Excerpts from Kathleen Turner's autobiography- Page 3

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 12:38am

Let's hope there's an audio book read by the author!

[DG]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 12:39am

The opening scene in CRIMES OF PASSION is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I saw it for the first time on video, and I think I rewound and watched that opening segment at least 5 times before I let the rest of the movie play.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 12:40am

[DG]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 12:44am

"We may run out of TWA Coffee, but we'll never run out of TWA Tea."

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 2:18am

DG, how does Crimes open again have not seen since i saw a midnight screening in a very strange cinema back in the mid 80's.

Lots of men in raincoats, i loved the movie. Hated the cinema!

Updated On: 1/25/08 at 02:18 AM

Posted: 1/25/08 at 4:25am

Miss Liberty!

"ah play the flute, suh!"

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 9:36am

Oh CRIMES OF PASSION is a must-see...benzonitrate or no, Perkins is brilliant in it. Turner herself has an ambivalent relationship with it which I hope she touches on in the book. In Russell's bio, he states that she wanted to play down the movie because ROMANCING THE STONE was coming out right around the same time and she wanted to be America's Sweetheart. Later I read an interview with her where she stated CRIMES as one of her best performances and favorite films. Hmmmm...

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 10:17am

"I don't know if any of it's true, I don't care if any of it's true."

Ya know, I'm gonna view this book as the story about Idina slapping the poop out of Cheno. It's true ENOUGH.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/25/08 at 1:40pm

Turner slapped Cheno in India???? Heavens!

BTW, my favorite Kathleen Turner performance and line of all time?

THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS: "Ouch! My balls!"

Updated On: 1/25/08 at 01:40 PM

Posted: 2/13/08 at 7:30am

I'm reading the book now (thanks, Miss Pennywise!) & theres so much more to it than celebrity gossip!

ive been transcribing choice bits, which i will share with you.

I do have stories to tell, and I believe in the power of sharing them. Many come from my film and stage work. I'll explore how my roles have broken new ground for women, how they've spanned sexuality from femme fatale to a woman playing a man playing a woman. I want to share my passion for service. And I've had personal tragedies, rocky relationships, out-of-control drinking, and snarky critics to contend with. I've come back against all odds from a dehabilitating illness and being told I'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, to which i said, "Go f*** yourself".

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 3

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:30am

Matt Lauer interviews Kathleen (she discusses Nic Cage's lawsuit)

[mattonstage]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:41am

If Cage gets a court date, I'll totally testify in Ms. Turner's defense, at least to the charge that Cage was HORRIBLE in Peggy Sue Got Married. He ruined a perfecty lovely film with his terrible performance.

Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:02am

i transcribed this this morning:

...


I've tried to prepare my daughter for the phenomenon I've experienced of beautiful young women being dismissed and devalued as interchangeable. I tell Rachel that if a relationship doesn't make you feel good about yourself as an individual, its not right. My grandmother told me once years ago that if you're ever with somebody who you find embarrasses you in public or in private, you're with the wrong person. Walk away.

Rachel honestly doesn't let me to talk much about sex with her. She doesn't want to talk to her mother about it. "It's gross - how could I?"

I mean, if I say something like, "God, I'm horny," she'll say, "Mother! Please! That's disgusting!" And she's never seen BODY HEAT. She's never told me she has, at least. But I have tried all her life to represent sex as a great, healthy joy, when you have the right partner. And I've encouraged her not to get too serious too soon. I want her to give herself time to grow up and know who she is first. Its best to enjoy the company of men as playthings until you're about twenty-nine. Then you begin to get mature enough for serious relationships and children. That doesnt mean being irresponsible in your personal life or that you shouldnt be a responsible citizen before that time. But give yourself time to ripen.

Someone asked me to compare Matty [my character from BODY HEAT] to Paris Hilton. I thought, Jesus, most of the pop culture icons of today are entirely superficial. Do they have the right look? Are they thin enough to wear the right clothes or to always be up to edge of fashion? Its not about their style but about whatever fashion dictates - are they able to carry that off? And if they are, then that creates a certain celebrity-ness. But I have no idea what these people think or what they do during their time or how they live, other than through someone else's eyes. And I find that it makes me angry that no one ever asks these sexual icons, so-called, what their values are.

It is astonishing that the news media is so driven by who so-and-so was seen with last night or who is having whose baby. Well, to me this is not news. I dont care about those people, or at least I dont care about what they are doing with their personal lives. I don't think I'm unique in that. Nor do I think i'm unreasonable. I just dont see why I should care about their personal lives. What have they given to society that I should care about?

I am seriously unhappy about the way women are "sold" today, through film and media. I dont think women want to be anorexic. I dont think they want, as they do in CHARLIE'S ANGELS, to strip and lapdance - how humiliating. How hypocritical. Who determines that model of attraction? I walk around the world every day, and I dont see anyone who looks like that. So if most of us "people" are nothing like that Hollywood image, why do we care what a few weirdos look like? Give it up!

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 76

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 12:09pm

"Why do we care what a few weirdos look like? Give it up!"

I love that line.

Posted: 2/14/08 at 7:17am

transcription:


I choose my roles for film and stage the same way I choose my roles in life. The woman I play must be integral to the script. If the film or play will be just as good without her, then I will not play that part. I play women who are intelligent, crucial to the story, and actors rather than merely acted upon.

My character doesnt have to be the lead. But I always ask, "If you took this character out, would you simply have a man without a girlfriend or a wife or a child without a mother? If you took me out of the script, would it make a difference? Would it change the plot and the purpose of the story?" If the answer is not a clear "Yes!" then I'm not essential. Then they dont need me. And I dont need this role.

I never wanted to play a woman who learned nothing, who did not grow. The woman might fail in what she sets out for, but she must try. She must believe she can effect change in her life, not wait passivley for someone else to rescue her.

