Interviews With the Cast of Showtime's Sophisticated New Drama "Out of Order": Justine Bateman, Felicity Huffman and Kim Dickens
By Kit Bowen, Hollywood.com Staff
|
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Is working in a Hollywood milieu easier? Will we get an inside view?
Dickens: Most of the other times I've dealt with subject matter that is more for the everyman. So it's been fun to do this--"real" life and "reel" life--but then you think, we are really representing a very specific little circle of people. It's not like that in New York and it's certainly not like that in Kansas.
Bateman: We do have the advantage of living in Los Angeles. We can say, "Yeah, this is what the women in the Palisades are like." But I think the "laymen" are pretty savvy now. I think years ago if you did a film which spoke in that Hollywood code, people wouldn't get what was being said. But I just don't think that's the case anymore. There are so many entertainment magazines and Web sites like yourself, I think everybody is an expert on the Hollywood lingo and the way it all works. They may still want see about all the inner workings, but now they'll understand more what's going on.
What is the atmosphere on the set like?
Dickens: It is bit family-oriented. Felicity and [husband William H. Macy, who has a small role on the show] have two kids and Justine has a baby but Eric and I are childless. We get go out and have pizza and beer. And Felicity is like, "Oh, that's not fair" and we're like, "Oh, but you have a husband and family.
Huffman: [Laughing] It's heinous! I hate it! Is it rewarding? I'm in a different place now. I have two children. I don't eat, breathe and sleep work the way I used to. My priorities are split, focus has changed, but it's a wonderful group to work with. And Eric, when he's sober, is just great. [Laughs] What's also really great is Wayne and Donna worked really hard to get all the episodes done, so we know the entire arc of the story. We aren't waiting around going, "OK, what's going to happen next? How does the story go?" So we all feel prepared knowing what we are going into.
Any aspirations to write?
Dickens: No, not really. I like my job as an actor, I really do. I like our schedules; I like what we get to focus on. With writers, it's like you never get to stop working, always absorbing and watching life around you. You do that as an actor too, I guess, but I just like doing the acting part better. Writers have their own vacuum. You got to get your word out there and get it read, hope that people see your vision. It's just as much a struggle as anything else.
Bateman: I don't really have any aspirations per se. I mean, I do write, short stories and poems and I enjoy my own writing. [Laughs] Guess everybody does. But I don't think I have a script in me. I've got one of the choicest jobs in the entire world. Look at me. Today, I've got the day off, sitting around and tomorrow I'll go say lines in front of a camera and someone will do my makeup. And then someone will give me a check. It's really a privileged position. Sure, there's hard work too, but honestly, it can't compare to having a real job. I don't care how many stunts someone did for themselves or whatever. It just can't compare.
Huffman: I would love to write, but I'm pretty sure I'm talent-free at it. I would like to--in this business, it's good to have as many balls in the air as you can.
What about having to be glamorous 24/7?
Bateman: I just don't do it. I don't have time to do all that. That does seem like it would be a lot of work, to have to look a particular way all the time. I was just saying to my friend the other day, when Jennifer Lopez travels, I can't fathom the idea of how much luggage she's got with her. I mean, she's got a completely new outfit on in each picture, like from the shoes to the hat. That's got to be a lot of luggage. For me personally, I just don't have time.
Out of Order airs Mondays, 10 p.m. ET/PT