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NEED TO KNOW
Tennessee Williams had his eye on Ann-Margret to play Blanche DuBois, the tragic protagonist in his 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, for a decade before his wish came true
Ann-Margret sat down with Interview Magazine and reflected on playing DuBois in the 1984 TV adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire
The actress, now 84, recalled how hard it was for her to process the role, both during and after filming
Tennessee Williams had a strong desire forAnn-Margretto star as Blanche DuBois, but the role took a toll on the actress.
Ann-Margret recalled working on the 1984 TV movie based on Williams' 1947 play,A Streetcar Named Desire,in a recent conversation withInterview Magazine, admitting that playing Blanche "was a rough one."
"I knew it had to be as honest as I could be, and that was it. I did the very best I could," the 84-year-old told the outlet.
Asked about rumors that Williams was pursuing her to play Blanche a decade prior to the movie being made, Ann-Margret says she was "thrilled that he liked my work and he wanted me to do it."
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"I was thrilled! My goodness, Tennessee Williams. I admired him so much," she said.
The actress also addressed reports that she had trouble coming out of the role as filming ended. She confirmed that the film's director, John Erman, had to remind her on the last day of filming that it was "just a movie."
"Oh, yeah, because people saw me crying when I was all alone and that's when he came in and said that, because I had gotten to such a point that I was always sad, so that's when he came in," she recalled, confirming that it took her "a while" to "get out of that mindset as Blanche DuBois."
Blanche, the tragic protagonist in Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is an aging Southern belle famously described as "a moth fluttering too near the flame" as she loses her grip on sanity due to trauma. Despite Williams' persistence to get Ann-Margret cast as the lead, the playwright died in February 1983, one year before the movie came out.
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In a 1984 interview withThe Washington Post, Ann-Margret talked about consulting a psychiatrist to handle the material.
"I'm an emotional actress, not a technical one. I called her at 2 in the morning. I was losing it. She said, 'Can you hear me?' It was like she was speaking from another planet. I tried to focus on her and couldn't," the actress said at the time.
"She said I was in a psychotic state and would remain there for a few hours. But she assured me I was still Ann-Margret Smith. I had to stay in that state for five more hours. When the filming was over, John embraced me for a long time. He said, 'It's okay. You're still Ann-Margret.' "
She admitted, "It stayed with me for eight weeks. I'd have flashbacks. I'd heard stories of actresses who'd been affected by parts. But I never knew anyone who'd been through that. I was Blanche. It still comes back."
Read the original article onPeople
