BWW Interviews: Tony-Winner Julie White Talks NURSE JACKIE, Benanti, McDonald, Schwartz, Huffman, and What's Next

Most actors can only dream of having the career Julie White has had. A Tony-winner for 2006's THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, White spent five years on TV's GRACE UNDER FIRE, starred in the mega-hit TRANSFORMERS franchise and the Academy Award winning LINCOLN, and on TV with FRIEND's Matthew Perry and fellow Tony-winner Laura Benanti in GO ON.

White can now be seen on Showtime's NURSE JACKIE, where she plays Tony-nominee Edie Falco's AA sponsor. I spoke to her the Friday before Easter as she was preparing to head up to her fixer-upper outside the city to prune roses and pile up leaves with her good friend Tony-winner Cady Huffman.

If you are familiar with White, you know that she is as funny off stage as she is on. In our conversation she talks about how working with Audra McDonald stopped her from singing in the shower, why Stephen Schwartz takes credit for her career, and what's up next for her.

New episodes of NURSE JACKIE air on Showtime Sunday nights at 9:00pm ET and recur throughout the week. And each week, BroadwayWorld TV will have recaps so you can discuss your favorite moments of the episode.

I was already a fan of NURSE JACKIE, but having you on the show this season has been so much fun. What was it like working on the show?

It was great. They are a wonderful group. And because the show's been running for a while there is a certain autonomy. It is so nice to do a show that wasn't... the last show I did was GO ON, a network show for NBC, and there is so much about the ratings and uhhhh. There was so much pressure on stuff that is not about telling the story. So, at NURSE JACKIE, they're just really interested in telling the story.

And it shoots in Queens. It is so great to be 20 minutes from my own house, and not have to be on a different coast to do it. And Edie is just extraordinary. I think she is just a fantastic human being and a marvelous actress, so it was really fun.

You and Edie Falco both have such great experience in comedy, drama, and not to mention in the theatre. What were the scenes like working with her?

Just really straightforward. We would just run through things and then start working. It just felt very relaxed. And the hallmark of that show is how real everything is played. And it's not like there are three jokes on a page, that's for sure. It's moved into something that we normally don't associate with a half-hour comedy.

Edie Falco said on THE TODAY SHOW yesterday that she doesn't consider NURSE JACKIE a comedy, even though the Showtime people might get made at her for saying that. There are obviously some humorous moments to it, but especially with Jackie relapsing, it definitely has a more serious, darker tone this season. And Antoinette, your character, is in the middle of all of that.

Yea, and my character's investment in Jackie goes pretty deep; it almost started to feel pathological to me. I will say, it was kind of an uncomfortable few months that I was doing it. Because Antoinette, that character, carries a whole lot of guilt, and I think is trying to make amends for the terrible crap she did when she was using, by helping Jackie stop using.

Well, that's a hallmark of the AA program, making amends for your sins. So, seeing that manifested in her in such a grand scale rings true with this character and storyline.

Also, I feel like they are kindreds. They recognize each other as people who in general see through other people's bulls**t. But for Jackie, it starts to get uncomfortable because Antoinette is seeing through her bulls**t.

I loved the scene in the season premiere where Jackie and Antoinette in the diner. It seemed like a light went on for both characters that they saw themselves in each other. It was cool to see Jackie have that connection, because she normally doesn't, because she is always hiding something.

She definitely is, and I think that is part of what made me uncomfortable. Personally, I try not to bring my work home, but it was that feeling of, "I'm not getting through to her. I'm not getting through. I'm not getting through." And that's what's written, I mean I... you'll have to watch it, but it's a challenge.

You talked a bit about the difference between network TV, which you have a long history with, and the pay-cable format, which is a little freer. You are coming off GO ON and going on NURSE JACKIE, is there a difference between how the cast and creative team approach this show, compared to on the more rigid network TV.

Every show is different, but certainly as a single-camera filmed show, it feels like you are making a little independent movie. Not even little, it is a tremendous crew, and they've had these people who have worked on that show for six seasons now, so they really are a brilliant film crew, and they get it done. We had great directors on that show too.

And I also did a little show for Amazon; I played John Goodman's wife also at the same studio, and almost shot the two shows concurrently. (ALPHA HOUSE) had a slightly different vibe, because they were going for something that was more straightforward comedy, so it was fun to do both.

And Edie is right, (NURSE JACKIE) is really a dramedy. I guess there's some laughs in it, but there are some laughs in THE GODFATHER too.

NURSE JACKIE doesn't have those knee-slapper kind of laughs, they're more, "Oh, that's really uncomfortable," kind of laughs.

(Laughing) Exactly. Oh my gosh. I think Merritt (Weaver) is so darling, and is so naturally funny. I think that's part of her incredible appeal. People are like, "Oh, I can take a breath at this point." She is really something charming.

