I grew up watching Geena Davis in the movies. From her film debut in TOOTSIE to groundbreaking work in such movies as THE FLY, BEETLEJUICE, EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, THELMA & LOUISE, and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. In CUTTHROAT ISLAND and THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, she was an action hero when there weren’t a lot of female action stars on the big screen. She moved to television (with ABC’s “Commander in Chief”) just as it was becoming cool for film actors to move to the small screen, and now she’s back doing a network series, “The Exorcist” for Fox, which begins its second season on September 29.
I got a chance to sit down with Davis back in January at the Sundance Film Festival to talk about her latest work, MARJORIE PRIME, opposite Lois Smith, Tim Robbins and Jon Hamm. From director Michael Almereyda, the movie is based on the recent play by Jordan Harrison and deals with the practical and emotional ramifications of a service that provides holograms of deceased loved ones that can communicate and converse with us. It’s eerie, thought provoking and ultimately quite moving. It was a true honor to talk with Geena Davis about MARJORIE PRIME, “The Exorcist,” and other things, and she could not have been nicer. Please enjoy…
Capone: I’ve got to say before we start on this movie, I am a huge fan of “The Exorcist.” I live in Chicago [where the show’s first season was set and shot], so I was always aware that the production was around. Is there hope that it will come back?
Geena Davis: First of all, that’s so cool that you liked the show. The first season was intentionally only 10 episodes, so we don’t know. I don’t know when they have to announce a second season.
Capone: I feel like people responded well to it.
GD: They did. It’s unfortunate we were on the Friday night spot, which I didn’t know anything about until I was on Friday nights, but I think the people who found it were incredibly loyal. They loved it.
Capone: Well, I hope it does. It featured one of the few times where a TV show surprised me with that mid-season twist. I was not aware that that was happening, like I wasn’t even sure it was in the same universe as the film, but then to tie it in like that was shocking.
GD: Yeah! When I say who I am, it was so cool. We were watching Twitter when it happened, and everyone was like, “Wha-wha-what?”
Capone: With this film, I did all the research last night, after I saw the film, about the history of the play over the last couple of years. Did you have any history with the play before you got this?
GD: I hadn’t seen it or heard of it beforehand, but it was fascinating to me that Lois Smith did it first in the play and then on screen. The second we wrapped, she went back on stage with it again in New York this time, and so she’s been playing Marjorie for a couple of years.
Capone: What do you remember responding to initially when you read this, both about your character and also the whole concept?
GD: I loved both. I loved the concept that was very uniquely done, in a world where there are a number of explorations of artificial intelligence and slightly futuristic things, but this was so subtle and human, like a very small look at one particular family’s interaction with the future, and I loved that about it, and I really responded to the character. When I’m reading something and I start picturing myself saying those things, I’m like, “Oh, okay, I think I should do this.”
Capone: I love that there’s no context at all. We don’t know exactly what’s happening, the house is very nice, but there’s nothing overtly futuristic about it. I know there are some clues in the dialogue about how much time is passing and how far in the future, but again, we don't even get any real explanation about how the hologram technology works. We just learn by watching.
GD: Totally. I loved that. I loved how the house and all that stuff was just neutral in a way, and you just didn’t know. And yes, I think it’s fabulous when she starts talking about MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, and you realize “So she was in her 20s when WEDDING happened. Wow.”
Capone: It is technically science fiction, and like all the best science fiction, it has some very current, relevant comments about society, memory, grief, identity and all of that. What were the things you locked onto and responded to the most?
GD: I loved how it really helps you think about memory and examining that, and how much of our identity is based on our memories. My mom had Alzheimer’s, and it was just something I thought about all the time. She can’t remember things. I guess I kept thinking… this is probably too much information…
Capone: Never too much information.
GD: Are you kidding? [laughs] The idea was available before the film, clearly, of how when we talk about memory, and I quote someone as saying, “You’re only remembering your memory.”
Capone: That’s a great line. That sets up the dilemma at the heart of the story.
GD: Right, right. So it’s like a carbon copy that keeps getting weaker. And then when Marjorie is aware that she’s losing her memory, if he changes the story, she’ll believe that’s true; that was fascinating. And you realize yeah, there’s probably stuff… I can understand the concept and still think, “That doesn’t apply to me. I remember the real events.” But yet, I probably don’t. I’m remembering a memory.
Capone: This also speaks to the way we grieve, and the way we avoid dealing with grief, because why else would these things be created? It doesn’t seem healthy. We should go through that, but at the same time, I completely understand the appeal of having access to that.
GD: Right, yeah, yeah. Somebody was talking yesterday about, it’s like interrupting the grieving process, because I think the first reaction is denial. You can stay in denial, because you have a fake one now.
Capone: Everyone in the film, though, has a different reaction to the Prime. Like Tim, when he’s dealing with you as the Prime, it’s not working for him. It feels like it hit him too hard, and it’s just making it worse. Except for Tim, everyone in the film gets to play two versions of themselves. What adjustments did you make in your voice, your movements, your body language?
GD: My Prime, we meet at the earliest stage of all of them. It’s a newly minted Prime. I don’t even know my last name, and I barely know his name. It was fascinating to work on. So I needed to be more of a blank slate. What I was aiming at, and what Michael helped with, was to show how pre-programed they are for empathy and fast learning. So even though I don’t know anything about this guy, he starts telling me about this character. I don’t even know the concept about life and death, because he says, “You died.” “I died but I’m here.” When he tells the story about how Tess killed herself, she is able to evoke great empathy, and then very sincerely say, “I can help you if you let me.”
Capone: I did notice that there were the things that were learned and things that came standard issue, like with a car. There were certain responses that were pre-programmed, and certain ones that were specific to the stories being told. I felt like I was learning with the primes.
GD: Did you know ahead of time that it was about artificial intelligence?
Capone: When I first decided to go see it, I probably read that, but sitting down to watch it, I don’t think I even remembered that’s what it was.
GD: It would be interesting to know somebody who didn’t know anything about it and saw it, how long it would take you to figure out that Jon Hamm was a hologram.
Capone: The scene at the end, with the three of you at the end, that scene gave me anxiety, because I wondered what would happen if you put two of them in a room together. Would they talk together? Would they communicate? Tell me about that sequence, because you’re all learning from each other, and you’re correcting each other. What has that great last line: “Now I know it.” Is that you or Lois?
GD: I say, “Do you remember?” And Lois says, “Now I do.” But then she says, my favorite line is, “How I missed him,” like she just learned about it. I love that scene, because we are talking to each other, and we’re evolving without any input anymore. Jon Hamm’s character, Walter, says, “I think I might start writing music.” He got that idea himself as artificial intelligence. You don’t have to summon them anymore. They gathered on their own.
Capone: I wondered, who turned them on? Who put them there?
GD: I think we shot a scene where it was Jon’s birthday, and the three of us are the only guests at his birthday party.
Capone: The film is here to be purchased, correct?
GD: It’s here to be purchased.
Capone: Well, thank you so much. It was really wonderful to meet you.
