Exclusive interview: Jacqueline Bisset (‘Loren and Rose’) talks festivals, gendered Oscars and carrying Dean Martin’s baby

Bill McCuddy
·7 min read
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Jacqueline Bisset is an aging actress playing an aging actress in the feature “Loren and Rose,” which takes place almost entirely in a restaurant: her character meets with a young director (played by Kelly Blatz) who wants her for his next film. At 78, Bisset understands that festivals are necessary to promote films, even if she’s not here in New York, but back home in California. She is candid about the marketing of a film, acting and even an embarrassing look back at one of her biggest hits. No, it doesn’t involve a wet t-shirt or a car chase in the streets of San Francisco. The “silly girl” was a stewardess in love with Dean Martin. More on that in a moment. We begin with the conceit of “Loren and Rose”: acting as a reflection of real life.

GD: In the film your character describes cinema as a “mirror.” Is that true in life? Do the movies get it right?

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JB: I do think it’s a mirror of the world, yes. I like that line in the film.

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GD: You were in Truffaut’s “Day For Night” about the making of a movie. Was that accurate?

JB: Well, yes. To a certain degree. At least for a French film. I’m not sure as an American film.

GD: You have worked consistently over the years but most older actresses complain that there are no parts for them.

JB: Well it depends on what you want to do. Throughout my career, I’ve always thought, “What is the best for me? Where can I do some decent work?” My capabilities have grown. I’ve become a much better actor than I was in the beginning. I could have done interesting things when I was younger, but they’re coming to me at odd times now. So for example, “The Sleepy Time Gal,” which I did in 2000 and came out in 2001, and that’s how I met Russell Brown.

GD: The director of “Loren and Rose.”

JB: Yes. He’s just very pure. Good writer. Good director.

GD: “Loren and Rose” is about an older actress meeting with a young director. It’s been compared to “My Dinner with Andre.” There’s a lot of talk about the craft of acting and filmmaking. Do your real conversations with directors go that way? Or is there more “dead air” and long pauses in reality?

JB: I don’t know. I rarely have dead air with people. Because I ask questions. I’ve always been a questioning person. I’m interested. Dead air only at boring dinner parties occasionally. (Laughs)

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GD: I want to go back because I’m fascinated by what you said about ‘Sleepy Time Gal’ in 2000 and considering yourself a “better actress.” When did that happen for you? When did you say to yourself, “I’m good at this”?

JB: Well I’m intermittently happy with little bits of lots of films I’ve done. I was very happy with “Under the Volcano.” I thought “Day For Night” was good, but I was part of an ensemble and just happy to be working with Truffaut. And there were bits of “Le Ceremonie” which I liked but I didn’t feel the director liked my bourgeois character. But the film is good. I did a good job in a movie called “The Grasshopper” in 1968. It was a good part. The film didn’t get shown widely. But there was a lot of running from one set to the next and I like to ruminate a bit.

GD: And what about promoting films or being a part of a film festival?

JB: I haven’t a clue. I mean, I enjoy being on the Cannes jury, I love seeing movies, but when you have a film at a festival all you do is press. You meet new people, which I enjoy, but it’s a mixed bag. I mean, you get invited and they give you awards and stuff, and those awards don’t mean much because you know they basically just want you to come for free. That’s all it really means. It’s nice, but what I really like is to meet other filmmakers. I’ve been to Berlin. I was on the jury there and that was really quite fun. It’s a moment-to-moment thing. Sometimes there’s chemistry.

GD: In acting do you sometimes have to create chemistry? Or do you have to “act better” when there isn’t chemistry?

JB: Oh yes. You can make chemistry to some degree. But you have to take an interest.

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GD: You mentioned awards. I wonder what you think of the Oscars perhaps grouping male and female actors into one category?

JB: I can’t take all this talk about sexual roles. Who’s a man and who’s a woman. I just don’t understand it. I haven’t thought about it but I think it’s probably not a good idea. I think it’s all getting crazy. That a director can only use the actors that are able to be the person. Where does acting come in? Acting is a job about doing the different emotions that you can do. You have to be Mexican to play a Mexican part. You have to be Italian to play an Italian part. I just don’t know where that takes us to. It’s not a political statement when you begin casting. You try to find the right person for the job. I just don’t see it. I mean, I see a degree of it but I think parts should be open to many different groups of people. And I’m all for casting being fair. But to say, “You can’t make this movie with someone, you have to make it with someone else” because of a rule. I think that’s turning a lot of people off.

GD: It’s all about time and place in culture, isn’t it? I remember seeing you in “Airport” in 1970 and thinking, even as a teenager, she’s pregnant with Dean Martin’s baby and he’s married?! Pretty funny by today’s standards but at the time —

JB: I thought that too. Funny enough someone showed me ‘Airport’ the other day and I thought, “What kind of girl is she?! His wife is there!” I got really moralistic. And I felt really sorry for the wife. “You silly girl. Why are you having a baby with this guy?”

“Loren and Rose” is written and directed by Russell Brown. It’s in theaters June 23.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article mistakenly indicated that “Loren and Rose” screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.

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