BackStage West "Lynnda Ferguson & Susan Sullivan"
Lynnda Ferguson and Susan Sullivan arc working together some nights in the Matrix Theatre's long-running current production of J .B. Priestley's "Dangerous Corner"—the show is double-cast, true to Matrix form, with two actors assigned to each role and the casts mixed and matched in different combinations each performance. (Ferguson trades off with Marilyn Mclntyre, and Sullivan with Claudette Nevins.)
Ferguson has played leading roles on stages across the country, including Neil Simons "Rumors" on Broadway, lady Anne to Stacy Keach's "Richard III" in Washington, D.C., and "Hedda Gabler" at South Coast Repertory. She worked previously at the Matrix in "Mad Forest" and "The Homecoming." TV appearances include "Almost Perfect, "News Radio," and "Picket Fences," and she stars in the upcoming feature "Raven's Blood" with her husband, John Walcott, with whom she just wrapped another film, "Making Contact." Sullivan, a two-time Emmy nominee for "Falcon Crest," has starred in many series and miniseries, including "The Monroes," "The George Carlin Show," "Rage of Angels," "Rich Man, Poor Man," and "Midway." Her stage background began on Broadway opposite Dustin Hoffman in "Jimmy Shine," and includes productions at the Mark Taper Forum and in regional theatre. Sullivan is now also appearing in her first feature film, "My Best Friend's Wedding."
The two met recently before a performance to talk about their craft and their livelihood.
Susan Sullivan: This double-casting is the most interesting theatrical experience I have ever had. When I came into it, I said at the first read-through, "Well, there's gotta be an Alpha actor in each role—somebody who is the leader." And really there isn't. Have you had that experience?
Lynnda Ferguson: What I found, particularly in The Homecoming, and to a lesser degree in this, is that because everybody in the different roles was so different, who I was in the play was different depending on the combination of people. I mean, the domino effect of the combination of personalities is such a turn-on. I feel like I don't ever want to do it any other way.
Susan: It is fascinating. In the initial stages of the rehearsal process, I found that when I would do something on the stage, I would be really interested to see if Claudette would do die same thing. Now, of course, I know better.
Lynnda: Well, this is your first time doing this. The first time did it, in The Homecoming, the person I partnered with was more of a known quantity at the Matrix, Sharon Lawrence—she had already done several, so I felt coming into The Homecoming that I needed to shadow her more...
Susan: That's what I felt.
Lynnda: —that I needed to do more what she did. I made her like the Alpha. In fact, before we did Dangerous Corner, [producer] Joe Stem called me up and said, "OK, Lynnda, I want you to just own this. Don't be afraid to try what the other people are doing, and don't be afraid to do your own thing."
Only Reconnect
Susan: You know, for a long time, I went from one series to another, and I never had to get up and create anything for myself. I sort of forgot how to do it—or maybe I never really knew how. I decided I wanted to do a play and work in the theatre, so I pursued this myself. I had started reading plays and giving them to director Andrew J. Robinson, who happens to be my neighbor.
Lynnda: I didn't know that.
Susan: And doing this play rejuvenated my feeling about my art, and about one of the things you forget, which you discover coming back: that there is this artistic family you belong to, which nurtures you in a way that nothing else does. I didn't even know how much I missed it and how much it would mean to me to reconnect to it. For the kind of work that's gonna feed your soul, for the most part you gotta rely on yourself.
Lynnda: Absolutely To get drawn to the places where you can do exciting work for yourself requires effort. Agents and managers in Hollywood have nothing to do with that.
Susan: Ultimately, you have to create your own life as an artist. It seems to be a need thing—that you need to express this part of yourself. What was happening to me in my own life was that I was trying to push it away. I was trying to find other outlets: I started writing and painting, and all of that was fine, but it wasn't my primary form of expression; it always seemed like the poor relative that you were sort of trying to nurture along. I read a few years ago something that Frank Langella said in SAG magazine: that the saddest thing that happens to an actor is when they lose their passion. And what I was trying to do, I realized, was to kill my passion so I wouldn't have this terrible longing, as opposed to honoring the longing and trying to do something with it that would be satisfying.
Lynnda: Why would you try to kill it?
Susan: Because I didn't want to be hurt. I didn't want to be rejected. I felt abandoned by the business—because I was abandoned by the business, in a sense. I mean, I shouldn't complain, because I worked pretty consistently, but when you're used to working on a series all the time, and then suddenly you spend six months or a year not working—it was really shocking, and I felt, Well, I'm old now. I had turned 50, and in this business they tell you your career is over at 40, so at 50 I thought, Well, I'm lucky—I got an extra 10 years! I think if you buy that myth, you're really finished.
Hooked
Lynnda: It was a thrill for me when I came to the first day of Dangerous Corner rehearsals and I saw you there. Because—and this is the truth—I hardly ever watch TV, but I happened to catch the premiere of Falcon Crest, and I allowed myself to get hooked on it. I watched it. It was like my show. And I loved you in it. And I kind of thought, I want to be like her when I grow up. I did, I really did. you were always like one of my favorite actresses.
Susan: Oh, Lynnda, I'm so... please, thank you.
Lynnda: It's true, and I watched as much as I could. People thought I was crazy. "You watch what?"
Susan: I remember the day, we were not far into the rehearsal process, and you were leaving for the day, and I said, "Lynnda, I think you're a wonderful actress." Do you remember that? You looked so startled—everybody looked so startled—because actresses tend not to say that to one another. And you know what? We should say it more.