Laura Linney: ‘I started to glow in the dark like an exotic cheetah’

Derek Lam custom-made this dress for me to wear to the 2017 Tony awards, where I was nominated for my role in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes. We started with just a swatch of the sequinned fabric, and I went in for several fittings. This dress was incredibly comfortable but also wonderfully festive and celebratory. But the great surprise of this dress – which none of us knew, not even Derek – was that the white sequins were glow-in-the-dark. I got in the car to go to the Tonys and all of a sudden I started to glow in the dark like an exotic cheetah! It was great fun.

I’d never worn anything quite like this, and a full-blown sequin outfit is not easy to pull off. Unless it’s 1975: it doesn’t happen much any more. I have a long relationship with Derek and I also know that he loves the theatre, so it was an obvious choice for me to wear one of his dresses. It’s always wonderful to be with a designer from the beginning of an idea – he gave me several choices of colours and sequin patterns, but I just followed his lead.

I’m not a dressy-dressy person, but it is fun to dress up and it’s part of the tradition of a red-carpet event. The Tonys mean a great deal to me because I grew up in the theatre, and it’s really satisfying to be part of this tremendous theatre community.

I did not grow up fashion-conscious at all. I wasn’t exposed to it, and it wasn’t realistic for me. It’s taken me a while to be comfortable with it. Most of the time I am working, so I make some effort to look presentable, to feel like a human being and not just schlubb around. At the same time, there’s a reality about living in trailers when you are doing film, or dusty rehearsal rooms when you are in a play; to still be comfortable and functional, there’s a balance you have to hit.