Ellen Barkin On 'Another Happy Day,' Fox News And Not Being Pretty
The refreshingly outspoken and fiercely honest Ellen Barkin -- for evidence check out her new Twitter account -- hit the big screen this month in the searing drama "Another Happy Day," along with co-stars Thomas Haden Church, Demi Moore and Ellen Burstyn.
The 57-year-old refused to discuss rumors that she is dating the film's director, Sam Levinson, but had plenty to tell The Huffington Post about her beef with Fox News, her frequently talked-about face and getting married at an older age.
"Another Happy Day" takes place during a family wedding, which seems like a breeding ground for drama. Where does that come from?
I see it as a film about communication, a film about everyone's desperate need to be heard and the very real fact that nobody is listening anymore to each other. I see this family as a microcosm of the world we live in. I see the big theme as, "How do you keep loving the people you're meant to love despite their shortcomings?"
Why do you think people don't listen to each other?
Why do we live in the world we live in? I would have to say, with all due respect, a big part of the reason we're in the mess we're in is because of the media. It's turned our world into a virtual circus -- who can yell the loudest and who can say the most inflammatory things ... I think this movie is very reflective of that world.
So, I'm guessing you're not a big fan of Fox News?
No. I actually credit Fox News with being at the forefront of the destruction of the world we live in.
You took some time off while you were married to your second husband, Ron Perelman, but you've come back bigger and better. Do you feel better when you are working?
Yeah, I feel absolutely great. I went back to work five years ago, I guess, with "Ocean's Thirteen" ... I think since then I've been lucky enough to be offered very challenging roles and I feel at 57, I'm brave and strong and I bring it.
Ellen Burstyn plays your mom in "Another Happy Day." What was that the coolest thing about working with her?
I think every time Ellen Burstyn leaves her house she deserves to have people genuflect in front of her. I was very intimidated to work with her. I've worked with some impressive male co-stars, but the likes of Ellen Burstyn... Maybe because she's a woman, and as a woman -- for whatever reason -- I take a woman's approval much more seriously than I do a man's. Like whenever I'm in therapy, I like to have a female shrink because I know I'm going to be my most honest and they'll challenge me the most. I was pretty intimidated by Ellen, but once she hits the set she just strips that all away. She's the most accessible, generous, open human being.
Whenever I read stories about you there are endless paragraphs describing the symmetry of your face.
You mean the asymmetry.
Does the criticism bother you?
It did when I was younger. I read that I looked like somebody who had Diane Sawyer's face after it had been smashed up against a windshield after a boxing match. Yeah, that hurt my feelings. It hurts my feelings when any actor is either condemned or complimented for their appearance.
Yeah, but when you're a movie star that's what happens.
You know what I want from a movie star? I want an interesting face that I can look at for two hours.
That's an actor, not a movie star, isn't it?
No, it's a movie star. There are movie stars who are actors. I mean George Clooney is a movie star who is an actor. I can look at that face for 24 hours. Here's what I look for: I look for the wheels turning behind their eyes, and you can have the most gorgeous face in the world and show me that.
Look, I know my face is an acquired taste. I'm not the girl -- and never was -- that everyone says, "Oh wow." No one's ever going to call me pretty.
But you know what you've got? Sex appeal and confidence.
That's nice, thank you. There's a part of me, for whatever reason and it doesn't always work to my advantage, that doesn't care what anybody thinks of me. I've never left a room, a meeting, a job and thought, "I wonder if they liked me."
That's great. That's confidence.
It's not. Maybe as I got older it became confidence. I certainly didn't have it when I was younger. I cared what I thought of me and if everybody hated me, they hated me. I was only going to fail or succeed based on my judgment, not anybody else's.
You're on good terms with your first ex, Gabriel Byrne, but not so much with the second. Think you'll get married again?
Yeah, I'm a little old.
You know you're allowed to get married when you're older.
I know. I'm not jaded; I consider my marriage to Gabriel very successful. We have two great kids that we raised together. We have remained very close friends and confidantes and mentors to each other. I don't think success even in a marriage means forever. I think it means you did well when you were there and when you started not to do well, you were able to leave with dignity and a friendship intact that always carries with it the reflection of why you were together. So I'm not jaded by that. I'm very kind of reckless when it comes to those things because I think happiness is a very fleeting thing and if it affords itself you should take it.
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First Posted: 11/09/11 03:30 PM ET Updated: 11/09/11 03:30 PM ET