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Coping With Allymania Calista Flockhart, TV’s Ally McBeal, on life, love, future film plans ... and her dog Webster.
She has a name to conjure with but Calista Flockhart, newest TV superstar on the block, knows she’s treading a very fine line. As Ally McBeal in the hit American comedy- drama series on C4, she has polarised the opinions of audiences and critics alike.
While one half swoons, the other half is appar- ently up in arms over her portrayal of Ally, a twen- tysomething lawyer trying to juggle the cut-throat world of the courtroom and office politics with the anxieties and drama of her personal life.
Her detractors argue that she is damaging to the women’s movement - too emotional, never in control and overly worried about finding the right man. Her supporters however, border on the fanat- ical. Mountains of fan mail pour in every day for the young actress, proclaiming how Ally’s mix of no-nonsense attitude and doe-eyed confusion mir- rors their professional and personal life.
But love it or hate it American, and now British, viewers have been watching in their millions, turning the show into a must-see and making thirtysomething Flockhart a tongue-twisting household name on both sides of the Atlantic. Much of this has to do with the appeal of Flockhart herself. She is tall and thin, with an unconventional but attractive face dominated by a huge smile. When she is interviewed she answers like Ally - sometimes speaking clearly and eagerly and other times making do with a long pause, the odd gig- gle and “I’ll have to think about that”. The similarities she shares with her alter ego are so apparent that when she auditioned for the role the producers gave her the part on the spot.
But does Flockhart herself love or loathe Ally? “I vacillate between hating and loving Ally. Sometimes she’s selfish, but so be it. I like the way she has great strength and then doubts herself. I enjoy playing a character who is flawed and I enjoy the controversy that the show has created.”
“The show also made me think that men and women are a lot more alike than we think they are. We have the same issues, we worry about the same things and we have the same neuroses. I have men write me letters who say ‘I have a picture of you on my wall and whenever I feel bullied I say well, Ally McBeal wouldn’t take this crap.’”
Born in Illinois in 1964 to a businessman father and teacher mother, Calista (named after her Greek great-grandmother) caught the acting bug while studying at university in New Jersey. After graduat- ing, she moved to New York to take it up full-time. Over the next seven years, she worked continuous- ly in theatre garnering praise for her off-Broadway performances in plays like Death Takes A Holiday and All For One.
Eventually she got herself an agent and a manag- er but, like any unknown actress, she soon found work hard to come by. The nadir came in 1993 when she wound up working for a measly four hundred dol- lars for eight weeks work, living off a case of ravioli given to her by her brother.
The following year saw an upturn in fortunes when she was cast in the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. Her Laura stole the show and bagged her a Theatre World Award and the Clarence Derwent Award.
She had a cameo in Robert Redford’s movie Quiz Show, before nabbing her first substantial film role as the daughter of Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest in the hit comedy The Birdcage. Fresh from her stint in Hollywood, she returned to the stage to play the evil and cold-hearted Natasha in the Broadway produc- tion of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Despite a starry cast including Amy Irving and Jeanne Tripplehorn, Flockhart again dazzled the critics.
It was then that she heard about a new series being developed by well-known writer-producer David E. Kelley(Chicago Hope, Picket Fences) and, after being dragged to the audition by her friends, the rest is history.
With a hit series and the credibility of theatre behind her, Flockhart has become one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood. She recently played the object of Brad Renfro’s obsession in Joe Eszterhas’ Telling Lies in America with Kevin Bacon and she’s just completed filming A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Italy opposite Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett and Anna Friel.
Now she’s enjoying the freedom that a little security brings. Although linked to several men, including the show’s producer Jeffrey Kramer, she is currently single, “although like Ally I am probably
a little too preoccupied with finding a boyfriend.” She is also in talks to start her own production company. “I’m reading a lot of material and a lot of books and trying to create a project for myself which can involve all my amazingly talented unemployed friends.”
Since the show is filmed in Los Angeles, Flockhart has had to relocate to the West Coast, an experience that she found difficult. “Most of my friends are in New York - I lived in New York for eight years before I moved - and it is hard, you become iso- lated. But I’m really enjoying the nature aspect of L.A.. I do a lot of hiking, go out to dinner, and hang out with my dog, Webster. I’m probably very boring.”
Although she has been acting for some time, the kind of celebrity status attached to a major television series remains overwhelming. “At the moment I’m on a rollercoaster and I’m just rolling with it. When we were filming the show, I was working so hard that I was unaware of it all. But since I’ve had a month off, I’ve begun to see what effect Ally has had.”
With Allymania at fever pitch, ‘McBealisms’ seeping into the American lexicon and a burgeoning film career, it seems as though there will be plenty more time to get used to it. ■ BEN FALK
Photos: top left and right; Calista Flockhart in Telling Lies In America; centre: Flockhart with co-stars of Ally McBeal.
Ally McBeal, photographed by Billy Dickson ASC, was originated on Fujicolor Super F-500 stock.