“It was a certain sense of elation,” reveals Jim Parsons when recounting the emotions around his first Tony nomination. The actor scored this recognition for his performance in “Mother Play” by Paula Vogel. Thankfully, the entire three-person cast of this new drama was nominated. “We’re all three together just really the entire time,” notes Parsons. So the trio gets to experience the excitement of Tony season as a unit, a feat he calls “dreamlike” and “amazing.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Those celebrated co-stars are none other than Oscar and Tony winner Jessica Lange and Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger. The actors bring to life a semi-autobiographical tale of Vogel’s family life, with Parson’s portraying a version of the playwright’s real brother, Carl. With a mother who drowns her financial and social sorrows in martinis, Carl and his sister Martha (Keenan-Bolger) form a unique, intimate bond. Carl is at once parent, confidant, and protector to his sister.
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Parsons recalls a “generosity” to the way Vogel was willing to collaborate on the script. “She came into the room and said, ‘I write plays and characters to a certain point, and then we get actors and then I start writing for the actors,’” remembers Parsons. So even though Carl’s story has deeply personal meaning for Vogel, the actor still feels like he had creative leeway in his performance. “The biggest thing for me was hearing from her herself how important Carl was to her and how close they really were,” admits Parsons. “She was always so clear to me that it was my Carl…that sort of generosity in many ways allows the spirit of Carl to come through the piece and hopefully my performance in a way that a more rigorous approach to trying to imitate somebody might not do.”
Carl stands out in the play thanks to his joyful acceptance of his sexuality, despite having a mother who doesn’t accept him for being gay. At one point Parsons even delivers a beautiful line to his family about how his love for men is sacred. “It feels like an act of bravery to be so declarative and so definitive,” explains the actor, “I so cherish this opportunity to get to walk in someone’s shoes who is so embracing about his life.”
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The character’s resilience is on full display during one particular moment in the play when Carl’s mother is forcing him out of the family. Parson’s launches into a poetic monologue where Carl imagines himself to be the lost princess Anastasia Romanov. “Carl’s a gifted storyteller, and that’s exactly what he’s doing in that moment,” notes Parsons. Not only is Carl shoring his defenses, he’s also providing his sister with an example of how to thrive in the world as a queer person. “He’s teaching her a method of shielding yourself from the slings and arrows of life that are going to come to you,” explains Parsons, “it’s so moving to me the way it deepens both your understanding of Carl as a character and his relationship to his sister in that same moment. It’s just kind of perfect.”