The Sissy Thread

[Matt Mazur]

No! This is not a thread dedicated to all things Erik...but a thread about all things Sissy Spacek...

I am currently running a series on one of my favorite actresses for my website and wanted to share with you all and talk about the films and work of this great actress...Tuesday will be a long look at her 1970s oeuvre, Wednesday the 1980s. On Thursday I look at In the Bedroom in depth, and then on Friday, I will post my interview with the legend and her Get Low co-star Robert Duvall!

Let's get our Sissy on, AD.

Introduction

If I ever read a critic announcing “it’s all in the eyes” as a positive appraisal of a performer’s acting, I tend to stop reading right there. It’s not that great acting can’t be accomplished through just one glance, but I’ve found that this particularly abundant cliche in critical discourse is a wholly unimaginative, bordering on lazy, way to describe the thought, nuance and time that any competent actor painstakingly pours into each new persona they inhabit. What about the research? What about gesture? What about voice? Costume? All of these elements are hideously overlooked in a simplistic statement like “its all in the eyes”.

Now, I find myself in a quandary, looking like a bit of a jerk, because in all of my recent research on Sissy Spacek, the subject of PopMatters’ inaugural Performer Spotlight, I keep going back to the same place: the eyes. “The first time I remember seeing Sissy was in Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie,” said director Todd Field, via email. “That performance scared the living hell out of me.” As highlighted by De Palma’s camera with a shocking crimson split-screen, who could forget that righteous, terrifying fury behind the eyes of the soaked Carrie after her cruel classmates dump a bucket of pig’s blood on her at the prom? Or what about four years later as down-home superstar songbird Loretta Lynn, eyes sparkling as she take the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry for the fist time? Then there is what is arguably her most refined acting achievement in Field’s In the Bedroom as the haunted Ruth Fowler – a character who keeps everything in for most of the film and who must convey her serpent-coiled rage, grief and confusion through – you guessed it – her eyes as well as her stillness. It is in the film’s many worldess, contemplative moments, where Field presents the spectator with space and time to watch breathlessly as Spacek explores an off-the-beaten-path acting terrain that she had never hiked in her storied career.

Speaking of researching all of these great Spacek moments, I am reminded of perhaps my favorite part of being a film scholar: the homework. Last year, when I helmed the launch of PopMatters Director Spotlight series (featuring Pedro Almodovar), I was able to get lost in some of the greatest films of our time. With Spacek, not only did I get a taste of some of the finest auteurist cinema in modern film history, but it also felt partly like catching up with an old friend, as corny as that sounds. I grew up fascinated by Spacek’s ability to, despite a very distinct look (strawberry blonde hair, Texan lilt and, yes, the mercurially expressive blue-green eyes), disappear, against the odds, into a staggering collection of characters that rival those played by Hollywood greats such as Bette Davis and Vivien Leigh, except without the attitude or the neuroses. “Sissy has retained her Texas accent all these years and I find it really fascinating that she has never chosen to change that about herself,” said Spacek’s Carrie co-star, Tony-winner Betty Buckley. “It is present in all the roles that she plays. I think that’s an interesting thing about her as an actress, stylistically. I think there is a bravery [in her work] – Texas women are pretty straightforward individuals, we’re raised to be that way, authentic. She’s just always so authentic and very much herself in every movie she makes, very down to earth, a very earthy actress, doing very true, simple beautiful work. What you see is what you get.”

There is a familiar, endearing quality to her work, which has a warmth that can effortlessly draw viewers in, and though her characters feel somewhat built on the cornerstone of her own star persona, they have never once felt like the same woman. Each new role she assumes is an event because of this commitment to originality and because of Spacek’s economical style of performance, which ensures that the details are never repeated. “She’s a wonderful actress,” adds Buckley. “She has a wonderful combination of innocence and loneliness. She’s like an old soul but there’s this kind of innocence about her, a real purity.” This seems a fitting description for a performer who does not generally trade in superficial mannerisms, half-baked accents or showy physical gimmickry. What Spacek does always feels natural and explorative of the deep interior of the women she plays, even when she’s in a red chiffon gown and heels, decked out in a towering brunette wig, singing her heart out in front of thousands, golden starry lights twinkling and throngs of adoring “fans” cheering. “A few years ago Sissy was unable to attend a film festival where they were honoring her career, and asked if I might stand-in for her,” said Field. “The tribute began with a screening – a sample of performances spanning three decades. To watch her work in a run like that was powerful – in each scene yet another person appearing who bore no resemblance to Sissy Spacek. From Loretta Lynn in Michael Apted’s Coal Miner’s Daughter to the late Richard Farnsworth’s daughter, Rose, in David Lynch’s The Straight Story, you just never, never, catch her. She disappears completely. Just extraordinary.”

