A ‘REASSURING’ STORY
Annette Bening returns to the big screen as the main character in 20th Century Women
After a few years off, Annette Bening is back at work.
Last fall, Bening showed up in her husband Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply. Currently, she’s the featured attraction in 20th Century Women.
In the Mike Mills dramedy, the 58-year-old plays Dorothea Fields, who’s divorced and proudly raising her teen son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). She’s doing it with all the singleparent free spirit energy she can muster during the summer of 1979 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Dorothea and her son live in a dilapidated Victorian house always in the process of renovation, paralleling the lives of those in and around the structure.
They include William (Billy Crudup), a boarder who is a mechanic and part-time Dorothea lover. The other renter Abbie (Greta Gerwig) is punk-type photographer obsessed with David Bowie. Julie (Elle Fanning) is a Jamie sleepover buddy who wants to keep it in the friend zone.
But it is Bening’s Dorothea who ties it all together. The actress — a four-time Oscar nominee — discusses the challenge during a recent Los Angeles interview.
Q What was your attraction to 20th Century Women?
A There is something reassuring about a story that doesn’t have all the answers about relationships.
Q Did you enjoy playing a 1970s female struggling with her identity? A It was actually quite freeing.
Q Were you ever intimidated by the role’s demands?
A In the middle of the shoot, I felt a certain amount of uncertainty, and generally you’re never sure in any movie. But I felt Mike (Mills) had a way of measuring things. Did you decide early on how to portray Dorothea?
I tried as much as I could not to be pre-determined on what I was doing to do. There was potential for a huge range on how I could play her.
Q She’s not a perfect mother. Do you agree?
A I really like the fact there’s an ambiguity about her. I think we are so used to seeing the good mom or the bad mom. But she’s much more nuanced, which is the way life is.
Q Is she aware of her flaws?
A I think so, and I like that about her, and I have a real affection for people like that.
Q How did Mills modulate your performance?
A Intellectually, I knew that his influence would be there, and I knew that he should keep his own narrative in mind. He’s an articulate person and (his mother) is in the script but he knows there are things that aren’t her.
Q Did you collaborate on what Dorothea should be?
A Basically, I had clues on how to play her. But Mike very much let me know he was handing it off to me.
Q Did you enjoy the ensemble nature of the film?
A That’s one of the great pleasures of the movie. You can focus on the other actors, which is a great way to go about things because you aren’t thinking of yourself.
Q Is it one of the movie’s strengths?
A It’s especially positive for me when you really feel comfortable with the actors you’re working with. We got together in the beginning and did a lot of rehearsals, improvisation and acting exercises together.
I really like the fact there’s an ambiguity about her. I think we are so used to seeing the good mom or the bad mom. But she’s much more nuanced.
Q The house seems to be another character. True?
A I do believe that. And I think it’s very gratifying for Mike because the actual house is a central part of his story, and it all felt right for the time and place.