Laura Linney Reveals the Role That Changed How She Thought About Acting

Can we start with Laura Linney’s kitchen? An aspirational, brightly hued marvel in Brooklyn, the space features generous countertops and charming pots and pans. It also serves as the background of this Zoom chat, prompting the obvious—if admittedly off-topic—question about her cooking specialties.

“I can make a really good tagine,” the actress says of the North African-based dish. “There’s a sweet potato soup, which is good. What else can I do? A peaches and lavender and chicken dish that sounds strange but is really delicious. And I bake a lot. I actually haven’t cooked in a while, so I’m a little rusty.”

In her defense, she’s been beyond busy. At the time of this interview, Linney, 59, was nearing the end of an eight-show-a-week grind on Broadway for the two-woman play, Summer, 1976, with Jessica Hecht. “You wake up in the morning and there’s a strange undertow that starts and your whole day is about getting to the theater and you’re in a weird state of nervous anticipation,” she says. “But at least I’m at the point now where I’m no longer unstable on my feet. I know it fairly well. The more you do it, the more secure you get.”

In Summer, 2022, she traveled overseas to Ireland to film the delightful comedy The Miracle Club (in theaters July 14). Set in 1967, it follows three close friends (Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey) in Dublin who win a trip to the sacred French town of Lourdes—i.e., the holy land of miracles. Linney plays Chrissie, a sophisticated American who shares a long history with two of the women and decides to join them on the trip...much to their chagrin. (The movie recently premiered at the Tribeca Festival.)

For Linney, the opportunity to share the screen alongside two Oscar-winning legends for the first time proved irresistible. “Maggie has been my idol for a long time and when this movie came, the word was that she would be very, very happy if I did it with her,” she says. “And I’ve always loved Kathy as well. She was in a play that I saw when I was younger that galvanized my interest in the theater. So, I was in remarkable company. It was a dream come true, that’s for sure.”

Here’s the reality: Linney, a New York City native and graduate of Brown University and The Juilliard School, is one of those actresses who can spin any performance in any medium into gold. On the awards front, Linney has been nominated for five Tony Awards, three Oscars (You Can Count on Me, The Savages and Kinsey) and won four Emmys (Wild Iris, Frasier, John Adams, The Big C), with nine nods overall. She was a key part of the prestige films Mystic River, The Squid and The Whale and Nocturnal Animals. More impressively? She can deliver sly laughs even when it’s not funny (The Truman Show), break your heart during the most wonderful time of the year (Love Actually) and make you wish you never crossed her (Ozark). Is it any wonder when asked about her summer plans this year with her family, she responds with a big laugh, “I’m really looking forward to sitting down!”

Related: Who Is Jason Bateman’s Wife? All the Details on Amanda Anka

But first: Linney whips up some of her favorite memories for Parade.

Mara Reinstein: In The Miracle Club, the friends go to Lourdes because they believe in a higher power. Do you?

Linney: I think I have my own spiritual foundation. And life is surprising. You know, things do happen that you never think will ever happen. Regardless of your religious mindset, there are undeniable things that happen in life that take your breath away.

Does your career surprise you? 

Are you kidding?! Absolutely.

Really? But you studied acting for years and trained hard! 

Well, there are many people who trained just as hard as I did and prepared just as long as I did and opportunities never came their way. Or they couldn’t sustain it. So, not for one second do I take it for granted. It’s a big surprise that I’m even working in film and television. I’m theater trained so I never thought I’d be working in those mediums at all. But I find it constantly invigorating.

How did you feel about being on-camera the first time? 

I had a very small part in [the 1992 drama] Lorenzo’s Oil. Susan Sarandon was in it. I’ll never forget it. I came out of the school door and walked down a flight of stairs and across the street to a house and knocked on the door. And it blew my mind that I was acting outside. My life was in the theater, in the dark. All of a sudden there was sky and a leaf that flew by! I was cold! It changed the way I thought about acting.

How did you develop an interest in theater in the first place? Does that come from growing up in New York City? 

Oh, sure. And my father [Romulus Linney] was a playwright. [Her mom, Ann, was a cancer nurse.] I was exposed early on and fell in love with it. I’m sure there was something in the DNA. Who knows, right? But I still love going to the theater.

