By Paul Freeman [1994 Interview]

From "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Mommie Dearest," "Chinatown" to "Network," Faye Dunaway has made an indelible impression on screen. She shot to stardom in 1967 and continues to work in film more than half a century later.

Among her many other memorable movies are "The Thomas Crown Affair," "The Arrangement," "Little Big Man," "Doc," "The Three Musketeers," The Towering Inferno," "Three Days of the Condor" and "Eyes of Laura Mars."

We interviewed the Academy Award-winning actress in 1994, at a press junket, where she was promoting the film "Don Juan DeMarco," in which she co-starred with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.

How was it working with Marlon Brando?

FAYE DUNAWAY:
It was great. Once I actually felt the magic like come out from his third eye, I think [laughs]. It just like nailed me. And I felt like I was in the back of the cab in "On The Waterfront," I swear to you. Time stood still. Because the magic is there. He's got it. He's got a great gift.

And what I loved about working with him was that he finds a way to get into the role, to really wear it and mold it into him. And it's by not being rigid at all. And it's by moving into it and mixing himself with it. It's all the stuff you learn, when you learn how to act. And he does it perfectly.

Did he use the earpiece, to have his lines fed to him?

DUNAWAY:
Sometimes. Not always. But yeah, he does. He started doing that and it's a way he has of keeping fresh. I never felt that he wasn't listening to me or focused on being there in the scene. That's peripheral. He was always right there with me. And he did it, I think, after "Tango." There comes a point, I think, where we probably get tired of tearing up our hearts and guts and souls to act. And he then stumbled on this to keep himself fresh.

And I tell you, I'm tempted to try it. And I might. Because you don't know what the words actually are. So when the word comes there, it's as if it just came into your head. My hunch is it must be like this. And you say it. I think it's a fascinating way to work. I mean, who are we...? His performance is great. Who says you've got to learn all those lines? [Laughs]

Did you have any preconceived notions about him that were dispelled during this shoot?

DUNAWAY:
No, I had preconceived notions that were corroborated, really. He's a great artist. And he was great to work with. He was there, available, not a problem. And he brought a lot to the project.

Did you find that, even in his current physical state, there's still a sexy magnetism about him?

DUNAWAY:
Yeah. It's not about body, sex. I don't know how our world thinks it's all about body. There are nice bodies and they have their place. But the actual nitty gritty of it all is mental. It's mental and emotional and it has to do with the heart. And he's got that. I wouldn't care if he was a hundred pounds more than he is. You'd figure out ways [laughs]. No, but truly, he's just incredibly appealing, because of the stuff we've been talking about.

For women in Hollywood, isn't it much more difficult, the aging process, still being accepted, valued?

DUNAWAY:
It's cultural. And it's basically about art and commerce. It's that larger sums of money are made on movies catering to kids. And they think that movies for kids are this formula. And that kids don't want to go to movies with older people there. But they make mistakes with that thinking. My son likes to go to movies where there's something going on between the people. It's about relationships. It's about how do you love another person, basically. That's what the whole ballgame's about. That's what my son relates to, as well.

There's also an alternative audience out there, which I think "Fried Green Tomatoes" proved. I hope "Don Juan DeMarco" will prove that, as well. There's people out there who want to see different kinds of movies.

The trick is, the businessman doesn't know how to identify a new "Don Juan DeMarco" or a new "Fried Green Tomatoes," because it's not a formula. So you need an artist to say, "Guys, this will make it." So I don't think it's what they do best -- identify that kind of material.

So I think that's part of the reason that there aren't the opportunities there, for women as they age. I mean, the whole cultural thing about why Paul Newman is in a movie with Melanie Griffith as his love interest instead of me or Jane or Shirley.

The thing about this industry, and this society of ours, it's maddening in many ways, but the thing about the industry is that the fulcrum of what happens here turns on the passion of an individual, the will and the intelligence and the ability to fight through, for an idea. It's true of Steven Spielberg. It's true of John Travolta., I bet you. He got very lucky there, when Quentin said, "I want him to do this." But there are many other examples of people who... I mean, nobody would have that John Travolta would be nominated as Best Actor this year. Five years ago, people didn't even think he could act [laughs]. We were all wrong, weren't we?

So conventional wisdom doesn't work. You have to have patience. But you also have to get mad sometimes.

You've worked with Johnny Depp before {on 'Arizona Dream"]. Can you talk about him?

DUNAWAY:
He's a great person, very loving. And he's very committed to the people in his life. He's a no-nonsense kind of person, as well. He's honest, which any good artist would have to be. And he certainly is that. He doesn't a lot of patience with values that are fickle. He's loyal and smart. And I think he's the best young actor we've got. I think he certainly is the heir to Brando, in terms of sheer talent... and intelligence... that shapes a performance.

