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 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.
I think that I was lucky to have that period of time [ like coming to New York] because everything was so exciting and new.
I think I have the only parents in the world who would not have said something against become an actress.
So many people mistakenly think that the rest of his [John Cassavetes] pictures and the ones we did were improvised, which isn't true. He wrote all the rest of them.
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.
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.
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.