Predictions and Fantasies.

[Leigh]

I noted in one of the interviews JM gave in connection with her current play, 'Polar Bears', that she said she has nothing at all planned when the play is over. I suspect it's been a really long time that has happened, as it's always seemed she had some new project just over the horizon. Got to believe she'll be pressing her manager or agent to get something new lined up. Well have to keep our eyes open and our ear to the ground.

[Flower Child]

Perhaps JM and her "boyfriend who is not in the arts" are planning a well deserved rest and vacation.

[Leigh]

Flower Child, you're a clever girl, you are!

[Flower Child]

Leigh--she's been non-stop for the past couple of years and she should relax and enjoy her 35th birthday.

[Katy]

That particular statement also stood out for me as well. I haven't done anymore research on it, but my gut reaction to it was that she was lying just so she didn't have to speak about something else. -- What have I become in my aging days? So cynical! So transparently lazy.

My own feeling about this is that she will not be taking time off, certainly not extended time off. -- I bet she is already shopping around. I would guess by this point that Polar Bears has become routine for her, so she is spending the other part of her day shopping around for another project, reading scripts, etc.

But your guess is as good as mine. I have no idea really. I'm channeling my inner JM radar saying all these things. It's never been checked for accuracy.

Katy

[Leigh]

Gosh, Flower Child. I'd forgotten that JM's 35th B-day is right around the corner. Bad Leigh!

Katy, I agree with you. In all the years we've been following JM, YOU, especially, there really hasn't been that much time between projects. Obviously, the woman LOVES to work! I have to believe she's got *something* on the horizon. She might not want to discuss the possibilities, but I have a hard time thinking that she'd just sit back and wait for a phone call.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with taking a breather now and then. The lady's been working constantly since she was 12 years old!

[Flower Child]

As a woman approaching "middle age" it will be extremely hard for her to portray innocent, virtuous characters anymore. I do not believe I know anyone at 35 who is a virgin. She will have to accept more mature roles and I believe she was flexing her muscles when she accepted Polar Bears. She has been pretty much associated with "period and costume" characters. She needs to leave all of that behind her and do more contemporary stuff like she just did in "Blood and Oil" and "Strike Back." The competition for good, meaty roles is extremely high and she just might turn to directing, in which I feel she would be excellent at. She just has that excellent eye for extreme detail and it is shown in every performance she has given. As a workaholic she won't spend time resting on her laurels and I predict she will exert some time behind the camera. She has worked and learned from many fine directors and she knows how to get things done the right way.

[Katy]

Let's talk about JM's general career strategy and path here. If you have specific project analysis, insight or criticism, please use the appropriate project thread (or create one).

Analyze
Speculate
Predict
Fantasize

=All acceptable in this thread.

Katy

[Katy]

... She has been pretty much associated with "period and costume" characters. She needs to leave all of that behind her and do more contemporary stuff like she just did in "Blood and Oil" and "Strike Back." The competition for good, meaty roles is extremely high and she just might turn to directing, in which I feel she would be excellent at. She just has that excellent eye for extreme detail and it is shown in every performance she has given. As a workaholic she won't spend time resting on her laurels and I predict she will exert some time behind the camera. She has worked and learned from many fine directors and she knows how to get things done the right way.

While I don't agree that JM should just dump period projects, I do agree that we will begin to see her direct more. Wasn't there an interview or an article just recently in which she actually talked about directing more? --Points to anyone who can find that reference.

And, I do like contemporary projects. I have enjoyed AMP, B&O, for example. And, I can see JM really shining in these type projects. I've also enjoyed the blatantly political aspect to many of her contemporary projects. (Or, all of them in fact... warriors= political, F&C= political I would say, b&o = definitely, AMP = definitely, strike back = definitely, etc) But I do think there are still great, strong parts from period pieces that JM can still perform. To think that all period projects have young heroines at their core is misleading, I would venture. I think it only takes into account a very limited sampling of period pieces too.

I've been thinking of Rosa Luxemburg lately. Did anyone else see that film? With Barbara Sukowa? Now, there was a character. I would still love to see JM in a period piece like that. Or, I STILL want someone to develop a script about Hannah Arendt and want JM to be cast as the woman herself.

But oooh, I would love to see JM in a film about American labor history... or as a suffragette (UK or US).

I also think we might see her more and more on the stage. I've only seen her once on stage, and it was brilliant. I think it offers something real time to her that she can't get in films.

I am by no means a theatre scholar. But if I were to start seeing patterns in JM's theatre career, there would be a few things that stood out to me.

First would be a time line... she doesn't do them back to back. The last round saw 4 years in between while 2 years seems to be her average.

Another thing would be that she performed in classic (Checkov) pieces: Platanov, the Seagull. And contemporary classic: Far Away.

But she's done 3 original projects: Jerusalem Syndrome (I think it was original), Blackbird and Polar Bears. Now, that is half of her theatre work. I would love to see her do more original pieces. I think she can gauge whether something is quality and can really focus on originating a role. I think that's her strong suite.

I also think you see a glimmer of something very feminine in those pieces. Polar Bears and Blackbird have obviously strong female characters. I think Checkov wrote women kind of well too. I mean, there is some dimension there for his female characters.

Having read JS, I sense there is just some kind of intangible feminine feel to the piece. So much of that was an internal piece, I think.

And I don't understand Far Away. I think any gender could perform those roles. No idea!

I'm just rambling here. Perhaps this feminine feel I am trying to sort out is simply gender based. it's just her characters, perhaps. I'd like to think of it as an emerging canon of female parts where she has evolved into the woman to be.

Seriously, I was just thinking aloud here and piecing things together. I know this doesn't have a lot of coherency. I find that an idea is revealed to me and then it might take many projects before I get a full handle on it. Something is emerging, I think.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy, Leigh--Believe it or not but JM was in a dream I had last night. In my dream she was a corporate executive but my dream did not provide any clues to what corporation she would be working for. The only thing that I can remember is that it was a British. Perhaps it was the BBC. Go figure.

[Katy]

Have you recently watched Friends and Crocodiles? Because there is a scene in that in which she is sitting on a panel reviewing items and ideas that might be the next big thing.... your description reminds me of that...

Luckily for me, I rarely ever remember my dreams. That gives me an out on a lot of psycho analysis! I think that's for the best.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy--I saw Friends and Crocodiles last year. JM was hysterical as the business executive when the man she was babysitting had a party and she called the police to report drug use. I remember most of my dreams and sometimes they scare me and affect my mood for the day. They are like watching an intense movie of discobobulated things on my mind. I just wish I could dream up winning Powerball numbers. Weird isn't it?