Like her contemporary Jessica Lange, Spacek’s signature style might stem from her escape from the Hollywood machine at just the right moment to focus on family rather than career. In the late 1980s, both trailblazing actresses eschewed a life of constant schmoozing, parties and industry wags, preferring instead to escape to ranches and farm countries far, far away from the conventional systems of movie making. Both women put their young families first, careers second, as women of all vocations can no doubt empathize with . Perhaps in suppressing any urge to become marquee forces, they both inadvertently became not only movie stars; but truly great actresses, aided by the positive familial influences that nurtured their natural artistic abilities. Admirably, Lange with artist Sam Shepard, and Spacek with art director Jack Fisk (most recently Oscar-nominated for There Will be Blood) have both remained highly productive artists and activists, working on their own terms and defining their public and private roles in remarkable ways in the face of rampant ageism and sexism in a traditionally male-dominated and male-friendly industry.

Spacek, whose film and television work now spans four decades, has worked alongside such luminaries as Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma, Robert Altman, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Keaton, Jack Lemmon, Whoopi Goldberg, Oliver Stone, and David Lynch. In her ground-breaking acting career, she has confronted such thorny cinematic and real life issues such as AIDS, abortion, suicide, teenage alienation, stardom, bullying, civil rights, sibling rivalry, motherhood, feminine identity, murder, and political corruption both stateside and internationally. All of this work has been accomplished while remaining true to her own artistic impulses, successfully juggling a career and family, and constantly, remarkably challenging the public’s perception of her as a performer.

It is with tremendous excitement that PopMatters shines the first-ever Performer Spotlight onto Sissy Spacek, a true revolutionary, a living legend and a completely cool lady who just so happens to have eyes that are so expressive they rival Bette Davis’ legendary gaze in terms of just sheer impact. It turns out, at least in Spacek’s case, sometimes “it” actually can be “all in the eyes.”

Sissy's Texas Legend



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature...-texas-legend/


The 1970s, featuring Badlands, Carrie & 3 Women



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature...of-the-time-t/

The 1980s: Coal Miner's Daughter, Raggedy Man, Crimes of the Heart, etc.



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature...iddle-america/

How In the Bedroom Highlights a Career of Risk-Taking



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature...f-risk-taking/


Barbequing with Legends: Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek on Cinema, Cinephilia and Good-Looking Shoes



http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/...on-cinema-and/

[McTeague]

I adore this woman. One of the very, very best in her art. A virtuoso that really puts to shame most of her mates. It is hard to find someone who can give such stingy intensity to a role without using extreme theatrics. What she does in Carrie, Three Women and In the Bedroom is staggering.

more later.

[Matt Mazur]

"virtuoso" is a really great way to describe her, McT.

[puxzkkx]

I really like her, but I find she's grown a bit less interesting with age. A lot of her appeal was this strange, gamine look that she used in odd and searching ways. The talent is still there but I feel like she is a bit more generic as an older woman, but then again the roles she's been offered/been taking haven't been as interesting as those she played earlier in her career.

[Moviefreak]

Phenomenal actress. I also think McTeague nailed it by calling her a virtuoso. The sheer amount of depth and variety that her career has had is pretty incredible. She has such a distinct quality to her craft that none of her peers can match. Oh and those eyes.

I really need to revisit In the Bedroom though. I saw it a long time ago and didn't really love the film or her performance, but the amount of people that champion it here (particularly Matt), has made me interested again.

