If you're looking for a movie this weekend that doesn't revolve around superheroes, billionaire industrialists or things exploding, you can't go wrong with Mother and Child, a new ensemble drama starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington as three women coping, in their own ways, with the rewards and perils of motherhood. While Bening and Watts play a mother and daughter separated throughout their lives via adoption, Washington's character is in a different situation, a woman who has undergone years of infertility treatments but has finally decided, along with her husband, to look into adoption. She meets repeatedly with a pregnant teenagers (Shareeka Epps) with the intention of adopting the girl's baby, but the girl's fierce questioning as well as other outside events make the adoption a much more complicated process than Washington's character ever imagined.
Washington, who is currently starring on Broadway in David Mamet's Race, has been shining in any number of supporting roles over the years, from the pivotal role of Kay Amin in The Last King of Scotland to work with Mother and Child co-star Samuel L. Jackson in Lakeview Terrace. I talked to Washington about her preparation for her character in Mother and Child, how much of her characters she takes home with her at the end of the day, and going head-to-head with the ridiculously talented Epps. Mother and Child is in limited release starting today.
Do you think of this as kind of being like an old-fashioned women's picture?
I've only used the term in a flip, amusing way, saying it's a chick flick. I actually don't believe, quite honestly, that it's a film for women. It's a film that everybody relates to, because the one true common denominator we have is that we all have a mother.
There haven't been that many films specifically targeting this relationship. Do you think it's because it's so difficult to get films about women made in Hollywood?
I don't know. I'm sure that there is something in there about the politics of filmmaking in some way, but I think this film is really a testament to the great artistry of Rodrigo Garcia. He's very insightful and a bit of a genius when it comes to human behavior and the vulnerability of humanity. Everyone's talking about the women in this film, but you also see it with the men. These men who are so vulnerable, and compassionate, men who are really committed to loving these women unconditionally. They're written with such wisdom and gentleness. I think what Rodrigo understands is the subtle elegance of humanity at its most pure and vulnerable. I think maybe we attribute those qualities, that vulnerability, to women more often, so it feels like a woman's film. But there are really strong, important male figures in this film.
What kind of research did you have to do into the adoption process to understand your character?
I really love research. It's one of the things I love most about my job. I feel like it's me in the lab cooking up the character. I bought every book I could get my hands on about adoption, I interviewed people, I watched documentaries. I did a lot of similar research around infertility procedures, because that's where we meet Lucy, at the end of that journey. That could be its own movie. It's like meeting someone walking away form a crash, entering into a war zone.
What did you learn through all of that that surprised you, or that you took away more than anything else?
One of the things that was really useful for me was the level of hormonal, emotional roller coaster that's involved in infertility procedures. That helped me understand how on edge she was at the beginning. The starting point of her and what she's been through.
How does your working relationship with Rodrigo Garcia compare to other directors?
Every director is completely different. It's part of the fun of doing what we do. Every actor you work with has a different method, same with the director. You have to figure out what your shared language is and how to best support each other, and also take care of yourself. Rodrigo is great because he's such a visionary. And he's very supportive of actors, and he really trusts his actors. He trusts you to do the work and to do it well and to show up, and he's incredibly supportive. He gives you the most important thing anybody could give you, which is an incredible script. When the words are there, your job is half done. The words he gives you, it's really a privilege.
Shareeka Epps is terrific in this movie, and kind of terrifying.
I know. I think we're really lucky that Shareeka Epps has decided to be an actor. She's got so much to offer. I think she's one of those bright stars on the horizon ready to explode. She's massively talented. We needed someone so grounded and so strong and so self-assured. You need that on the screen. Lucy is such a controlling person, so for her to give up control, it would have to be to a really powerful, dynamic young woman.
You've said you felt defensive for your character. Does that happen often with roles you play?
I have a hard time leaving the work at work. I wish I was one of those people who just left it all at the office. There's always a point in the beginning where I think, I have no idea who this person is, I have no idea how to play her. Then somewhere toward the end I always feel like we're the same person in a way. Obviously I don't always think I'm exactly that person, but they all become very special to me in some way.
How does that change when you're onstage, like now in Race? That living inside a person has to be magnified.
I think in some ways I'm leanring doing this play how to separate more from her, because I just can't. In a film you chart out [the tough days], but in a play you have to do the hard part every single performance. Every single performance is going to be tough. I have had to learn how to dial down at the end of the night in a different way.
