LOIS’ MEMORY LANE
‘ Marjorie Prime’ star reflects on relationships forged in Chicago theaters
The 60- year acting career of Lois Smith has been as much about her acclaimed theater performances as her acting in films and on television. So it’s not surprising the actress’ thoughts about Chicago focus on the strong friendships and relationships she has with such colleagues as fellow Steppenwolf ensemble members Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts.
“I’ve only resided in Chicago when I’m working there, and frankly when I am there, working is pretty much all I do!” said the Kansas native, who long has called New York home. But Smith is delighted she was cast along with Metcalf and Letts in “Lady Bird,” an upcoming film directed by Greta Gerwig.
During her time in Our Town, Smith has become fascinated with “how Chicago’s architecture and waterfront blend together so beautifully. In New York, while surrounded by water, it’s so crowded — with the buildings so packed together — that you rarely get the same sense of how the architecture and the public art complements the waterfront, as you do in Chicago.”
In her new film “Marjorie Prime” ( opening Friday at Facets Cinematheque), the actress plays the title charac- ter, as she did in a couple of stage productions. Michael Almereyda’s sci- fi drama is set in the near future, when Marjorie and other elderly people are provided with artificial intelligent companions — very lifelike holograms — to help them deal with fading memories. Marjorie’s AI friend is a younger version of her late husband, played by the very handsome Jon Hamm.
The actress laughed when reminded that very early in her long career she was cast opposite another heartthrob: James Dean in “East of Eden,” back in 1954. “Not so bad is it? I’ve been very lucky for so many times,” she said, “and over so many years.”
Given the subject matter — the opportunity to re- connect with a friend, loved one or family member — Smith said, “I get asked that a lot, but interestingly that’s not what attracted me to the play — or now the movie. That idea, of doing that kind of thing … there’s still something about me that hasn’t gone there. Yes, that technology supposedly is not that far away, so this likely could happen in the near future. But for me, this is about dealing with someone’s sense of humanity and showing that no matter what, humanity — in the final analysis — is never lost, if people truly care about one another. It also was interesting to explore the past and see how ideas and memories do change with time and age.”
Having done “Marjorie Prime” on stage, Smith admitted, “I was so familiar with the play and the character and was pleased that my part changed less in the adaptation than it did for others,” including the role of her daughter, played by Geena Davis, and son- in- law, portrayed by Tim Robbins.
“The biggest change — which I definitely liked — was that I got out around the house, outside the house, on the deck, in the pool, on the beach and in the ocean. That was fun for me, because in the play I spent pretty much the entire time in a reclining chair on our one set, which was one room. It was great to be able to move around a bit more!”
Our Town’s Perez gets punky with 1st novel
Growing up in Miami, Celia Perez always had a desire to see more representation of her Latina culture in children’s books. “I was a pretty hardcore reader, but I didn’t read a book that verified my own experiences and background until I was in my third year of college, which is pretty sad,” said Perez earlier this week.
The author of “The First Rule of Punk” — the first novel by the City Colleges of Chicago librarian — noted that as a kid she did connect with certain aspects of characters in her favorite Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume books, but “it was in different ways and for different reasons. I was so much older when I started reading books that mirrored my life and culture as a child of immigrants.”
In her novel, her central character Malu has moved to Chicago and has a hard time fitting in at her school. Perez thinks many “girls and also boys in middle school and high school will relate to the feelings of being an outsider, having trouble fitting in — as Malu does in my book.”
Malu — a nickname for the girl’s real name of Mary Luisa ( which she hates!) — also has a love of punk music, and starts up a punk band.
Edgewater resident Perez shares that love, but for her it “came a lot later. I was in college when I got into punk,” said the University of Florida alum, who got her first job as a librarian in Chicago at the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago in 2001. She moved to the City Colleges the following year.
“I now definitely consider myself to be a real Chicagoan,” said Perez proudly, noting she is already at work on another YA novel. “I’ve always loved to write, and I’ve always made zines — like my character does in the novel.”
The author was deeply moved by a woman who told her, after reading an early copy of the book, “she was past 48, and admitted to me she hadn’t seen herself in a novel until she read this. That’s heartbreaking on one level, but I’m glad it touched her so much.” A launch party for “The First Rule of Punk” begins at 7: 30 p. m. Thursday at Women & Children First Bookstore on Clark Street in Andersonville. Perez will sign books, do a reading and talk about the experience of writing her first novel.