A Conversation With Lynn Redgrave @ The RHFIFF, 5/17/09

A Conversation With Lynn Redgrave
at High Falls International Film Festival
May 17th, 2009 at 11am
Little Theatre, Rochester, New York

Featuring:
Lynn Redgrave, Actress
Catherine Wyler, Artistic Director, High Falls Film Festival
Davina Belling, Producer, Member of High Falls Film Festival Advisory Council.

L to R: Catherine Wyler, Davina Belling, and Lynn Redgrave.

The previous evening, Lynn Redgrave received the Susan B. Anthony "Failure Is Impossible" award. Earlier that afternoon, Redgrave was shown Susan B. Anthony's house. She was honored to have an award named after the suffragist because she had become an American Citizen in 1997 to vote. Later, she was disappointed to find out that in the first election she voted in, only 2% all eligible voters voted that day.

The conversation began with a showing of a montage that included Tom Jones, The Girl With Green Eyes, Georgy Girl, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex..., Gods and Monsters, Kinsey, and The Countess, which featured her recently deceased niece, Natasha Richardson. Following the montage, Catherine Wyler introduced surprise guest Davina Belling, and had a tea setup brought out, mentioning this video:

Lynn Redgrave is part of a fourth generation of a theatrical family. Despite this, Redgrave had her sights set on becoming an equestrian as a child. At one point, she'd even been offered an apprenticeship. She changed her mind after having seen her parents perform in a production of Twelfth Night directed by Sir Laurence Olivier.

As Wyler noted, Redgrave began her career as a comedienne, something Redgrave chalks up to her place in the family: "Me and other third children find that the only way to have a niche in the family is to make people laugh. Making people laugh was something that could hide my shyness."

Redgrave joined the National Theatre Company during their inaugural season in 1963, under the direction of Sir Laurence Olivier. (She shared with the audience that everyone called Olivier "Sir".) Redgrave has continued to participate in Shakespearean productions throughout her career. Sometimes, she teaches, too. "I love to teach, and I teach quite often," she told the audience. However, "I usually skip the Shakespeare because people always act in [at least] one Shakespeare."

In 1991, Redgrave got an offer to come to Washington to do a program called "An Evening With Lynn Redgrave". Instead, Lynn wrote and performed in a one woman show titled Shakespeare For My Father, and later toured with it. She credits Shakespeare For My Father with jump-starting her career: after seeing her in Shakespeare For My Father in Houston, director Scott Hicks cast Redgrave in Shine, her first movie role in six years.

"When you put out energy yourself, energy comes back at you."

Redgrave has since written more plays about her famous family, most recently, Rachel and Juliet, about her mother Rachel's relationship with her favorite role, Shakespeare's Juliet.

Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003, Redgrave and her youngest daughter, Annabel Clark, began a personal project documenting Redgrave's treatment. At the time, Annabel was a senior at Parsons and was hoping to do a seperate project for her finals, but Clark was so overwhelmed by her mother's illness that she decided to make their personal project her final project. After being in the Student Showcase the final semester, the photos were published in The New York Times and later as a book titled Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery From Breast Cancer. The photographs launched Clark's career, and recently, she has done work for Redbook.

Lynn Redgrave is often times overwhelmed by the expectations she puts on herself when she's performing. But having survived Breast Cancer and the recent sudden death of her niece, Natasha Richardson, she reminds herself that there's a good possibility she might not be here right now, doing what she loves the most: performing.

Lynn Redgrave at Java's, May 16, 2009.

Q: How do you prepare for a role?

Redgrave: I've been asked about acting, wouldn't you believe it? Usually, when you've got to insert yourself into the character, look inside the character, and ask, "Why are you here? What are you here for? How are you here?" Once, I found myself standing at the side of the stage in a play in New York. Opening night in New York, standing on the edge of the curtain, it's like saying, "I'm going to go skydiving for the first time." There's a sense of danger, which I love. As time goes by and I get older, I expect more from myself, and I do mind tricks, which is quite stressful, in order to go out and feel that at least I did the best I could. I get out there, and I think, "Why did I do that? This is the thing I love to do so much, which is to work and appear in great plays. Why do I put myself through mindtricks? I've had cancer. I could be NOT there. Why do I put myself through this mind trip? I could've died from cancer. I could be NOT working right now." Everyday, you have to have some proper protection, I guess. But I can't NOT get up every day. I find freedom within the role.

