Close & Byrne say no to scripts with violence against women

In the fifth season of Damages (premiering on Friday, Nov. 30 and airing weeknights at 10:10 p.m. exclusively on beTV), a rising star lawyer, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), crosses paths with a cutthroat veteran attorney, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), who will stop at nothing to win the cases she handles, even if it means manipulating and endangering the family and friends of those around her.

This season, the founder of a controversial website devoted to government and corporate transparency gets sued after his most recent information leak does not go as planned. It’s the perfect stage for the ultimate showdown between the mentor and her former protégée.

They are strong-woman roles no doubt for Close and Byrne who insisted in an exclusive phone interview (The STAR was the only Philippine paper chosen for the event) that they wouldn’t accept scripts with violence against women.

Some of Close’s memorable movies: The World According to Garp (1982, nominated for Oscar Best Supporting Actress), The Big Chill (1983, also nominated for the same award), The Natural (1984, same nomination for same award), Jagged Edge (1985) and, who can ever forget her all-consuming performance as a fatally-attracted woman (to Michael Douglas) in Fatal Attraction? My first close encounter with Close was a decade ago in New York for 101 Dalmatians. Because she looks so huge (and formidable) on screen, I was pleasantly surprised to find her so petite (only a little over five feet) and so soft-spoken.

Some of the Australian-born Byrne’s memorable movies: Dallas Doll (1994, when she was 15), Heartbreak High (1994), Echo Point (1995), Two Hands (1999), My Mother Frank (2000), The Goddess of 1967 (2000), Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), Troy (2004, with Brad Pitt), Wicker Park (2004) and Sunshine (2007, helmed by Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle).  

Excerpts:

Did your characters take any turns that you never saw coming?

Close: For the twists that Patty would make, towards the end, you would see a revelation about her. It would really make you understand why she is the way she is. I think it is powerful but I’m not going to tell you what that is. (Laughs) Was I surprised? It isn’t actually a question of being surprised. The writers just wrote something — a whole aspect of her Patty Hewes which has never been really dramatized and she was moved by it. This gave me a new insight to the character I have played for five years. It is quite an astounding achievement to be able to learn something new about this character on the last episode of the fifth year. I have the most respect with what they (the writers) did.

Byrne: The fifth season really explores how Ellen is in her family, how she defines and validates the picture entirely through her work and her relationship with Patty in many ways. If you look at it as a whole, it’s about Ellen becoming an adult. It’s a very powerful show. It’s all about success and power. It’s very haunting like it still haunts me, the speeches that we have, the decisions as well as the sacrifices that they make. It was a really exciting season.

With this being the last season, how are the both of you saying goodbye to your characters? Are you ready to let them go or do you think it’s too soon? Would you like to do another season?

Close: I think we’re actually lucky with the last two seasons. Sony has done a wonderful job with finding us a new home with DIRECTV where we were given 20 additional episodes. The last few seasons really made all of us feel that we could finish the story and make it into this seamless and wonderful story. I think we can’t really let the character go; especially if you did it for five years. It stays with you pretty much forever. When you take away from that character, it becomes part of your library. I just feel incredible and privileged to have played as Patty and be able to work with a wonderful group of people that put together this show.

Byrne: As Glenn was saying, the final two seasons were a turning point in my life. I think, we’re ready and it is the right time to end at a really high powerful note with the standard of the show — as good as it was. There’s an intimacy with your character on the show that is really like nothing else as you did them for a couple number of seasons. That, I’ll miss absolutely more and more when we’re not doing it anymore.

In terms of challenge, how different is your role in Damages from your previous roles?

Close: Well, I think that Patty Hewes is a very different person and being her works for me. It is a challenging new character.

Byrne: When playing a character in a long running show, it is like you are in a novel because you wouldn’t know what’s going to happen next. I’ve never worked as hard as I did on anything until Damages. I have never played a character with such extreme art.

Is there any famous lawyer after whom you patterned your performance in this TV series?

Close: I met various lawyers around New York — top women in the field. I have learned a lot from them. I knew that I didn’t want to be like them but I was really interested in their journey to get to where they were and what all that has meant. Some of their answers were very interesting. I took note of their roles which I did when I was playing Patty.

Byrne: I met a lot of young lawyers around New York. No particular person however. It’s very fascinating to talk to them about their dynamics. There is this one girl I met who looks much younger than she was. She was there with all the judges, the lawyers of the firm and she has defended what she has to.

The show is pretty groundbreaking in terms of roles of women, was that intentional? What have you done in terms of your role to advocate for women in TV that is appropriate in life?

Close: I think it is the choices that we make. We are women. What we choose to do and the kinds of shows we choose to be in — that’s our contribution. I take that quite seriously. Our writers were excited about writing for women. What Rose and I brought to them as real collaborators have helped in the development of the characters.

Byrne: I don’t like scripts that desecrate and have violence against women. There are certain things which I would not do because I don’t want to perpetrate an idea or blow up an issue. The relationship between Patty and Ellen is far more complicated as it is about power, struggle, manipulation, teaching and learning. The show is really cool, being about two women and how to examine a relationship which is very unique. In many ways it is a love-hate relationship. You would think that this woman (Ellen Parson) would never work with someone (Patty Hewes) like that again but I think they knew that they are an extraordinary team.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)