Elizabeth Marvel: A Woman of Substance

Elizabeth Marvel is one of our greatest actresses, if not always one of the most visible. That’s all about to change. On December 28, she plays the title role in the PBS American Masters special: Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women; and next year, she’ll be starring in three much-anticipated Off-Broadway plays: Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Book of Grace at the Public Theater; Polly Sternham’s That Face at Manhattan Theatre Club; and Ivo Van Hove’s revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes at New York Theatre Workshop. TheaterMania recently spoke to Marvel about these projects.

THEATERMANIA: Had you always been a Louisa May Alcott fan?
ELIZABETH MARVEL: If you had asked me before I went through the looking glass with her, “Is Louisa May someone that speaks to you and do you relate to her? I would have said no. I think that was a positive, actually, because I went in and really learned about her from a very open place. I didn’t have a lot of preconceived notions about her or sentimental attachment to her. I knew there was a lot of nostalgia for her, because a lot of people have strong feelings, especially women who remember their girlhood through her books. I didn’t. I was reading Edgar Allen Poe as a child.

TM: So when you took this part, did you finally have to read Little Women?
EM: Oh yeah I did, and all of the books that have been unearthed that she wrote, even those she wrote under a pseudonym. I also read books from all of her influences and all the people she was growing up around, as well as her father’s writing – everything that made her the writer that she was.

TM: Did it help that you got to film at the houses Louisa lived in during her life, like Fruitlands?
EM: That was another really cool part of the project. In one of the houses, there were actual illustrations her sister had done on the wall still there. Her writing desk that you see me writing at was her actual writing desk. There’s even one point that I’m using an ink pen that was actually hers. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything, but as an actor, it’s just a special treat.

TM: One of the most interesting things, for me, about the show is seeing you in period dress. How was that?
EM: No, I haven’t been a big corset and bustle gal. People don’t give me that opportunity very much. But actually, I love a corset. And especially just a few months after you’ve had an 11 pound baby; there is nothing like a nice tight corset.

TM: You’ve agreed to do three new plays next year? Why?
EM: I’m just hungry again. I didn’t exactly loose my appetite, but after I had Silas. I just needed to not grind out plays. I think being a mom changed me, and now it’s not just about what I want to do and what’s sort of interesting, but what I absolutely have to do. And three projects in the row happened to come up that I felt that way about. In a way, I wish they didn’t, because I don’t want to be away from my family and I don’t want to be working so hard for so little money. Most importantly, though, I don’t want to waste people’s time because no one has any time to waste anymore. If I’m asking people to give me two hours of their time, it’s because I really feel like they need to listen to what the writer is talking about.

TM: Tell me a little bit about The Book of Grace?
EM: It’s very hard to sum it up for you because it really is continuing to form and I assume will continue to as we get in a room with it. It’s a three-hander about a husband and wife and the husband’s son, who returns home after being over in Iraq and he comes back and the father works Border Patrol on the big fence. There are some core issues about lines of defense and what that means internally and externally. That’s all I can say now.

TM: Did you see That Face when it was done in London?
EM: No. I did a reading of it for Manhattan Theatre Club a while ago, and grew very interested in it. Polly is an amazing writer, And when I found out that Sarah Benson (who is directing) and David Zinn were going to be a part of it, there was no doubt that we will not be wasting people’s time.

TM: You must be so excited to work with Ivo Van Hove again, especially after your productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Hedda Gabler.
EM: Absolutely, I mean it’s so remarkable to me to have someone like him use me as his leading lady in America. It’s very moving and very profound to be able to a have a relationship that you can revisit every two years. It has really shaped me as an artist. It’s wonderful when we get in a room because now we know each other so well that we don’t waste much time.

TM: So was Regina always on your wish list of parts to play?
EM: No. When I was nursing my son, you’re up all the time during the first year and you’re sort of brain dead. So I’d find myself watching Turner Classic Movies at odd hours. And I saw the film one night and thought, oh right this is a story about ownership and property, and those are things I really want to talk about. So I talked to Ivo about the play and he got interested and then Austin Pendleton helped us get ahold of the play from the Lillian Hellman estate, because I think they heard Ivo and I were sniffing around and that always makes people nervous.

TM: Well, they were probably wondering if you’re going to end up in the bathtub or with Coke on your head.
EM: I don’t think there are any bathtubs in this production, but I’ve got no idea what we’re going to do with it yet.

TM: Regina is not the most likeable character in the world. Does that bother you?
EM: It really doesn’t because I don’t think any of us are the most likable characters. I love seeing people in their mess. I find that heartwarming. Charm just doesn’t interest me. If I want to see charming people, I can watch TV.