COVID.

Yeah, but I was weirdly one of the lucky ones.

I like worked through COVID.

But yeah, but what happened was, you know, after the strike, I continued to not work.

And so then I was like, Oh, I can't say it's the strike anymore.

Like, what is it? What what is different? Am I not as talented today as I was six months ago, because now I'm 52.

And I'm not 51.

Like in your own relationship, did you feel like you were kind of, you know, skirting through a different place that might not be so good? Like, were you worried for Constance?

That's actually what brought you together, but when did the idea of working together in this capacity for your podcast come up? I wanna talk about Talk Fifty To Me.

Having met Heidi through already a work situation and the realization started just there, like right off the bat because Heidi was like, "I have written so many shows for women over 50 and, you know, it's so crazy that we're meeting at this time and you just turned 50." And I was like, "Yes, let's do it.

Let's do all of it together.

I don't wanna do anything without being 50 without you." Like, you have such a bird's-eye view of...

You know, obviously my 50s so different than her 50s just because of also the time, right? Now it's just a little bit more acceptable.

I mean, whatever, that word.

[laughs]

Like, this woman w- started weeping, like tears of joy at seeing Heidi and she just said, "Oh my God, oh my God, I g- I, I, I can't believe you're here.

Let's take a look.

I just hope that when you are faced with it all, you don't choose to sit where you are expected or wanted, but where you are needed.

That is something that I pray she can count on.

Sorry.

That's gotta be moving.

Yeah.

I, especially because they're former students, 'cause she was an elementary teacher.

So the former students comment on some of my posts saying, like, "I can't believe how much you inhabited her, her strength and her wisdom and her kindness and her patience, and, and how much you look like her," which is-

What does this recognition mean to you for a role that asked you to carry so much grief, anger, and ultimately love?

Uh, well, it's-- I could definitely say that it's all been incredibly surprising, to be, uh, uh, to be honest.

Um, you know, on paper, it was a fairly small part.

Um, and for me, you know, when I auditioned for the show, all I had was the wedding scene, the wedding monologue, and from that speech alone, I, like, wanted to portray Ann so much because it felt like this was somebody's voice that we had not heard and that we had not known and that we had not seen.

And that to me was incredibly exciting, like, that I was gonna be able to do that if I had gotten the part.

But I definitely didn't, um, see any of this a-at all.

And so it's been just, like, so moving and emotional for me that that character touched so many people on all of those fronts that you're saying because, you know, when you, when you get a role, you, you just wanna do a good job of portraying a, a character, and especially because a lot of these people obviously were real people, and I had never portrayed somebody who actually existed, um, and, you know, doing that justice.

Mm-hmm.

Have you had the same friends forever or do you find that people come in and out of your life for whatever reason?

Yeah, my friendships keep changing, keep altering.

Some by choice, some not by choice.

I definitely in this mid life range, I have met a whole new group of friends that I have become closer to in a shorter amount of time because we're so open and so honest.

And And we talk about everything.

And so all of a sudden, you become so close so fast, which that I did not anticipate or see.

I mean, Heidi, who is my co-host of the podcast, I met her in 2020 during COVID over Zoom because of a project that she was the writer and showrunner of.

because of the character she was writing.

Have you had the same friends forever or do you find that people come in and out of your life for whatever reason?

Yeah, my friendships keep changing, keep altering.

Some by choice, some not by choice.

I definitely in this mid life range, I have met a whole new group of friends that I have become closer to in a shorter amount of time because we're so open and so honest.

And And we talk about everything.

And so all of a sudden, you become so close so fast, which that I did not anticipate or see.

I mean, Heidi, who is my co-host of the podcast, I met her in 2020 during COVID over Zoom because of a project that she was the writer and showrunner of.

because of the character she was writing.

I, I don't know if I have 600 pages in me, but...

I mean, I listened to it, um, and I w- after listening to it, I was like, "Oh, we never stop as women." We never stop.

And I looked at how old she was, and I looked at some of her most successful films and what she accomplished, and it was all later in life, and it did not matter that she had an Oscar and Grammys and, and, like it didn't matter.

I love those.

And, um, she said to me, "It's no coincidence that you have been playing these roles on screen." I said, "Well, what do you mean?" Like, she's like, "No, you have just been waiting to become that off-screen.

And now at this point in your life, you are going to merge and you are going to become the women you've played on screen." And I was like, "What are you talking about?"

I love those.

And, um, she said to me, "It's no coincidence that you have been playing these roles on screen." I said, "Well, what do you mean?" Like, she's like, "No, you have just been waiting to become that off-screen.

And now at this point in your life, you are going to merge and you are going to become the women you've played on screen." And I was like, "What are you talking about?"

That's, like, a lot to, yeah, digest.

But I said on a panel when I was talking about, you know, being a part of now this whole midlife movement and empowering women and changing the narrative around aging, and I said, "I feel like I'm in my Quinn era," which is my character from Unreal, and it was the first time I, like, said that out loud.

And so then, like, many months later for this woman to say, "Oh, you're merging with your characters on screen," I was like-

Yeah.

But I, I, but I also constantly, um, I constantly apologize to people on set when I'm playing a very harsh character.

I'm always saying sorry because I'm like, "I know that wasn't in the script and I improved it, but it's not personal to you.

It's just what the character, what I think the character would say to someone like you."

Mm-hmm.

And that has been a huge eye-opening experience to have character and Constance merge.

Like, I would, I couldn't even...

Like, the fact that you just said that, I'm just like, "That's so trippy" because I would never really want to merge with my characters.

[laughs]

One minute, he was demanding twice his quoted fee.

The next minute, he was statuary.She was left heaving in the aftermath, dizzied, horrified, as if the crime had been committed by someone else.

There was nothing to do but jump in her car and follow the roadmap to a southern hamlet where there would be fewer faces.

And everything was fine for a while.

In a corner of her yard, she grew her own tomatoes, string beans, and squash, and had the rest of her groceries delivered by one of the young store clerks.

It was quiet out there, deathly quiet.

[laughs]