Road show: New movie stars Jessica Lange as LDS widow traveling in Utah
"It's quite sad, really," she continued. "We definitely get better, more confident, as actresses as we age, and yet we aren't given nearly enough opportunities to prove that to anyone." But, Lange added sarcastically: "I'm not bitter about this at all, as you can probably tell." Still, all kidding aside, Lange has been as selective as she can be with movie projects, considering the circumstances. So when the script for "Bonneville" was passed along to her, she says it was something she "really couldn't say no to."
"It was such a breath of fresh air. Here was a story filled with strong female characters who are all my age or in the neighborhood," she said by telephone from New York City.
"Plus, it was a road movie, and those are always such fun to do," she said, laughing.
"Bonneville" opened in a handful of cities today, including Salt Lake City. The PG-rated comedy-drama stars Lange as Arvilla Holden, who is joined by her best friends, Margene (Kathy Bates) and Carol (Joan Allen), on a road trip to transport her late husband's ashes from Idaho to California.
"I've wanted to work with Joan for years, but we could never find the right project," Lange said, noting that the three actresses "got along famously. You'd think we'd really been friends all of our lives."
Also, all three characters are supposed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which presented a new challenge for Lange and the others.
"I've known a few Mormons in my time, but I really wasn't that familiar with the religion or their beliefs," she said. "I just had to assume that our screenwriter (Daniel D. Davis) had done his homework."
Still, Lange and the other two actresses did spend time alongside LDS crew members during the film's Utah location shoots.
"I've been to Utah before, but this was the first time I've gotten to work there," she said. "And I have to say that I had a great time. Everyone was so wonderful to work with, so kind and so generous, and they all seemed to be as interested as we were in making a quality movie."
In addition to Salt Lake City, which served as the film headquarters, other "Bonneville" filming sequences took took them to Idaho, Nevada and the Bonneville Salt Flats.
"We had such fun, traveling and going to all these incredible places," Lange said. "It would have been like going on vacation if we hadn't had to do all that pesky acting."
Recent comments
This movie has a really funny ending, christine baranski's expression…
jj | April 7, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.
Ya want respect? My HP dad was cremated; had a wonderful LDS funera…
Another View | March 5, 2008 at 12:54 p.m.
Afraid you lost me after reading so much back and forth about cremation…
Jadon | March 5, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
