Anjelica Huston Reflects on SMASH Experience: 'I Wasn't Very Happy'

Anjelica Huston is reflecting on her starring role in Smash. In the TV series, which inspired a Broadway musical that just opened at the Imperial Theatre, the Oscar-winner played the role of Broadway producer Eileen Rand. In a new interview with People, the performer admits that her experience wasn't all sunshine and roses throughout the show's 32-episode run.

"I wasn't very happy when I was on that show," Huston recalled in the interview. "I was living in New York and I wasn't very happy living in New York for the obvious reasons. It was a cold winter, and I didn't feel very prized in that role. I was a bit depressed by it. It was hard really, I didn't really have a good time making it."

To add insult to injury, her husband Robert Graham had passed away a few years prior, an event that was still weighing on the performer. "Bob was very special and very irreplaceable," she said in the interview.

About Smash

Smash is an NBC musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire – to be a “Smash.” The Emmy-winning hit series was led by Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, and Megan Hilty  Season one premiered on NBC February 6, 2012; season two premiered on NBC February 5, 2013. The series ran for 32 episodes. 

Season one and season two stars include Tony Award winner Christian Borle, Jaime Cepero, Tony Award nominee Will Chase, Jack Davenport, Tony Award nominee Megan Hilty, EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston, Raza Jaffrey, Tony Award nominee Brian d’Arcy James, Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan, Katharine McPhee, Emmy Award winner Debra Messing, Andy Mientus, Tony Award winner Leslie Odom Jr., Krysta Rodriguez, and Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Uma Thurman.

Throughout its run, Smash won a Critics Choice Television Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and received five Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, winning for Outstanding Choreography. The series also received both Golden Globe and GRAMMY Award nominations. 

The stage adaptation of Smash features a score by Tony, Emmy and two-time Grammy winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who wrote over two dozen songs for the television show, many of which will be used in the musical, in addition to new material they have written for the stage. With a book by two of Broadway’s most seasoned craftsmen, four-time Tony nominee Rick Elice and Tony winner Bob Martin, Emmy-winning and Tony-nominated choreographer Joshua Bergasse, who choreographed the television series, reprises his role for the stage adaptation. Read critics' reviews of the Broadway production here.