Interview: Frances Fisher of “The Lincoln Lawyer”

Interview: Frances Fisher of “The Lincoln Lawyer”

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree

Frances Fisher is an acting veteran who has starred in everything from “Guiding Light” to “Unforgiven” to “Titanic.” Today, audiences get a chance to see Fisher opposite Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe in “The Lincoln Lawyer,” adapted from Michael Connelly’s popular novel.

WeekinRewind had a chance to talk with Fisher recently about her role in “The Lincoln Lawyer.”

Joel Crabtree: In “The Lincoln Lawyer,” you play Mary Windsor.  Could you tell me a bit about your character?

Frances Fisher: She’s a big Real Estate mogul, she married her husband and inherited his realty company. Her son works for her, she’s raised her son since they came from another part of the country and her husband died, so she moved to Los Angeles with her son. And, you know, went to work for a realty company and ended up marrying the big cheese.

JC: I heard that [author] Michael Connelly visited the set on occasion, and I was wondering if you had a chance to talk to him about the character?

FFr: Not that much. I socialized with him a little bit, but I had already shot my stuff by the time I really had the chance to talk to him.

JC: What was it like bringing the character from the book to the screen?

FF: The script had been written, and I just kind of did the work that an actor does to make the character believable. You give her a history and if it’s not on the page you make it up. It was fine, I think I did what Brad Furman wanted me to do. It’s a tricky role.

JC: Brad Furman, the director, is relatively young as far as directors go. I was wondering what it was like working with him?

FF: IIt was great. He’s got a lot of energy, and he’s hip and he’s young and he’s got a great sensibility. It was lovely working with him. I enjoyed it, a lot.

JC:: Speaking of working with great people, the film has such an amazing cast. I was wondering what it was like to work with so many talented actors in one movie?

FF: It was a pleasure, to say the least, to work with people not only talented but professional. Everybody knew their lines, they showed up on time. It was great.

JC: You’ve had a couple of projects in 2011, now with “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “The Roommate,” and I was wondering what else you have in store for this year?

FF: Well, I just got cast in a pilot called “Partners,” so I’m going to be shooting that this month in Atlanta. “Janie Jones” [starring Abigail Breslin and Alessandro Nivola] is coming out [this summer], and I was just at the Sedona Film Festival with a movie that I did last summer called “Sedona.” So, I’ve got a lot going on.

JC: When you were doing this movie, how did you approach the character?

FF: Like I said before, you get all clues from what’s written in the script, and then there was a book that I could go back to and get the sense of who she was. She wasn’t really fleshed out that much in the book, but the Matthew McConaughey’s character had a few comments about her, so you kind of weave all that together and create a living, breathing person based on the clues you get from the script.

JC: Was there anything in particular that drew you to the project as a whole?

FF: I liked the twists. It was a great read, because I didn’t know what was going to happen next, and it’s noirish, and I thought it was smartly written. I liked who this character is, and I liked what she does in the movie. That’s what made me want to go in and meet with Brad. And I think by then I knew Matthew was attached to it, and I think he’s a lovely actor. And he’s fantastic in this role, he really does a great, great job. [It’s a] great character he creates.

Below is the trailer for "The Lincoln Lawyer."