A Different Look at
Rue McClanahan
“I Thought there was either
death or success... I would just
have to become an actress.”
Continued from Page 17
happen, making it real, and making it exciting,
engrossing, funny…whatever it is. Whereas in
film, it is truly a director’s medium. The director
can cut and paste and change performances any
way he desires. In television, it is very much like
you are doing a film, a one-camera show, but it is
still very much a director’s prerogative. You have
to perform it, but you perform it out of sequence
without an audience…. except for the crew, and
they all looked bored. Except, of course, when I
performed then they were just mesmerized! When
it is on tape, like Golden Girls, that experience
is similar to a stage performance. That’s because
it is done in sequence from beginning to end, in
front of a live audience, at least once or twice. So,
you get the sense…when I first got out there doing
Maude, I said, “This is very akin to acting.” The
timing is different because you have to hit a mark.
Whereas in rehearsal, you needed to be in the moment, but you had to wait for just a fraction of a
second, for the camera to be on you before you replied to what was just said to you. So, the timing
is different. You are not swimming in this marvelous river on the stage, where you are in control.
Of course, you can control it with your fellow
actors; but you have to keep everything the way it
was rehearsed. You can also improvise – but you
have to say what was written; after all, that is the
art form for that part of the business. You can’t
go in there and usurp the writer’s part. But, you
can interpret the role in a slightly different way
according to what the other actors give you for
that performance. So, you can grow and
change and try to keep to it fresh. Many
actors don’t do that; they play it exactly
the way they did it the day before.
Freya: How boring, right?
Rue: You know it is amazing, when you
are working with an actor who does that,
no matter what you do differently, they
don’t respond to that difference. They
don’t create with you; they just give you
last night’s performance. I find that so
uncreative.
Freya: Yes, it’s just like a robot.
Rue: Well, that’s what they are comfortable with,
but it is a shame.
Freya: It’s interesting to hear you discuss this
subject because Golden Girls was absolute casting
magic. The interactions between the characters
were amazing. Did this evolve through rehearsals
or was it just instantaneous?
Rue: It was in the office of NBC. It was there the
first time the four of us ever got together to read a
scene for the Golden Girls. We had it then. Little
things we hadn’t thought of came into being. We
had those characters and we had those relationships. You see, someone once said that casting is
99% of the success of the show because it is! It
is the casting and it has to be right. When people
cast “stars” for a part, JUST because they are
stars, it doesn’t mean the show will work. The
actors have to be right for the part. There was a
show cast on Broadway a couple of years ago and
the director only wanted Tony Award winning
actors. It was the revival of Steel Magnolias. The
cast was all female and they had all received a
Tony at some point in their careers. But, it was
not a successful show. What they needed were 7
good actresses.
Freya: Rue, tell me about your new series.
Rue: I am filming in Shreveport, Louisiana for
the Logo Channel. The new show is called “Sordid
Lies.” It’s about 13 dysfunctional “white trash”
people; it’s a very funny script. Del Shores casts
it in such a way that the actors and actresses are
just right for the roles. Mine is the lead role, but
it wasn’t in the movie “Sordid Lies.” My character
was a corpse in the movie and the movie was all
about her funeral. But in the series, she is very
much alive and is a part of everything. Delta
Burke was going to play one of the roles (which
she created in the movie) but she had to drop out
just the other day for health reasons. So now, Del
is scrambling to find the right actress to play her
role in order to keep the balance the way it needs
to be. And, Logo executives are suggesting certain
stars that might be wrong for the part and that
20 Woman
The County
Magazine
would not make it a success. They aren’t thinking about the success of their show, which is what
they should be thinking about. But, they want
“star” names to go with Rue McClanahan and
Olivia Newton John. They want a name as big as
Delta Burke and that is not necessary. What you
need is the right actress. Fortunately Del knows
that and he has enough clout to get the right
actress.
Freya: Great casting is where that symbiotic
relationship is created. Going back to The Golden
Girls how has that series and the role of Blanche
changed your life?
Rue: Oh, well. It has made me famous. That is
a big change. I can’t go out on the street without being recognized. That part is very good. I
am sure it has helped me get other roles that I
wouldn’t have been considered for. Of course, unfortunately, people think I am Blanche Devereaux.
They don’t realize I have a greater range, but Del
Shores did. The character is as far from Blanche
Devereaux as she can get.
Freya: Well, tell me about this new character.
Rue: She is the matriarch of the family, and is in
her late sixties. She is a widow, a church-going
woman, and has never been in a beer hall. In
the very first opening segment, she gets a friend’s
daughter, Dixie May, out of prison. When she
gets Dixie May out of prison she invites her to live
with her. Dixie May is played by Olivia Newton
John. And, of course, she is a loving, kind woman
and shall we say, not very well educ ated. They
live in a tiny western town in Texas called Winters; you probably know it. It couldn’t be too far
from where you are. Under 3,000 in population.
Well, she gets in all kinds of trouble. Actually, all
of them do. She gets into trouble with Noleta who
lives in the trailer park. (Noleta is the character that was to be played by Delta Burke.) Now,
Noleta is married to a man named G.W. who is a
Vietnam War veteran. He has lost both legs and
has prosthetic limbs from the knee down. So, her
son, played by Blake Ford, is having a very hard
time with his wife because she can’t stand for him
to remove the legs when they go to bed. And, he
can’t make love very well with the legs on. And