This interview with Jerry Hall originally appeared in the August 2003 issue of Venice Magazine, during Jerry's run as Mrs. Robinson in the play of "The Graduate".
"Ms. Hall, you are trying to seduce us!"
As a riveting Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," Jerry Hall does exactly that.
by Terry Keefe
Benjamin Braddock doesn't stand a chance against Mrs. Robinson today. It's the beginning of August in Manhattan, and under the hand of director Peter Lawrence, the National Touring production of "The Graduate" is running through the famous seduction scene between Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson in a large Broadway rehearsal space. As Mrs. Robinson, Jerry Hall puts the moves on the hapless Benjamin (played to jittery perfection by Rider Strong of Cabin Fever and "Boy Meets World" fame) and some legendary lines are uttered. Rider remarks nervously, "Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me." And after a good laugh and a few disarming comments to the contrary, Jerry comes back with Mrs. Robinson's infamous "Would you like me to seduce you?" Over Benjamin's protests, she proceeds to do just that, setting the groundwork for the affair that follows by letting Benjamin know she's available to him and thereafter stripping nude briefly. After that fateful encounter, Benjamin is hooked, just as the audience will be. Even in this bare rehearsal setting, Jerry Hall is a magnetic presence that you can't take your eyes off of. Incredibly poised, she creates a Mrs. Robinson of great physical power, who practically hypnotizes Benjamin with the strength of her stare. In her voice, there's an underlying current of challenge to Benjamin, as if she's saying, "I dare you to walk away from me. I know you can't." There is also a layer of sadness and decadence in the performance which achieves the difficult task of making you feel a bit sorry for Mrs. Robinson, even as she's wrecking the lives of everyone around her.
The show is, of course, based on the landmark 1967 film of the same title, directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. And in turn, the film was adapted from the 1962 novel by Charles Webb. For those uninitiated as to the plot, Benjamin Braddock has just graduated from college with honors and has returned to spend the summer at home with his parents. He wants a future that will be "different," although the staid upper middle-class Californian existence of his family offers exactly the opposite. Confused and naive, Benjamin embarks on an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the bored wife of his father's business partner. It's all just a fun diversion until Benjamin meets Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine (played in this production by Devon Sorvari), and falls in love with her. The play opened in London in March 2000, with Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson, and was an instant hit. Jerry Hall would soon step into Mrs. Robinson's sultry shoes on the West End for a successful run of a few hundred performances. And she'll arrive this month in L.A. for a series of shows at the Wilshire Theatre.
Although "The Graduate" has become the stage role that Jerry Hall is most famous for, she's been practically living onstage these past few years, also appearing in the West End productions of "The Vagina Monologues" (as well as in the North American touring performance of that show in Austin, Texas) and "The Play What I Wrote." She also recently received raves for her 52-minute monologue in "Picasso's Women," which toured England. There were some successful prior acts in her life, of course. Hall is one of the world's most famous models, having embarked on that career at the age of 16, when she left Gonzales, Texas, to move to Paris. Along the way, she became equally famous as the wife, and then ex-wife, of Mick Jagger (who she speaks about fondly and regards as a close friend). But from the looks of things, it seems safe to say that she'll also be remembered for her acting talent. During the course of our conversation, she expresses her desire to continue acting on stage for the rest of her life and mentions Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" as a future dream role.
There are two things that immediately came to mind when speaking to Jerry Hall in person. The first is that she barely appears to have aged since her modeling shots from the 1970s. The second is that she makes you feel like the only person in the room, despite the fact that there are several people working in different sections of the rehearsal space during our interview. Like we said, Benjamin Braddock never stood a chance.
What were some of the biggest challenges of creating your Mrs. Robinson?
Jerry Hall: Well, you always have to have sympathy for her. But she's having inappropriate sex with a young boy who's her best friend's son. So that's horrible, that's really not good. She's an alcoholic. She's a bitch, she says bitchy things to her daughter all the time. But you have to find the sympathy too. She's an intelligent woman, she's very well-educated. She's in a loveless marriage with this boring guy because she got pregnant young and had to get married. And she's restless. In that time period, a lot of women were frustrated with just being housewives. And so instead of just giving up, she's fighting. She's fighting her own battle. So I admire her for that. And in the end, she wants her daughter to rebel, you know? She's pushing her to rebel. So she does have some redeeming qualities that you have to find.
She's so matter of fact about the negative portions of her life. Like when she asks Benjamin, "Did you know I'm an alcoholic?"
She likes to shock. She gets a perverse kick out of shocking. I mean, the whole thing with her being nude in front of him. And it's funny how even nowadays when you see somebody nude on stage, it's shocking. The audience is shocked.
What do you feel from the audience at the moment you appear nude in this show?
They're shocked! [laughs] Benjamin's so freaked out and so they're [also] laughing. It's a lovely thing for the audience to be both shocked and laughing. I think laughter is very good for people. I love comedy. Comedy's the kind of thing I'm trying to do the most.
Did you find you were a natural at comedy right from the beginning?
No. I love doing it. I find it really funny, and that's kind of contagious. If you sort of find it funny, the audience will sort of find it funny. But to do comedy, the timing has to be exact, you know? And you have to play it straight, really straight, otherwise it's not funny. You can't play it for laughs. Comedy really comes from the seriousness of it.
This is a role that was created by Kathleen Turner, onstage at least. Is there anything you did to deliberately make the role your own?
Well, I didn't try to copy her at all. She's an amazing actress. She has such strength. She delivers lines like Mae West. And she's very, very funny. But we're very different. You just make it your own. It's a big mistake to try to copy, even a tiny portion, because it throws it all off.
