Elizabeth Perkins – The Moodys

By starrymag | April 15, 2021

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

 

Q) Without spoiling anything, what can we expect from Ann and the rest of the Moodys this season?

 

A) Well, I think Ann and Sean (Denis Leary) are always going to look forward to the kids leaving the house as soon as possible. I think they are coming out of the pandemic like all of us are sort of sort of slowly emerging, hopefully, with the more vaccines that are out there. So, they’re kind of emerging back into this world and, of course, all the kids came home and they’re all still there. And as much as they understand it, they sort of miss being empty nesters. Ironically, I think Sean doesn’t miss the kids at all and enjoys being an empty nester a lot more than Ann, my character. I think Ann goes back and forth between loving the kids being there and then like a week later being like, there’s wet towels, the food is all gone, there’s trash everywhere and now you need to leave.

 

Q) Sean and Ann are an empty nest couple and their adult children are back under one roof. That is exactly what the last pandemic year looked like in so many homes. Did it feel a little bit like art was imitating life?

 

A) Oh absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we all brought that energy when we went to shoot up in Montreal. You know, we’ve all been locked in houses. We’ve all been working out of our dens and out of our kitchens and there’s definitely a through line in the character of Sean Jr. played by Jay Baruchel, who’s literally been on house arrest for a mistake he made and pretty soon his ankle bracelet is going to be coming off. So, that’s very metaphorical. You know, pretty soon all of our ankle bracelets are going to come off and we’re all going to be slowly emerging back out there into the world.

 

Q) Speaking of, is this your first project back since the COVID shut down? How have those changes impacted your work and set life?

 

A) Oh, it’s been profound. Yes, this is the first project I’ve done since we went into lockdown last year and it was a little nerve wracking for all of us. I mean, we were absolutely thrilled that the show got picked up for season two and we all sort of quietly made our way up to Montreal and we quarantined for two weeks, which was…[pause] When you’re quarantined in something that’s not your own home but you fine week one, but by about week two you’re sort of like “Where am I? I’m on another planet! People are leaving food outside my door.” Luckily, we were in a city that was incredibly safe, and we had an amazing crew that adhered very strictly to COVID protocols. We were wearing masks, wearing shields, we were wearing goggles and were being tested every other day. No one is allowed on the stage without having their temperature taken. We created different zones and you were only allowed to travel within your zone. We created pods and all five of the Moody’s were in one pod and then anyone outside of the family was in a separate pod. We had to maintain six feet of separation even when we were filming. It created a lot more time on the set, but it actually, in a weird way, sort of brought us all closer.

 

Q) I could see that. I mean you are kind of in this together and certainly going through these challenges together.

 

A) Exactly, and so I really feel like this year we really bonded as a family and that was that was something that was great in terms of the familiarity that we all felt with each other. And now I’ve got the first vaccine…

 

Q) Congratulations! You’re almost at the finish line.

 

A) Yes, and we’re moving forward! But then I just read that they’re only good for six months or something and I’m thinking, “I gotta get my information clear here!” There’s so much misinformation out there that everyday you’re like, “Wait, what’s that?”

 

Q) We did seem to go from The Age of Information to the Age of Misinformation in the last five or so years.

 

A) [laughing] It’s so true. IT’S SO TRUE! So, it was very challenging, but it also made the work that much more precious. In between “action” and “cut” we knew we had to hit our marks and get this done. I think we all brought our A games.

 

Q) One of my favorite things about this show is how Ann isn’t your typical sitcom Mom, she is a fully realized person. She went back to school, got a degree and has a career and life that is separate from Sean and her kids. How important was it for you that Ann didn’t fall in to the typical “wife and mother” TV tropes?

 

A) We worked really hard on that, the creators, myself and Denis. And it’s very much based on my mother’s experience. My mother was highly independent, and as much as she raised three children, there was always sort of this part of her that was always out there working, and always out there bettering herself. She suffered with alcoholism throughout most of my childhood, and then when we were sort of old enough to begin going off to college, she got sober and went back to school and got her master’s and became a counselor for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. That was a huge inspiration for me in my life. Seeing her go from this journey that she went on of self-fulfillment was something that I really wanted to honor in the character of Ann. And because my mother has always been so inspiring for me in that you can overcome adversity and you can be fully realized, even later in life.

