Actress in ‘Parent Trap’ cherishes ties to Disney
NEW YORK — In the 1960s, before the name Hayley became so popular, there was only one: Hayley Mills, the British darling of Disney films such as “Pollyanna” (for which she won an Oscar) and “The Parent Trap” (in which she played twins).
With her fresh-faced good looks and curious accent, Mills became an icon for a generation, eventually graduating to adult roles on the screen and stage.
The stage is where fans can find her now, starring in “Party Face,” an off-Broadway comedy that runs through April 8 at NY City Center Stage II.
The play — written by Isobel Mahon and directed by Amanda Bearse — depicts an evening at home with Irish suburbanite Mollie Mae (Gina Costigan), who is hosting a cozy gathering until her meddling mum, Carmel (Mills), arrives.
Wine flows, generations spar and family secrets soon come to light.
The 71-year-old actress recently talked about her work.
We get a sense of your character from the get-go when you arrive at your daughter’s party early and start taking over. What type are you in real life: Do you arrive early, late or on the dot?
I never, if I can possibly help it, arrive early. I think that’s appalling. But Carmel has such great intentions to help things go swimmingly. She’s not blessed with great powers of, um, analysis. And she can’t deal with it when things go awry.
You have an allfemale cast, female playwright, female director — it seems well-timed, given the #MeToo movement and all the hashtags and such. Did that come up?
Not really. We were too busy worrying about our lines. But it’s healthy for the planet that women are standing up for themselves. Women have so much to offer. I think it’s more challenging for men these days — thinking, “Whoa, who am I supposed to be?” It’s great to see men pushing prams, changing nappies and things. My boys are in their early 40s now. In my day, the men weren’t doing that.
You grew up in an acting family. Your parents and your sister (Juliet Mills, from television’s “Nanny and the Professor”) were actors. Did you ever want to do anything else?
Most of my childhood was spent on a farm in Sussex. I had a pony and a lot of freedom. I wanted to be a show jumper. But when I went to boarding school when I was 10, I loved making people laugh. So I think I probably would’ve staggered into acting. Or, I don’t know, I might’ve just married and had children.
Do you think it’s tougher for child actors today to keep a level head?
It’s very hard. I don’t know how they do it. When I started, there were few children working. I worked for a very family-oriented studio — Walt Disney was the boss. He knew everybody by name. There was no exploitation, no sexual harassment, nothing like that.
Then I went back to school. Life had some extreme contrasts, but, because I was young, I accepted it all. One minute I’m in boarding school and can only wash my hair once a week, the next I’m being picked up by a limousine and everyone’s falling over you doing your hair and makeup.
I hear that your parents didn’t take you out of school so you could attend the Academy Awards.
They were concerned it should never go to my head. That’s why I didn’t pick up my little Oscar and wasn’t even told about it until it appeared one day. Nobody made a fuss. It was years before I realized its significance. You have to remember, we didn’t have computers or Google or Wikipedia. You couldn’t look things up.
I watchd “The Parent Trap” recently — hadn’t seen it since I was a kid. It was just as charming as I recalled. Do you get tired of people bringing up the films you did as a child?
No, and I’ll tell you why. Because the ones they mention, invariably, are the Disney movies. It takes people back to their childhoods and to happy experiences. Even if they had troubled childhoods, those Disney films made them happy. And that’s what they were designed to do. I feel grateful I’m part of that experience. This may sound corny, but it’s a privilege to have been in those films.