It's interesting for theatre fans who watch that show to see so many of their favorites on TV. Obviously, Edie has a great deal of Broadway experience, then there is Anna Deavere Smith, who has kind of constructed her own genre of theatre all her own, and then with you and Laura Benanti appearing on the show this year, there is definitely a theatre vibe to the season. Do you notice that actors with theatre backgrounds approach screen work differently than actors who primarily work on film?

(After a thoughtful long pause) No, I really don't think so. Because it is such a different animal. I mean what Laura does on stage when she sings, oh my God. That's like it's just a such completely different animal. And certainly when she shows up on a film set, she knows how to act in a film. You figure it out pretty quickly. I mean there are smart actors and there are dumb actors. It's just like in any other business. It does seem to me that most people who succeed in the theatre are pretty smart. You've got to keep a lot of balls in the air. So when it is theatre people on a set, I'm always pretty confident that they know what they are doing.

You mentioned Laura Benanti, you guys worked together on GO ON, a show that was criminally cancelled before it's time, if you ask me...

Oh, my God. Me too. I loved that show. And I mean what a great group of people. That was super fun. There was a lot of people in there like Seth Morris and Brett Gelman and Sarah Baker and, to a certain extent, Suzy Nakamura, who all have a sketch comedy background. It was really fun to act with them.

Was there much improving on the set, or was it pretty much as written?

Well, you know, what you do is, you run stuff by your writer. For example, on NURSE JACKIE I had a line that felt jokey to me. It felt convoluted, too long, too many words. (Jackie) is saying, "I've done this terrible thing," and I had a comeback, which was, "I've done this terrible thing," but it was long and went all around, and I said, "What if I just say 'I blew a guy for a daiquiri once.'" And he said, "That's it. Ok!"

Yea, that's a little simpler, more to the point.

And it had the "K" sound in it. It got the thumbs up. So, that kind of thing, I felt free to do that on JACKIE. They are very open to that, to you making it your own. It's a great group of writers, and actually, one of the writer/producers on JACKIE is Liz Flahive, and I had done her first play (FROM UP HERE), which was produced at Manhattan Theatre Club like five years. So, she was definitely someone I could go to when I was like, "What's happening there? I don't understand this, that, or the other," or "Can you guys change this?" And it was good, and they were very open to it.

Were there parts of the character that were difficult for you to connect to?

Well, Matthew Perry is very open about his recovery, and he was a very helpful source. I talked to him about being a sponsor. I wanted to be true to what an AA sponsor does, and to try to be the best sponsor I could be.

(At this point, I asked Julie about a pilot she filmed for CBS called SAVE THE DATE. She couldn't say much about the project other than that they would make a decision in the next month. Then she added that she did have another project coming up in the meantime.)

Theatrically, I'm gonna go up to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and I'm directing something. I'm directing just a reading, which you know, how hard is that? I mean it's like, "Y'all sit in those chairs and read this play." But I am working with a playwright Jeff Roda. He's primarily been a screenwriter, he most recently wrote, "Pitch Perfect" (Roda is credited as a Writer/Script Polisher for PITCH PERFECT). Which is a fluffy bit of stuff, but he's written sort of a serious play, about a bunch of 14 year old kids. It's called 18 TO PARTY, and I'm gonna do that at the end of June.

Is that something that you've always wanted to do, get into directing?

You know what? It's terrible, because all actors say that as a joke, "But what I really want to do is direct," but I really never did, but I read this play, and I just thought, "Oh my God, I love this play, and I love how theatrical it is. Like how much this is a creature of the stage. This shouldn't be a movie. It shouldn't be on TV. It should be a play."

Was it originally written for film, or was it always intended to be a play?

No, he wrote it for the theatre. He thought he had a play in him, and sure enough, I believe he does. So, this is kind of the beginning of this play's journey, and once we hear it up there, and Jeff gets a chance to work on it, I hope to get it into New York.

Sticking to that theatre theme, I have to tell you. Even to this day, your Tony speech is one of the best things I've ever seen on the telecast. But I rewatched it yesterday in anticipation of talking to you, and I have to tell you, when you were walking down the aisle, it never occurred to me before, but you looked kind of angry.

I know! (laughs)

I didn't notice that when it happened back in '07, but what was going through your mind at that point?

I mean, it was like, "You have got to be kidding me! You've got to be kidding me. You're really going to give me this thing instead of giving it to Vanessa Redgrave." (laughing) I mean, "Angela Landsury is sitting here. Angela F**king Lansbury. And you're really going to give me a Tony."

I just couldn't believe it. It just seemed so crazy. So, yes I was a little mad at the Tony voters for being so disrespectful to my betters.

Well, by the time you got to the stage you seem to have accepted the fact that you won, and you seemed to even enjoy your time giving the speech.

