Entertainment
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Out's Entertainer of the Year and all-around MILF Mary-Louise Parker will return to the stage in February for Playwrights Horizons' Dead Man's Cell Phone. Here are exclusive excerpts from her interview with Bill Keith in the December/January issue.
Out: I was watching two different Charlie Rose interviews with you. On the first you said that you were absolutely happy with where you were, and then about four years later you said there was a lot more that you wanted to do.
Mary-Louise Parker: Well, I said I was happy with what I've been given, the opportunities, my career. It's not like I had some ultimate goal. There's no carrot for me. I still feel that way. There's a lot that I want to be able to experience, certainly, but I don't ever want to stop working. There's no goal out there like shaking it for the Oscar or something. I'm an actor -- I want to be doing it when I'm 80.
But you don't have a grand plan?
No, I don't have a big plan. I try to not look at the big picture, actually. That makes me a little bit dizzy. I have to stay with what's good for me.
Why do you think you have a particular resonance with gay audiences?
There's a tradition of being more elastic with sexuality and gender in the theater. I've always felt like one of those people who is a little to the left of the dial. And I never felt like I really fit in until I got to drama school with other kids who were the freaks of their towns, searching for something else because they didn't fit in with the norm. That was me. Then we went to college and got to an arts school with all the guys in the hall, the drag queens were borrowing my shoes, and it was great. I was never intimidated or put-off by someone's sexuality or not threatened by it, and I'm not threatened by playing it. I think at a certain point it seemed kind of hip. People wanted to play a gay woman or this or that. Initially, I think there was still kind of a stigma. I try to operate outside of those kind of stigmas.
Do you think you connect especially well directors and writers like Joe Mantello and Craig Lucas or Mark Brokaw, or is their sexuality so incidental?
There is a rhythm to the humor in some ways. There's an inclination for great beauty. One of my best friends now, she's really young and gay and she came out when was in high school. That just wouldn't happen at my high school. It's just like sometimes like they weren't the homecoming king or the homecoming queen, they were at home reading something interesting or dreaming about something wonderful, you know what I mean?
I do.
You know, the other night I was on a date and we were going somewhere and we're right across the street, we're a little early for dinner. We were right across the street from [New York city gay bar] the Cubby Hole. I was telling my friend this and she went, Did he go in there with you? and I was like You can't really not be gay friendly and go out with me. You can't. It's not going to happen.
You should take every date there at the beginning just to clear that up quickly.
Exactly, let's just all go to the Cubby Hole. I just think everybody's sexuality is a little bit elastic and it's personal. I don't feel like there's a norm. I don't want there to be a norm and if there is a norm, I don't want to be in it.
Send a letter to the editor about this article.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
39 male celebs who did full frontal scenes
June 05 2024 9:37 AM
38 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
July 23 2024 2:33 PM
28 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
May 22 2024 5:21 PM
These pics prove that Maluma is still our supreme thirst trap king
May 22 2024 6:29 PM
26 LGBTQ+ reality dating shows & where to watch them
July 03 2024 4:21 PM
18 times male celebrities had to say they weren't gay
June 21 2024 2:58 PM
15 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
July 09 2024 11:33 AM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
45 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
June 18 2024 4:45 PM
Here's how long each Pit Crew hunk has been on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
February 09 2024 2:16 PM
Latest Stories
July 24, 2024
10h
Give Benedict a male love interest in 'Bridgerton' season 4, you cowards!
July 23 2024 4:52 PM
All the 'Drag Race' queens on OnlyFans (& what they're showing)
July 23 2024 4:19 PM
MUNA's Katie Gavin is officially in her solo era, releases first single
July 23 2024 1:28 PM
Want to see Tessa's Testicles? 'Global All Stars' queen is now on OF
July 23 2024 11:23 AM
87 LGBTQ+ athletes we'll be rooting for at the 2024 Olympics
July 23 2024 11:01 AM
Here's why fans think Lady Gaga will perform at the 2024 Paris Olympics
July 22 2024 3:34 PM
Tom Daley shows off how sturdy his Olympic Village bed is
July 22 2024 3:19 PM
That epic, queer 'House of the Dragon' kiss wasn't scripted
July 22 2024 3:10 PM
Oil up! Our fave shirtless Olympic flag bearer confirms he's headed to Paris
July 22 2024 1:44 PM
Charli XCX declares Kamala Harris IS brat & our next President's campaign agrees
July 22 2024 1:13 PM
Homophobes are mad about 'Love Island USA' stars Aaron & Rob's bromance
July 22 2024 12:23 PM