December 18, 2003

Annette Benning visits Presentation High School
Actress talks about her life on stage and screen

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

In today’s world, many celebrities use their fame as a license to do whatever they want and appear to the rest of us as if they are above any consequences. That makes a meeting with a stage and film star who is gracious and unpretentious quite refreshing. And, on Dec. 11, at Presentation High School, that’s exactly what happened.

Annette Benning walked into the intimate atmosphere of the Valenzuela Theater as if she was just another parent. She walked into a crowd of about 50 students, parents, a few teachers and a number of the media and few realized she already had arrived. It was only after she was introduced and sat down on the stage and started talking about her life and her career that the audience was struck by her stage presence, her ability to talk with a group and her overall genuineness, naturalness and lack of pretension.

Eye contact
She began talking about herself and her career with a degree of shyness. The more she spoke, the more animated she became. Early on in her monologue, she caught the girl’s eyes and within the next hour it was as if she was talking to each one individually. It was an amazing hour filled with funny stories about her life and career.

Benning told the girls that she wanted to be a stage actress because she loves language, drama and literature. “I love the sound of the human voice,” she said adding that she felt the knowledge she gained from the research she does when preparing for a role provides an extra benefit to her career.

At the same time, the actress said, “the insecurity and fear never go away. I’m nervous all the time, it doesn’t get easier, and it gets worse. That’s because when they say ‘action’ your ass is on the line.” Being competent and knowing what you are doing helps ease some of the pressure, she added.

Moving into movies
After acting for 10 years on the stage, Benning said she found it hard to move into film. “But now I love to work with the camera, because it can peek into something about the character that can’t be done on stage. Theaters are about language, film is more about aspects of a character.”

It took her time to adjust to working with the camera. Stage acting requires a presence for about two hours. Movie scenes last about three minutes. “Now, when I’m in a play and I’ve been acting for about 45 minutes, I feel like I can’t concentrate any more and I’m waiting for someone to yell ‘cut.’”

One of the students then asked Benning if she planned her actions as a film character. “I love the opportunity to try and surprise myself. Part of me is afraid that [planning] won’t work. It will look phony, but I plan anyway to make myself feel safe. However, if you plan, you often aren’t spontaneous and the camera sees that. That’s what makes my job so interesting and also so scary.”

Film sets are really boring, she added. “It’s like watching grass grow. And, there are all these people, I sometimes want to find out what are they all doing.”

Leaving movie sets, Benning again brought up her research. She says she starts with general questions and moves toward more tactile physical things. For example, she recently worked on “Theatre” by Somerset Maugham. Her research included reading the author’s books and plays, histories about the era, anything that would provide information about the time and its people; anything that would sum up the people and the era like paintings and photos.

“Research in general is informing the intellect, providing answers to physical questions and looking into what’s useful to you,” she said.

Being nominated for two Academy Awards was really exciting, she added. But it’s also a “frenzy. I had to keep asking questions so I wouldn’t gain a feeling of self-importance. But success is incredibly gratifying.”

Benning starts her next film in February. She plays Jean Harris, the headmistress of the exclusive Madiera School for girls. Harris was jailed for murdering her lover Herman Tarnower, author of the Scarsdale diet. Ben Kingsly will play Tarnower. “It’s a weird, dark movie. Phyliss Noodge wrote and will direct it,” Benning said.

At the end of her lecture, she talked to the girls about careers, dreams and passion. She encouraged the budding actresses to follow their passion. Even if they thought that they needed a more practical day job, she said, follow your dreams in your spare time, adding that amateur theater is fun and allows people to give something to their community.

“Performance is all about giving. It doesn’t have to be a profession, there are lots of ways to do it, but you must pursue what you love. Right now, you don’t have to have the answers, just the questions,” she added.

Follow your dreams
“Stay with what you love. Even if the people around you don’t support you, do what you want as much as you can. There are lots of ways to have work in a field you love. The older you get, the freer you get. You can’t please everyone, even though most girls are taught to do that. Hear your own voice and do what turns you on. It’s not about money or what’s practical, it’s about what makes you happy. There are lots of dreamers so go for it; for your dreams and for your passion.”