She’s one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood — with over two dozen films and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar to her credit — but Marisa Tomei still wants to accomplish more.
“I’d like to do period pieces,” said Tomei, in a phone interview. “I want to work with the big directors, like Coppola and Scorsese.”
Tomei, who started her career with a role on the soap opera As the World Turns back in 1984, catapulted to worldwide fame with her scene-stealing, Academy Award-winning turn as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny back in 1992.
“You absolutely can expect me back on stage soon. For me, it’s really the purest acting that one gets to do because it’s two hours uninterrupted and it’s so alive,” she said.
Following the terrorist attacks on the United States, Tomei — who had just flown back to New York a week before the tragedies occurred — found comfort in the theater.
“It was very profound for me that one of the things that happened after Sept. 11 was that I was just craving to be in the theater. I just wanted to either be on stage or even just go and be with people,” she said. “It’s a more primal experience, and it’s about community and about having a shared experience together, and I know I’ll always be doing it because I love that.”
And while she loves soaking up as much theater as possible, Tomei admits her starring role in the Broadway production Wait Until Dark fell short of her expectations.
“The Broadway play that I did was kind of a letdown for me, so I’d love to return to Broadway in something that was a little bit richer,” she said. “I’d really love to do a musical.”
Though many consider her a comic actress, Tomei doesn’t choose her roles based on their genre.
“I’ve done some dramatic things, so I just try to mix it up and I try not to think so much about it,” she said. “My new thing is getting past comedy vs. drama and theater vs. film, and even in a bigger sense, good and bad, and L.A. and New York. I just feel like there’s no better thing; it’s all part of the same pot of experience of life.”
Her latest life experience is the upcoming Miramax release, In the Bedroom.
“When I’m approaching something, I’m not really thinking, ‘I want to do something serious to prove something.’ If I’m lucky enough to find a script I like that speaks to me on a deeper level, then that’s what I wind up doing.”
So far, the film — which opens later this month — has garnered rave reviews. It was a big hit at the Sundance Film Festival and earned special jury prizes for Tomei’s co-stars Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson
“I’m happy that people are responding to the movie. I loved working on it. You never know how these little babies are going to do out in the world. It’s really nice to have had a great experience on it, and I hope people enjoy it.”
Tomei became involved with the film when director Todd Field gave her a mere three days notice to “get up to Maine and create this character.” It was a tough job to undertake, but the strong story and the level of intimacy on the set were what attracted Tomei to the project.
“Honestly, in any other situation I just would have said no. I just like to have more time to prepare,” Tomei said. “But we talked about it and I explicitly told Todd that he was going to have to be there for me. (I agreed) if he could find someone in the town who was similar to my character, then I would find a way to do it.”
Field pulled through, discovering a woman in the town who was similar to Tomei’s character, Natalie, in everything from her family background to her social strata.
Tomei was thrilled, and said this was vital in helping her prepare for the role.
“She shared her life with me and I could listen to her accent,” Tomei said. “It just gave me a hook into that community and that particular sub-culture. That was pretty much all I got to do, was spend two days with her and I had to just jump in and take the experience as a chance to trust my instincts.”
Tomei never regretted her decision to star in the film, and was pleased to have the chance to work with one of her idols, Sissy Spacek.
“People always talk about a movie set like ‘it’s this family and we’re so close.’ You know, it’s not always like that. A lot of times, you don’t really know someone in a deep way unless you have an extra-special connection,” she said.
Fortunately for Tomei, she and Spacek were able to work well together and bond. Tomei attributed it to their keen ability to play scenes together.
“One of the ways you can get close (to another actor) is that a lot of times you show up and you pretend to be friends and then you become friends,” she said. “One of the ways to genuinely let it come out organically is if you find that you work together really well and everyone did, but I had an eye on Sissy.”
Tomei added, “I felt that she and I worked in some similar ways. There’s an unspoken trust and respect that’s great when you have a harmony working together. I did get to know her better through that, and then we got to know each other personally.”
Tomei said having a strong relationship with her co-stars helped her to get through some of In the Bedroom’s more challenging scenes. The film revolves around a tragic love store between Tomei’s character and a younger man (played by Nick Stahl). In this case, the short time constraints of filming proved an asset.
“Sometimes it’s better for the really emotional ones not to think about it anyway. If the scene is well-constructed — meaning the dialogue is true and the emotional reality is honest — you can kind of go into it and let it hit you, and then just react,” Tomei said. “So that was the case mostly in this one, because it was so well-constructed. I don’t really prepare emotionally ahead of time. You just kind of get your character together and then open yourself up and let it in. So it didn’t really take away from the emotional stuff. Sometimes if you just have to get there and cry it’s okay.”
Working with a younger man was also one of the things that drew Tomei to the project. The actress relished the chance to tell a love story that defied age.
“That’s another reason I was interested in the script and liked it was because it’s just something that I personally believe in, which is that you can fall in love with anybody at any age — it’s just about your hearts, values, personalities and spirits. I was happy to be part of that,” Tomei said.
And no doubt, fans will be happy she was in it as well.