Also, considering the amount of auteur's she's worked with throughout her career, I'm still waiting for her to make a film with David Lynch. Which is pretty surprising that she still hasn't, quite frankly. Not only are they friends, but I think she'd fit perfectly into his universe.

[Matt Mazur]

Originally Posted by Moviefreak

I really need to revisit In the Bedroom though. I saw it a long time ago and didn't really love the film or her performance, but the amount of people that champion it here (particularly Matt), has made me interested again.

Also, considering the amount of auteur's she's worked with throughout her career, I'm still waiting for her to make a film with David Lynch. Which is pretty surprising that she still hasn't, quite frankly. Not only are they friends, but I think she'd fit perfectly into his universe.

But what about the Straight Story????

And I will echo this sentiment on In the Bedroom. I have always really loved the film but at first did not get the reaction to Spacek's performance in particular. This for me has been a refined work of acting that offers new shades with each viewing, there are so many finely-tuned details in the character that only a seasoned pro could pull off and I loved that Ruth kind of works against all of the things people love about Sissy - her warmth, her easy-going nature, the down-home feeling.

[affy18]

Definitely one of my all-time favorite actresses. She's up there with the very best. Her work in Carrie, 3 Women and Coal Miner's Daughter is the stuff of legends, yes.

[Moviefreak]

Originally Posted by Matt Mazur

But what about the Straight Story????

And I will echo this sentiment on In the Bedroom. I have always really loved the film but at first did not get the reaction to Spacek's performance in particular. This for me has been a refined work of acting that offers new shades with each viewing, there are so many finely-tuned details in the character that only a seasoned pro could pull off and I loved that Ruth kind of works against all of the things people love about Sissy - her warmth, her easy-going nature, the down-home feeling.

OMG, I totally forgot about The Straight Story. And I really like that movie too. Maybe it's because it isn't "typical" Lynch. I want to see her in something along the lines of his usual films. I think she'd be perfect for something like that, even at this stage of her career.

[Matt Mazur]

I know! People tend to forget the Straight Story is a Lynch film, myself included, because it does not seem like one, at least overtly! I agree, though, it is a beautiful little movie.

Also agree it would be great to see her in a Lynch film if the role was right. I can see her doing something risky like Diane Ladd's Marietta in Wild at Heart or something along those lines...

[Moviefreak]

Originally Posted by Matt Mazur

Also agree it would be great to see her in a Lynch film if the role was right. I can see her doing something risky like Diane Ladd's Marietta in Wild at Heart or something along those lines...

[McTeague]

Originally Posted by Matt Mazur

I can see her doing something risky like Diane Ladd's Marietta in Wild at Heart or something along those lines...

This may be my wet dream director-actress-project.

[Feel the Soul]

I love her.

[BTN]

I agree she is very down to earth and she brings authenticity to nearly every movie. She had a great streak in the 80's. Coal Miners Daughter, Raggedy Man, Missing, The River, Crimes of The Heart. She was great in all those movies.

[Matt Mazur]

Originally Posted by BTN

I agree she is very down to earth and she brings authenticity to nearly every movie. She had a great streak in the 80's. Coal Miners Daughter, Raggedy Man, Missing, The River, Crimes of The Heart. She was great in all those movies.

Her run in the 80s is so, so, so impressive. Going back and really watching all of those films again - the ones that really inspired me as a kid - was a huge, glorious project for me. Some of the films were always great, but her performances were never anything but great. Raggedy Man is a stand out for me right now as my last viewing was quite meaningful. I was able to look at that movie much differently now than I was way back when I last saw it. Jack Fisk has such a great eye for simple beauty.

Just actually watched Missing again last night and boy, she sure is pissed off convincingly in that movie! Really nice performance...scary movie.

I got the sense that there was always the intention of taking a very long break from making movies to raise a family and to do that at the height of one's career is either really brave or really stupid, to paraphrase Spacek.

Glad to see so much Spacek love here! Pux

[Matt Mazur]

First post is updated with an essay on Spacek's work in the 1970s, including Badlands, Carrie and 3 Women!