Susan Sarandon recently sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she talked about the experience of playing Bette Davis in FX's Feud, which wrapped it's season last night. Here's what she had to say:
What was your biggest revelation about Bette Davis after playing her?
"I didn’t know that much about her philosophy. I had seen her movies and I knew the derivative information about her. But in preparing for her, I had to watch tons of TV performances, talk shows and appearances at festivals where she was interviewed all over the world. Finding out more about her philosophy and her attitude toward her work and her life; I didn’t know anything about that. What was shocking was that she said things that I’ve said in my interviews about the business. I found out that I was more aligned with her approach to surviving in this industry than I knew. My work is a means to an end, not an end in itself; for her it really was the end in itself. Her whole raison d’etre was what was going to survive after everything. For me, that’s not true. Otherwise coming from the East, seeing myself as an actor other than a beautiful movie star, not really fitting into the role of a star the way that Joan Crawford did, the way that other people do.… I was much closer to her in that aspect than I had realized. I just didn’t know that much about her personality, I just knew her work. Which I’m sure she was all right with that."
What were some of the things you both have said in interviews?
"That she was an actor and not a movie star. Even my daughter [actress Eva Amurri] got into a fight in kindergarten saying, “My mom is not a movie star, she’s an actor.” Even she knew at five the difference. Not being completely comfortable in Hollywood and the Hollywood glamour scene. She didn’t find joy in having to dress up. She definitely wanted to be recognized, but she was a workhorse. That’s how I see myself; I’ve always seen myself as more of a character actor and so did she. I got the odd parts that no one knew how to cast. Even if the girl was pretty, it was the odd combination of characteristics where I was a shot to have the part. She definitely saw herself that way because right from the get-go, there’s a quote in the series, where she says, “Who would want to fuck that?” She definitely said publicly, “Who’d want to go home with her at the end of the picture?” So she knew from the get-go that they tried and tried and tried to make her a starlet, and glamorous, but she was never comfortable with it and she didn’t really do that well."
Given the fact that Hollywood’s treatment of women as they age is such a big theme of the show, how have you found the landscape changing over the years?
"Women now see other women as allies and understand that together we’re stronger; partly because our consciousness has changed, but also because the power structure is no longer completely male. You don’t have to align yourself with men in order to get things done. There’s so many more female actors who are producing projects. People did try to do it back then; my company just did a documentary on Hedy Lamarr, and when she was being aged out she became a producer with her money and she did a project. It did happen every now and then but not the way it’s happening now where so many women are able to put projects together and have the power to get the money built on their participation. There are always situations where you’re envious of someone getting a part or where you say, “Oh my God that performance was so amazing, I’m jealous,” in a kidding kind of way, but you don’t need to get rid of competition. You don’t see women as competition anymore so that’s changed. I think there is more opportunity to put together projects now without being dependent on male structure. Even though Hollywood still is male dominated. Is there ageism? Oh absolutely. Is there sexism? Oh absolutely. The fact that we’re having the conversation is the first step. If you make it a priority the way [Feud creator] Ryan Murphy has, things will change more quickly. It’s a habit almost and lack of imagination that these parts are cast in such cliche ways."
Read the full interview at The Hollywood Reporter.
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