Frances McDormand is well-aware of the kinds of characters she’s known to play — and her own reputation. “I mean, I know I’m profane. And outspoken. But I don’t know, [these roles are] fun!” the Oscar winner told The New York Times in a wide-ranging interview.
“It’s not just that they’re angry,” she explained. “It’s more — my politics are private, but many of my feminist politics cross over into my professional life. Because I portray female characters, so I have the opportunity to change the way people look at them. Even if I wasn’t consciously doing that, it would happen anyway, just because of how I present as a woman, or as a person. I present in a way that’s not stereotypical, even if I’m playing a stereotypical role.” She added, “I can’t subtract that from myself anymore. I could when I was younger.” The difference, according to McDormand, is that when you’re older, “your life is written on your face.”
The actress addressed how her face — and body — have affected her carer trajectory in the film industry. “McDormand explained to me that had she stayed in the theater, she would have played all the canonical leading women, but in Hollywood her looks disqualified her,” the Times writes. “I was too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too blond, too dark — but at some point they’re going to need the other,” she predicted. “So I’d get really good at being the other.” As frustrating as it is to see women as talented as McDormand rejected for roles because they don’t conform to Hollywood’s narrow criteria of beauty, the actress was clearly on to something when she decided to embrace her identity as the other. She’s now a four-time Academy Award nominee and took home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 1997 for “Fargo.”
McDormand’s latest project has led to plenty of awards buzz. TIFF Audience Award-winner “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” sees her playing Mildred Hayes, a woman who resorts to unusual means while seeking justice for her late daughter, who was raped and murdered months prior. Not a single arrest has been made since, so Mildred decides to rent three billboards in her small town drawing attention to this fact and singling out the beloved local chief of police. Mildred is grieving — but she’s not the weepy type. She’s unapologetically harsh in her words and deeds, and as a flashback shows, she was this way before her daughter’s death, too.
The film’s writer and director, Martin McDonagh, said that both he and McDormand “loved” Mildred’s character, “but didn’t want to do anything to make her more likable or lovable.” He explained, “For once, we don’t have to show the female side or the light side or the nurturing, mothering side. We both said, ‘[expletive] that, we’re doing something different this time.’”
“I became interested in educating people in the variety of ways in which women can express their emotion,” McDormand said of her experience playing the titular role in HBO’s “Olive Kitteridge.” “Which is much easier to do in a large role than in a supporting role to a male protagonist. In general, the women in a supporting role to a male protagonist — cry a lot.” So McDormand insisted that Olive find alternative ways of communicating emotion rather than simply breaking down in tears. She won an Emmy for the role.
Head over to The New York Times for more from McDormand, including her thoughts about the power women gain after menopause. “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” opens in theaters November 10.
