| On her work… |
- You were not from a show business family.
No, I was not. Lawyers. When my mother was putting herself through law school, she’d drop me off at a theater school and I’d watch the actors and try to figure it all out. And my grandmother was an enormous movie and theater fan and would take me to everything she could. I fell in love with acting and the world of entertainment as a fan. Nobody ever thought I’d really do it, and I did it.
- So you broke the family mold in a way.
Probably, yeah. But there’s definitely an artistic gene in the family. My mom and dad both paint. My grandfather painted. My sister sang in bars for years while putting herself through medical school.
- If you had to trade in acting, is that what you’d want to do instead?
Oh, that’s hard, because I’ve spent my whole life in acting. I don’t know, I sang a lot as a kid and as a young woman for musicals and that sort of thing, so I also really love that. It’s hard to imagine doing anything outside of the arts; I can’t really imagine being someone who isn’t allowed to express herself.
- You know, I’m funny and I always have been. I really kind of like playing heroes. I have a definite streak of wanting to be a really good person and a really good sister and a really good mother. Maybe it’s how I look. I don’t know what it is. I get offered a lot of really complicated women and I actually like complicated. Complicated is interesting to me. So I don’t know if I could say good or bad because it’s my feeling that everyone in their life, and maybe that’s just how I am, searches to be the best they can be. It’s just at what so you have to be a little cautious. So I like both I think. I think there is something incredibly unique about going far outside of yourself. It enables you a kind of freedom that you don’t have if I were just playing myself. I’d be a little bit more guarded I think.
I don’t know if the difference of an approach. I do feel like being a guest star on a show for me is like doing a mini-movie. You get to be a little bit more selfish. It’s exciting in a way. I don’t set the tone on set. I’m a guest and the other people’s shows and their lives, all of that and I treat it accordingly. I’m incredibly respectful about what world I’m in, what house I’m in, who’s family I’m in. And it’s fun. But – so there is a tremendous amount of freedom because I’m not the backbone. I simply get to come in and be the foliage and I seriously like that. It’s fun.
- That I truly love what I do! That I have a hard time with people not performing up to their potential. That good writing is a gift. That I can survive with little to no sleep and with a measure of grace as long as my son or my characters are involved.
- Messy characters!My favorites! Truly! Complicated, odd people that people want to hate. Heaven! Complicated is fun and challenging, yet somehow easier for me.
- I think people are fascinating. I work really hard on cultivating curiosity rather then jealousy or fear… within reason, healty fear is good. So, I’m drawn to messy.
- “I know it’s so “in” to be blasé, but that’s not going to get you anywhere. People feel good about doing things with you if you’re enthusiastic. You’ve gotta go for it, and go for it with gusto.”
- “‘The nature of being an actress is to be fallible, to be vulnerable. We’re all the nerds of our world, aren’t we? I was a complete, total nerd. …I loved the idea that the underdog wins more often than not. And I don’t know if that happens in life. But I want it to.”
- “I love character roles…You work hard, immerse yourself in the characters. I generally don’t do big high-profile roles. They terrify me. They lead me into places I’m not sure I want to go”
- “My family doesn’t care [what roles I take]. They think it’s wonderful. They care about the work and they also care about the fact that when I was a child, I learned through television not to be prejudiced — I learned through television not to be racist and that’s what we should do. I think that’s part of our educational process.”
- “Acting is so exciting to me. It’s a thrill; otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Not to be hokey, but I think life is definitely worth living, whether you’re working or not. For an actor, the character is the thing…it doesn’t matter what medium you’re in. as long as you have something to do”.
- “I was even in a comedy group for a while. It’s so different. It’s so completely different. The idea of going to work and being able to laugh all day is great to me… There’s nothing harder than comedy. I think that anyone that thinks it’s easy just try and make someone laugh sometime! I think that comedy is hard, but I really enjoyed it. It’s nice when you can get the guy to laugh. I think it’s breathtaking.”
- “I think if you have a love for this business, you can’t ever do anything you feel is not fun or not good or not something that means something to you. Otherwise you turn into something that you’re not.
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| Advice to actors… |
- My advice, you know what, I’m that really horrible person that you think I’m going to say something brilliant and unique and I’m not. I’m such a big fan of studying. I’m such a big fan of really learning your craft. I spent 15 years doing theater before I ever got in front of the camera and I’m so grateful for that. It’s helped me in every step of the way, especially going in on auditions where, you know, I should be petrified but I’ve been doing it for so long I just kind of do it.
