Q&A

VANITIES

GEORGE WAYNE

Mrs. Turner, are you trying to seduce me?

Kathleen Turner’s torrid performance in Body Heat established her as a Grade A American sex symbol. She then went on to become the top female boxoffice star in the world. As she makes a dramatic turn on Broadway this month in The Graduate, Turner sounds off on seducing Jason Biggs onstage, her triumph over illness, and that famous sultry voice.

George Wayne:Haven’t you graduated from The Graduate? Why revisit the role?

Kathleen Turner: I’m finding it quite fresh with a whole new cast. Working with American young people, as opposed to the British—who were terrific—the rhythm is very different.

G.W.Are you taking it all off again?

K.T. It’s in the script. But it’s very discreet—very short, actually.

G.W.Is that the showpiece, the piece de resistance?

K.T. No, not at all. It happens very early in the play. The more we rehearsed it, the more we realized that we needed something that shocking to Benjamin to create the impetus for the whole story. It’s not my favorite thing in the world, but I do think it’s right.

G.W.I was reading somewhere where someone called your London Mrs. Robinson a one-note performance.

K.T. Oh, rubbish. The reviews were extraordinarily wonderful. We never had an empty seat. We broke all West End records.

G.W. It should be easy trying to seduce Jason Biggs.

K.T. I haven’t been having any trouble so far.

G.W.Once upon a time your movie career was on a roll. Body Heat, Romancing the Stone, Prizzi’s Honor, The Jewel of the Nile. By the time Peggy Sue Got Married came around, you were probably the most popular actress in the world.

K.T. Oh, I was the biggest box-office woman in the world then!

G.W.And then: kaput! Your career went off a precipice.

K.T. Oh, you know, I really don’t understand why you talk like that! Unless you’re just trying to be provocative.

G.W.Let’s just face the facts, Katherine.

K.T. Kathleen! The facts are that I have continued to work nonstop.

G.W.In the 90s, as compared with the 80s?

K.T. After Serial Mom ...

G.W.Which—sorry—was your Mommie Dearest.

K.T. Oh, you’re wrong. Certainly in Europe it was a hugely successful film. Right after Serial Mom, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For several years that was my major battle. I did films that were not too demanding physically. They’d told me I was going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I said, “I don’t think so.” When I started to get more mobility, I came back to theater, mostly. It’s time I got back in front of the camera, but, frankly, I love the theater.

G.W.You and Betty Bacall should do a movie together, if only so that we could hear the badinage between those two magical voices. K.T. We have such fun with our low voices every time we meet. It’s like, “Good evening. Miss Bacall.” “Good evening, Miss Turner.”

G.W.Do you get recognized more by your voice than by your face? K.T. It’s great when you want to get a reservation at a restaurant. I call up and say, “Hello, this is Kathleen Turner.” And they say, “Yes, it is.”

G.W.When are you going to quit the cigarettes?

K.T. I don’t know. I guess I’m going to have to, someday. This character smokes, so it’s not going to be now.

G.W.What about your Tallulah Bankhead project?

K.T. We did 14 cities since last year, and it went very well. But the script still needs work. When all this is done, I will go back to Tallulah because I really loved it. She is so flamboyant and so outrageous.

G.W.How would you describe your approach to the craft?

K.T. I don’t think of myself as a Method actor. A good script will give you all the information you need. Your job is to decide the thoughts to be conveyed, and the emotions to be felt—and to hit every one of those notes.

G.W.Thank you, Ms. Turner, for being such a good sport.