All in the family

Anjelica Huston does double duty in 'Agnes Browne'

Huston takes on a more traditional, uplifting role in "Agnes Browne"

By Donna Freydkin
Reporting for CNN Interactive

March 9, 2000
Web posted at: 3:53 p.m. EST (2053 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Anjelica Huston's resume is laden with towering, larger-than-life characters that stick with you long after the films have been relegated to video rental racks. Who can forget coolly creepy Morticia Addams and mean-mouthed mob mol Maerose Prizzi?

The real Huston, petite and refined in person, the actress-turned-director in her latest film, is just as memorable.

The daughter of legendary director John Huston walks into a posh hotel room wearing a black sweater and pale-yellow fringed skirt. She's brimming with humor, she's talkative, she's funny. She's the kind of woman with whom you'd love to share coffee on a gloomy winter day like this one.

"I've never been a traditional leading lady," says Huston. "I've played Morticia Addams, but I haven't played conventional leading-lady roles. And it's not that I've been unhappy about that. I'd just as soon play Morticia Addams. I enjoy my career. I like what I do. It's not been my lot to play (Meg Ryan) roles."

This time, Huston does take a stab at a more traditional part. In "Agnes Browne," Huston is an impoverished mother of seven in Dublin, Ireland, who ends up selliing fruits and vegetables at a market stall after her husband dies. Ultimately, of course, she finds her inner strength and overcomes her problems.

The film, based on Brendan O'Carroll's popular novel "The Mammy," has Huston doing double duty as both director and leading lady.

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Rosie out, Anjelica in

Huston initially had no intention of pulling a Mel Gibson or Clint Eastwood, working on both sides of the camera. Talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell was cast for title role, but backed out after adopting a child.

"(I)t forced me to re-think very fast because we were already a couple of weeks into preproduction," says Huston.

So Huston stepped up to the plate -- and into problems. First, there was the climate -- Ireland's weather is notoriously unpredictable -- followed by other unexpected developments.

One underscored a maxim of free enterprise: Look out for the competition.

Huston decided to gain practical experience in her role as a woman struggling to make ends meet. She and co-star Marion O'Dwyer actually did sell produce on Dublin's Moore Street.

Other merchants took note.

"They called the cops on us," says Huston. "We were behind the stall, flogging bananas. And they went down the street and got the local (police) to come because we were selling without a license. But we didn't get arrested."

Lighter fare

"Agnes Browne," which has earned mixed reviews, is Huston's second directorial outing, following the 1996 Showtime movie "Bastard Out of Carolina," which dealt with poverty, rape and abuse. Her selection this time of a more-uplifting, less-grueling subject matter was completely intentional, Huston says.

Huston and Nicholson were a well-known Hollywood couple for more than 10 years

"I didn't want to do a social commentary as my next film, or be known as someone who does social-commentary films," she says.

For Huston, the film is close to her heart. She lived in Ireland until 11 and still holds an Irish passport. But with all that Irish rain behind her, Huston is back in Los Angeles with her husband, sculptor Robert Graham, and looking forward to impending projects. She bought the rights to "Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire" by Amanda Foreman, and Dawn Powell's "A Time to be Born Again."

Like the character in "Agnes Browne," Huston says home is where her heart is. She calls her marriage "traditional," saying she often cooks dinner for her husband.

And after spending more than a decade with Jack Nicholson, Huston seems profoundly pleased not to be linked to another actor.

"It's good. It works well. It's better than living with somebody who's in the same profession as you are, particularly actors, who get so -- " Huston pauses.

"If they're successful, than it's all about them, every phone call, every script," she says. "And if they're not successful, they're despondent. They never get out of bed and watch endless ball games."

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