Perelman."
Something else happened in New York that tickles her. In the Big Apple for her 40th birthday, she, her husband, and her son went into a bar for a drink, and she was asked for identification. "I thought my husband had urged the bartender to say that, but he did not. I had to hand over my passport."
Weaver has not faced ageism and attributes her good fortune to her youthful looks: "I'm small and have a round face." Until she was well into her 30s—a divorced woman and a mother— she says, "I looked a bit like Sally Struthers on 'All in the Family' and was still playing 12-year-olds. Actually, I was very depressed about it. But at 63 I'm cast as 50-year-olds. Right now I'm playing a 48-year-old in Joe Orton's 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane.' It's a bonus. I'm getting paid back for wishing I didn't have to play children in my 30s."
However, Weaver has not remained unscathed by the Australian tabloids, especially as a young woman and sex symbol in the 1970s. She says the cult of personality and fame in her homeland rivals that in the States. "I was married to someone really famous in Australia, and I know what it's like, though it's worse now than it was 30 years ago," she says. "The papers make things up; it's mostly lies. It didn't hinder my career, but it embarrassed me. I think these publications can cloud talent."
At the moment Weaver is thinking about the enthusiastic response generated by "Animal Kingdom" and her performance in it, especially among the film aficionados at Sundance, she says. And the film has whetted her appetite for tackling more villainous roles. "There was an HBO movie about an American woman who killed her ex-husband and his new wife," she says. "I'd love to play that character. Now that I've had a taste for playing a monster, I'd like to have another go at it."
Outtakes
- Appeared in such seminal Aussie films as "Stork," "Picnic at Hanging Rock," "The Removalists," "Caddie," "Squizzy Taylor," and "Cosi"
- Featured in Australia's landmark TV productions of "Water Under the Bridge," "Trial by Marriage," and "The Challenge"
- Published a best-selling autobiography, "Much Love, Jac"
