Amy Madigan tells me people think they recognize her and ask, “Oh, are you still acting?” The answer to that is an affirmative yes. She has never stopped, whether it be movies, TV or stage, but the great roles are hard to come by. Exactly 40 years since getting a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination opposite Gene Hackman, Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret in 1985’s Twice in a Lifetime, she is back with a great role — big time — and in the awards conversation this year for her unforgettable turn in the horror film Weapons, in which she is almost unrecognizable as wacky, and then very scary, Aunt Gladys. The film was a sleeper hit, and one of the main reasons is Madigan.
She joins me in conversation for this week’s episode of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side, and we talk about getting this role, which is unlike any other she has played in her long career. It also is a character that inspired a lot of Halloween costumes last month and has a lot of Oscar buzz, which we also talk about while reliving the experience she had the first time around four decades ago. At her heart, though, it is all about the acting and getting the chance to keep doing it. “I’m a character actor at heart, and that’s what I love,” she tells me. We also talk about plans for a prequel to Weapons centered on Aunt Gladys, and she is all in on that. We also dish on those wild stunts she did and the pure physicality of the role.
She has another film that just got released in theaters last week, Rebuilding, a big hit at Sundance that stars Josh O’Connor as a man trying to put his life back together after a devastating fire destroys his ranch. A few weeks before the film premiered in Park City, Madigan and her husband Ed Harris saw their two homes in Malibu go up in flames during the Palisades Fire in January. We talk about losing her home of 42 years, but how they too are rebuilding.
In terms of the past, we discuss working with John Candy in Uncle Buck, Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, and so much more including her Golden Globe-winning role and Emmy nomination for the TV film, Roe vs. Wade and her anger at seeing what was settled law having been overturned by the Supreme Court.
To watch our conversation and get the “actor’s side” of things from Amy Madigan, just click the link above.
Join me every Wednesday this Oscar season for a new edition of The Actor’s Side and every Monday for a new episode of our filmmaker-focused Behind the Lens.