- So I believe in study. I believe in finding something that works for you and continuing with it. And the people I know who are successful, the people I know who love what they do seem to do a lot of work. And it doesn’t have to be intellectual always. It’s more just kind of immersing yourself in the love of your craft. It’s not an exciting answer but it is what I believe
- Love it and don’t do it for any other reason. You will get beat up, let it flow through and believe what makes you better. Ignore the rest. Support your fellow actors. Learn your lines, be passinate with manners.
- The main thing is you have to love it. If you have a man, you’ve got to love him. To have a career, you’ve got to love it. The business is not particularly kind, but the camaraderie is nice, and your fellow actors are invariably wonderful.
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| On her fans… |
- Question:Elizabeth, you’ve been on a few shows now with a super rabid fan base. Does it gives you a greater sense of responsibility to your audience?
Elizabeth Mitchell:It’s funny. I do believe in one’s honoring oneself. And I believe that if you behave with honor that that kind of encompasses a lot of people. So it’s not so much as a wanting to please as it is a wanting to honor. So do I want to honor the people who have been so supportive of me? Absolutely, but at the same time I believe that the people who have liked me have hopefully liked my honesty and the fact that I try not to do anything that feels false to me. And I’m so sorry, what was the first one because that was a good one to?
Question: What does that support means to you as an actor?
Elizabeth Mitchell: That’s what I was thinking the whole time, I’m so glad that was it. I’ve been so lucky, and I know that a lot of people say that, but I go into the world just as me and I’m met with a tremendous amount of support and intelligence and that’s meant a lot to me, and it’s been that way for me for a long time. I’ve had people – people always start with the most polite thing of I’m so sorry to bother you and I’m not trying to make a sense and so I seem to have the most polite supportive kind of intelligent group of people you can possibly imagine. So I don’t really know how you can get better than that. I’ve never felt nervous or overwhelmed or anything. I’m appreciative. It kind of feels like we’re all in it together.
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| On her family… |
- I grew up in a family of mostly women and one incredible patient Dad.
- Such a gift, because I get to really see and love women. I see women as sisters not competitors. Truly a gift! I have such amazing friends. Women are magical, fascinating creatures. Happy to be one of them.
- CJ comes first. As an actress put another person’s needs first is beautiful, difficult and entirely worth it. Selfishness… No time. Neurotic tendency… No time. How do I look? … No time. You get my point.
- My son fills my heart, soul and head. There is a very little room for neurotic rambling or ego driven behavior. Better for the life! Better for the work!
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| On Life… |
- I come from an enormous family of women, which is probably the reason I’m so captivated by women. That’s all I really know. Men are, “Oh, what is this strange creature?” But women, I know. I’m having all my sisters and all my female friends gather here for a pretty massive slumber party, so that will be great.
- “Having a baby helped me. It’s about getting to a place where I am unafraid as an actress.”
- “I normally eat everything under the sun, but once a year, for a whole month, I eat nothing but fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lean fish, and I feel great!”
- “I want to have kids everywhere…I want to eat Haagen-Dazs and get broad hips. If you try to stay young forever, you don’t really live.”
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| On Juliet… |
- “If you’re bad, you think you’re good anyway.”
- “Believe it or not, women seem to love the character [Juliet]. Men, however…I’ve gotten a few stares. “Oh no.” That sort of thing. I always have C.J. on my hip and I’m walking around. I’m not ever quite as still as Juliet. I’m fairly goofy and nerdy. But I have had more men look at me a little terrified. I think men are intrigued and they want to engage in some sort of smackdown”
- “I don’t think I would have been able to play her (Juliet) if I were in my twenties. They wrote me a humdinger of a role and she continues to be that way.”
- “Up to now, this is definitely a high point for me in my career and in my life,” Mitchell says. “It almost feels like all the crazy work I did led up to me being able to do this.”
- (on the possibility that her role as Juliet on Lost will catapult her to high fame) “Oh, God, I can’t even imagine in any way, shape, or form that I’d ever break through. I’m such a chameleon; I don’t think there’s enough people can latch onto. I think of myself as an oddity”
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| On Dangerous Curves… |
- “They shoot an American version,where everyone has there clothes on, and a version for Europe, with everyone naked,” she explains. “And you had to sign on to do both. My agent called and said, ‘The casting directors really want to see you.’ And I said,’Well, they’re not gonna see that much of me.’”
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