Mary-Louise Parker first caught the eyes of lesbian/bisexual viewers in the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes when she played Ruth Jamison, the femme who stole the heart of tomboy Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson). Although the film version de-gayed much of the Fannie Flagg novel it was based on, Parker and Masterson still managed to convey their characters’ love and attraction to each other, making the film a lesbian classic.
Since then, Parker has appeared in many films, including most recently The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. She has also signed on to the independent film Les Passages, where her character falls for a woman played by Julie Delpy. On television, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning Parker has starred in the HBO miniseries Angels in America, NBC’s The West Wing and Showtime’s Weeds, which is currently in its fourth season.
Last week during the TCA press tour in Los Angeles, she chatted briefly with AfterEllen.com about the status of Les Passages, the de-gaying of Fried Green Tomatoes, and a fun new web video in which she gives advice to her lesbian friend on how to pick up girls.
AfterEllen.com: Can you tell me a little about the role you’ll be playing in Les Passages?
Mary-Louise Parker: Oh, you know, that doesn’t have funding!
AE: So it’s sort of stuck right now?
MLP: Yeah, I want to do that movie, but it doesn’t have funding, so it’s not imminent. Someone needs to fund it. I would be happy to do it, but it’s not funded.
AE: Do you think it’s ever going to get off the ground?
MLP: I don’t know. I would hope so, because I would like to do a French-speaking movie.
AE: Can you tell me anything about the character that you would be playing if it gets funded?
MLP: Well … I think the writers don’t want me to speak about it yet because they’re still rewriting it. It’s not shrouded in mystery or anything [laughs], but … it’s hard because they haven’t been able to get money for it. So hopefully they’ll get money for it and we’ll be able to talk about it one day ’cause it’ll be happening, but it’s not [right now].
AE: Ever since Fried Green Tomatoes, obviously, you’ve had a ton of lesbian fans.
MLP: Right on.
AE: Is there anything you want to say to your fans?
MLP: You know, I love my lesbian fans. And I just did this little webisode — my girlfriend Cat [Davis] and I — she’s gay, and it’s all about me helping her pick up girls, ’cause I’m her wingman. … So she’s gonna put it on YouTube at some point. Hopefully it’ll be out there. … It’s me helping her pick up girls ’cause she’s like a lesbian who can’t pick up girls. I’m helping her as a straight woman showing her how to pick up girls.
AE: Did you give her any special tips?
MLP: Yeah, I’m like: “Watch. Get in the van. Are you gay? Get in the van.”
AE: So you’re very direct — that’s the tip that you give her.
MLP: Yeah, I’m just like, “Be nice to women, that’s what they want.”
AE: That’s true.
MLP: Yeah, and you know I love my lesbian fan base.
AE: Well, they love you [laughs].
MLP: It’s true, I have a soft spot. It’s true.
AE: Do you ever wish — I know this is a long time ago, but do you ever wish the story line on Fried Green Tomatoes was a little bit more —
MLP: Yes! Well, in some ways I do. I tried to make it a little bit more articulated at the time, but they didn’t really want to go that way. And in some ways I wish that it was, and then in some ways I think maybe the audience wouldn’t have gone there, so I don’t know — I have very mixed feelings about it. Because I tried — I really tried to push it at the time, and they didn’t want to go there with me.
AE: Who didn’t want to go there?
MLP: [emphatically] No one.
AE: Not even your co-star?
MLP: Oh no, Mary Stuart did, Fannie Flagg did, but not the director, not the producer, nobody else.
AE: Wow, OK.
MLP: But I was really trying to push it, and they were like [shakes head].
AE: Times have changed, I guess.
MLP: Yeah, for sure.
Mary-Louise Parker currently stars in Weeds, which airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.
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