 

Q) Yeah, I think that is one of my favorite parts about Ann and “The Moodys.” Another one of my favorite parts is the relationship between Ann and Sean. Full disclosure, I am a big fan of yours as well as Denis Leary. I was so happy to see the two of you working together, because of course it would be brilliantly funny. It must be fulfilling to work alongside such a fantastic cast.  What has been your favorite moment on screen or off, while filming this show?

 

A) Well, thank you, thank you. It’s so funny because I have always been such a huge fan of Denis and I always thought we would make a great couple. Like I always thought he’d be really good to do like “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” onstage with, you know? Because we both sort of have this sense about us that we’re wicked; we’ve got a very thick sarcasm. So, I’ve always sort of been attracted to watching “Rescue Me” and a lot of his stand-up early on. And it wasn’t until we met each other that we realized we grew up around forty miles away from each other! Which he went, “Oh my God! You’re from Shelburne Falls?” And I was like, “Yeah, and you’re from Worcester,” and that was an immediate bond. He’s like, “Oh, I know you. You’re from Western Mass.” And I’m like, “Yeah, you’re from Central Mass.” Then, we found out that Chelsea [Frei] who plays our daughter on the show is from Andover, [New England accent] Mass, which is a little closer to Boston and then we were like, “OK. Well, this makes sense. I know who you are and know where you come from and I have a secret language with you because of that.” We hit it off like a house in fire.

 

Q) Would you say that is the reason you and Denis have fantastic chemistry? Because it seems so organic, almost like we’ve seen you play a married couple before. Was that something that just clicked the minute the cameras rolled or did it come gradually after you got to know each other’s styles?

 

A) I do think…You know, Denis is in a long-term marriage his wife, the novelist Ann Leary, who’s written about their marriage in numerous books. I’m in a long-term marriage; we both have grown kids. I think there’s a shorthand there as well in that Ann and Sean Moody, they’ve been married for thirty-four years and so we were able to sort of bring that experience of being in long term marriages i.e., you, know we can have a really bad fight and it in no way reflects on whether or not there’s trouble in the marriage. There’s no trouble in this marriage, this is the way they relate. They fight, they yell, they yell at their kids, they yell at each other, everybody’s yelling and, for us, that’s a reality. And, yes, it’s nice that it’s not sort of saccharine and glossed over because that’s what it’s like being in a long-term marriage. You’re going to fight, but it doesn’t mean you’re breaking up. It just means you’re living with another person twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.

 

Q) Ok, we have to talk about Sean and Ann’s “song.” Who chose that as their first-time anthem because that was quite the unusual choice and, yet, so very them?

 

A) Right? So, at that moment when you’re first making love with somebody you don’t get to decide what’s on the radio, at least not in the ‘70s. [laughs] It just happened to be that song and I think a lot of couples can relate to that. Like people say, “Oh, that’s our song,” and you’re like “Really?” I think it’s hysterical because I imagine it may have been on a sofa in someone’s parents den and that just happened to be on the stereo system at that moment and I think it’s great.

 

Q) The show isn’t like your typical comedy sitcom; it has a realness to it that is just so familiar. We all know families like this; ones who mix chaos with comedy. Ones with adult kids living at home, fathers in AA, just your average real-life ups and downs. What kind of fan feedback have you been receiving from viewers?

 

Q) I think we aren’t afraid to go there, that we’re not afraid to sort of tell it like it is. That brothers fight; brothers and sisters fight, and parents fight. That they’ve gone through adversity with Sean overcoming alcoholism and also being a breast cancer survivor. That they’ve gone through a lot of hard times emotionally, as a family, and they’re still together and they still love each other, and even though brothers fight, if an outside force threatened either one of them, they would have each other’s backs in an instant. I think all of that is very relatable. You don’t get to pick your family, but you do have to live with your family.

 

Q) I cannot, not ask you about some of your other work, and as a big fan of Penny Marshall. I have to ask you about your experience working with her as a director on Big. Was there any wisdom she imparted on you that you took with you to future projects?