So, you saw your The Miracle Club co-star Kathy Bates in an off-off Broadway play in your youth. When was this? 

This was very pre-Misery. She did a production of Vanities in a church theater. It was literally in a basement of a church. And it changed me! Let me look it up right now because I’m curious. [Pauses]. OK, it was 1976. I was 11 or 12.

Let’s talk about The Truman Show, which remains relevant even though it just celebrated its 25th anniversary. What do you make of our voyeuristic obsession?

Reality television is now a huge, huge, huge thing and there is something very odd about it. The difference, of course, is that people aren’t self-conscious about being on camera. Truman [Jim Carrey] didn’t know the camera was on him. It was almost like Candid Camera, so you were seeing real behavior. Now it’s turned into a whole bizarre pastime.

The Truman Show was also a big popular summer movie even though it’s so cerebral. Isn’t that bizarre, too? 

We got nominations! Ed Harris was nominated for an Oscar and I remember calling him on the phone and was like, “You son of a bitch. You show up for five days and you got nominated!” Our director, Peter Weir, was nominated as well, and he invited me to go with him because his wife was unavailable. It was one of the first times I attended.

You were nominated for the first time for You Can Count on Me in 2001 but lost to Julia Roberts. Did you prepare a speech? 

No. I knew immediately that Julia was going to win that year [for Erin Brockovich], as she should have. It’s so much easier when you know you’re not going to win.

Do you want one or is it legitimately just an honor to be nominated? 

Uhhh . . . I go back and forth, to be honest. Would I like it to happen? Sure. Does it need to happen? No. But would it be nice? Yeah, it would be nice.

Why have you played a character who deals with a troubled brother so many times in your career? There’s The Savages, Ozark, You Can Count on Me, Love Actually . . . 

I know. Maybe I’m really good at it? I have all these cinematic brothers but I don’t have a brother in life. But it’s not hard to pull off when you’re working with amazing actors and there’s a connection. That’s 90 percent of it right there.

It’s still irksome that your character in Love Actually ends up sitting in that sad hospital on Christmas. Do fans harass you about it? 

They do harass me. But it’s a good harassment. I’ll take it. You know, not everyone in life gets a happy ending!

How did you even end up in that movie? You’re the only American in the credits. 

How about that?! Well, what’s-his-name is also in it—Billy Bob Thornton. So, Richard Curtis, who wrote it and directed it, kept saying to the casting director, “I want someone like Laura Linney for this.” And the casting director got exasperated and said, “Well, why don’t you just write to Laura Linney?” Then he wrote me a letter, which I still have.

Do you have a favorite off-screen experience? 

Making Kinsey, certainly. Oh, it was amazing. I loved working with Liam Neeson. We’ve done many things together and he’s a dream partner. And [writer-director] Bill Condon is one of my favorite people. John Adams was a tremendous experience too.

How did you like making such an intense TV series like Ozark? 

I loved it and miss it like crazy!

Related: Ozark's Laura Linney on the Show's Finale, Committing to Her Health and Why She Won't Complain About Aging

Though you’re a true New Yorker, you lived in Telluride, Colorado, for years. Why the change in scenery? 

I was working very, very hard and had been home for maybe ten days out of the year. And I needed a sanctuary where I could just sit and be quiet and look at nature and not be surrounded by people in the business. So, it was wonderful for me to become part of the community there. And I met my husband [real-estate agent Marc Schauer] there! Life shouldn’t be just about one thing.

What are your summer plans? Do you have a secret pastime? 

I wish I did! I’ve started reading a lot. That’s the one thing I’m happy about. But in between working and being the mother of a 9-year-old son [Bennett], there’s not a whole lot of time. I’m away from home enough so that being at home is valuable.

Is there still a big item on your to-do list that you have yet to check off? 

I’d certainly love to work with more women. Julianne Moore. Emma Thompson. Jodie Comer. The one thing that’s been changing is that women are being able to work with other women. That just didn’t happen when I was growing up on film. I was always “The Girl.” We have a long way to go, but it’s getting better.

Related: The 9 Films from the 2023 Tribeca Festival You Need to Watch