Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlandsis an American film, stage, and television actress, whose career in the entertainment industry has spanned over six decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influenceand Gloria, which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night. In November 2015, Rowlands...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth19 June 1930
CityMadison, WI
CountryUnited States of America
It was when A Woman Under the Influence played at the New York Film Festival. It would be hard to top that. It was one of the most extraordinary nights of my life.
Because John Cassavetes was so terrific in live TV, a lot of his friends had not been able to participate in that yet and so they asked if he would gather with them at night when I was at the play and tell them what live TV was like, what you had to adjust to because it was its own medium - it had many things you had to be aware of.
When I was in Middle of The Night, MGM came and offered me a contract and I said that when I got out of the play, I'd like to try it. I didn't know anything about making movies but I was certainly finding it interesting.
John Cassavetes wrote A Woman Under the Influence as a play. He said, "Hey, I wrote you a play." And I said, "Great, let's read it." I read it and I said, "John, I couldn't do this every night and twice on Wednesday and Saturday".
It was a very hard play [Woman Under the Influence] to do every night. And John Cassavetes said, "Don't worry. Don't even think about it, you're right. I hadn't thought of that." He said, "Just forget it."
After you play a part, you think of it as your own.
I like to think that Mrs. Asher is a lot stranger mother than I am. I hope that that's true. She's one of the strangest characters I've ever played.
Child, I believe you broke my legs. ... Skeleton Key.
If I have something I like to forget, then I forget it.
Never in my life have I ever even thought about anything else [ being anything other than an actress].
[John Cassavetes] came backstage afterwards and introduced himself and we talked a bit, and then went for a little coffee at the Russian Tea Room next door. It just...started.
He[John Cassavetes] was just being an actor. A very successful actor, especially in live TV. He did many wonderful performances.
I got a part opposite Edward G. Robinson in a play called Middle of The Night, which Paddy Cheyafsky had written. It played for a long time because everybody just loved Edward G. Robinson, everybody in New York wanted to see it. John [Cassavetes] and I were married at the time and put into a position where I was working very long evening hours and he was working in the daytime and so there was a lot of spare time.
It was more freedom than I think most people get when they're starting out - or even when they're not starting out. He [John Cassavetes] did his thing and I did whatever I thought.