The Dublin Film Festival came to an end at the weekend after one of its most varied programs yet.
I think at one point we lost 23 games in a row.
I was a pretty good student, but I wasnt intensely interested in any particular subject.
Ed Harris and Jessica Lange at the world premiere of ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night’Simon Lazewski
I dont know what I was doing at Columbia because I didnt learn a damn thing.
Things changed, however, when he caught a play in the holidays.
I think his name was Pat Rucker.
Ed Harris and Jessica Lange with their Volta awardsSimon Lazewski
He was hysterical and having a great time.
Maybe I could do that acting thing.
Its like scoring a touchdown.
So, I started studying it.
When I was younger, he recalled, I actually turned downFull Metal Jacketto play the sergeant.
And Stanley Kubrick, I remember talking to him on the phone.
He said, Youre kidding me, you dont want to play this role?
And for some reason I turned it down.
I dont even remember why.
I think that had to do with my family.
I mightve been drunk at the time and didnt really want to think about it.
I felt it was a one-dimensional character on a certain level.
But thats kind of unusual, not to want to work with Mr. Kubrick.
I dont know who I thought I was.
So, I dont know if were going to do it or not.
And at this point Im going, Do we even still want to make this movie?
You know what I mean?
Initially, it was something that I felt passionate about, and its kind of waning.
So, I dont know if Im ever going to do it or not.
That was very bizarre, she admitted.
I was working at a restaurant in the Village.
It was a famous old writers bar, very well-known at the time, but not chic or anything.
Just like, it was an old Village bar.
Somebody had said to me once, Why dont you try modeling and make a little bit of money?
So, I went and saw this woman who had a modeling agency.
I said, Im taking acting classes and working as a waitress atThe Lions Head.
So, I said, Yes, of course.
They didnt like the way I looked, and they werent interested.
But the woman back in New York said, You flew her all the way out there.
Just run some film on her and then send her home.
So, they did, and, yeah, thats how it happened.
Unsurprisingly, being thrust into the limelight, and on such a high-profile tentpole, came at a price.
It was horrifying, it really was, she recalled.
We shot basically right up until the time the film came out.
It was coming out the next week, and I was flying home to Minnesota for Christmas.
I was so absolutely mortified that I went back to my seat, and I started to cry.
I was embarrassed by the whole thing.
Id hit these kind of doldrums where I wasnt liking the films that I was doing, she said.
I didnt like the parts I was being given.
I did things that I probably instinctively knew I shouldnt.
But as an actor, you keep thinking, Ive got to work.
I mean, I have to work.
Its a community, so you have to keep working.
Life had kind of overwhelmed everything.
So, that changed everything.
I had no idea who he was.
Why not try this?
I mean, its something entirely new.
Nobodys done stuff like this before.
And so I said yes, and I ended up doing the first four seasons ofAmerican Horror Story.