Jack Garner: In an interview that I read a few weeks ago, you said something very reassuring to The Washington Post (following the death of Natasha), about what your father did the day your grandmother died.

Redgrave:The day I finished the show (Rachel & Juliet) was right after Natasha had died. People were expecting me to cancel, and I think that a lot of times, being part of a theater family, that's what we do--the show must go on. When my father's mother passed away, he was sobbing, absolutely sobbing, and that night he went out and gave one of his greatest performances. I felt if I had decided to cancel, that would be, in a way, a disgrace to her. I went out there because that's what you do.

My sister, as you probably heard, was supposed to put on a performance of The Year of Magical Thinking, but had to postpone, of course, because of the play's subject matter. Eventually, she did perform it, and I think that's a testament to our family.

Erin/TFPN: I met you at Java's last night, and we had a nice conversation about the British New Wave.

Redgrave: Yes we did!

Erin/TFPN: You were talking about Georgy Girl and how you feel that people appreciate the message more now than they did at the time. Can you elaborate on that?

Redgrave: Actually, I don't remember saying that. But for some of you who weren't alive at the time, I think it's one of the sixties films that have survived--it has a really good story. A woman who feels completely out of place in society and in life. Charlotte Rampling played an incredible bitch who abandons her child. [Rampling] was nothing like that in real life. My character is willing to marry a man she doesn't love and take on a child. Every once in awhile, they'll show a movie from that period, and it'll be like, "That's interesting, but it doesn't stand up to today." Somehow, I think the movie has a very modern story.

Special Thanks to Ruth Cowing for identifying Davina Belling for TFPN.

A Conversation With Lesley Stahl @ The High Falls International Film Festival, 5/16/09

A Conversation With Lesley Stahl
Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York

Featuring:
Catherine Wyler, Artistic Director, High Falls International Film Festival
Lesley Stahl, Correspondent, CBS News, 60 Minutes

Lesley Stahl (Right) with Catherine Wyler

The friendship of High Falls' Artistic Director Catherine Wyler and Lesley Stahl stretches back decades. Wyler and Stahl were part of a group that met once a month for lunch while living in Washington, DC; the group fell apart after Stahl moved to New York. Over the years, Wyler and Stahl stayed in touch, with Wyler attending the wedding of Stahl's daughter, Taylor, and Stahl being a member of High Falls' Board of Directors. Stahl was scheduled to be at last year's festival until Stahl had to be whisked away to Iran at the last minute.

Catherine Wyler read the opening line of Stahl's 1999 autobiography, Reporting Live: "I was born on my 30th Birthday." Stahl elaborated on that statement, stating, "My career didn't really start until I was 30. The thing with young people is that sometimes they don't know what they want out of life, and I didn't find out until I was 30. [Turning 30] really changed me."

Pushed by her mother to "have a career, not a job", Stahl attended Wheaton College. "A lot of mothers in the 1950s became housewives--it was sort of the ethic then. Betty Friedan wrote about it in The Feminine Mystique. My mother was very frustrated at home. Even before Betty Friedan's book, my mother, when I was in college, told me that I needed to have a career, and that she 'wasn't going to stand for a job'. She wanted a profession out of me." Stahl's mother was willing to support her in whatever field she wanted, so as long as it was something she wasn't going to quit.

Still, journalism wasn't necessarily on young Lesley's agenda; she says that she never worked for any school newspaper. It wasn't until she was working as an assistant to the speechwriter in the Mayor of New York City's office that she decided to become a reporter. One day, she approached a reporter and asked him, "What do you do all day? You wake up, and what happens? " He described his duties, and according to Stahl, "It was like a lightbulb had gone off in my head. I thought, 'I have to do that.'

A few years later, Stahl was working at a TV station in Boston when she heard from CBS News: a memo stated that the next three correspondents hired by the network would be either women or minorities. She said to her fellow producer, "Can you make me a reporter really fast?" Lesley and the producer set about putting together an hour and a half long demo reel, only to be told that most demo reels were only about 20 minutes. In 1972, she was hired along with Connie Chung and Bernard Shaw to be a correspondent for CBS News. Stahl considers herself to be a direct beneficiary of Affirmative Action.

"The first White House I corresponded for were Democrats. They were pro-ERA, and they didn't treat women very well. In comes the Reagan Administration, against the Equal Rights Amendment. All of Reagan's people treated [women] professionally. In the Reagan White House, I was treated like a professional, not a woman."

Wyler brought up a passage from Reporting Live that discussed speculation that Reagan may have already been afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease when he ran for re-election in 1984.

