Sharp Objects: HBO Season 1–Interview with Amy Adams
Going Home
Amy Adams: I find at least within my own dynamic and in my friends and relatives that going home often brings you back into the drama which sort of invited you to leave. So you sometimes fall into the roles that you adopted, healthy or unhealthy as a child and it’s really hard to break out of those patterns, especially if they’re dysfunctional. It’s easy to get pulled back in.
Mother-Daughter Dramas
AA: They do a number to one another. I think they definitely seem to have an allergic reaction to one another. But I think that, it’s just such built-in drama that it’s very easy for people to identify with because it’s a relationship that whether present or absent, we all have a mother and a father and how we identify ourselves inside of those relationships and how they affect us for the rest of our life, it’s natural built-in drama. Someone had said to me and I really, I was so worried about being a perfect parent, and they said, well, if you’re perfect, then she’ll be going to therapy because you were too perfect and she’ll never live up to it. So, you just let go of it. I think, especially a mother-daughter relationship because the same sex parent has always has a very interesting effect on their, on their offspring.
Playing Investigator
AA: It was really hard to live inside of this world of violence and the violence that women execute against each other not only physically but also emotionally. It made me examine myself in a different, a parent for sure, but it always is hard to step away. Unfortunately, the news is almost as grisly as the show. So it’s something I think we’re all dealing with is how to step away from the violence in the world and raise our children with hope and optimism.
Approach to Role
AA: I really enjoyed approaching this role with a certain lack of vanity. It was, I think appropriate and I didn’t really even think about it, about how I would feel about it until I started watching it and then I was like, oh wow. I really maybe should have been a bit more vain, but it’s actually really freeing to let go of that and get to dive into a character without vanity.
Earliest Memories of TV
AA: My earliest memories of TV are PBS, watching “Sesame Street”, and there was a program called “Clyde the Frog” that I would watch. So those are my earliest memories. We also watched the “Wide World of Disney”. I think the “Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights. That was something and a lot of football. My Dad is a big sports fanatic, so a lot of American football.
No Social Media
AA: I think I’ve really flirted with it and recently really flirted with the idea of having a social media because there’s a lot of causes I’d love to bring attention to. But every time I’ve examined it’s just, I really value my privacy and I kind of feel like if I’m inviting people into my life, it’s then hard to have any expectation of privacy. So for me, that’s really all that it’s about. My husband has a social media account, he shares things, and I don’t know, it’s something I’ve flirted with. I’m still struggling with social media as being here to stay, which I know makes me so old fashioned. I think I’m more comfortable with my level of privacy currently.
Sesame Street Toys
AA: No, I didn’t collect. I was one of a lot of kids so we didn’t really have a lot of extra toys.
Home Viewing
AA: Funny you should say that right now. We actually have no sofa in our room right now. We just have two big beanbags. We had got a sofa and then it, I think this is boring. I’m like, we don’t have a sofa currently. It’s on order. You get rid of one and then you think the other ones will come within. So we’re currently watching a television on beanbags. Yes.
Role of TV:
AA: I tend to have a lot of television in the background. I’m also kind of a binge watcher, so it’s television tends to be the way that I unwind. I have a lot of shows and I’m really grateful for these streaming services because they allow us to watch the content.
Controlling TV
AA: I’m kind of in control of the remote. My daughter had control, but then I kind of wore thin of kids programming so we’re getting her into things like, we’re watching with her “Mysteries of the Museum” and History Channel and Travel channel stuff. So she’s, we’re now sharing the remote, but she’s becoming a little bit more sophisticated in her tastes. So that’s fun.
Career Choices
AA: I tend to be the type of personality that puts a lot of pressure on myself. So instead of it creating freedom inside of myself, then I always feel like I have, sort of a responsibility to do my best. I would love to say like all the accolades gives me more confidence, but in some way it creates a pressure that I put on myself to try something new or do something different and as I’m maturing I’m kind of letting go of that a little bit and enjoying what I get to do without that sort of internal pressure. But I wouldn’t be where I am today without the nominations. I have to say I think that it made a huge difference in my career because I kind of got a late start. So it brought attention to roles that, that maybe people wouldn’t have paid attention to previously.
Desirable Role:
AA: I’m constantly looking for that. Right now I’m getting ready…I always think it’s the thing that I’m doing next is the thing that I want to do. So I’m getting ready to work with Joe Wright on a “Woman in the Window”. And I’m really looking forward to that. I think I’ve done a lot of really heavy stuff. I kind of want to do a comedy or a musical next, something where I can implement some lightness because I really do enjoy having that contrast. I think it’s time to do something a little lighter after that because, I really love psychological examinations of characters, but I’m definitely ready to do that inside of something that is uplifting.
#TimesUp and #MeeToo Movements
AA: The role that Hollywood plays on setting an example for other industries and the way the role that they can play in supporting women in other industries is what I’m more interested in. And hopefully we can continue to create a platform where women, the legal defense fund is something that I’m really passionate about and allowing women to have a voice and a safe environment to come forward. And that’s what I hope continues. I think it’s been an important move forward and hopefully we just continue in that direction and creating work environments where people feel more empowered and have an expectation of safety. That’s the thing that I’m excited about.