.LauraDern on navigating her post–Jurassic Park career, embracing Citizen Ruth as an “equal-opportunity offender” film, and why the recent Texas abortion ban lends Citizen Ruth fresh relevance
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photo by Miramax Citizen Ruth is about a paint-huffing vagrant who has been arrested 16 times and given birth to four children, all of whom were seized by the state. She possesses a reckless distaste for adult behavior, at one point telling a guy she slept with to “suck the shit out of my ass, you fucker!” When Ruth gets pregnant again and faces a felony charge for endangering the fetus, a judge offers her a reduced sentence if she has an abortion.
I was at a very lucky time in my career, being afforded lots of opportunities. At the time, I was making the choices as an actor that my parents raised me to make, which is Do what you feel in your gut, play the roles that speak to you, challenge yourself, be bold, be radical. I cared deeply, and still do, about human rights. Now, reflecting back, it’s almost like it’s my daughter, like, Yes! Go, girl.
First I read the script, and it was flawless. Every line I say in the movie is in the script; it’s not an ad-libbed movie. It was right there, and it was so radical and mean and vulnerable and the best example of an equal-opportunity-offender script I’d read. Then we had lunch together to talk about it. It was a match made in heaven. He was so inspiring. It was so clear he was a great filmmaker. I don’t know how you can know it, but you can know it somehow. He understood it so completely.
Maybe a few, just because we were shooting in traffic and having to get the turn of the car. The way the actor playing my whatever — I don’t want to even call him an ex — rips through the plastic is all so pitiful. And then Swoosie Kurtz’s expressions! It’s so fun. It made me laugh so hard. I’m thrilled you’re highlighting it because my daughter’s generation are big Planned Parenthood supporters and horrified by what’s happening in Texas right now, and they’ve found it recently.
Oh, they definitely did not capitalize. They did the opposite of that, for sure. And for sure it was an intentional choice.I think we’ve all learned a lot since then about risk-taking and promises and bullying. All I can say is it was absolutely intentional to definitely kill that support — for me specifically and for the movie.
Yeah. As people who loved something and put their hearts and souls into it and feel like it was killed, it feels wonderful that people find it now. On the retribution and karma tip, it feels exciting that it would be now on so many levels, as you can pick up on. Also, given what’s happening in Texas, if we can get the world to see it, that would be really exciting.
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