 

A) Man, you know Penny took no grief from anyone. She was one of the strongest women I ever knew and yet when you get to know her, she was also incredibly vulnerable. Penny never sort of set out to be the first woman to direct a hundred-million-dollar movie. For her, it was about the work; it was about the actual doing, the being on the set, and yet when Big grossed as much as it did and she sort of became a phenomenon as the first woman to do that, she paid it forward and went on to make A League of Their Own, which was a heavily women-centric movie. I loved that about her. She never sort of rested on her laurels and she kept working right up until she became ill unfortunately, may she rest in peace. And she set an example for every woman moving forward, every woman director out there was like, “OK, I can do this now!” And I always admired her for that. She was also a stickler on the set! Yes! Miss Take One Hundred and Sixty-Four! [Speaking in Penny Marshall’s distinctive voice)] “Eh, I’m not sure we got it. Do you think we got it?” And Tom [Hanks] and I would be like, “I THINK WE GOT IT!” And she would be like, “Ok, take three!”

 

Q) I am imagining her like, “Get back on that trampoline, Elizabeth, we’re doing it again!”

 

A) And again, and again! Oh God, we jumped on that trampoline until three o’clock in the morning, but you know she just loved shooting. She loved the whole process. She’d love trying it a different way, she loved writing and rewriting, and she just loved the work. It was always about the work for Penny and I miss her dearly.

 

Q) That movie made such an impact on Generation X. I can’t even look at a floor piano and not think about that scene in FAO Schwartz. It is a pop culture icon and, of course, it helped push you and Tom Hanks’ careers to new heights. When you read the script did you think it would be such a hit?

 

A) I don’t think either Tom or I thought that. I mean, Tom was nominated for his first Oscar for that movie, which was kind of remarkable in the fact it was a comedy. That hadn’t happened in a while but there was also a whole spate of body changing movies that were going on at that time, that neither one of us sort of went into this thinking, “Oh, you know, we’re about to make an iconic film.” But the minute we all saw what Tom was doing and the fact that Penny let Tom do that, he was incredibly insightful about playing a child. There was never any response that he gives in that movie that you don’t think “Oh, that’s a thirteen year old boy.” Also, with my character, she (Penny Marshall) visually created it. “We’ll start off with this very hard look for you with padded shoulders and your hair is up and tight and you’re wearing heavy make-up and red lipstick, and we’re just going to soften this as the film goes on because as he starts reemerging, you become softer and become more in touch with your innocence as well.” So, she had that foresight to sort of visually create that. I trusted her implicitly. Tom was phenomenal in the movie he was absolutely phenomenal…

 

Q) You both were phenomenal! It’s iconic; a piece of film history. It certainly helped a struggling FAO Schwartz sell floor pianos!

 

A) [laughs] Thank you and, yes, absolutely. There was a spate of sales on floor pianos. Suddenly they were everywhere.

 

Q) Season two of “The Moodys” is airing now on Fox, but what is next for you, Elizabeth? Are there any other projects in the works?

 

A) I’m just thrilled that I made it through the pandemic, that’s really where I’m at. I mean, I was so blessed to be able to go up to Canada and make this with Denis and Jay and Chelsea and Francois [Arnaud] that I really didn’t even give any thought about what I’m going to do next. I’m just glad that I made it because I lost five people during the pandemic. I’m just grateful that I’m here and have the opportunity to even do this. I’m really proud of the show and really proud that we all made it through safely and that we made it a comedy, which I think is so important right now right now. You know, I turn on and think, “This is so nihilistic. I can’t absorb it anymore.” I found myself watching “Mary Tyler Moore” even got into a “The Love Boat” moment where I’m literally watching “The Love Boat” because that is as much as my brain can handle right now. I was watching “Rhoda” just anything to pull myself out of that dystopian feeling, but I’m really proud that we’re putting something out there that’s positive, family oriented, and funny.

 

Q) I think it’s been great that you guys kind of pushed the second season forward past the pandemic so we’re not watching “The Moodys” in masks, because we see that enough of that in the real world. Comedies are our escape from this dystopian reality we are all living in.

 

EP: Exactly! We don’t need it on our TV screens, too!

 

Q) Is there anything you would like to say to the fans who have been following your career since your very first film About Last Night and all the way to “The Moodys?”

 

A) Thank you for letting me do this as long as I have. I think I’m going into year thirty-seven? Thirty-eight? I don’t know. I think I’m nearing the forty mark, so I’m absolutely thrilled that I can just keep doing this. I never thought when I became an actor at nineteen years old that I’d be doing it this long and it’s really a gift to be able to earn a living, raise my family, be in my loving marriage and do exactly what I want to do at work. You know, it’s not a job when you have this much fun. So, I’m incredibly grateful.