At an age when a lot of professionals’ careers are winding down, Holland Taylor seems to just be getting started. Now 73, she won an Emmy for “The Practice,” was on a hit sitcom (“Two and a Half Men”) for more than a decade, and then electrified Broadway with her Tony-nominated performance in “Ann,” a one-woman show about Texas’ Gov. Ann Richards, which she also wrote. Taylor has also been in the news lately for coming out as lesbian, and for dating TV star Sarah Paulson (“The People v. O.J. Simpson”).
Taylor is bringing “Ann” back to Texas and once more to Richards’ stomping grounds of Austin. We interviewed Taylor about the appeal of the governor and the challenge of getting right such a recognizable and strong character.
How did you get interested in this firebrand of Texas?
Well, there certainly is no logic in that. I was asked once what made me think I could play Gov. Ann Richards, and I answered, “Absolutely nothing.” I have no background or training or gifts that would suggest I could play her, much less write a play about her. It wasn’t a logical thing to do. In a real sense, I didn’t choose it at all. I was drafted, shanghaied, beckoned to do it by some mysterious force. I know that sounds crazy, and not at all like me, but it’s true. Her early death had such a profound effect on me, and it persisted for months, until I realized I was compelled to do something creative about her.
Can you discuss the difference, as an actor, between impersonation and interpretation of a historical character?
The fact that Ann Richards is so recently gone means I am obligated to be as like her as I possibly can—in manner, looks, voice, style. She was so loved and is so well remembered by at least half the people walking around. The whole thing would just deflate if I didn’t catch her pretty well.
As for interpretation, that is different from the style and sound of speech, or the face or hair, or any of those things I have worked very hard to get right. Interpretation is more a matter of character, core qualities, attitudes, style of interaction with people, behavior in the highest sense, and that can be portrayed well, without necessarily having the physical attributes spot on. Daniel Day Lewis was great as Lincoln, but it is possible that he was nothing at all like him on the physical level. We don’t know.
When you’re writing a role that you’re also performing, is there a tension between creating what fits you as an actor and what is true to the character? In other words, do you tailor the role to your strengths or find ways to stretch yourself with the writing?
In the writing I was thinking only of getting her right. Capturing her persona, what it was that made her so admirable, lovable, or just important to people. A persona is an ineffable thing… one feels it. It’s elusive to think about. But all my research of events, speeches, stories, films, archives, was in search of that, those qualities inner and outer. I was not writing a biography or a history, I was writing behavior, memories, inner life. I had a lot of evidence, and I made a lot of assumptions. But I ran so much by her closest, most astute friends and associates [that] I wasn’t throwing darts to hit a bull’s eye. So I guess the answer is, no, I didn’t write to my strengths, and often wondered how the hell I would be able to play her well.
What was your motivation for creating “Ann”? Was there an element of creating a role for women “of a certain age” when such opportunities are harder to come by?
I had no thought of that at the beginning, and really, creating this play was a labor of love, almost answering a call… so it wasn’t a rational thing to do. But now, of course, it is a fantastic role for an older woman, and I am sure there are any number of women who would want to play it. We are just now preparing the script for licensing, so we shall see what the interest is. It’s a tremendously difficult role to prepare for and very taxing to do—any experienced professional will readily see this—so there might not exactly be hordes at the gate.
“Ann” runs at the Zach Scott Theatre in Austin, Texas, April 4–May 15.
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