Alison Wright, best known for her role as Martha Hanson on The Americans, reflects on how little progress Hollywood has actually made when it comes to opportunities for women
What did you think about the position of women in terms of acting and what the industry was like for them at that timeIJ
Alison Wright: I read a lot of books about Hollywood. I read biographies of Davis along with Garbo and all the other actresses of the time, so I was certainly familiar enough through other movies and television to know that it’s definitely a world I would enjoy living in. The richness of it alone, the glamour, it’s phenomenal to spend time in that world.
Do you feel that age-wise things have gotten better for womenIJ
Alison Wright: I don’t know about that. But Susan Sarandon said that when she started, forty was the hard cutoff, and that’s certainly been pushed and people like Ryan are pushing that line literally themselves. Ryan’s created so much work for Jessica and so much work for older actresses. So that’s part of the fun story of looking at Bette and Joan is what a tragedy those last fifteen, twenty years of their lives were when they deserved so much more and they were massive legends. Yet they were chewed up and spit out by the men in suits running the show; and Jack Warner, the way they portray him in the show, you know, Tucci just gets better and better, as you can imagine, just what people had to put up with.
In terms of preparing for Pauline, what sort of preparation did you doIJ Did you talk to women on that side of the industryIJ
Alison Wright: I read as much as I could about women who worked in the Hollywood era in the studio system in every capacity. lot of them moved around different departments and that’s what I had built for Pauline and I also built a story of her past from there because we got a bit of freedom. I watched all of the Joan and Bette movies. And just the facts that I learned staggered me, you know, that it wasn’t until 1974 in this country (California) that a woman could get a credit card on her own without her husband.
Were there things that you connected with or that you felt you could really associate withIJ
Alison Wright: Yes, I think we all can, being a woman in a man’s world. And, it was more heightened because we’re talking about what it was in the sixties, the casual sexism, the casual misogynist remark that you just have to let slide. We’ve all had to do that still sixty years later. So there’s lots of ways to be able to relate and, of course, there’s Pauline, she's very competent and holds her own with Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. I can only hope that maybe I do the same with Jessica lange and Susan Sarandon.
Was Pauline a real person or was she createdIJ
Alison Wright: No, she’s a composite character, perhaps the only one actually in the show and she is a mix of uber competent young girls that went out to Hollywood dreaming of their future in the business. All the challenges that they faced are honestly not that dissimilar from sixty years later where we are today. Still the challenges are same so it’s even more heightened to see these women trying to pave a way for a future that was something more than being a wife or a mother. These girls had much more ambition than that and wanted to have a career at a time when no institutions in the country were encouraging women to get out of the home and have a career for themselves. Some of these girls just managed to forge their own way and do it as best as they could.
So about working with holding your own with Susan Sarandon and Jessica lange, what was it like working with themIJ They’re such titans of the industry.
Alison Wright: Yes I am aware of that. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d like to say wholeheartedly it was a wonderful, marvelous and perfect experience. It’s great to sit and to watch them work so closely. So, Pauline gets to just be with Bob a lot behind the camera while watching their performances. What a great way to spend my day just watching these ladies, live in all these different characters. It’s fantastic. They were wonderful.
And what do you think it was about your performance in The AmericansIJ
Alison Wright: Well, something that Ryan said was that they weren’t really sure as they were developing this character because she is a composite character and they weren’t sure what it might turn out to be. They knew they wanted her to be important but she’s not a front and center role. So I know that they both thought that I would make her a fully realised character even if she was just a smaller part.
But do you think television does offer better roles than films or at least more complex roles for womenIJ
Alison Wright: Yes, at the moment it is.
In terms of Feud, do you think Hollywood’s a bit too safe these days; that people aren’t outspoken enough, because everyone’s so worried about their reputation and jobs...
Alison Wright: Yes. It’s really dull. Fred Molina was telling the story that some famous actor had told him about how amazing the Oscars used to be. Everyone used to get really drunk and would dance on tables. You don’t see an ounce of that joy or fun anymore because everyone is so concerned because you’re crucified and vilified so easily these days. You do the tiniest of things and all of these people are jumping down your throat about it. It’s certainly different in the studio system.
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