"When a President begins to fail, there a couple of things that come into play," Stahl said. The Wall Street Journal published a piece that noted that Reagan, while debating with Walter Mondale, was "wandering all over the place". While Stahl doesn't insist that Reagan had Alzheimer's then, she spoke with an Alzheimer's specialist, who told her that Alzheimer's "Is a gradual disease. When it starts, there are periods of great lucidity, and then all of a sudden, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, something's wrong, something's not there, then it hits. People who are having problems try to hide it."

During Reagan's second term, Stahl believes that Nancy Reagan's had more influence and support, and suggested that if Reagan did indeed have an illness, Nancy may have even guarded that secret from the staff. "We'll never know, because she'll never tell." Stahl recently interviewed Nancy Reagan for WowOWow (more about that later), and CBS' Sunday Morning in promotion for a new book by their daughter, Patti:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Stahl emphasized the continuing importance of the media as part of maintaining a democracy. She noted that in countries where press is not free, the Governments have corruption. "When we have corruption, the press calls corruption out." Stahl lamented the current problems Newspapers are facing, but added that this is all part of the system "cleansing itself".

Last year, Stahl added "entrepreneur" to her resume, launching WowOWow.com with Joni Evans, Liz Smith, Mary Wells Lawrence, and Peggy Noonan. WowOWow is targeted at women over 40 with an emphasis on Politics, Fashion, Foreign Policy, and Gossip, among other things.

"I always wanted to own something," Stahl stated, and added that "like Newspapers, we're struggling with ad revenue, and I hope we find a good model, whatever that's going to be."

Q: In what way do First Ladies put their stamp on the White House?

Stahl: I think we would be surprised to find out how important First Ladies are. Presidents become skeptical during their time in the White House of who they can trust. They have to create inner circles that allow them to say what they think, and let their hair down. Today, with blogging and the internet, they have become even more aware. As their circle shrinks, who's left? They go home at night, and probably discuss everything in their lives. Of course, their wives have been partners in their public life.

Most Presidential Marriages get better in the White House. Up until then, the Public isn't around all the time. They travel a lot, they have wives greet people [at the White House]. The wife, 24 hours a day, is a confidante. So the marriage gets stronger, they are together as the President comes home at night.

Q: How do you think Hilary Clinton is doing as Secretary of State?

Stahl: I interviewed her as well [for the Joe Biden interview]. She and Joe Biden have breakfast together every Tuesday. It's part of the Team of Rivals, to make sure that they all get along. My sense from what I got from interviewing her that day was that she was really liking this job. And that was the big question: "Would she really enjoy this?" She wasn't the most powerful senator, but she was certainly the most famous one. I get the sense that the job is another challenge for her. Her specialty as a Senator wasn't Foreign Policy, but she finds the work challenging, and she's really enjoying it.

Q: I'm curious. Do you consider yourself a Feminist?

Stahl: I was working when the Women's movement was really, really powerful. When Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Bella Azbug, were marching, I knew that they were helping me. I knew that I'd gotten to CBS News through Affirmative Action, and I knew that I would be getting equal pay because of them. I was not a feminist in the political sense, because I wanted to achieve that through my abilities. But in my heart, I was a feminist.

(Addressing the questioner, a young woman) Women your age don't like the word feminist, don't want to be called feminist. My daughter doesn't like the word, but when you sit down and talk with them about the struggles and the changes that happened in the '70s, what they were fighting for, and they admire that. Somewhere along the way, the word "feminist" got a negative reputation.

Q: I was watching a TV show several years ago that was a roundtable of women journalists, and they were all talking about their experiences in the business. They were going around the table, and going on and on about, "Oh, it was so terrible, they way me treated us," and it came to you and you said, "Gee, I didn't have those problems. It wasn't that way for me." And they all looked at you like they didn't know what to say. What made your experience different from theirs?

Stahl: Well, for one thing, the attitude. When I was hired, and as Connie was saying [in the roundtable]--we were hired together--I knew the man who hired me wanted me to succeed. He was invested in me coming up. And all the men who were my colleagues also wanted me to succeed. I didn't feel that anyone was trying to sabotage me, unlike my peers. The cameramen were really hard for me to work with, but my eye wasn't there. My eye was on my boss, and doing my job as a reporter. And if I didn't do well, I never allowed myself to fail, never blamed on being a woman. I just felt in my heart that they system would help me as long as I did well. And if I heard someone say something a little off color, I ignored it, and moved on.