The award-winning stage and screen actress shares her taste for music, classical literature, and midafternoon martinis.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
At sunset or under the stars on the dock of our lake house just being with my family and pals.
At sunset or under the stars on the dock of our lake house just being with my family and pals.
What is your greatest fear?
That we will have waited too long to save the earth from environmental catastrophe.
That we will have waited too long to save the earth from environmental catastrophe.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Cleopatra.
Cleopatra.
Which living person do you most admire?
Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who was shot for advocating that girls be educated.
Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who was shot for advocating that girls be educated.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My competitive side, the one that keeps score.
My competitive side, the one that keeps score.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Pettiness, arrogance, boorishness.
Pettiness, arrogance, boorishness.
What is your greatest extravagance?
A midafternoon martini.
A midafternoon martini.
What is your favorite journey?
Any one that takes me home … and, of course, the creative one.
Any one that takes me home … and, of course, the creative one.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Self-denial.
Self-denial.
On what occasion do you lie?
In an extreme situation requiring hope or delicacy … backstage, for instance.
In an extreme situation requiring hope or delicacy … backstage, for instance.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
It depends on the lighting.
It depends on the lighting.
Which living person do you most despise?
I’m not giving that S.O.B. any free publicity.
I’m not giving that S.O.B. any free publicity.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“No worry” and “Oh wow … ”
“No worry” and “Oh wow … ”
What is your greatest regret?
That I can’t remember every detail of what has been a wonderful life.
That I can’t remember every detail of what has been a wonderful life.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Easy: my home and family.
Easy: my home and family.
When and where were you happiest?
Connecticut, summers of ’84 and ’87, when I was pregnant with my daughters.
Connecticut, summers of ’84 and ’87, when I was pregnant with my daughters.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Any form of musicianship at the virtuoso level.
Any form of musicianship at the virtuoso level.
What is your current state of mind?
Oh wow …
Oh wow …
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would be free of guilt, forever.
I would be free of guilt, forever.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
My only sibling, Michael Baranski, would still be alive.
My only sibling, Michael Baranski, would still be alive.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
That my years of work as an actress provided my two daughters with a first-rate education through graduate school.
That my years of work as an actress provided my two daughters with a first-rate education through graduate school.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A heron.
A heron.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
A guy … with a heroic sense of destiny, perhaps a New Age Winston Churchill.
A guy … with a heroic sense of destiny, perhaps a New Age Winston Churchill.
What is your most treasured possession?
My physical and mental health.
My physical and mental health.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being stuck indefinitely in an airport when I’m desperate to get home.
Being stuck indefinitely in an airport when I’m desperate to get home.
Where would you like to live?
In the hearts and minds of my audience.
In the hearts and minds of my audience.
What is your favorite occupation?
Performing … in comedies, dramas, or musicals; onstage, in film, or on TV; as lawyers or lushes … it’s a great gig.
Performing … in comedies, dramas, or musicals; onstage, in film, or on TV; as lawyers or lushes … it’s a great gig.
What do you most value in your friends?
That they can pick up where we left off.
That they can pick up where we left off.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Hero: Odysseus. Heroine: Isabel Archer.
Hero: Odysseus. Heroine: Isabel Archer.
What is it that you most dislike?
The disappearance of a neighborhood bookstore.
The disappearance of a neighborhood bookstore.
How would you like to die?
Decades from now, on my way to rehearsal.
Decades from now, on my way to rehearsal.
What is your motto?
“Wake up expecting things.”
“Wake up expecting things.”
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