Christine Baranski Interview

You’ve worked with Meryl Streep twice. Is she as lovely as she seems or is there any dirt to dish there?
Oh no, she’s just an absolutely marvelous human being. I can’t believe I’ve had the singular good fortune of making two musicals with her and both of them were insanely happy experiences. With Meryl, we always have a wonderful time together and I recently discovered Tracey Ullman, who is just a fabulous lady and a magnificently talented person. The three of us together, we call ourselves the new Dynamos.

Like Donna and The Dynamos in ‘Mamma Mia!’ right? Speaking of which, were you familiar with the national treasure known as Julie Walters before you made the film?
Oh my God, Julie Walters! Of course I knew about her and she turned out to be so much fun. It was such a pleasure to get to know her. I’d love it if we could do a Mamma Mia! remake, not for artistic reasons but just so we could all get together again. Just look at the success of The Marigold Hotel.
 
The box office over here for the new one is just crazy. There’s a real audience out there for movies like that. We’re waiting for Hollywood producers to realise that the young guys they think are going to the movies are actually at home with their gizmos in their bedrooms.

Speaking of younger men, do you have a penchant for them like your character in Mamma Mia!?
I’m utterly unspecific when it comes to men. An interesting younger man or a younger man whose looks I take to, but it could be an older man as well. It depends completely on the man and it has nothing to do with age because you can be young and beautiful and a total bore.

When did you realise you had a big gay following?
When I did The Birdcage movie with Robin Williams back in the mid 90s I was at the premiere and he said to me “Oh my God, the men in San Francisco are just crazy for your character” and I had no idea. It began to dawn on me that the character I played on Cybill was something of a gay icon, then as the years have gone on I’ve played a lot of those roles, those sophisticated, Stritchian – as in Elaine Stritch – kind of characters. And I’ve had the privilege of doing a lot of Sondheim musicals. But I think it’s a little dangerous when you start thinking of yourself as anybody’s icon. There’s that great Shakespearean line: ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’ because we love to dethrone our heroes and icons as much as we like to raise them up. I just like doing the work and if I can be good at it then that’s great.

In ‘Chicago’ you played Mary Sunshine, who is usually played by a fella on stage...
There’s only so much you can do in a movie and with Mary Sunshine it didn’t serve the forward thrust of the Roxy story. I was the wonderful beneficiary of that because Rob [Marshall, the director] cast a woman in the role.

How is it working with Alan Cumming on ‘The Good Wife’?
Oh my God, talk about iconic! I saw him in Cabaret again a few weeks ago. Usually in a long run of a show things get a little tired but Alan gave as brilliant a performance as ever. He makes such a huge contribution on The Good Wife. He’s so curious and passionate and I’m happy to know him.