Did you study the film much prior to doing the show or did you choose not to look at it?
I watched it like three years ago, once, before doing the show the first time. But then I decided not to watch it again. Because it's very different. The show is actually more like the book. The book is much more helpful to get the character the way she's written in the play.
How were you cast originally?
John Reid, the original producer in London, used to be the manager of Elton John. He's a friend of mine. I had been to the Cannes Film Festival and was wearing all these jewels and things. All these pictures in magazines and in the papers. And I guess he saw that and said, "Oh, she'd be a good Mrs. Robinson." I'd been to see the play with Kathleen Turner and loved it so much. And Sacha Brooks, the other producer, was there. He said he saw me outside smoking a cigarette in-between and he thought, "She'd make a good Mrs. Robinson." So the two of them at the same time sort of thought, "Let's get Jerry in for an audition." I got an acting coach to help me and I worked on an audition. I worked really, really hard and memorized the whole thing. I went in and auditioned and they were like, "Great! You've got the part." I was really thrilled.
Were you nervous the first night in front of an audience?
Oh God, yes. On my first preview, around 100 people stood up and took pictures while I was standing there nude. It caused a riot with them trying to get them to stop. And then they [the British press] reviewed the first preview.
Which they're not supposed to do.
It was just the worst. It was like walking through fire, I was just getting through it. But we got through it. And then some of the people came back and reviewed it on the right night and they wrote some nice things. We had a huge hit and we were sold out for 6 months. So it was good.
Because you started as a model, has it been a challenge to get the press to take you seriously as an actress?
I got my best reviews on my 3rd play. Because my second was "The Vagina Monologues," and they were like, "Well, anybody can do that." They were quite nice but then when I did my 52-minute monologue (in "Picasso's Women"), they were like "Wow!" So that was nice. But look, like anything in life, acting isn't something you just get up and do. Especially theater acting. You need to practice. You need to work at it. You need to get up vocal power. It's just been an amazing learning process. But I'm totally hooked on the magic of it.
Do you have a favorite scene in the play?
I love the scene which is gearing up to the hotel bedroom scene. When I'm asking him if he's a virgin, asking him if this is his first time. Very awkward, you know [laughs].
Did you "find" Mrs. Robinson again pretty quickly after the hiatus from doing the role, between this production and the West End production, or did it take some time?
It took a while. It's kind of hard in the beginning whenever you go into rehearsal with a bunch of strangers. And you're terrible and feel awkward. And everyone's doing their bit but badly. It takes awhile to get good. A lot of bonding things are going on too, and I like that. You gear up and you start to get up to speed. It's a whole growing process. There's a very different dynamic with different actors. But I love the actors [on this production] and I love the director. Peter is beautiful. He's great, he helped me a lot. It's also always fun to come back to something that I've done and have another go at it, having had a lot of work in-between.
How many Benjamins have you been through since you started doing the show?
Three [laughs, indicates Rider Strong]. He's the third one. They're all different and they've all been very good.
Do you remember the first time you saw the film version of The Graduate?
Oh yeah, I do. I loved it. I adore Anne Bancroft. She's one of my favorite actresses. I always try to see anything that she's in. If I read in TV Guide that she's in some movie, I always make an effort to see it. That movie was such an important movie for the times. It was about young people having a voice. Of course, people can say it's dated but I don't think so. Because it's such an internal story of this boy and it's a story about love. How Benjamin and Elaine love each other and through all sorts of obstacles they manage to get together in the end. So it's like the classic fairy rescue story - the prince gets the princess from the wicked mother [laughs]. People also always like a sexual comedy, and there aren't that many of them. I always hear people tell me, "Oh God, that reminds me of when I was 17, this woman who seduced me. It was my first older woman." [laughs] So that brings out this kind of fantasy for a lot of men, there's that whole thing that people enjoy. Also, having done the play for so long, it's always amazing to me how many different things you can get out of this play [as a performer]. Using the same words you can still find new meaning. I think one of the great messages about this play is that parents shouldn't try to control their children. Let your children be who they are. Let them have a voice. And I think that's one of the hardest lessons to learn as a parent. I have teenagers and it's hard to not say something sometimes. You have to let them be who they are. That's one of the things that touches me about the play. It's fun also playing the older woman who's a seductress, you don't get many parts like that [laughs].
Have you talked to any of the principals from the film version since doing the play?
Mike Nichols came to see me in the play in London and he sent me a big box of olive oil. Because [in the show] I rub olive oil on my skin. And he wrote me a note which said, "This is to rub all over your beautiful body." He's lovely. I did another play which he came to see me in called "The Play What I Wrote." Mike Nichols took it to Broadway. They asked me to come to Broadway to do it, but I was doing another play then. But I did go do it in Belfast, Ireland, which was great. Great audience. I loved it. The audience there is kind of rowdy. They drink a lot and like to have a good time. And that play is kind of rowdy.
What would be your typical routine during the day of a performance?
Well, I sleep to 11. Because I think it's very important to be "peak" at 8 PM. You just can't do that if you wake up too early. And I do yoga every day and I meditate every day. I think the meditation's very important to keep focus. And then I spend time with my kids. I've already got my head in the part by about 3 PM. You have to save yourself a bit. You get like an athlete so you're really on, mentally and physically, at 8 PM. Then afterwards, you get this adrenaline rush and you've got to eat and chat with everyone and have a drink. But you can't stay up too late [laughs].
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