Its the same way off-screen or offstage. The simplest measure in life to me is take that job or that choice to move to another hosue or to get a better car or to do whatever it might be and ask how your life would really be changed by it. Would your life be changed so much if you bought a more expensive car? No? Then its not essential. If your car is breaking down and you must have a new car in order to get to work, yes. It is essential. If its not inherent to the story, then you can choose to have it for pleasure, if you want. But dont feel that its going to satisfy your needs.

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 80


gosh, there is so much good advice in this book, its a shame people are just focusing on the celebrity dish.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 8:02am

She said "God, I'm horny" to her DAUGHTER?

Posted: 2/14/08 at 1:12pm

transcription:

There is still to some extent an implication that a woman is selfish to put her job or her career equal to being with her family. I dont think men are ever criticized because they attend to their careers or speak up for what they think they deserve. As Roseanne Barr has said, "The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it."

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 99

i yelped out loud on the subway when i read this, i was so excited about her quoting Roseanne!

Posted: 2/16/08 at 10:23am

more:

Typically, women cannot own property in Morrocco. But a woman, a white woman in her seventies yet, owned this restaurant. Her mother had been chef to one of the kings. As a thank-you, he allowed her to own this house and have a business in it. She had passed it on to her daughter, who was a little wiry-haird thing. I asked her, "Do you want to tell me just how you do this? Isnt this very, very hard for you?"

She pretended to whip out a sword, and she grunted, with a determined look on her face, "You fight, you fight, you fight, you fight." She was just wonderful.

So for years afterward, if somebody said to me, "Isnt it hard to do that?" I'd say, "You fight, you fight, you fight."

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 104

Posted: 2/17/08 at 2:23pm

who's gonna go see Kathleen Turner tomorrow night @ Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble?

i'm gonna go...& bring her flowers!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/17/08 at 2:36pm

Norn, you're a sweetheart. She will love that.

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 11:06am

A few years ago, when kathleen was touring in "Tallulah" (she was fab), she did a Q and A at my college. she had some great stories to tell, and one was about Jack Nicholson:

so, it was during an academy awards ceremony. apparently, Kathleen and Jack were sitting at the same table, and Jack was getting a little tipsy, and getting a little too close to Kathleen's comfort zone. She said she tried to deal with him, but he kept on making passes, and finally, she left in a huff, leaving Jack alone.

the next morning, Kathleen gets a call from Jack. Jack says:

"why did you do that to me last night"
"do what"
"why did you walk out on me? you were my date, and you left me."
"I wasn't your f***ing date. I hardly know you. F*** You"

then she hung up.

We all got a kick out of the story.


and one more. My school had recently turned into a Meisner program, which was a little controversial among the students who didn't want to learn method, so, with the head of the theatre dept. there, I took it upon myself to be the smartass, and asked her what she felt about method acting. A hush fell in the room among teachers, and students.

she said "I hate method actors. I think it's all selfish, to be honest. DeNiro, Day-Lewis, Pacino (she rattled off a few other names):their all selfish."

I got a lot of enjoyment out of that answer, and I think from that day on, I was looked upon as the black sheep of my freshman class.

I really want to read this book.

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 11:34am

Kathleen Turner enjoys riding the bus.
yahoo! story

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 11:59am

"so, it was during an academy awards ceremony. apparently, Kathleen and Jack were sitting at the same table, and Jack was getting a little tipsy, and getting a little too close to Kathleen's comfort zone."

I call bullSH*T! They don't sit at tables or drink/eat anything at the Oscars.

Posted: 2/18/08 at 12:07pm

more:

Actor and Activist come from the same root word, and I consider myself both. Early on, I was influenced by a saying of Margaret Mead - that we should never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can make a difference, and indeed it is the only thing that ever has. Yes, people get things done in groups and in movements, but there are always individuals contributing to every part of that movement or adding to its ideas. It always breaks down to someone doing something, taking action.

So Ive never been as discouraged as Ive heard many people say they are. I hear it even more now from younger people, a generation behind me, who say, "Oh, whats the point? Sure, I could send some money to Darfur, but its a corrupt government and who knows if it will ever get to the people who need it." True, there are many difficulties and many reasons why good intentions dont work out. But thats no argument not to do it.

My basic belief is that if you dont profit from harm to anyone else, then you're all right. You're on the right track. When you perceive that your action is going to injure someone, you must avoid it. If harm does happen, you must try to mend it. My father taught me that. In the simplest words, thats the goal of living. If I can see harm coming to someone, then I wont do or I wont advocate it.

But besides doing no harm, an activist also tries to do some good.

An activist is someone who lives in a community and sees a cause that could serve to better that community. The activist gets involved. I dont agitate to cause trouble (much). I only need to know that by taking action I can make the world a little better. Anyone can do the same. To be an activist you only have to rid yourself of one thought: the "what I have to give has to be really big or why bother?" thought. People have been led to believe that their contribution cant really be significant yet because they arent old enough or famous enough or wealthy enough yet. That yet is a thief. It can rob you of your self in the moment. Yet means you are going to make a contribution someday. But each of us has so much to give right now.

Ever since I started volunteering at age eleven at the orthopedic hospital in Caracas, I absorbed the idea that service is a central theme of life and have been involved as an activist somewhere. My father once said to me that just living in a community is like paying rent, in that you have shelter and services like water and electricity but you make no improvement on the property. To improve a community, to make it better, is like buying a house. You can invest in a community by giving time or other resources toward things that need improvement. When you invest in a house or a community, you have a higher stake in its future.

- Kathleen Turner, SEND YOURSELF ROSES, pg 105

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 2/18/08 at 12:14pm

Kathleen on Larry King

Updated On: 2/18/08 at 12:14 PM