On the red carpet of the New York premiere of “The Meddler” at the Tribeca Film Festival Tuesday evening, I asked Susan Sarandon what she learned about herself making the film?
“That’s a good question,” she told me, surrounded by a scrum of photographers and journos with audio recorders in her face. “I learned that I could carry a movie again cause I hadn’t had to really be in every single scene for a few years and that was really fun. And I realized that I had a lot more stamina than I would have thought.”
It’s been a while since Sarandon had a starring role on the big screen and it’s clear why the camera loves her, which is a good thing since she’s in nearly every frame in the appropriately titled “The Meddler,” by first-time director Lorene Scafaria, who also wrote the screenplay.
Sarandon plays Marnie Minervini, a fireball, who moves from New Jersey to L.A. after her husband’s death to be close to her daughter, Lori (Rose Byrne). Lori’s a television screenwriter who’s beginning to feel smothered by her mom and also depressed after her boyfriend (Jason Ritter) dumps her for a younger woman (Megalyn Echikunwoke).
Oscar winner J.K. Simmons as Marnie’s love interest – the kind of part he rarely gets to play – is a plus. Also appearing in the film, Cecily Strong from “SNL” and Tony nominee Billy Magnussen of Broadway’s “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike.”
Sarandon, in a black smoking jacket cut low and showing off cleavage, looked great even with one foot in a walking boot. A tall reporter nearly lunged at her to get a quote, and introduced himself as a journalist from Colombia, adding that he was from the region where she incurred her foot injury.
“I fell at the bottom of the mountain,” she said. Then she reassured him. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Photo c2016 Showbiz411 by Paula Schwartz