When he plays a scene, you never notice him playing it. It occurred to me a little while ago that that's very much what one hears about Spencer Tracy. And about the best actors -- that you think it looks so easy. And he does have that in everything he does. He's also very modern.

Going all the way back to "Bonnie and Clyde," you've had great chemistry on screen with many of your co-stars. What's the key to developing that?

DUNAWAY:
It has to do with sensibility. And it is very instinctual, I think.

Did you know you'd have chemistry with Warren Beatty before you began shooting that film?

DUNAWAY:
No, but we're both from the South. I remember when I read for him and Arthur [director Arthur Penn] at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. I remember being in that room. And I think there was something about my aggressivity that they associated with the aggression of Bonnie. Warren will talk to you forever and not talk... I mean, he's very direct in one way, but he sidesteps a lot, doesn't he? And that combination, I think was very good for that particular pair. Whether Arthur sensed that or knew it or... At one point, Arthur wouldn't have gone on, unless I played it. Fifty percent of directing, they say, is casting. So it's about putting the right people together.

Is "Bonnie and Clyde" your favorite among the films you've done? If not, what is?

DUNAWAY:
I don't have a favorite. But I do love "Puzzle of a Downfall Child" [1970, directed by her former fiancé, photographer Jerry Schatzberg], which not many people saw. That was perhaps the closest to my heart, in a sense. But Bonnie was the closest to me. And I think that's why it was such a big success for me. "Chinatown," which was different, "Thomas Crown," and "Network," I loved, as well.

What about "Barfly" [1987]?

DUNAWAY:
Yeah, I thought that was good. That I grabbed, because I was in Europe for such a long time. I'd been living in England. And it was a real chance to de-glamorize. And to really get to a vulnerability.

And how did you feel about "Mommie Dearest"?

DUNAWAY:
Let's not talk about that.

There aren't many films these days with the fire of Paddy Chayefsky's writing on "Network."

DUNAWAY:
He was quite special. And he was a playwright, as well. Joe Eszterhas has a gutsy style. But look what he's writing about [laughs] -- odd sexuality and weirdness and all of that. But in terms of texture, in terms of intensity, one thinks of Paddy. In terms of that social conscience, that real moral conscience, I don't know of anyone today writing like that. I still like Bob Towne's writing a lot. And there are lots of them I'm sure that I don't know.

Are you still open to working in television and theatre?

Oh, sure. I always did television. I did "After The Fall." I did Aimee Semple McPherson. I recently did the musical "Sunset Boulevard" on stage. I started in theatre. I'm interested in all three of the media. You can't just do one, not now. I just want to do better work, always better work, more authentic, more real.

More actresses are now producing their own projects. Is that something that appeals to you?

DUNAWAY:
I think it's necessary. Any young actress... if I knew Julia Roberts, I'd say, "Be sure you start developing for yourself. Do it now." Because they will, absolutely, offer you the imitation of the last thing you did. I don't know why the imagination's not there. But the real reason is -- how can they read her mind or mine and know what we want? I quickly got urbanized and what brought me to fame was this rural kind of edgy, hungry character. But I didn't get any more offered to me like that [laughs]. Someone offered me Ma Barker a while back. I said no [laughs].

But no one can tell what you really want to do. What I bought with my own money was "Cold Sassy Tree." Oprah wanted it after a while. And there's a long story to that. But I wanted to play that kind of gutsy, Southern woman who took a whole town on. And that's a heroine. That's a leading lady. But I don't know at that point in my career [1989] that anyone would have thought of me for it. You've got to really develop it for yourself. So, as a producer, you have to do it. And you have to have three or four or five things. And it takes a mindset, too, because you've got to go out there and each day do something toward achieving that dream.

What's coming up for you?

DUNAWAY:
We're looking for something for NBC. We did very well on "A Family Divided." It took the time slot with women 18 to 49. I mean, there's no 50-year-old role model out there. There just isn't. And there are a lot of women who want to connect with a woman on that level.

I just finished a film called "Drunks." And it's for Peter Cohn, a very Cassavetes kind of director. It's really good. It's about an AA meeting. It's about a group of alcoholics. Dianne Wiest is in it. She's wonderful. And Amanda Plummer. And we all have these monologues, five-page kind of shares. And so there's a chance to do all these moments of great acting, because they open your souls and hearts. Richard Lewis plays one of the men in it, Lenny Bruce-y in character. And lots of other people that you would know. It's a great company of actors.

What did you think of "The Two Jakes" ["Chinatown" sequel]?

DUNAWAY:
I said to Jack Nicholson, I said, "Jack, I didn't see it yet." He said, "And you never will, Dunaway." [Laughs] He said, "I've bought up all the copies."