Kyra Segwick Talks About the Closer
From:
Lauren Barth
140 days 11 hours 4 minutes ago
Sugar and spice ... Kyra Sedgwick is the sweet and sassy Southern Bell who means business on the TNT hit series
The Closer. Sedgwick talks to Glam about television, cable, and playing brazen, bold, and independent Brenda.
What’s the best part about playing such a strong female character?It’s been fun to play a woman who’s almost in the male’s role.It seems that there are more and more strong female leading ladies on the small screen (i.e. you, Holly Hunter, etc.) Why do you think now is the right time for these shows?I think it might have been something people have always been ready for. Because The Closer did so well monetarily for TNT, people were more willing to put these kind of shows with strong female characters [on the air] because they see it works and that people like to watch them.Why do you think television is appealing to so many film actresses?I think we go where the good work is …And cable offers you a lot more freedom than network – there’s a lot more you can do. That’s interesting for actors as well as for women in general. Tell us about the variety of work on the show. Do you think the unpredictability – comedy sporadically mixed with drama appeals to the audience?We have one episode that will give them an incredibly dark, gritty, sad, grizzly show and then in the next show we’ll give them slapstick comedy. And I think they seem to like both equally well. It’s something we trust that the audience will like what we give them and we never underestimate their intelligence.What challenges will your character face this season?She has to once again be confronted with the personal issues around her relationship and whether or not they’re actually going to get married and live happily ever after and have kids. I look forward to the internal conflict. It’s always interesting to me. Her parents will come back, and that’s always interesting to see her as the child she becomes when her parents are there. We have really another great batch of scripts. I don’t know how the writers do it.What’s it like perfecting that Southern belle accent?There’s something so interesting about playing someone so different from you. I have to constantly be vigilant about it. I work with a dialect coach. She breaks it down into sounds for me. I get sent that every week. That is something I need to be diligent about it. It’s not as hard as learning the lines, but it’s right up there.Is that the biggest challenge for you?What I find most challenging is the sheer volume of work I have to learn. I’m not good at learning lines. And it takes me a lot longer than most other people. What have you learned as an actress throughout your experience doing The Closer?I feel like I learn something every time I do a job. I’ve been with this character for this long and [I enjoy] getting to go deeper and deeper and deeper with this person. What I’ve learned as an actor is to really mix things up and shake it up. It demands a certain freedom and that has really helped me as an actor.
*Photos: TNT