I did, I think I did. I mean you know, it certainly was an out-of-body experience. The only thing I practiced, I wanted to be sure to say everybody's name that was in the cast, because that would just be so terrible if I left someone out.

On another theatre related topic, you recently hosted BROADWAY BACKWARDS for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and you guys raised a whole bunch of money. And at the show some of the best Broadway singers performed, and I wonder if there has ever been a musical side to your stage experience.

You know when I first started out, I did sing. I could really sing. The thing that brought me to New York was THE BAKER'S WIFE. You know, that show with that endless song "Meadlowlark" in it? But I couldn't get comfortable with it. I mean it is so glorious to sing, but there is something about it that is just so weird to me. It's like who sings? Why wouldn't I just tell this person this piece of information?

As an actor, it was always a little bit wonky to me, and then also, in New York, the best of the best are here. And I just think, unless you are extraordinary at it, don't do it.

I mean people always ask me, and I think could I do one of those talky-musicals, like APPLAUSE or something? But it really hasn't been something that I've been wanting to do. But I love to see them.

And oh, I did Shakespeare in the Park, and I was Mariah to Audra McDonald's Olivia (The production of TWELFTH NIGHT also starred Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway. The trip was profiled in the New York Times). I've always admired Audra, but then I got to know her as a real person. So when I went and saw her do PORGY AND BESS, it was like watching someone you know go over Niagra Falls in a barrel. You're like, "What? Oh my God, how is she doing this? Is she gonna be ok?" It was such an extraordinary performance, and when you see someone like that sing, you don't really want to open your mouth. I don't even want to sing in the shower anymore. She's so great, I can't wait to see her in LADY DAY AT THE EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL.

Really quickly, I want to clarify something you said a minute ago. You said that BAKER'S WIFE is what brought you to New York. Was "Meadowlark" your audition song, or were you cast in a production?

No, I was doing it in Austin, Texas. It was the first time it had been done since it closed at the Kennedy Center. So, Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein flew down to Austin to see it. And then they were like, "What are you doing here in Austin? Come to New York."

Then Stephen Schwartz said, "You know, I can get you in the chorus in 42 STREET. Learn to tap dance." So, I'm out there trying to learn how to tap dance in my garage in Austin, Texas at age 18. Clearly, you can't learn to tap dance in three months, but I did come up to New York, and went to college at Fordham at Lincoln Center, and I did a couple of productions of THE BAKER'S WIFE. One of them in Santa Barbara, California, which is where I met Cady Huffman. I think I was 21 and Cady was 17, and we've been friends ever since.

So, THE BAKER'S WIFE got me my Equity Card and one of my best friends. And whenever I see Mr. Schwartz now, sadly Mr. Stein has passed away, he's always like, "See what I did? See what I started?"

So, while it might not be a musical, can we expect to see you back on Broadway anytime soon?

I'm a little bit stuck, waiting to find out about this CBS pilot. If that's going to go forward, I will be working on that. But I have a play that I have my eye on; I'm ready to come back to Broadway. I replaced Sigourney Weaver in VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, but it was only for a month, but it was so fun. What a f**king amazing play, and an amazing cast. Oh my God. Kristine Nielsen is really hard to keep a straight face working with. I've got another little project, where all of the little ducks haven't quite lined up, but I really really want to come back to Broadway in something that is just delightful.

So, is this that we will maybe hear about if the pilot doesn't get picked up?

Yes. Yes.

So, it's ready to go, if you're ready to go?

Yes, and I guess if I'm not ready to go this fall, maybe we will put it off until next fall. I hope that they would wait for me, but I would understand if they didn't want to. I did a reading of the play with some Broadway f**king heavy-hitters that are just amazingly funny people. And I thought this would be the most fun two hours of my day for six months. I would love to do it. I would hate to lose the pilot, but last May when they told me GO ON was not coming back, I was so disappointed. But I have a good fallback this time around.

You always hear about Broadway people going out to Hollywood to do pilots, and obviously you've done plenty of TV and film, with TRANSFORMERS and LINCOLN, man, how have we not talked about LINCOLN yet?

I know LINCOLN, how about that? He cast a lot of theatre people in that too.

Exactly. So, I guess it is just nice to have options.

Yes, I have had a really blessed career. I know, when I was starting out there was that feeling that you could do theatre or film, but you shouldn't do TV, but that's not the case anymore. I get to do all sorts of things, and I've been really blessed.

Absolutely. Well, I'm torn now. I'm kind of rooting for the pilot, so I can watch you every week, but I also want to know what this play is too. So, either way, as a fan, I'm going to happy for you and excited.

Don't forget to watch new episodes of NURSE JACKIE every Sunday night at 9:00pm ET on Showtime. Also, check with BroadwayWorld TV each Sunday night for recaps of every episode.

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