Jacki Weaver was largely unknown outside her native Australia until the wave of acclaim she has received for her portrayal of Janine ‘Smurf’ Cody in writer/director David Michôd’s powerful crime family saga Animal Kingdom.
Ms. Weaver’s stunning performance has earned her award recognition at home and abroad, including Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress. I spoke with her at her home in Sydney the evening before she was to fly to San Francisco to continue shooting director Nick Stoller’s (Get Me to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) latest Judd Apatow produced comedy, The Five-Year Engagement.
HeyUGuys: Director/screenwriter David Michôd wrote the part of ‘Smurf’ Cody with you in mind, and you were in fact the first actor attached to the film many years ago. What was your reaction to the character of Smurf when you first encountered her?
JW: The very first time I read the script I thought it was wonderful. I didn’t know David Michôd but thought it was fantastic so of course I wanted to be involved. As with most first features, it took David a long time to get his money; I think it was ten years ago now when he gave me the script. I didn’t hear anything from him for so long I’d almost forgotten about it.
When he finally did get the money he said ‘I hope you still want to do this because I don’t want to do it with anyone except you’, which is something that’s rarely said to an actor, so I was thrilled. I must say that every part of being involved with the film has been a joy, he’s a wonderful director., and what’s happened to me because of the film, well, it’s changed my life really.
HeyUGuys: You’ve received many accolades for your performance, culminating in your
Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Suddenly, after 45 years in the business, people know who you are outside of Australia, and the American film industry has come calling. How does it feel to receive this sort of recognition at this stage of your career, is it daunting or delightful, or perhaps a bit of both?
JW: It’s not daunting, but I think bewildering is a word that would apply. I still have to pinch myself, I can’t believe it’s happened. It also makes me very elated at times. I’m getting to meet people that I don’t think I ever dreamt I would meet, amazing people.
HeyUGuys: Such as whom?
JW: I’ve met a lot of amazing producers and directors. Meeting Mel Brooks was a high. Being told by all sorts of wonderful people that I admire that they are admirers of mine, it’s lucky it happened to me at this stage because if I’d been any younger it could have turned my head I guess. I’ve been a professional actor for 48 years, and I’ve had a very happy career, I’ve been very contented. I’ve played some wonderful characters and I’ve never been out of work in that time.
I’ve worked mostly in the theatre, I’ve done about a hundred plays and about 15 films, and quite a lot of television, including a couple of series that were written especially for me, although I’ve never done a soap. My British cousins still don’t think I’m a real actor because I’ve never been on Neighbours or Home and Away.
HeyUGuys: Your mother was English wasn’t she?
JW: That’s right, she was what they called a war bride. My dad was in the Air Force, and he won a Distinguished Flying Cross which King George V gave him. I was a product of that union, so I am half English. The fact that I’m playing Emily Blunt’s mother at the moment is not a stretch for me, I’m playing my mother really.
Animal Kingdom has opened all sorts of doors. I have won a few awards, including one from the National Board of Review, which Cate Blanchet told me was a prestigious one the night I heard about it. I won several others but not of course the Oscar.
HeyUGuys: The group of women up for Best Supporting Actress made it a tough year to be in the running; I guessed correctly that it was Melissa Leo’s year to get it.
JW: Yes, it was a tough field. I am desperately in love with Helena Bonham Carter, I think she’s the most adorable creature, so I probably would have voted for her because I’m so crazy about her. Amy Adams is wonderful too, and the young girl, Hallee (Steinfeld) who was in True Grit. So it really was enough to be nominated, although I’m not saying I wouldn’t have loved to win. Once you’re nominated for an Oscar, it gets about every door opened for you, so I’ve got no complaints.
HeyUGuys: The film has a tone that is very much like classic drama; it’s ostensibly a crime story, but really it’s the story of the destruction of a family who happen to be criminals (but might have been royals in another story) and the matriarch who tries to hold it together. The scene in the lawyer’s office when Smurf manipulates the corrupt drug squad detective into effectively carrying out an execution almost feels Shakespearean. Was this quality of classical tragedy something you were conscious of while making the film?
JW: I think what you’re saying is absolutely accurate, and I think there is a Shakespearean element to it, in her character being her fate. Smurf is a classic sociopath, who is full of contradictions, and who is multi-layered and deeply complex. I tried not to make a moral judgement about her when we were shooting the film, that’s always a mistake; it’s one of the first lessons you learn in drama school. Even when you’re playing Lady Macbeth, you mustn’t be objectifying her, you’ve got to play her from the inside out.
Now that I’ve seen the film a few times, I really think this woman is a classic sociopath, she’s vile and she’s got no conscience. She’s totally self-obsessed. She loves the thrill of being surrounded by these boys, but it’s not true mother’s love she feels for them, it’s completely egotistical. I don’t like her at all (laughs).
HeyUGuys: When we first hear Smurf on the phone and then see her when she is collecting her grandson to take him home with her, her complete lack of emotion about the loss of her only daughter is an obvious flag about her character. When we subsequently see how she engages with her sons, the inappropriate kissing and the way she speaks to them as if they are still boys rather then men, it seems that the real story of the estrangement from her daughter is that she didn’t want any competition for their affection and attention.
JW: Yes, I would agree with that, and also I think the daughter realised that she didn’t
want her son to grow up in this dangerous atmosphere. The power this woman wields over these grown men who are violent criminals is very telling and very chilling. It’s good that you noticed that there’s no emotion when she finds out her daughter is dead as it’s the first clue we get that all is not well in this woman’s emotional make-up. When we were shooting that, it’s only a voice over on the phone initially when the boy is telling me about his mother, when we first shot it my initial instinct was to gasp and sound upset, but David said ‘no, I don’t want you to sound surprised or upset at all about your daughter being dead’.
HeyUGuys: When she first sees her grandson, the manner in which she embraces him and speaks to him is not in any way an appropriate response to the gravity of the situation and the weight of the loss the boy has just suffered.
JW: Yes and now she owns him, he’s one of hers.
HeyUGuys: Before I leave you to the rest of your evening, tell me a bit about this Nick Stoller movie you’re currently working on, it’s rather a change of pace from a downbeat Australian crime drama to the world of Nick Stoller and Judd Apatow.
JW: It couldn’t be more diametrically opposed, and I think it was a fantastic choice. I had a few things to choose from and my agent said ‘you do a lot of comedy in Australia, and people only know you so far for Animal Kingdom, so you should do this film’, and I’m having the best time. It’s very funny and very much the sort of stuff that Judd Apatow does with all these crazy young people. Jason Segel is so funny, and Nick Stoller is so sweet, and Emily Blunt is wonderful. We spend much of the time on set laughing!
Animal Kingdom is released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 11th.
