A darker shade of Amy Adams
The Oscar-nominated actress opens up on why she is returning to television, and describes how she got into character as an emotionally troubled reporter in the dark new HBO series Sharp Objects, a psychological thriller based on Gillian Flynn’s bestseller
WHEN AMY ADAMS’ smiling face began appearing in major films, audiences perked right up. She was the naive nurse who charmed a glib con man (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can (2002). Her work in Junebug (2005), as a pregnant chatterbox wife, brought her an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Then millions of people embraced her cartoon-princess-come-to-life in Enchanted (2007).
For years Adams told the media, “I like playing happy people,” and her choices reflected that. She was a food blogger who cooked her way through Julia Child’s first book in Julie & Julia (2009) and reporter Lois Lane in Man of Steel (2013), a role she recreated in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017).
Gradually, though, Adams’ tastes have darkened. In The Master (2012) she portrayed the wife of a cult leader, and in American Hustle (2013) she was a con artist.
Now, in HBO’s eight-episode murder mystery Sharp Objects she plays Camille Preaker, a psychologically disturbed newspaper reporter. Sent to her rural Missouri hometown to cover the murder of two teenage girls, she must face old memories and re-evaluate her life. Based on Gillian Flynn’s best-selling 2006 novel, Sharp Objects will begin airing on July 8. Patricia Clarkson plays Preaker’s estranged mother, Australian newcomer Eliza Scanlen her half-sister and Chris Messina a detective investigating the deaths.
Getting personal
During the past decade Adams has avoided working in television, after some disappointments early in her career.
“I was let go from a few things,” she said, and added with a short laugh, “Setbacks are characterbuilding.”
Most of the women I know have a secret pain or sadness they seek to hide.” Amy Adams
So why return now? “I was a big fan of Gillian’s books,” she said. “She tells stories about the psyche inside the way women express pain. They’re antiheroes.”
Sharp Objects also offered Adams the chance to explore material that had personal resonance for her. “Most of the women I know have a secret pain or sadness they seek to hide,” she said. “Camille is not doing a good job of hiding it. From a young age she’s taken everything out on herself. Instead of exploding, she implodes. She deals with her pain internally.
“That’s probably the thing I related to the most — the inner pain,” the actress said. “You don’t walk past it, but I’m much better about negotiating with my dark side.”
Fearful as a child
Adams lives in Los Angeles in a home she shares with her husband, Darren Le Gallo, and their 8-year-old daughter, Aviana and during the interview both husband and daughter were nearby. She encouraged them to comment, and occasionally they did.
The first interaction came when Adams was comparing her devious Sharp Objects mother to her actual mother. Kathryn Adams became a body builder after having seven children.
“My mother was much more direct in her challenges,” Adams said. “She did a really great job of teaching me to conquer my fears.
“I was a very fearful child,” she continued. “My daughter can speak to that. Right, Aviana?”
A few moments’ silence followed.
“Aviana just gave me a look that said, ‘Don’t put that on me,’” Adams said, and laughed.
“My mother was a rock climber, and she wouldn’t let me down until I climbed all the way up,” she said. “I always use that analogy. If I’m halfway to something difficult, I’ve got to go through it. That’s been a really good lesson.”