Interview: BILLY & RAY & Sophie von Haselberg

Sophie von Haselberg puts a lot of sass in her colorful depiction of Helen Hernandez, Billy Wilder's secretary and personal assistant in BILLY & RAY, by the playwright Mike Bencivenga. The play traces the uneasy collaboration between Wilder (Vincent Kartheiser) and Raymond Chandler (Larry Pine) while they wrote the classic film noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY. Helen may be a secretary, but she's on equal ground when dealing with her obstinate boss.

"I think of Helen as being the grease that makes sure the whole machine runs," von Haselberg said before a recent performance. "I pre-empt all of Billy's needs. I know him so well, but I have to keep a distance. We have a real rapport, and I can get away with things that wouldn't work in some plays. I'm a little bit sassy, I'm often teasing him and calling him out without attacking him," she said of the philandering Wilder. Among her tasks are booking a screening room without a projectionist, for one of his dalliances.

Von Haselberg is no stranger to the film noir catalog. "I grew up watching film noir. I've loved Billy Wilder movies for a long time. To portray a woman in the 1940s studio era is so exciting. I feel there is something romantic about the system. Billy Wilder was practically a god," she said. "THE MALTEST FALCON is a classic. SOME LIKE IT HOT and SUNSET BOULEVARD I could watch every day."

Her character changes outfits throughout the play, something von Haselberg revels in. (Michael Krass is the costume designer.) "I have eight or nine costume changes and when you're the only girl in the play, it's really fun. The clothes are so wonderful. There's one dress I really love, a cream dress made of a silk blend. I love that dress, the way it drapes."

Her shoes also attract a lot of attention, one pair worn with that cream dress "has all the colors of the Jamaican flag in them." The '40s set (Charlie Corcoran is scenic designer) includes true-to-the-era furniture and shadowy lighting (Russell H. Champa) that evokes the period.

There's a lot of drinking, sometimes furtively, during the play. Wilder excuses himself to go to the bathroom every few minutes. "He's a riot. I think he goes to the bathroom a lot to get away from Chandler and have a drink," von Haselberg said. Chandler, battling alcoholism, stashes his bottle in a briefcase that rarely leaves his side. He takes furtive swigs every time Wilder goes to the bathroom, until Wilder finally calls him out and they end up drinking together.

The initial rehearsals were challenging, von Haselberg said. "I felt I was working with such pros, doing a kind of comedy I wasn't used to, being from Yale" School of Drama, she said. It's a very physical role, and a great comedy, which Garry" - Garry Marshall, who directed the play - "excels in.

­­ "I felt like I didn't have a footing at all and one day I came in to rehearse and everything fit," von Haselberg said. "By the time I got to the theater we were having so much fun, and the physical elements came together. It helped ground me."

Some of her favorite moments in the play center on lines that she expects the audience to respond to. "It's tricky, because sometimes the audience laughs and sometimes they don't. It's always a challenge to figure out how to deliver and get the laugh line. It's very hit or miss."

Helen is just as smart as the men she works for, she said. "I think she is so in love with being a part of Paramount Studios in its golden age and she has a huge platonic love for Billy, she admires him so much. And she's very perceptive about what works well in movies. She's steeped in this world enough that she knows what's going to work and she knows it's exciting to be a part of this new breed of film."

Von Haselberg relates to her character on many levels. "I think we're both passionate people," she said. "We're both willing to push boundaries a little more than other people and we have an unwillingness to watch one person treat another person poorly.

"She's a really compassionate person, and I strive to be," she said. "One scene I really love is when I get to sit and listen to Chandler and he's drinking in front of her. I get to sit and listen to him, drinking and smoking, and it's a pivotal scene for her and an instance where we see Helen's compassion. And she also knows it's not her place to try and fix him."

Another key factor in portraying Helen is the platonic relationship she has with Wilder. "It's rare to have ­­­the only female character not have a sexual undercurrent," she said. "Helen is generally a positive person. It's not one of those roles that weighs on you every day you play it. It's a great character. To be able to walk in her shoes every day has been a joy for me."

She's seen DOUBLE INDEMNITY a handful of times, she said, to familiarize herself with the story that Billy and Ray are struggling with.

Von Haselberg always knew in the back of her mind, that she would pursue acting, but just didn't know how to go about it. "For a long time I denied I wanted to be an actor," she said. "I tried a lot of things - working at an ad agency in China for instance." She moved back to New York and decided acting was a real option.

"Both of my parents" - Bette Midler and Martin von Haselberg - "were surprised initially that I wanted to act, and I was a little shy and embarrassed to express it. I thought maybe it was too late," she said. "But the more they realized I was serious, the more supportive they became and pushed me into figuring out how to do it."

Von Haselberg has also recently made a movie with Woody Allen, an experience she described as, "absolutely magical and 100 percent wonderful. I had the best experience."

Billy & Ray, playing at the Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street (between Union Square East and Irving Place), has been extended to Nov. 23.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos